On Mon, 15 May 2006 20:51:48 GMT, Mys Terry
wrote:

On Mon, 15 May 2006 14:43:03 -0500, Richard J Kinch wrote:

Jim Yanik writes:

It's not meant to be efficient,it's meant to be reliable;

But any number of more effective designs like a crank would be more
reliable. Shaking is just a gimmick to impress the rubes.


Not necessarily. A crank necessitates an opening in the case, which means you
can't make it very waterproof - at least not cheaply. By keeping all mechanisms
internal, you can effectively seal the case for even underwater use. For a
flashlight in a survival kit, the shake method would have some advantage in the
reliability department.


Mine works no matter which way you move the crank.
So if you want to use it underwater, you could
stick it in a 1-gallon ziplock, and move the crank
back and forth, instead of around and around.