Does that make any sense? No? Let me explain. Just about everything we own runs on electricity these days. Most of our most valued possessions, like cell phones, tablets, music players and radios run on battery power. Batteries have come a long way in recent years, but they all need one thing... recharging!Recharging is no big deal when you are at home or the office. You just plug in the little charger, connect it to your device and go do something else for awhile. In many cases you can plug one device, say an smartphone, into another device, say a laptop, using a USB cable. It’s kinda like in-flight refueling. Even so, that only works so long as there is at least one battery with some juice left.
Now, what do you do when you are out and about? If that means a quick trip to the coffee shop you may be able to sponge on one of their outlets to get a charge. In the car, you’ve got 12 Volts for recharging all the time. Outside... oh, that’s a problem. There are no outlets out in the woods or on the lake. When your batteries go dead, they are really, truly, dead.
But, wait! There are other sources of power available! One is solar, like the Solio Bolt we talked about last month. Excellent if you have enough sun over a long enough time. If not, then I guess you’ll have to be the recharger.
Me? A battery recharger? Yes, why not? You’ve got the energy to go hiking, boating or climbing. How about channeling some of that physical energy into your battery packs?
The easy way to do this is with a hand-cranked generator like the K-Tor Pocket Socket. Hey, Is that a generator in your pocket or... No, it’s actually a generator. It’s a powerful little generator, too. You’ve seen radios or flashlights with built-in human powered generators. This is the same thing, only it will power all sorts of devices and not just one. This model puts out 120 Volts rather than 5 volts or 12 volts. That means you can use it with the standard line powered recharger that comes with your device. No need to buy something else just to use the generator. How does this all work? Here, take a look...
This little generator has become really popular with campers, professionals in the field and outdoor activity lovers of all types who find that it is perfect for recharging cell phones, satellite phones, GPS units, digital cameras & camcorders, rechargeable lights, and other small electronic devices. There is one small caveat you should know about. If you read the specs closely, you’ll see that the power output is DC not AC even though it looks like an AC outlet. Fortunately, most every charger today is based on switching regulator design to make them small and lightweight. Those chargers are happy with DC or AC. Older heavier transformer power supplies and chargers won’t work because they need AC for the step-down transformers to function.
Also, anything with a 3-prong AC plug won’t work because it either has a transformer or draws too much power. This generator is good up for devices up to 10 Watts. That includes E-readers and tablets, but not laptop computers. Even so, most of what you care to carry around with you can grab a charge from the Pocket Socket no matter where you happen to be.
