Imagine you are out in the Wicklow hills when, just as dusk falls, you break your leg. Luckily, you have a torch. You simply wait until it's dark, then flash up at the rescue helicopters. But the battery is weak in your torch it fades out after a minute so you are left to die on the hillside.
Luckily, you have a radio to keep you amused in your final hours, but the battery runs out, and you eventually die of both boredom and hypothermia.
But now, you can banish those lingering-death-on-the-hillside-because-of-flat-batteries blues, with the new wind-up torch and wind-up radio. Both contain a small spring engine, which the owner cranks up by turning a plastic handle.
Around 30 seconds of twisting on the South-African made radio produces 30 minutes of listening pleasure. About 60 winds on the torch gives at least three minutes of strong light.
The Freeplay Self-Powered Lantern, price £55, and the Freeplay Radio, price £68, are distributed by Sherlane Agencies and available from Sherwoods Electrical and other expert dealers across the country.
