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Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
22 July 2013, 18:57,
#1
Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
Hi all,

I was wondering what you all think about this: Knowledge and information will be important so I was thinking it may be a good Idea to get a Kindle or something similar and get a solar charger for it and then it could be used as a reference or for training of any one that isn't prepared but still important to you.

Pro's:

1)The idea being that it would be full of books that are useful(1000's) so would be a good knowledge database.
2) It doesn't take up much space and if needed hard copies could be made of books to re-distribute(just like the good old day's, by hand! lol).
3) if you had a few it would be a good barter tool and help empower groups/communities ect.
4) ?????

Con's:

1) Fairly easy to break if you are clumsy.
2) Will need access to alternative power source if Solar no good.
3) Would be hard to fix without specialist knowledge/training/equipment.
4) ????

This would be in addition to paper hard copy books, so it is not an "instead of" but an "in addition too". However how important this would be I am not sure, so I have difficulty in prioritising it atm.

Bonus question: Has anybody seen any decent Solar Devices that is up to the job and durable ?

Thanks,

DG.
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22 July 2013, 19:42,
#2
RE: Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
We all go for storing information in the form of books and binders etc, hard copies , , if you store info electronically then you need to keep it in a faraday cage and come SHTF there is not likely to be any Internet
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22 July 2013, 19:57,
#3
RE: Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
(22 July 2013, 19:42)Spandex228 Wrote: We all go for storing information in the form of books and binders etc, hard copies , , if you store info electronically then you need to keep it in a faraday cage and come SHTF there is not likely to be any Internet

I agree,... I have most of my information on a laptop in a faraday cage, but I am starting to put much more information on paper than I used to do,... also books, providing you are not bugging out, books are too heavy to take with you,.. read and digest them
A major part of survival is invisibility.
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22 July 2013, 21:32,
#4
RE: Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
I have generally been of the "keep it low tech" viewpoint, but am beginning to reconsider this.

Modern electronics are very reliable (provided, as said, they are protected from electromagnetic interference). Advantages of a Kindle are:

- Very light and easy to carry in case of bug-out
- Easier and cheaper to acquire information pre-SHTF, meaning you are likely to end up with a more comprehensive library
- Easier and cheaper to duplicate the information.

I would invest in two, maybe three, E-readers and sync my library across all of them. If there is, say, a 1 in 100 chance of a random failure of the device in the next five years, this dcreases to 1 in 1,000,000 of them all failing if you have three.

Once you have the data on the devices, you don't need the internet.

Any proprietary solar charger (e.g. powermonkey) will suffice to keep a Kindle charged. I'd gomfor a slightly more robust solar PV system with an inverter, so I could run the devices off the power supply. That way, even if the in-built lithium batteries degrade, you'll still be able to use the devices.
Find a resilient place and way to live, then sit back and watch a momentous period in history unfold.
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22 July 2013, 21:50, (This post was last modified: 22 July 2013, 21:54 by Rush2112.)
#5
RE: Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
we keep a binder with important survival info, gleaned from a myriad of sources. for example section 1 water: various methods of collecting and treating. section 2 local wild edibles, section 3 trapping, section 4 basic firearms usage/maintenance, etc etc

its a work in progress. started with a notebook, but had too many side notes and references to other pages. now using a 3 ring binder with plastic document protectors. easy to make changes/ additions.

idea is to pass it on to future family generations to spare them all the trial and error and studying i've done over these many years. i learned much from my older relatives too. sadly most have passed. when there arent any more "old timers" to turn to for advice that means now its your turn. thats what i'm trying to do.

i'm not too tech savvy, but have been looking into solar recently and this is about the simplest set up of solar ac/dc power box. its portable too.

http://graywolfsurvival.com/2302/a-simpl...-powerbox/

hope it helps you. still seems all greek to me
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22 July 2013, 22:46,
#6
RE: Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
Take a look at these they come in 3 sizes
http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/uk/produ...ner/RSP150

We got the 600 for expeditions so we can keep the fridge/freezer on all the time running off the second battery.
Failure is NOT an option
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23 July 2013, 10:58,
#7
RE: Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
i just bought one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solar-Battery-...5d351ca96e recently for my phone but it will charge anything that has a usb charge lead.
its not the cheapest or the most expensive
over a three day camp I left it out in the sun to charge up and then charged the phone over night and in the morning I had a fully charged device Cool
not sure how it will work long term but so far I`m happy with its performance.
I don't have a kindle so I`m unsure whether it will work on it or not
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23 July 2013, 22:45,
#8
RE: Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
Thanks for the feed back, some good suggestions ill look into. Especially like the idea of the inverter in case the battery dies.
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24 July 2013, 07:38,
#9
RE: Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
When comes to tech im still not 100% in keeping everything on just a electronic devices I always back it up with paper copies not of the whole article but in note form as well. These are stored in a light and dust proof box in a safe place.
Failure is NOT an option
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24 July 2013, 22:37,
#10
RE: Small Solar Power Supply for Small Device(s)
@DorianGray, having a digital backup is a great idea. You will have to give it some kind of protection though. There's just no way to carry as much information as one of these can for you. Backup documents, survival notes, list of contacts and account numbers, maps of the areas you'll be in, etc are always good. A long battery life is what you want with that but I actually just use an iPad at the moment. I'll be changing that soon.

When I was in Afghanistan, I just used a suntactics s-charger 5 solar panel to recharge ana 11,000 mAh USB battery (about the size of an external HDD) and then used the battery (or the solar panel directly if it was daylight and the battery was full) and never ran out of juice. I kept the USB battery charged with AC power when I was back on one of the big FOBs and the power wasn't out.

Just make sure you don't rely 100% on electronics. They tend to break/overheat/get stolen etc, but they can't be beat what they can do for you.

I also keep a small inverter with an additional USB out in my bugout bag that plugs into a 12V socket just in case as well as a female 12V plug with alligator clips that I could use if I came across a 12V battery somewhere as a last resort.

@Rush2112, that system is probably overkill for this purpose as far as the battery and inverter size are concerned. It was a proof of concept that I threw together with stuff I had laying around the house because my neighborhood was going camping together and a few of them had never been camping before. I use it to power my whole campsite but it is super simple to put together. What you really need to do is figure out how much power you really need, find a battery or bank of batteries that will deliver that amount of amp-hours for the longest period you'd plan for that you couldn't recharge it, and match a solar panel that would give you enough power to recharge it during the useful daytime you have - including draw if you use the inverter while you charge.
Graywolf Survival - Prepping, Survival, Self-sufficiency
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