Tag Archives: cell phone

Sarah’s View: Product Review: iTorch External Battery

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iTorch-1The New Trent iTorch IMP52D is a portable, rechargeable, external lithium battery I use to recharge my cell phone (an iPhone). It is compatible with any device (i.e. phone, MP3 player, tablet) that uses a USB plug.

Currently I am travelling for work…again. There are many things on my ‘must pack’ list these days, but ever since Trace bought each of us an iTorch about a year ago, I don’t go anywhere without it. It stays in my purse and goes with me pretty much everywhere.

The iTorch is 3.5” x 1.5” x1”; not tiny, but certainly a reasonable size. There are four blue lights, one indicates the iTorch is charging a device, and the other three indicate the level of charge remaining. It also includes a built-in red laser pointer and an LED light; just in case you need a laser pointer or emergency flashlight (repetitive and redundant!). It comes in a handy drawstring bag with a cord to charge the iTorch itself. In order to charge our phones we had to supply the needed USB iPhone cord.

The iTorch is advertised as having 3.5x the normal iPhone charge. I honestly don’t know if this is true or not as I’ve never used the iTorch to its full capacity. Even when I’ve needed to recharge my phone multiple times before I could recharge the iTorch, I’ve never fully depleted the iTorch charge. For this trip in particular it’s been useful as a charger in the car because I totally forgot to bring a car charger for the rental car. It’s also been handy during the day as I’m in training sessions and I can charge my phone as needed without crawling all over the place looking for a wall plug.

Trace first heard about the iTorch from Steven Harris’ site: battery1234.com — which lists many useful devices, all of which Steven has thoroughly tested and personally recommends. We own many items on this list, it is our go-to list when we want to expand our back-up energy capabilities.

Recommendation

iTorch-2I highly recommend the iTorch, for travel, for the prepper, but also as a simply back-up charger. I can’t count the number of times it’s allowed me to charge up my phone after a day in someone else’s car, or in training, or at an airport.

It’s reasonably priced (about $40) and a compact, and durable, enough to carry in a purse or backpack on regular basis (weights 4.5 ounces). And we’re not the only ones who like it, it has an Amazon Customer Review rating of 4.11 starts (of 5) with over 900 reviews.

As Trace has said before: as a prepper–trying to be prepared in case of emergencies or disasters–communication is very important. Sure the cell network can go down, but if it’s up and available it’d suck if you couldn’t access it just because your phone’s battery is dead. This is a product that can help prevent that from happening.

 

My Everyday Carry (EDC)

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But I Have One In My Bag…

Just as you can’t choose your disaster, you can’t choose where you will be when that disaster (big or small) strikes. Best case, you’re at home with all your preps (and your family). Not quite as good, but being in the car with your well stocked BOB* isn’t so bad. Even if you’re at work, with your smaller but well equipped get home bag (GHB), you’ve got a lot of what you need. But what if you can’t get to your supplies? You could be at dinner, or a movie, or shopping or whatever. What do you have with you?

Everyday carry (EDC) is as simple as it sounds. What you carry in your pockets and/or in your purse, everyday, all the time. Sure, if you’re wearing your coat you could carry more, or if you had your backpack you’d have more, if you weren’t dressed up you could carry more. Lots of IFs. But if you were to empty out your pockets/purse right now, what would you have?

Here is a list of items I believe you should consider carrying:

    • knife. As my grandfather used to say, “there are things that can very easily be done with a knife, that are very hard to do without one.” I believe a knife, even a small one, is invaluable to have. It’s a useful tool and it’s a defensive weapon.
    • flashlight. There are very small ones that are easy to carry. If suddenly you’re in the dark they make a bad situation no big deal.
    • lighter. The ability to make fire in an emergency, for warmth, light, or signal can make any disaster better.
    • multi-tool. They can contain: pliers, screwdrivers, knife, saw, can and bottle opener, scissors, and file. Leatherman did it first, but now there are many brands out there.
    • whistle. It gets everyone’s attention and carries a long way.
    • tape. 20 inches of duct tape rolls up to  the size of a chapstick. Used for impromptu repairs or bandages.
    • cordage. Some type of simple cord: parachute cord, tarred twine, even picture wire. Something that’s light and easy to carry, but strong. Yes, your shoelaces could be used in a pinch, but then you don’t have shoelaces…

Things you can/should easily keep in your wallet:

      • cash. If the power is out and/or ATMs and credit cards won’t work, cash will.
      • list of important phone numbers. If your cell phone doesn’t work, or is lost, how many of the numbers you may need to call have you memorized?
      • AAA card (or other roadside assistance). Of all your preps, this is one you will very likely use.
      • band-aids. They take very little space and you’ll be glad to have it when it’s needed.

Personal defense:

      • pepper spray. I’m a big advocate; it allows you to deter and get away from almost all confrontations.
      • kubotan. Or similar small impact weapon. Attached to your keys and held in your hand it is an effective weapon.
      • keys. Your keys themselves can serve as a weapon if necessary.
      • handgun. Carrying a firearm is a personal decision. I believe it’s a good one, if you have the right training and motivation. Check into your state’s concealed carry laws to find out what is required. But if you chose to carry a handgun I would still carry pepper spray, it gives you a less lethal form of self-defense.

Final one: Cell phone. We depend on our phones for many additional things: entertainment, internet, camera, flashlight, music, contact list, clock, notepad, etc. In a crisis, you need to save the battery. If your plan is to use the phone as a flashlight, a clock, or music/entertainment to pass the time – remember the battery is finite and you many not have a chance to charge it again soon.

All this being said, people can and do get carried away with their EDC (there are forums threads dedicated to it, including on TSPs). Think about what you want/need to have with you, and find a realistic way to carry it. Also remember the most important thing is the knowledge to use the items you have, and to improvise if you don’t. As Jack Spirko, of The Survival Podcast, said, “How you think is more important than what you know. What you know is more important that what you have. What you have is more important than what you don’t have.”

(Wednesday: Let Me Find Something To Write On)

*For my list of abbreviations and other information, open the above ‘Check Here…’ page tab.

Warning – Don’t Assume Cell Phones Will Work During a Power Outage

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Can You Hear Me Now?
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Last month, as you may remember (Weathering The Storm), an ice storm caused a wide-spread power outage in our area. The power had been out for about three hours when Sarah noticed she didn’t have any service on her cell phone; Ryan and I checked ours and we didn’t either. Sarah managed to find one area in an upstairs room where she was able to get a weak and intermittent signal. Sure the power was out, but why wouldn’t we have cell phone coverage?

After the storm was over I did some research and learned: Cellular services have antennas and base stations that require electricity. The FCC mandates that wireless carriers have backup electric power at MOST cell sites; so this typically means that cell towers have a battery backup system that will last two to four hours – depending on call traffic. In critical service areas there are also emergency generators. So, there are some redundancies built into the cellular network, but they’re limited and will be shortened if there is a lot of extra traffic on the network.

But I’ve been through other power outages and still had cell phone coverage, how come I didn’t this time?  If the power outage is only covering a relatively small area, then most likely you’ll be able to connect to a tower outside of your area that still has power. Also, the priority locations for the cell towers are near the major urban areas; if you live in the suburbs or a rural area your cell towers will be further apart and less likely to have backup generators.

How come XYZ provider, that my friend has, works and mine doesn’t?  Though some providers may work in areas that others don’t, all providers have the same vulnerabilities. Their provider may have more backup power, or towers available, or fewer subscribers. But with the increased call volume, that frequently happens during a disaster, all cell network circuits can become congested causing delays, intermittently weaker signals, and no service.

So in these situations cell phones won’t work at all? Even if you can’t make a voice phone call you can still probably send a text message. Texting uses far less bandwidth, has little effect on circuits, and uses very little of your phone’s battery charge – and even if the text can’t go out (or be received) immediately, it is frequently held in the phone’s queue until it can be sent. Battery usage is another topic – but to maximize your battery turn off the ringer and vibration and reduce the screen’s brightness.

What about landlines, won’t they work? If your landline is provided through a traditional phone line you will continue to have service, but only to your phones which are hard-wired into the wall – your cordless phones won’t work (the base station requires electricity). But if your phone service is provided by a cable TV company (like ours is) the digital “landline” is run through a modem that requires electricity; which means no electricity, no phone signal.

Could you plug the modem into a backup power source? I didn’t think of this until afterward; I assume it would work, but I need to test it.

So what’s the solution? I’m not sure I have a good fix for all this yet, but we’ll work on it. This situation does emphasize how much we take instantaneous communication for granted. Make a family plan that includes where to meet in an emergency, and where to leave a note if you have to leave before others arrive. Take some time and think about how you could communicate with your loved ones if cell phones weren’t an option – we did it for a lot of years, do we still remember how?