BSA Scouting Hacks: How to charge your devices in remote locations

This mini wind turbine allows you to charge your devices outdoor.

Credit to (and read more at): http://www.digitaltrends.com/outdoors/micro-wind-turbine-usb-charger/#ixzz4Y0dOUxlb

micro wind turbine usb charger scenario shoot

“I contacted a number of mountaineers, climbers, film-makers, and expedition leaders and asked them questions about their experiences, requirements and typical weather conditions. All of my contacts told me that they are usually using solar panels. But being entirely dependent on sunshine is a huge problem for them, sometimes putting them out of work for several days,” Ferber wrote on the James Dyson Award site. “They were instantly excited about a wind turbine but pointed out that weight, pack size and ease of use would be of greatest importance for them.”Related: I will only agree to be Scoutmaster if I have this . . . (Mormon Life Hacker)

To satisfy portability requirements, the Micro Wind Turbine weighs just over 2 pounds, which Ferber claims is 40 percent lighter than its closest competitor, and folds down to the size of an umbrella or trekking pole. Setting up the turbine is also designed to be easy thanks to a telescopic shaft that unfolds the wind-catching blades, also similar to the opening of an umbrella.

Properly set up, the turbine can generate five watts in an 11 mph wind, and can store that energy for later. “The turbine has an integrated 24 Wh battery pack that works as a buffer between [incoming] and outgoing loads and can also store energy for later use,” Ferber detailed to Digital Trends.

Ferber says that there are no other wind turbines of similar scale commercially available. “Comparable concepts are usually composed of many complex parts, are a lot heavier or produce only an insignificantly small output. Unsurprisingly, these mentioned drawbacks render them useless in real-world scenarios.”