EVER CAMPED?

How many times have you been out camping, just enjoying the wilderness, when you realize that you really need to make a phone call? Sure, using technology might seem to defeat the purpose of “roughing it”, but having some sort of line back to the civilized world can be a good thing to have in an emergency. So if you’re out on a particularly long camping trip, how do you keep your phone charged? Solar power is an option, but usually people like to camp in semi-wooded areas, so you might not get optimal sunlight. A hand-crank is good, but you have to expend a lot of energy for only a short amount of battery life.
Have you ever thought about using fire to charge your phone? I’d be willing to bet that you hadn’t. This Hitochaja HC-5 is an interesting pot that is able to do that very thing. Just set it over an open fire with some water in it, and as it boils, the pan will convert excess heat into a five volt DC, 2 watt stream of power. To give you an idea, this is enough juice to fully power an iPhone in roughly 3-5 hours. While handy on a long trip, I’m not quite sure that I’d be willing to pay $285 for one.