What a bright idea! Uni-Com Wind-Up Headlamp. (Uni-Com Wind-Up Headlamp)

Member Name: GillMN

Product:	Uni-Com Wind-Up Headlamp
Date:	16/01/09 (169 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bright light when you want it. No batteries to buy or fail.

Disadvantages: None really.

This little gadget is a great idea. I have had one for a few months now and we keep it by the electricity cupboard when it is not travelling with me!

When a fuse goes in the house, (which seems to happen every couple of months or so,) it is impossible to see which fuse has tripped without a torch. With this torch you don't have to worry about the batteries going dead in the meantime because you wind it up yourself. One minute of winding gets you about fifty minutes of light! I find that remarkable!

They are also handy when travelling if you end up in a room with no bedside lamp. You have to get out of bed to put the light out and then you are awake again! I often read myself to sleep and have run torch batteries down on numerous occasions. It doesn't matter if I do this with this wind up torch. I love it! (Lazy aren't I?)

It is not hard to wind at all, the only problem I have found with it is that occasionally it can shoot out of my hand because it is quite small. It is sometimes hard to grip properly and not get your fingers in the way of the winder. It might just be me being a bit clumsy.

The torch has three light settings. The first one is adequate though and I hardly ever use the second brighter one. It has a flashing setting too which would be handy for signalling an alert warning if you broke down in an unlit place. It has three superbright LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) in my experience with other torches and gadgets these don't ever wear out.
The winder tucks away neatly when not in use and is easy to get at when you want it.

The amount of light you get from one little torch is astonishing.

It was a present to me from a friend and it had already been used, but I think it cost him about £8.00. When you think of the saving in replacement batteries and the subsequent fiddling around, I think this is a reasonable price to pay. (Unless you are lucky enough to get one free like I did!)

It is quite sleek design. The case is silver and black coloured. I haven't seen any signs of wear or dulling of the casing and it has had a lot of use.

As I said earlier, I have dropped it a couple of times and it hasn't dented or broken so it is quite sturdy.

I don't know why it is called a headlamp because I don't see how it would fit to a bike and it doesn't have an elasticated strap to fit on your head like some little torches do. I didn't get it in the original packet so perhaps there is a bracket missing. (I thought about trying to balance it on my head but that would be silly!)

So, no more worrying about batteries, no light bulbs burning out, it's light, very neat, gives a good amount of light and doesn't cost much. What more could you ask for £8.00?

Summary: A really useful little gadget for when you need to throw some light on a problem.