One of the potentially huge challenges all of us gear-nuts would face in a disaster is "HOW DO I KEEP ALL MY TOYS CHARGED UP?" Tacticool flashlights, gps devices, radios, cellphones; to one degree or another, we all would be up a creek without them. Sure, I could get by without, but it sure would be nicer to have all this stuff running for more than a couple of hours in the PAW... So, with that in mind, here is a quick write up and review of my BOB battery recharging setup, utilizing the Everlight EL-9 Clip Light.
The Everlight, with a nice shiny quarter for size reference.
Clipped to my hat.
DESCRIPTION
I stumbled on this little fella a few months ago at my local outfitter. It is quite small, yet puts out a very useable amount of light for bumming around camp, or even for night hikes. But the main reason I purchased it is for the recharging ability. I was carrying a Solio 1000 around, and the darn thing was just too big, the internal battery basically sucks, and really never put out the power I was hoping for. The EL-9 is a far better product, in my humble opinion. LOTS lighter weight, smaller, good battery, and has the led headlamp thrown in for good measure.
Now, as with almost everything these days, you can't just buy the product you want and walk off doing what you need. You have to buy the adaptor/converter/widget separately. In their defence, Everlight makes several different charging kits, some less expensive than others. Since I was planning on making the cliplight the centerpiece of my full recharging system, I splurged and bought the MP-1 cellphone kit. It came with a wide variety of charging tips, and had everything I needed to outfit my little charging station. As you can see in the pics, there is an extra line coming off the MP1. This is to attach an extra solar panel, to augument the capacity of the system. I haven't needed it, but it is nice to know it is there.
The cliplight and MP1 charger setup.
Charging my Crackberry
The final piece of the setup was the [url=http://www.eneloop.info/products/chargers.html]Sanyo eneloop MDU01 usb battery charger and rechargeable Ni-MH batteries. The charger will work with either AA or AAA, and will charge batteries from other manufacturers. I had recently switched all my equipment over to AA, so all I had to do when I bought the charger was pick up a couple of extra batteries, and I was all set!
Charging the everlight charger.
Solar Charging station, all together in a cool little Case Logic harddrive case.
IN USE
First, the led headlamp feature of the EL9. This is meant as a low-power device. Definately not someting you will want on the end of your shotgun! That being said, the EL9 puts out plenty of light for any camp chore, and on night hikes, puts a fairly wide pattern out to 10-15 feet. That is plenty enough to see the trail. To be honest, the EL9 has become my "go to" flashlight while in camp, since most "tactical" flashlights are TOO bright for that kind of work. Ever wake up in the middle of the night to take a leak, and blind yourself with your 120 lumen streamlight? Yea, me too. The EL9 hasn't pissed me off like that yet.
Now, on to the charging! I haven't had time to do a proper scientific study of the charging capacity, but I will say that the cliplight has yet to let me down. With a full charge in its battery, at night, it will charge a completely flat Blackberry up to about 25-50% (between 2 and 3 bars on the phone screen) before it is depleted, which is good enough to let me make a few phone calls, text a few dozen times, check my position with GPS, order some ammo from CDT... you get the picture. During the day, the cliplight kept charging for as long as I wanted to let it sit. Ditto with the AA charger. In daylight, it will charge the phone or AA batteries all the way up, but it takes time. It is NOT a quick-charger. This is something you would strap to the top of your pack, run the wiring inside a pouch, and worry about the phone/batteries at the end of the hike. It does that quite well.
All in all, the guys at Everlight have a real winner on their hands. A small, powerful, and adaptable solar charging/lighting solution, that wont break the bank.
Everlight EL9 cliplight; $25 at [url=bigrockoutfitters.com]Big Rock Outfitters[/url]
Everlight MP1 adaptor kit $22 at [url=bigrockoutfitters.com]Big Rock Outfitters[/url]
Sanyo Eneloop charger and 2 batteries (amazon) $13.00
/begin shameless plug: Big Rock is my local outfitter. They are pretty darn cool people, and i have no problem sending anyone to them. I do not work for them, I just like helping out local businesses. The website doesnt have the Everlights listed yet, but they carry em. If you want to get one, help a small "brick and morter" business out, and just give them a call. They will set you up!
