Original Article
OK so I stole this idea from the "Book of Eli
" movie, but I was so facinated by the idea that I wanted to see if it was viable. Most things in the movies are not but this does seem like a good idea that I am going to put this setup together.
The object of the project is to get together a halfway decent 12 volt dc system that you could actually move pretty fast with. Now to recap the movie: Eli a wanderer had an ipod that he listened to a lot and he recharged it with a cheap little 12 volt battery. Not that I think an ipod is wonderful survival gear, but a cell phone might be.
The first element is the battery. I have seen several of these on the market for under $15 for a 7 amp hour model. These are batteries that are used in UPS systems for computers and will be sealed lead acid batteries.
The second part is an adapter for the battery to get it to a common plug for usage. This is a cheap $4 adapter that has clips for a battery on one end and a dc car outlet on the other. You can now hook up all manner of adapters to your battery. IF it does not pull too many amps.
Get real crazy with it and add a dc battery charger
to it and now you can run even more gadgets.
Think of a rechargeable cigarette lighter flashlight
or maybe just an led light that can be plugged into a car cigarette lighter.
Next is a cheap $3 dc to usb adapter
. Now all your little usb devices like cell phone, ipod, or etc can be hooked up out in the field.
Now to charge the battery. Here is a 5 Watt solar panel
that might do the trick.
Or add your common ac trickle charger
into the mix and you will be set.
Now keep in mind I do not recommend keeping all of this equipment in your backpack just to keep your ipod working. But having the smaller 12 battery, the dc to usb converter and the dc outlet could be an enormous benefit if a little power is needed in a rural setting. For under $25 the ability to charge your cell phone several times has got to be worth it.
Just an idea and my 2 cents.
" movie, but I was so facinated by the idea that I wanted to see if it was viable. Most things in the movies are not but this does seem like a good idea that I am going to put this setup together.The object of the project is to get together a halfway decent 12 volt dc system that you could actually move pretty fast with. Now to recap the movie: Eli a wanderer had an ipod that he listened to a lot and he recharged it with a cheap little 12 volt battery. Not that I think an ipod is wonderful survival gear, but a cell phone might be.
The first element is the battery. I have seen several of these on the market for under $15 for a 7 amp hour model. These are batteries that are used in UPS systems for computers and will be sealed lead acid batteries.
The second part is an adapter for the battery to get it to a common plug for usage. This is a cheap $4 adapter that has clips for a battery on one end and a dc car outlet on the other. You can now hook up all manner of adapters to your battery. IF it does not pull too many amps.
Get real crazy with it and add a dc battery charger
to it and now you can run even more gadgets.
Think of a rechargeable cigarette lighter flashlight
or maybe just an led light that can be plugged into a car cigarette lighter.
Next is a cheap $3 dc to usb adapter
. Now all your little usb devices like cell phone, ipod, or etc can be hooked up out in the field.Now to charge the battery. Here is a 5 Watt solar panel
that might do the trick.
Or add your common ac trickle charger
into the mix and you will be set.Now keep in mind I do not recommend keeping all of this equipment in your backpack just to keep your ipod working. But having the smaller 12 battery, the dc to usb converter and the dc outlet could be an enormous benefit if a little power is needed in a rural setting. For under $25 the ability to charge your cell phone several times has got to be worth it.
Just an idea and my 2 cents.
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