I am not a big fan of crank-to-charge tools, Â still I can’t help but admire just how pretty and functional this Eton American Red Cross Road Torq is.
Designed for road emergencies, the contraption beams a spotlight and activates a flashing beacon while standing on its tripod legs. Since it’s crank-powered, there’s no need for fresh batteries either. You can have it rotting in your car the entire year, for instance, until you need it and the thing should do its job handily. It’s job, by the way, being to alert the Jeepers Creepers of your presence in the dark, so it can eat your whole family. Okay… maybe not the best idea.
The Eton American Red Cross Road Torq comes with a powerful LED spotlight and a three-LED beacon to keep you visible on the road, even when your vehicle refuses to do anything.  The beacon is installed right on the tripod legs, which can fold when not in use to take up less storage space.
Two minutes of cranking gets you 15 minutes of power to juice both the spotlight and the beacon. Oh yeah, the crank is made with an aluminum hand, too, so you’re not stuck with the flimsy plastic sticks all the other crank-powered gadgets seem to think is a good idea. There’s also a 12V DC power input, in case you’d rather funnel juice into it because you had your hands replaced with hooks (hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time).
Sure, it’s not half as fun as a flare, but the Eton American Red Cross Road Torq should get the job done without being a bother. Amazon has it for $39.95.
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