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How to give your hike a high-tech upgrade
Here's all of the gear you need to take your hiking game to the next level.
Cooking in the great outdoors
Camping is a wonderful way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the overly stimulating modern world. If you're fortunate, you'll venture beyond cell coverage for a distraction-free trip into the wild. It's wonderful... until you realize you can't get a pizza delivered.
The PowerPot V: Charging your devices with fire
One of the most enjoyable parts of my job is reviewing hardware that is completely unique, and that's the case with The PowerPot V (US$149.00). The device is a thermoelectric generator in the form of a camping cook pot; put it on a heat source suitable for boiling water -- a campfire or camp stove, for example -- and it bumps out 5 W of power (5V, 1A) to charge your favorite electronics. When would you use something like The PowerPot V? While backpacking, or perhaps during an extended power outage when all of your backup battery packs have already discharged. For that reason, it's the perfect accessory for campers, hikers, or anyone who wants to be sure that they have power where they need it, when they need it. To set up the PowerPot for charging, I guess the first thing you'd want to do is get your heat source going -- light that campfire, get the camp stove lit, or ignite the gas grill. Next, you take the PowerPot and extend the handle so you have something to grip onto as you put it onto the heat source. Before you do so, however, you want to fill the PowerPot with liquid -- the colder, the better. In fact, it's recommended to add snow or ice to your water so that it takes longer to heat up the liquid and give you a longer charging period. Next, you take that full pot and center it over the heat source. As noted in the included quick start guide, you don't want to engulf the PowerPot in flame. Instead, it's best to focus the heat source in the center of the bottom plate of the pot. At this point, the green LED in the charging cord turns on, and when it does, it's time to plug in your device for charging. The charging cord has a USB port so you can plug in your own favorite cable, or you can use the three-headed (micro-USB, mini-USB and 30-pin Dock connector) cable supplied with the PowerPot. You need to be sure that you don't run the PowerPot dry, so while charging you may want to just keep a pot of water boiling for tea or coffee the entire time... The pot has a 1.4 Liter (1 quart) capacity, and a combo cup/bowl/skillet that can be used as a cover or to cook other items separately. Once your device is fully charged up, you take the PowerPot off of the heat source and let it cool down slowly. Since there's still a temperature differential, it will continue to generate power for some time. I tested the PowerPot over two heat sources -- a small gas camp store (using "Coleman Fuel") and our electric range. And yes, I know that the range wouldn't be available during a blackout -- I was just testing the PowerPot... I was quite surprised how quickly the green LED lit up once I "lit the fires", and my iPhone responded by noting that it was charging. The PowerPot can also be purchased with an 1800 mAh portable battery pack ($25) that also works as an LED flashlight -- something else that would be quite handy in an emergency. The entire PowerPot V kit comes in a mesh bag that's perfect for tossing into your backpack or emergency preps kit. Use this with one of the very cool wood-burning Biolite campstoves that also contains a thermoelectric generator, and you can charge a pair of devices while cooking your dinner. Conclusion Whether you're a hiker, camper, or just want a way to charge electronics when all power fails but you have a way to start a fire, the PowerPot V is a handy, smartly-designed and well-executed accessory. Just about anyone can boil water; the PowerPot V provides a way to keep your gizmos topped off while doing so. Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars possible
Dear Uncle TUAW: What's the best way to blog while backpacking?
Dear Uncle TUAW: Over the next two years my husband and I plan to hike El Camino de Santiago in Spain. I'd love to keep family and friends up to date on our trek by blogging on the trip, but since we want to keep our backpacks at less than 14 lbs. total weight, I'm not sure I want to carry an iPad and I know for sure that a laptop is going to be too heavy. Since weight and space are issues, what would you blog from if you were in my hiking boots? Your loving niece, Susan Dear Susan, I'm glad to hear that you're going to be out walking. Too many of you young whippersnappers spend all of your time on your keisters in front of those fancy HDTVs instead of getting good, clean exercise in the great outdoors. Your Aunt and I used to do a lot of hiking. Remind me to tell you about our experiences in Bhutan in 1958... Anyway, my first choice for lightweight blogging would be to grab an iPad mini and one of those newfangled keyboard cases, but if you're really trying to keep things light, why not just use that iPhone of yours as a small tablet? With that phone, you can not only grab great photos, but use them in your blog. While you're hiking, you can even talk to that Siri lady and she'll take down your notes like my old secretary Mabel used to do back at the munitions plant. Without the backtalk, of course. And the bad breath. But that's another story... When you get to wherever you're setting up camp for the night, you can while away the hours cleaning up her dictation. Yes, I had to clean up Mabel's dictation, too. Frankly, I'd take along a lightweight keyboard of some sort if I were you. Since you won't want to worry about charging batteries on a keyboard, one that's powered by the sun might be handy. Speaking of charging batteries, you can also take one of these crank-powered things with you on your hike to give your hands something to do. Charge up the battery pack by hand-cranking it, then use it to charge your iPhone while you're trying to sleep at night with all of those other pilgrims snoring around you. No need to look for a power outlet or carry along those pesky international power adapters. That's all I'll say about hardware, which referred to nuts and bolts in my earlier days, but what about blogging software? If you don't have a travel blog already, MapQuest's Travel Blog app is free and includes free hosting of your text and photos. Got one of those WordPress blogs? Their free app isn't too bad, either. You can be really smart and take all of your pictures with the iPhone so you don't have to carry a separate camera with all of its weight and bulk, and they'll go right into your blog. I'm rather fond of that Tumblr service for travel blogging myself, although please don't tell your Aunt about my "Tumblr After Dark" adventures in Amsterdam last year... Stay safe; watch out for blisters; and have a good trip! Hugs and kisses, Uncle TUAW
Google Trekker goes to the Grand Canyon, takes Street View souvenirs back home
You might remember Google's unveiling this spring of the Street View Trekker, a seeming cross between a backpack and Van de Graaff generator that lets the mapping team produce 360-degree imagery where even trikes dare not tread. The portable camera ball is just going on its first trip, and Google has chosen the most natural destination for a novice tourist -- the Grand Canyon, of course. Staffers with Trekkers are currently walking trails along the South Rim of the canyon to provide both eye-level points of reference for wayward hikers as well as some breathtaking, controllable panoramas for those who can't (or won't) make it to Arizona. Once the photos make it to Street View sometime in the undefined near future, it'll be that much easier to turn down Aunt Matilda's 3-hour vacation slideshow.
