Where's the Current Bush to plug my phone into?

[Old Ironsights]

As Wildland Firefighters we often make fun of this idea...

BUT: THIS I MUST HAVE!

http://videos.komando.com/watch/4216/vi ... le-title-e

http://www.flamestower.com/

A Flame heat to USB voltage charging device...

[Model 52B]

That has to be the most inefficient phone charger in history.

Keep it simple with a solar charger.

[Old Ironsights]

That has to be the most inefficient phone charger in history.

Keep it simple with a solar charger.

Hard to use a solar charger over night from your campfire...

[AJMD429]

Inefficient but versatile. Today is so cloudy here that even in daytime there wouldn't be much ability to charge with solar.

Plus, the more compact, the easier to store/carry.

[piller]

I wonder if you could get about 3 or 4 of them and connect them in parallel to have enough wattage to charge slightly bigger batteries?

[shooter]

Neat idea. I've had my eye on this: http://shop.biolitestove.com/campstove. ... lnDQxyvUa8

It has a charger attached to a portable backpacking cook stove. I do quite a bit of wilderness backpacking in conjunction with fly fishing. Kind of expensive, but I like the idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8pxT7jTGSs

[Model 52B]

Inefficient but versatile. Today is so cloudy here that even in daytime there wouldn't be much ability to charge with solar.

Plus, the more compact, the easier to store/carry.

I agree, on cloudy/rainy days solar chargers do not work so hot. But my GPS lasts about a week on a charge and my phone will go 2-3 days on average between charges, so I can afford a couple days of cloud cover and with a compact rechargeable USB charger (about 3" x2" by 3/8" in size) I can extend that to a week.

I'd don't agree that it's lighter overall as a system. If I go with the thermal charger, I am now reliant on a heat source. I'm not sure I see the point of having a lightweight back packing stove like an MSR Whisperlite that will bring a quart of water to a boil in a few minutes with relatively little fuel used, when I'd have to run it a lot longer to charge my phone - at the cost of a lot more fuel, taking up a lot more weight and volume than a solar charger.

Now, if I am in an area where I can build a camp fire every evening, then it might start to make sense - but I'll have to drag some coals off to the side to power the charger, to avoid having it melt by being too close to the main fire, and I'll have to tend the thing on a regular basis for 2-3 hours each for my GPS, and iPhone.

In contrast, I can strap a solar charger to the back of my pack and charge on the move, charging the phone, the GPS and the USB charger all in about 2-3 hours each in bright sun. So I only need one day of bright sun a week, or 3 days a week less than heavy overcast (charging 1 item a day over a slower all day charge) to keep everything functioning. And you can find suitable back pack solar chargers all over the web.

http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?pr ... 4.10754178

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/80346?pr ... 1b2166becc

http://www.harrysarmysurplus.net/molle- ... 7AodQE8A-A

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/78132?fe ... ppxs&dds=y

Consequently, the only place I really see a great need for this would be at either pole where you'd find very short days or no sunlight at all for months at a time.

[Rusty]

Or you could contact the C. Crane Company and order one of their solar observer radios. It has AM/FM and NOAA weather bands. It will run on AA batteries, Solar power, or and crank driven dyno. The hand crank will also charge a cell phone.

I don't think the flame thing would work very well with a campfire unless you had some way to shield the electronics from the fire.

[Old Ironsights]

My thing is, unlike solar chargers, this thing doesn't look fragile. Nor should it melt (assuming the water cup is made of silicone.)

The electronics aren't really going to be all that heat sensitive if made with thermal gain in mind either.

Sure, it might be a little hard to use it around a 5' standoff roaring campfire, but I don't see why you couldn't stick the thing into every cookfire you have to top off your phone/flashlight/whatever.

[Model 52B]

My thing is, unlike solar chargers, this thing doesn't look fragile. Nor should it melt (assuming the water cup is made of silicone.)

The electronics aren't really going to be all that heat sensitive if made with thermal gain in mind either.

Sure, it might be a little hard to use it around a 5' standoff roaring campfire, but I don't see why you couldn't stick the thing into every cookfire you have to top off your phone/flashlight/whatever.

Get one and let us know how well it works.

Personally, I'm going to stick with a solar charger that will charge a battery part or all of the day, that I can then use to charge what ever needs it each evening before I turn in, while you tend your thermal charger for a 2-3 hours.

[AJMD429]

Get one and let us know how well it works.

It is a hard to make decision, since I never saw a price...

[Old Ironsights]

Get one and let us know how well it works.

It is a hard to make decision, since I never saw a price...

It's still in the Kickstart phase. Current Charge is... ohm... let me look... $80.

Not a bargain at this juncture, and probably about 20% more than eventual retail but still...

Charge your phone with your MRE heater? Watt's not cool about that?

[Old Ironsights]

...
Consequently, the only place I really see a great need for this would be at either pole where you'd find very short days or no sunlight at all for months at a time.

I did live in Alaska for several years and spent an awful lot of time breaking Unka Sam's new Toys up at the Northern Warfare Training Center...

How about being able to charge a USB/LED flashlight/headlamp while Spelunking? Seems it would be handy for that too...

[Model 52B]

...
Consequently, the only place I really see a great need for this would be at either pole where you'd find very short days or no sunlight at all for months at a time.

I did live in Alaska for several years and spent an awful lot of time breaking Unka Sam's new Toys up at the Northern Warfare Training Center...

How about being able to charge a USB/LED flashlight/headlamp while Spelunking? Seems it would be handy for that too...

I don't do much dry caving anymore. The old joke is the spelunkers are people who go in caves, get lost and then need to be rescued by cavers. "Spelunker" is dated terminology and while I always liked the word, it's no longer popular in caving circles.

If that was your plan to recharge a cave light, you'd be limited to a pretty small light with a small battery that could be charged by the low output of the thermal charger, and the slow charge rate would require a fair amount of fuel - weight you'd have to carry into a cave. An extra battery or a battery powered USB charging device is a whole lot lighter, faster and more efficient.

I currently do a lot of cave diving however and the smallest primary light I have is 10 watt LED with 750 lumens of light output over a 5 hour burn time, and we carry an extra battery for a second dive. My other primary light is a 12 watt LED light with a 12 hour burn time. And I'm on the small end of the light size spectrum, 18, 21 and 35 Watt LEDs are commonly used. My lights, small as they are, use chargers with an output of .7 Ah and 1.8 Ah respectively. Even if the thermal charger would recharge them, it would take several hours. I will also have at least 2 smaller back up lights as ending up with no light in a cave is a potentially very serious problem that will slow your exit along a guide line. And being in the dark without a guideline is just plain fatal.

Dry cavers have a similar approach with large canister style primary lights and smaller and more numerous back up lights. They are not dealing with diffusion of the light in water and they can get by on less light, so a 1.0 to 1.5 Watt light with maybe 150-200 lumens would not be uncommon. But they are also not limited by breathing gas or decompression scheduled and can stay in a cave much longer, consequently they have large batteries for long run times in the 16 hour range and will bring extra batteries. The problems with a thermal charger would be the low voltage (5 volts versus the 14 or 15 needed to charge a 12 V or the 7 or so volts needed to charge a 6 V light, and the 8 hours or so you'd need to charge a canister light battery. That's a lot of time and that equates to a lot of fuel, food and water that all has to be carried.

I'd rather just keep it simple and bring extra batteries.

[Blaine]

If things are that bad...Teotwawkt....cells are a thing of the past. ....

[Old Ironsights]

If things are that bad...Teotwawkt....cells are a thing of the past. ....

I will never give up my Angry Birds! ... err... my E-Book Reader software... (yeah... that's it...)

[Blaine]

If things are that bad...Teotwawkt....cells are a thing of the past. ....

I will never give up my Angry Birds! ... err... my E-Book Reader software... (yeah... that's it...)

Use that lever to reach out and touch someone