Power your phones and USB devices with your campfire

There is more to staying connected than just having a cool device that does a lot of things.  Your phone may run your email, twitter, Facebook, text messaging, and oh yes, phone calls, but it is nothing more than a paperweight if you can’t charge it up.  As newer smartphones have larger screens and more features, they also eat up battery life much faster.  You have to charge it at some point.

With the nice weather approaching, more people will be bringing their phones with them when they start enjoying the outdoors.  Even if you plan to go camping and get away from the excessive phone ringing, it’s nice to know you have it with you in an emergency.  Plus it’s great to listen to music on.  With that in mind, we came across a pretty cool new product to keep your phone and other electronics charged up when in the great outdoors.

It is called the PowerPot.  Unlike traditional outdoor chargers that use solar or wind power, this charger uses your campfire.  As crazy as it may sound at first, it is a proven technology.  Using thermoelectric technology, this device generates electricity (enough to power most USB devices) by converting the energy from your campfire to heat a pot of water.  Unlike solar technology which only works during the daytime, and best when the sun is shining bright, thermoelectric technology works day or night in all kinds of weather conditions, provided you have a heat source capable of warming a pot of water.

In essence, the PowerPot is just that; a pot.  It looks similar to most pots you would find at a camping supply store used for small stoves or over a campfire. The difference is in the plate attached to the bottom which conducts the heat to the pot while generating electricity.  As the creators of the PowerPot say:

“PowerPot is a useful solution for recreation and emergency preparedness. Backpackers can replace a typical backpacking mess-kit and charge GPS units, headlamps, water purifiers, and cell phones. Many will find it useful as a just-in-case measure for power outages. Those equipped with propane stoves, wood stoves, or fire pits will be able to turn on a dead phone within minutes using the PowerPot.”

Currently the product is near completion and is almost ready for mass production.  It is looking for funding through Kickstarter in order to ramp up production.  If all goes well, we should see these products available early this summer, just in time for your big camping weekend.

To learn how you can contribute to the project, or to get one of the PowerPots for yourself, check out their page at www.thepowerpot.com.  If you want to learn more about how to stay connected, even under unusual circumstance, feel free to contact us, and tell us how you need to stay connected.