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Detailed
Information:
Fit and finish are very good. It appears that the outer
body is molded as one piece. The internals are then
inserted from the bezel end and the lens is sealed with
adhesive, making the entire unit effectively one piece.
The switch is the only external piece added to the light.
It contains a magnet that activates a reed switch, thereby
operating the light without compromising the sealed
case. The repulsing magnets at either end of the traveling
magnet chamber prevent damage to the primary magnet
from minor drops.
A mentioned above, this light come in two flavors.
The first is the 1.5 minute shake, 2 hour output model,
which is the newest generation (gen III). This model
has a smaller magnet (hence the longer chargeup time)
but a larger capacitor for storing the generated electricity.
The previous model (gen II) has a larger magnet but
a smaller capacitor, so you get a quicker charge - 30
seconds of shaking - but less runtime - about 20 minutes.
Below are pictures of the two models side-by-side, gen
III on the left.
NOTE: It says on the package Gen IV, but the retailer
who sent the light calls it Gen III on their sales page,
so I'll keep calling it Gen III for now, but it really
is Gen IV. This has been confirmed by a third party.
 
The bezel contains the LED, reflector, magnetic reed
switch, and the capacitor which stores the generated
electricity and feeds it to the LED. The switch rests
on the side of the head.
If you are new to this type of light, let me remind
you that magnet/capacitor powered LEDs do not put out
the brilliant beam of your standard flashlight. The
light is more like moonlight - a soft bluish white beam
that is adequate for most tasks in the darkness or very
near darkness. This light will not light up the side
of a city building, but in the dark it efficiently produces
enough light for you to work effectively.
The switch is on the side of the head and hardly protrudes
at all, effectively eliminating any chance that it would
be broken off. As a result of the switch's low profile,
a wiping motion is used to slide the switch from on
to off.
The light is completely sealed and as a result has
excellent water resistance.
Ergonomics: No real texturing makes me a little concerned
that the light may be easily dropped. However they are
designed to be really tough, so I doubt breakage would
occur from minor drops and accidents.
As mentioned, no batteries are required for this light.
Simply shake the light and the large magnet in the center
travels back and forth, repelling off of opposite-pole
magnets at either end of the travel tube. As the magnet
travels through the central coil, a capacitor is charged,
giving adequate runtime for emergencies.
What I Liked: Wwaterproof, Tough/impact
resistant, No batteries!, Stands up, Floats
What I Didn't Like: Dim, Keep away
from magnetic sensitive materials
Conclusions: Provides instant light
when needed. Just set it aside and forget about it until
you need it. Just a few shakes and you have light without
having to worry about dead batteries, storage conditions,
etc. Keep one on your boat - no need to worry about
corrosion here!
UPDATE March 2006: Reader M.M.
writes to us:
I purchased a Diamond Gen IV 1-2 hour Clear Everlife
Forever Shake Flashlight, because after much research
this was one of the few products that claim to last
more than 5 minutes after a good shaking. Well that's
a lie. The "usable" light only lasts for
about 5 minutes, regardless of how long you shake
it.
Unfortunately this light was tested before I had the
runtime equipment to actually test the manufacturer
claims. For typical runtmes of shake lights, check the
runtime graphs found in this
review and in this
review. I seriously doubt that the Diamond lights
outperform those others by much, if at all.
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