Turn the batteries around or remove them – Packing tip

When packing flashlights or other battery-powered devices that might easily switch on, always turn the batteries around inside the device — or, remove one or more of the batteries completely from the device.

This way, if the item is accidentally turned on while hiking or moving about, you won’t drain the batteries.

The NoPoPo pee powered battery is finally here!

Back in 2005, Gadling Alumnus Erik Olson wrote a piece about advances in pee powered battery technology.

I’m sure many of you have been awaiting the moment that these new batteries would finally become available for the masses.

That moment has finally arrived!

The NoPoPo battery cells (Non Pollution Power) come in packs of 2, and each set includes a small pipette. The batteries are rechargeable, but only between 5 and 10 times, depending on how you use them. They are capable of delivering about 500mAh, which is only enough to power simple devices like a radio or alarm clock.

Thankfully, pee is not the only liquid you can use to recharge these cells, they’ll also take juice, coffee, tea and plain water. Naturally, a product like this can only come from Japan, where there is clearly a huge demand for batteries that can be recharged by peeing into them.

If you really need access to pee power, or just want one for the fun of it, you can pick up a pack of 2 AA’s for the totally unreasonable price of $15.

All joking aside, given the poor state of battery technology, any development like this should be applauded and I can certainly see the NoPoPo batteries being quite handy on a trip where you don’t have immediate access to a charger.

(Via: Technabob)

Product review – PowerPax battery organizer

In this short review I’m going to introduce a product I came across last week. The PowerPax battery clip organizer does exactly what the name implies; it organizes your batteries.

If you are like me when you travel, you’ll have several gadgets that still require regular (AA, AAA or 9V) cells to operate, and I’ve usually had to carry a small plastic case or Ziploc bag for them.

The PowerPax battery organizer is surprisingly simple, and the version I’m reviewing today (the A9 caddy) holds 4 AAA’s, 4 AA’s and 1 9 volt battery. The batteries are all held in place with small plastic clips, and can be removed by pushing them up out of the caddy.

It’s all very simple, but another of those “why didn’t I think of that” items. At just 6.95 it’s also a real bargain. The A9 caddy is one of 10 different versions available and each caddy comes in several colors, including “glow in the dark”.

The caddy is made of very hard plastic, and there are no rough or sharp edges to be found. The batteries lock in place quite well and the whole thing just feels well made.

Like many convenient travel products, the PowerPax battery caddies were developed by a pilot who was fed up with loose batteries in his cockpit, so he set out to find his own solution. The PowerPax battery organizers all comply with DOT regulations, so they can be carried in your bag onto the plane.

Next week: batteries banned from checked luggage

Attention gadget-packing travelers: starting January 1, 2008, you will no longer be able to pack “loose lithium batteries” in your checked luggage, says the Department of Transportation. By loose, they mean either A) not attached to an electronic device in your checked luggage, or B) not in a zipped plastic baggy in your carry-on.

“Common consumer electronics such as travel cameras, cell phones, and most laptop computers are still allowed in carry-on and checked luggage,” reads the report. “However, the rule limits individuals to bringing only two extended-life spare rechargeable lithium batteries, such as laptop and professional audio/video/camera equipment lithium batteries in carry-on baggage.” Spare is the key word there.

For once, as Chris Elliott notes, this new regulation isn’t due to a terrorism threat. Instead, the ban is a safety precaution, as “lithium batteries are considered hazardous materials because they can overheat and ignite in certain conditions.”

In case the light-on-details report is unclear, this means that you can still bring your digital cameras and laptops on-board in your carry-on, but loose batteries — such as an extra one for your laptop or camera — must be limited to two, and placed in a plastic baggy if carried on. What isn’t clear is how the TSA will determine whether or not your audio, video, or camera equipment is “professional.” And if it’s not professional, is there still a limit on how many batteries you can bring on board?

Product review: Solio Hybrid solar charger

How green is the Solio® Hybrid 1000?

The Solio is so green you could toss it in with some lettuce, croutons and parmesan cheese, drizzle Caesar dressing over everything and eat it raw (right before a big helping of ‘tofurkey’, obviously).

This beautifully crafted bundle of eco-feel-good bliss makes the necessary evil of killing batteries a little less disagreeable. Using the glorious power of the sun, it recharges a multitude of devices such as mobile phones, Bluetooth headsets, PDAs, MP3 players, handheld gaming systems, digital cameras, GPS units and more.

Slim and compact (it’s 198 x 68 x 18mm or 7.7 x 2.7 x 0.7 inches and weighs about 0.5 kilos or 1.1 lbs.), the Solio is surprisingly rugged, complete with an integrated carabiner clip so you can affix it to just about anything.

Showers forecasted for the next week on the Appalachian Trail? Give your Solio a base charge before you leave by plugging it into your laptop. Not as eco-friendly, but hey, your mobile phone won’t judge you when its batteries are dead.

Genius idea, brilliant design, but does it really work? People, it works like a charm – though not quite up to the extents alluded to on the box.

Here’s the lowdown: the Solio is not a concurrent charging solution. It’s a two step process. First the Solio’s own internal storage battery needs to be charged up (“cue the sun”), then you can plug in your device which charges itself off the Solio’s battery. This is actually a good thing, because once the Solio is charged, you can charge your device day or night, rain or shine. Furthermore, once charged, the Solio will hold its charge for up to one year.

Now for the downside: while the Solio’s Quick Start Guide gives the impression that you can just clip the Solio to your backpack and it’ll quietly do its thing while you hike the day away, this is not necessarily true. Lengthy testing on my Solio revealed that not only does the Solio need to be pointing more or less directly at the sun to charge (a given, really), but it must be under clear sunlight (i.e. even slight overcast conditions means no charging occurs). So, even if you leave it stationary on a log all day, it needs a little babysitting. As the sun moves, you will need to adjust the Solio. Unfortunately, this means if wanna do that chic clip-it-to-your-backpack arrangement, unless you walk with your back to the sun all day, the Solio will only charge itself in fits and starts.

Which brings us to charging time… The Solio’s alleged charging time is a little ambiguous. The guide states that it will charge from zero to full in 10-12 hours under direct sunlight and 12-48 hours under cloudy conditions. My testing usually required about 16-20 hours to charge under direct sunlight and I was never able to get the Solio to charge under cloudy/overcast conditions. To be fair, I must confess that most of my testing occurred in downtown Minneapolis, in the dwindling sunlight months of October and November. Perhaps under ideal conditions the Solio will perform better.

The Quick Start Guide (printed on recycled paper!), consisting mostly of wordless diagrams, is clever in theory. I loved that they saved reams of paper by not printing full directions in five languages, but equally I spent much longer than I would have liked puzzling over the somewhat non-intuitive drawings.

That said, once you decipher the directions, the Solio is easy to use. The Solio simply has one button and two LED lights, maximizing its juice to power your device. The short learning curve needed to memorize the array of solid and flashing light indicators is a small price to pay for its durability and minimum wasted energy.

It’s important to note that the Solio isn’t compatible with all handheld items. It comes with three output attachments, that plug straight into many devices/manufacturers (Blackberry, Motorola, Nokia, iPod, iPhone), but its compatibility starts to get fuzzy when you get into PDAs, digital cameras, etc. Before you get your heart set on the magic of a Solio, check that your desired device is compatible.

A final minor disappointment is the Solio’s water resistance, in that it isn’t. Admittedly, most devices you’d be charging with your Solio aren’t going to be water resistant either, but the outdoorsy allure drops exponentially when you have to start worrying about keeping your Solio clear of lake/river splash and rain.

Performance and limitations aside, again, this thing is awesome. As a rule, what with its somewhat lengthy charge time, it’s best to only rely on the Solio for one, or maybe two oft used devices. It simply doesn’t have the capacity to keep more things running.