Modded flashlight doubles as cellphone charger
posted Feb 27th 2007 10:05AM
Although most modern phones can go quite a few hours sans an AC outlet, we understand the need for juice in unexpected emergencies, and while the solar-powered charger does a fair job at high noon, you'll probably need a different approach come nightfall. Tackling two issues in one fell swoop is the cellphone-charging flashlight mod, which not only provides a beacon of light for those dim excursions, but also offers up hand crank recharging abilities for your fading mobile. Of course, hacking your flashlight to pull double duty as a manually powered charger is a bit more complex than just picking up a hamster or bicycle-powered option, but you've got to admit, crafting a makeshift charger with spliced cables and a soldering iron is totally MacGyver-approved. So if you're interested in giving yourself (and your handset) a bit longer life when robotic overlords eventually invade our domiciles, be sure to hit the read link for a video demonstration, and do mind the managerial cat on duty.
[Thanks, Kipkay]
Brookstone sells these.
Here's something for those people complaining about the iPhone's non-replaceable battery!
Blargh, I was thinking about doing this with my iPod battery for an upcoming bike trip I'm going on. A week with a twelve hour battery doesn't seem plausible. Now to find a schematic of the Shuffle Dock .
http://safetycross.lifegearcompany.com/6n1.htm
Got mine at Walmart..
Even the kitty was impressed :O
We have a crank powered flashlight/cell phone carger/radio/alarm that we picked up for like 10 bucks at Walgreens. Pretty much the same thing only it's lacking the solar-powered charger. It's great for use in the car, I wish I had a couple more of them.
noma actually makes a product that does the same including a usb port and common cellphone adapters, albeit it does retail for $25 CAD where I work (Canadian Tire) (65-2101)
Yeah, no need to mod. These hand-crank flashlights are readily available with the ability to charge cell phones.
What a waste of time! ha ha!
Now I wish I had this as an option before i bought one of those third party iPod battery changing kits. Ended up sending it in to the juice team and they got it straight.
This thing would work well for my wife's phone, though.
I, for one, welcome our flashlight charged cellphone overlords.