The rains and winds are here for the winter. Along with the storms come the power outages. The first thing we reach for is the trusty flashlight! Oops! We forgot to charge the rechargeable batteries or replace the regular ones.

There is a product out that will stop the need for this chore. The wind up flashlight is a combination self-generating light and a rechargeable in one. It can be plugged in to charge the rechargeable batteries or wound up and used on demand as well as self-charge. A low night beam lets you know it is charging. One winding will last about 45 minutes to an hour.

For those of us who have better things to do, this makes us look really prepared. There are also radios that have solar chargers built-in as well as the wind up power source. No external power source is needed. These are available seasonally at many warehouse or hardware stores. The quality and reliability has greatly improved. Not a bad item to have in the emergency kit or close at hand for your next northwest power outage.