[Insert Perverted Review Title Here] “Hummer Shake Flashlight”
Written: Aug 04 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: No batteries needed, LED bulb never burns out, waterproof, shockproof, floatable.
Cons: Only has a 90 day warranty.
The Bottom Line: “Hummer”. “Shake vigorously”. “Waterproof”. “No batteries needed”. I really need to get my mind out of the gutter ...
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| Freak369's Full Review: HUMMER Shake Flashlight |
When I saw the Hummer Shake Flashlight I knew that I was going to buy it. There was no doubt in my mind - it just looked too cool to not get it. Even before the kid behind the counter started with the sales pitch, I knew, I wasn’t leaving the store without it. Even when he told me the price of it, it didn’t phase me in the least. The thing that really got me about this is that it doesn’t require the use of batteries but I’ll get into that later in the review. Beside the obvious gadget appeal that it has, it is a fully functional, 8 inch flashlight that does throw a good bit of light where ever you aim it. Now, if that weren’t enough, Hummer / GM also claims that it is waterproof, shockproof and will float if dropped in water. Now, I ask you, if you saw that on the package could you possibly resist buying it just to see if the claims were true? I am a huge fan of the Mag Lite flashlights but unless you buy the mini versions, they are a bit on the heavy side when they are bogged down with C and D sized batteries while this one weighs less than a pound.
Hummer Shake Flashlight
They say that it’s waterproof .... Well, you can’t go deep sea diving with it but if you leave it out on the rain, spill soda on it or drop it in the mud it still works perfectly. “Someone”, who shall remain nameless, wanted to try this out in the tub and after fifteen minutes of incessant giggling while shaking the flashlight, it was still working perfectly. The booklet doesn’t give a depth that this is waterproof to but if it survived “tub time” I am sure it will make it through any adventures you may have planned. A nice plus here is the rubber Hummer letters on the side of it, not only does it look cool as hell but it gives you a huge gripping area so no matter how you hold it, the chances of it slipping out of your hand is minimal.
They say it’s shockproof .... You can’t toss this down the Grand Canyon and expect it to survive but it has gone down the steps a few times and survived. Since this thing seemed indestructible I wanted to see exactly what it would take to break it. In an insane moment that you would see on some weird MTV show, I marched up to the second floor of the house, opened a window and tossed this down to the back yard. Running down the steps I started rubbing my hands together, maniacal laughter filling the hallways ... “that was surely high enough to break it ...” Picking it up and giving it a shake I thought that I had broken it but the damn thing still worked.
They says it’s floatable .... This goes hand in hand with the bathtub incident. The one that shall go nameless left it floating in the tub but submerged it more than a few times and I honestly thought it was done for but when I dried it off and gave it a couple of really hard shakes it lit up with no problem ... outside of me getting sprayed with water, I guess I missed a few spots. This would make for a great thing to give someone who fishes or hunts - especially if they are out in the woods and don’t want to take a chance of getting stranded somewhere with dying batteries.
Color Choices
This comes in two colors; red with black accents or silver with black accents. When you see this advertised it says that it’s pewter but it’s silver. They can call it whatever fancy color they want but when you get it out of the box and see it - it’s silver. I started out with the silver one and liked it so much that I ordered the red one for my SUV. Both of them are really nice looking and stand up to an incredible amount of use and abuse without showing any signs of wear. The Hummer lettering on the body of the flashlight is in raised rubber so this allows you to grip it firmly even with wet or dirty hands - outside of the practicality of it, it makes it look pretty freakin’ sweet. When I ordered online I got to pick out a plastic holding case for it - typical Hummer colors, yellow or red. This was a nice perk to get with the flashlight but I was a little ticked that I didn’t get one when I purchased the first one at the motorcycle shop.
Price
These range anywhere from $23.99 to $29.99 depending on where you purchase them. I picked up the first one at a local motorcycle shop when I was having some detail work done on my Suzuki GSX-R. They had a couple of them behind the counter and I really liked the look and size of them. The kid that works there told me that they were available in other colors so I went online to try to see the other choices hoping that they would have one in blue but alas, red was the only other color choice that I could find. Is it worth it? If you are a gadget type of person them most definately it is. If you are someone that wants a dependable flashlight for emergencies - again, it is well worth the money.
Battery Power
Well, this doesn’t require the use of batteries. Yes, you read that right. No batteries. So how exactly does this work? Well, the eggheads tried to explain it to me and 85% of it went right over my head. It was like hearing a series of clicks and high pitched tones when they were talking. What I got from it was there are there several magnets inside it that create an electric charge when slid over the metal coils that are inside of it. The energy is transferred to the bulb and viola - light is created. I am sure that there is a more technical explanation for that but that’s the best that I can do. All you have to do to get this to power up is shake it back and forth, it’s not that loud but there is some sound to the motion so if you are planning on going on a spy mission, this wouldn’t be the best thing to take with you. A couple of good shakes will light this up for about a minute but the booklet that comes with it says that it will operate for three minutes if you shake it for ten seconds. I sat there and shook it for a good thirty seconds and got about seven minutes worth of light out of it. Not bad at all in my opinion!
This is something that kids never get tired of playing with and since there’s no batteries to wear out they can shake to their hearts desire. You do have to shake this on a regular basis to keep the power going so don’t sit there for five minutes expecting to get a half hour of light, it doesn’t work that way. This is nice to have in your vehicle because you don’t have to check or change the batteries all the time. You don’t have to shake it vigorously to get the power flowing, even a clockwise / counterclockwise type of shaking is enough to generate power. Since it is lightweight, less than a pound, your hands and arms don’t get tired or sore from moving it around and the light that does come from it is pretty bright.
Warranty
The Hummer Shake Flashlight comes with a ninety day warranty against manufacturer defects and workmanship. I expected this to have a year warranty considering the price of $26.99 but to be honest, there’s really nothing that will break on this so unless it has some manufacturing defect chances are this is going to outlast almost every other flashlight that I own. That’s the beauty of this, there’s nothing that needs to be replaced over the course of time and the boys tried to explain the dynamics of an LED light to me and why the bulb would never burn out but again, just like the power source, this went over my head.
The Bottom Line
Even though I purchased the first one because I simply had to try it out and see if the claims that General Motors and Hummer made about this were true ... I have to admit that I do feel a little safer having one in the house and one in my SUV. If I reach for a flashlight and the batteries start to die on me I know that I have this around. Even though it requires you to shake it to power it, it’s better than sitting in the dark or tripping over things. The brood like to get these out and have faux lightsaber battles with them. Since they are pretty much indestructible I just shake my head and walk out of the room. IF you are looking for a flashlight that is waterproof, will float in water and will deal with a lot of drops, this is one that I highly recommend!
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2005 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
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