Rocking Chair

How about a comfortable chair that you can read your favorite book in for hours after dark – without worrying about draining the batteries of your solar system? Well, here it is!



”Designer Rochus Jacob has harnessed all that wasted kinetic energy created by gently rocking in the chair and has used advanced nano-dynamo technology built into the skids of the chair to power a reading lamp above the user’s head. And the lamp shade itself is actually the light source – it’s created from OLEDs. Thankfully, the flat and bendable organic light emitting diodes don’t require much power to deliver enough light to make reading enjoyable.

If you use the chair during the day a battery pack stores that energy for night-time, which means you can read without rocking, if you want to."

From gizmag.com

Bladeless fan

Aircondition units are very power hungry and can’t be run off of solar panels for that very reason. I have personally lived in a hot climate with no airconditioning available and so I know first hand the importance of good fans. You don’t often hear of new innovations in the fan business. And that is why I thought this video was quite fascinating.

E-books in the sun

You may have read about all the new e-book readers out there, with Amazon’s Kindle leading the pack, and begun craving one for yourself. But, since you are reading this blog, chances are that you are living in a place where electric power is a constant challenge. That is why we like solar powered stuff here at Jungle Gadgets.

I therefore think I have found the perfect e-book reader for you – the LG Display. It is solar powered and four to five hours of sun exposure yields an additional day's worth of reading time. You can read inside too, of course, thanks to the battery, but if you do that how will you show off the fact that you're on the cutting edge and hip with your e-book?

More info here.

Wind-up lamp

(Credit: Yanko Design)

Check these LED lamps out! You wind them up and they will add a little mood lighting while they slowly unwind. There are no batteries and no charging is needed.

You can get them in various colors so there should be something for every taste. 

Price: n/a  

Source: cnet.com.

More on the Aeropress

Here's a little video that demonstrates how the Aeropress works. If you want to read more about it, go to my review.

Solar Cell Phone Charger

Sanyo's Eneloop Portable Solar panel can charge mobile devices on the go.
(Credit: Sanyo)

 

You are hiking out of your village, over that last mountain ridge and you know, finally, that you have a cell signal – the first taste of civilization. You go to turn on your phone – nothing, the battery is dead. The fact is that there is cell phone coverage in areas you would not believe – far away from any power outlet where you can charge your phone. That is why todays little jungle gadget could prove very useful for people living a little ways away from regular modern conveniences.
Sanyo’s new Eneloop Portable Solar panels can charge portable devices through a USB connection. They're also relatively compact and should fit nicely into you backpack next to your emergency granola bar.

 
(Credit: Sanyo)

 

The only drawback is that you will also have to carry the Eneloop Mobile Booster (2.5 ounces) because the solar panel charges up the lithium ion battery, which  you then connect your cell phone to. It takes 1.5 days to 3 days to fully charge the Booster, but an hour's worth of sunshine is enough to power 20 or 40 minutes of talk time on a cell phone, which is fine for an emergency according to Sanyo. It depends on the number of panels you have and, of course, sunshine.

(From: cnet.com)

Price: USD 90

More information: http://sanyo.com/news/2009/08/05-1.html

Faster Internet!

I have been using the Opera web browser for many years now and have really appreciated the fact that they have introduced a lot of nifty and useful features – usually before anyone else.

Now version 10 is out in beta form. And again there are a lot of new cool features. The headline grabbing feature this time is Opera Turbo: “Opera Turbo is a compression technology that provides significant improvements in browsing speeds over limited-bandwidth connections like a crowded Wi-Fi in a cafe or browsing through your mobile phone while commuting.” They use compression technology to achieve this. Opera also includes an email client, improved design, speed dial, trash can where you can reopen closed tabs, etc.

They have also increased the speed of the browser itself: “We optimized the new Opera Presto 2.2 engine in Opera 10 to be much faster on resource-intensive pages such as Gmail and Facebook.”

 

This could do wonders for your slow dial-up, or satellite connection! Give it a try and let me know how it works out for you!

By the way, they also have a little web browser called the Opera Mini you can load on your phone (it's free) and it works great even on very small screens. I used it on my little Samsung cell phone in the Philippines, and I could open and read any web page I wanted.

Download and more info here.

The Aeropress Reviewed

A while back I posted rather excitedly about the Aerobie Aeropress, and my enthusiasm was based on other people's feedback on it. I have now owned one of these gadgets for a few weeks. And here are my observations so far:

Am I still as excited about this little plastic device? Even more so now after trying it! I have never before been able to make coffee this good... Seriously, I have been a coffee drinker for more than 17 years, and this is the first time I have tried something that is truly innovative and quite revolutionary. Now, I am sure there are $1000+ machines out there that might make coffee as good as this, but how does that compare to $25? Talk about value for your money. They don't even rip you off when you have to buy new filters!

It is fun and easy to use, cleans up very easily, and you have full control over how your coffee or espresso will turn out. I have tried both normal grind coffee, fine and espresso grind. To my taste, the espresso grind gives the richest and smoothest coffee. It might be a little harder to push the press down while making it, but it still works fine. The next variable is how long you mix the water and coffee grinds before squeezing it through the micro filter. The included instructions recommend 10 seconds. After trying various times, I have found 20-30 seconds to produce the best coffee, but individual preferences will vary of course. Just experiment a little, and soon you will be making the perfect cup for you every time...

I am not the only one who is blown away by the quality of coffee this simple press produces. I have had several people over, and they have been totally amazed by the rich, smooth and bitter-free coffee this thing makes. I have also tried making larger amounts, like filling a coffee thermos. Making a quadruple shot espresso (max capacity for the Aeropress) will almost fill a 1,5 ltr thermos, depending on how strong you like your coffee. It is a little trickier to mix the coffee grinds with the water when you fill it to the max though - it can get messy if you are not careful.

Any problems with it? Not really, but you do end up using more grinds than in a coffee maker if you only make one cup at a time... This is not really much of an issue though, because coffee makers don't do very well with small amounts of coffee, and I always ended up having to make at least half a pot when I only needed a cup, since that produces better coffee in a regular machine.

I highly recommend this to any coffee lover, whether you are living in the jungle or not!

Solar Freezer

If you are living in a remote village in the tropics there are a lot of things that won't be available to you. But for most of the year sunshine is not one of them. While solar power has its limitiations, technology keeps improving which this new product is proof of.

This freezer could be a great help in running a clinic or even in a private home.

"The custom, made to order IIS solution will maintain temperatures as cold as -5F (-20C) for at least 24 hours between charge, but with the (up to) 400 amp hr battery capacity and the solar panels working in harmony and regular exposure to sunlight, you should be able to go completely off-grid indefinitely.

VP of Corporate Accounts Jason Luedtke: "Our initial goal was to create a unit that would maintain the power source to the fridge/freezer for three full days with no sun exposure. That was our goal, the clouds come out you get a three day buffer. Our prototype testing proved that the unit maintained adequate power to hold temperature for nine days before we drifted out of proper temp range. We considered this a success.... but each unit (based on size/therefore power draw) and ambient temperature will have slightly varying results.""

(From: Gizmag)

More info: http://www.iis-inc.com/

12v Pizza Oven

Anything that runs off of 12V is of interest if your main power source is a solar system. I am not sure if this little pizza oven would be of much use, but it could at least serve a dual purpose for when you are travelling by car...

(Source:Cnet)

For all you jungle pilots out there....

Check out the VirtualHUD! It is a heads up display that uses the propeller on a single engine aircraft to display information. It is like a little projector that beams onto the prop. Pretty cool!

The VirtualHUD is a simple bolt-on system for any plane with a nose propeller that takes a readout from almost any avionics package or flight GPS system and projects it onto the back of the spinning prop, overlaying information, graphics, warning and waypoints directly over the pilot's view from the cockpit.

It is readable pretty much from idle and, best of all, because it's just a simple projector system, there's no reason why you couldn't use it to show your own in-flight movies too. No more long and boring flights with just the roar of the enginge to accompany you!

Solar Cap

How about using this cap on your next survey trip? Or when you need to work on your generator at one in the morning?

New Zealand-based company 2C is selling a range of solar powered LED caps that charge up during the day to provide light at night. All the energy gathering, light-emitting technology is located in the semi-flexible pre-bent beak of the caps including the solar panel and the NiMH battery used to store it.

The cap initially takes about three days of daylight to reach a full charge, after which one day should be enough. A full charge will provide five hours of use on full beam or 36 hours on low beam.

The Solar Light Cap is available in a range of styles and colors, ranging in price from USD$39.90 to $44.90.

Battery-free LED Flash Light

Flashlights are a basic necessity when the nearest street light is a full 8-hour hike away. Here is on that grabbed my attention:



"Light for Life recharges in just 90 seconds and shines at 90 lumens for 90 minutes per charge. The flashlight has three modes: bright (270 peak lumens), standard (90 lumens), and strobe, which is good for dance parties or scaring the neighbors' dog and kids (OK, I'm kidding, but you get the picture).

According to 5.11 Tactical, the 50,000-hour LEDs never have to be replaced and the flashlight is engineered to "offer 10 years of maintenance-free service under typical conditions." (You can recharge it up 50,000 times or one time a day for 135 years.)"

(From Cnet.com)

More info: http://www.ivusenergy.com/technology.htm

I need my coffee!!!!

*** UPDATE***

If you live in the Philippines I have some good news for you. A very observant reader has reported that this coffee maker is for sale at Greenhills, in the computer department of all places. If you have been in the Philippines this will not really surprice you though. Price? PHP1,900. Not bad! And, no, it is not a pirated version, it's the real thing. Thanks for the tip Paulie!

Does living in the jungle mean that I can't have good coffee??? A lot of people use a french press/plunger for their coffee, since that is a power saving option. But, if you are like me it just doesn't quite cut it. That's why I was excited to present this bit of news to all you jungle living coffee lovers out there. The Aerobie (yes it is the frisbee manufacturer) AeroPress.



It basically makes an espresso, which you of course can make into an americano. And, since most coffee based drinks start out as an espresso you can really get creative here; lattes, cappuchinos, mochas... your imagination is the only limitation!

Not only does this make as good coffee as your good old coffee maker at home, it is actually BETTER! Click on the link to read the whole review: "The Aeropress works and is really fun and makes terrific cup of coffee. We really enjoyed using it and will continue to use it."

And, to top it all, you can get it for as low as around USD 25, and the filters are reasonable too.

In the next month or so I will be buying one for myself, and I will share my thoughts on it here.

More info: http://www.aerobie.com/Products/aeropress.htm

Is this your next Jungle House?

"Designed by Philip Crewe, Rural Space is an investigation into creating a temporary living space to help rejuvenate British tourism. It was designed to accommodate seasonal holidaymakers, festival goers and school trips. It is built and maintained using traditional rural craftsmanship, and made out of sustainable, locally sourced materials such as beach and ash trees. Its minimum impact design means it could be put in places traditional houses can’t, and by being a temporary structure it avoids much of the greenbelt/national park planning regulations."

"The tower is self-sufficient with energy coming from a turbine and solar panels, while solar water heaters provide warm water for the shower. The toilet is a compost type toilet that doesn’t require a flush. Runoff tanks for the shower and cesspit for the compost toilet are buried in the ground under the floor, or could be connected to temporary surface tanks."

Source: EcoFriend.

Wind Turbine

Electric power is always a challenge when living in remote areas. Solar power is the most widely used power source. But here is an interesting new technology that will soon be available.

The EarthTronics Honeywell Windgate will be available this northern fall. Initially it will be sold in ACE Hardware stores in the US for USD$4,500. EarthTronics says that the turbine’s installed cost is about one third of the cost of traditional turbines, with a lower installed cost per kW than other turbines on the market.

More info: http://convertthewind.com/

Welcome

What is the purpose of this blog? Well, I guess it will get clearer as time goes by. The initial idea is to post about gadgets and gizmos that are well suited for life in less civilized areas such as way in the deep jungle or on some remote island where there is no city power, little communication, etc.

I hope this can be of help and inspiration to not only those who I know who live in such places, but others too.

Posts will be more or less serious. Some might feature more futuristic technology which will give a glimpse into what might be available down the road.

We'll see how this goes!

- Markus