Crank It Up!

As the power went out and Ike roared through Houston last week I quickly learned the value of "crank" power. A month or so ago I put together a hurricane kit for us and included in it several crank products. If you have never owned a crank powered flashlight or radio, let me be the first to tell you that I would now consider them to be an indispensable part of any disaster kit. Flashlights and radios that are crank powered are both affordable and easy to maintain. Plus you never have to worry about having batteries on hand and that means one less thing that you to worry about "refreshing" in your kit each year. Here are the two main crank products that we used during Ike:

1. Energizer Crank Flashlight

I bought two of these at Target. I think I paid around $16 dollars for each one. They quickly became the family's favorite flashlights. They were light in weight, have bright LED lights and they run for a long time on a few cranks.

2. American Red Cross FR150 Microlink Solar-Powered, Self-Powered AM/FM/Weatherband Portable Radio with Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger (Red) by Eton

By chance I ordered this crank radio off of amazon.com the Monday before Ike hit. At that point I didn't even know that Houston was a sure target. Neil and I LOVED this little crank radio/flashlight. Neil held this in his hands throughout the night when Ike hit just in case a tree cam crashing through the roof (what a guy!). It got great reception, even during the hurricane, and it also has a bright LED light. Plus it was only $30. It became a lifeline of sorts for us after the hurricane; providing the only link we had to information since we didn't have power.

I was pleasantly surprised by the lasting power of each of these products. When I bought the flashlights I had visions of Neil and I taking turns throughout the night cranking so that we could have brief moments of light. Not so. We barely had to crank these puppies. It was great. Of course, I'm sure that if we had kept them going non-stop we would have needed to crank a bit more. We used candles for constant light and the flashlights for supplemental purposes. If you do not have these items in your home or disaster kit I would strongly encourage you to have them. Come earthquake, blizzard, hurricane or any other disaster I promise you that these items will quickly become a part of your family!