I’ve been there and I know you have too. Out in the woods and you look down at your cell phone, an alert staring you in the face that you have minimal battery life. No outlets for miles, no generators to slave off of and your vehicle is at the trail-head half a day’s walk away. Maybe you shouldn’t have left that GPS app running and forgotten your external power supply but it is what it is. What’s the next step? You could dig out your portable solar panel but it’s cloudy and getting dark, thus you pretty much are screwed. Send a quick text to your significant other that your phone is about to die and shut it down for the night. If you do need to make that emergency call hopefully you’ll have enough juice to do so.
PowerPot V Unboxed
Thankfully the above scenario doesn’t have to be the end of the road for those who own the PowerPot V, a slick little device which allows you to charge electronic devices (via USB) while heating up dinner! From the PowerPot V website, a description of the device follows:
The PowerPot® is a lightweight thermoelectric generator that converts heat into DC electrical power. Simply add water to the pot and place it on a heat source appropriate for boiling water. The PowerPot® will immediately start powering up your mobile electronics. The PowerPot® comes equipped with a standard USB (5V) port, making it compatible with devices you already have. The cable has three feet of heavy-duty, flame-resistant wire. The solid-state voltage regulator provides up to 5W of power to charge your high-tech devices. The PowerPot® gives you the power to charge your electronics anytime, in any situation. Use it in the backcountry or at home during a power outage. The PowerPot will charge cell phones, GPS units, iPods, and lithium ion batteries or will also run speakers, lights, fans, or other low-power USB appliances.
So here’s the deal, this concept sounds pretty legit in theory but what’s the real deal? Does this thing charge as fast as a wall outlet and is it easy to put into operation? Thankfully your boy (me, aka PJ, the owner of this blog) was able to secure a PowerPot V in my grubby little paws in order to answer those very questions. After all at $150 this is no small purchase, I needed to know if this device worked as advertised before endorsing it to you, my readers.
I arrived home from a long day at work last Friday and wanted to put the PowerPot V into action, to see just how well it would charge my archaic iPhone 4. I had thought about driving out to the woods in order to get some cool shots of the device working surrounded by deciduous forest, possibly a deer fawn in the background and a unicorn jumping over a rainbow while I boiled water and charged my cell phone. Alas it had been a long day and really, it didn’t matter where I did the test as long as I could put some heat to the bottom of the pot. Realizing this I pulled out a few Coleman components and settled for my back patio.
PowerPot V on the Stove
I should note that I started with very cold water in the PowerPot V, cranked my stove up to the highest setting and then plugged my iPhone in. When I started the test my iPhone was at 26% charge and after 20 minutes it achieved a 34% charge. Respectable but not exactly earth shattering by any means. I should also note that quite a few times during the charge I kept getting the error message: “This Accessory May Not Be Supported ” In order to clear this message I had to unplug my phone and plug it back in.
iPhone Plugged into PowerPot V
After my outdoor test I wanted to compare the PowerPot V to a standard outlet so I decided to plug my phone in for 20 minutes while in the house. When I plugged it in the phone was at 29%, after 20 minutes it was at 55%. Those results sort of speak for themselves don’t they? Instead of going on and on I’ll just finish this article up with my general observations in bullet point format.
- This is definitely an awesome concept. As long as you can make fire you’ll always be able to charge USB electronics while out in the field.
- It’s a big bulky, in that the pot is pretty large. The best way to transport this would be to nest other items (i.e. stove components) inside the pot.
- A downside is that they don’t recommend cooking in the provided pot, this is why they include the smaller pan for frying etc. Sort of a bummer in that it’s more stuff you have to carry.
- My biggest complaint is that this thing takes quite a long time to charge a device, based on my observations. Sure they state that if you have snow or access to very cold water it accelerates the process but who always has access those items? In essence I feel like I’d be burning up precious fuel (and quite a bit of it) in order to get a full charge for my cell phone.
The Bottom Line: The PowerPot V is definitely a good addition to a kit despite any shortcomings I mentioned previously. If you were in a situation where you absolutely needed a charge this device delivers even though it might not be as fast as some of us are used to. Worth buying? Absolutely if you have the means to do so. Click here for more details.
Disclaimer: I was provided a PowerPot V free of charge to evaluate for this article but I do not have a relationship with the company beyond that nor do I benefit from any additional sales they might make based on this review.
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