Tip of the Week: The Torch that Never Fails

'Wind-up torch with pop-out handle' .

One of the most valuable small items on a boat at night is a torch. There are many different kinds of these, from the million candle-power rechargeable spotlight - handy for entering anchorages at night or blinding unwelcome intruders - to the humble 'miners headtorch' which leaves your hands free for working on and unlit deck. However, the torch that never lets you down is a rare friend...

Enter the wind-up torch. When you're far from the nearest hardware or chandlery, we have proved the value of this little treasure over and over. About twenty winds gives you a charge that lasts for about five minutes, then twenty more turns, and you have five minutes again. It comes in a hardy case, is strongly made and well designed, and just never seems to have anything go wrong with it.

The other recommendation, which comes from Ley and Neil Langford on Crystal Blues, currently cruising in South East Asia, is for re-chargeable torches. Their praise is not only that the torch never lets you down, but neither does the company that produces them, Pelican.

Pelican rechargeable torch - .. .

Here's what they say: 'About 6 years ago we purchased the first of three Pelicanre-chargeable torches. They're waterproof, lightweight, robust, very bright and have a lifetime guarantee. Best of all, the model we chose comes with a small 12volt re-charging cradle, which we installed at the Nav. station and wired into the switchboard supply. So the torch was always fully charged when we needed it.

After several years of service we experienced a few charging problems, and one torch stopped working after its first salt water immersion. So we sent all three units back to the manufacturer. To our delight they agreed to replace all three units at no charge - and they let us upgrade to the new LED versions for a small fee. Full points to Pelican for honouring the lifetime warranty without any questions - service like that is hard to find these days.

We use the Pelican Stealthlite 2460 Recoil LED - waterproof, though they say its not a diver's light - they have other models for that. Our thanks to Pelican Australia for the prompt service and great support.

by Des Ryan