Portable Hand Generator Powers your Gadgets on the Road

Generating power for all your portable electronic goods can be a challenge when you're miles away from the nearest power source. When your iPod dies in the middle of a camping trip, for example, what do you do?

Fortunately, an entire industry has sprung up in the last few years catering to those who are terrified of losing power and falling off the grid.

As a result, human powered generators now come in all shapes and sizes. One of the more cool designs I've seen recently is the Pull-Cord Generator manufactured by Potenco.

This handy little 14 oz. device is like a miniature outboard motor; simply pull the attached cord and you have power. Pull it repeatedly for a minute straight and it produces enough juice to power:

* 20 minutes on a cell phone
* 1 hour of flashlight use
* 4 hours play time on an iPod Shuffle

Very cool! They should figure out how to attach one of these things to my car.

Filed under: Hiking, Gear, Camping