 A head torch (tikka)can run for 120hrs. why on earth would you want to charge a head torch with a solar panel? Why not make something more useful like a multi adaptor that you can charge your digi camera battery instead, using a solar panel thats cheap,that can be taken backpackin? Maybe this is too useful, or maybe it exists and i aint seen it? is there a reason why you cant get a solar panel to charge a camera battery, apart from them all being stupid shapes?
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| Edited: 18/06/08 16:43 |
 PowerMonkey Explorer can charge phones, cameras etc but using its own little sealed battery/charger which is itself charged by a solar panel, not cheap though.
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 It makes sense if you're trekking in, say Nepal, where you may be on the trail for three weeks and don't want to carry loads of batteries with you. Or the Sates where folk do far longer backpacks than they tend to over here. If you're only doing short trips and are happy to either recharge or replace batteries as and when you need to, I agree, it makes less sense.
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yeah but if your trekking in Nepal, you use your head torch say- 4 hours a night, that makes 28hrs a week. so a 3 week trek which is about a normal long trek = 84 hrs. take a packet of aaa's as spare, hardly as heavy as a solar charger!
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 It does seem a bit "gimmicky" I suppose, but it might be handy in regions of the world where it might be difficult to get hold of batteries, or if an extended expedition is planned. I wouldn't want one for caving though!
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| Edited: 18/06/08 18:48 |
 It's 'green' innit... A multi-purpose solar charger would indeed be a better idea.
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 Land fill! Just think of the amount of corrosive batteries there are in the ground seeping away at any one moment in time. Yes it is geeky, sometimes looks odd and you may need a bit of sunshine and a brain which remembers to leave the charger out during the day, but as Jon says, 3/4 weeks in Kathmandu can generate loads of landfill! True solar batteries will run out eventually, but hopefully you will have saved chucking away a good number of corrosive time bombs in the meantime. I used this little twin LED solar torch on my last trip, and just clipped it onto the rucksack during the day. It was great to read by and leave on in the tent without that 'got to turn it off -save power' feeling. Daft really .. but fun 
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> Land fill! That's what rechargeables are for... when they're dead, they go in the recycling bin.
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 Wind up seems a better option to me. I've got a Baylis Media player on the go and it's good - FM radio, MP3, movies/TV downloads, even a torch...! It's all I need, but it'd seem logical to produce an effective remote hand cranker unit that'll charge everything else, for people who simply must carry all their electronic crap with them. Lose a few calories while you're at it, too.
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 I say this everytime, but it really really saddens me that proper companys don't give these eco friendly ideas a go and do them properly, instead we end up with half hearted badly made things made by lesser companies. Its about bl**dy time the big companies were bullied into making decent eco friendly items! I do like the look of the wind up thing BPL have in at the moment.
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> It's all I need, but it'd seem logical to produce an effective remote hand cranker unit that'll charge everything else Saw one in TK Maxx the other day... Quite a few of the wind-up torches also have charge outlet sockets on the side, too. I bought a cheap wind-up torch with a view to making such a beast, but it's still in the 'roundtuit' pile...
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Funny how people are saying yeah lets save the planet' by having a solar panel strapped to your pack in nepal so you dont throw away 3 aaa batteries. of course after flyng to nepal your carbon footprint is getting rather large so a few aaa should cover it. anyway im all for something that can re charge, dosnt weigh a ton . i'd just like to have something that can do more than one item. If every gadget had its own solar panel you'd end up looking like a walking green house!
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It can do more than one item, you can charge small things either directly from the solar panel thingee or from the torch - does no-one read anything any more I wasn't suggesting btw, that people use one these as some sort of justification for going to Nepal, it was just an example of a situation where it potentially made sense to use a solar charger rather than normal batteries. You could equally well use it on a walk along the Pennine Way... The charger weighs 82 grammes btw, two AA rechargeable batteries weigh 54 grammes, so there's a whopping 28 grammes difference. It's only about 2 inches x 4 inches in size, so it doesn't really 'weigh a ton'. Anyway, I'm off to build a wind-up aeroplane so I can go trekking abroad without stressing over my carbon footprint 
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Funny how people are saying yeah lets save the planet' by having a solar panel strapped to your pack in nepal so you dont throw away 3 aaa batteries. of course after flyng to nepal your carbon footprint is getting rather large so a few aaa should cover it.
Ah, but if I cycle there, does that mean I can continue occupying the moral high ground...?
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TDS, everyone has to do there little bit, you can't completely change your life and not explore the world but if you can do just a little bit and everyone does then it can make a big difference. If we all had a negative and sarcy attitude to everyone doing there little bit we may aswell not bother doing anything at all! I hate this attitude of looking for the hypocracy before looking for the good in something or someone!  I know where Jon is coming from, we did the Cumbria Way earlier this year and used our Freeloader solar charger to charge our phones and batteries. One and two day trips its overkill and unnessecary but anything a week or longer then these devices really do start to make sense and there weight or cost is completely offest after just one two week trip. My only gripe is the design, they still aren't very friendly for hanging off rucksacks.
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> Ah, but if I cycle there, does that mean I can continue occupying the moral high ground...? Yeah, and you could fit a hub dynamo and charge batteries to your heart's content...
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But...but I'll consume more food generating the extra calories to charge the batteries, thereby driving up prices for the world's poor!
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 I still wonder what on earth happened to Trevor Baylis's charger for all batteries/electronic items by the power of walking! It was a unit built into the soles of shoes/boots that charged up things as you walk along. He was talking about it about five years ago but must have run into technical problems or something, as I have not heard any updates on this yet. I know, next time I speak to him I will have to ask him! I have Trevor's phone number here somewhere!
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TDS, everyone has to do there little bit, you can't completely change your life and not explore the world but if you can do just a little bit and everyone does then it can make a big difference. If we all had a negative and sarcy attitude to everyone doing there little bit we may aswell not bother doing anything at all! I hate this attitude of looking for the hypocracy before looking for the good in something or someone! .
Yeah! we can change the world. lets all buy head torches with solar panels.. You almost sound like politican, blaming the man on the street when its the big corperations to blame. I think you've been watching too many al gore movies. There you go, lets see how red your little head looks after reading that.
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 Oooh! I could tear a tissue!
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