10 Ways to recharge a phone without grid power

Technology has become such an important part of everyday life. For example, mobile phones have become more than just communication tools — they are now used for a variety of things, such as for keeping up with important news, navigating and paying for purchases.

When SHTF, it’s important to keep mobile phones working. Here are 10 ways to recharge your phone without electricity.

Things that can help recharge your phone without electricity

Some of these things may seem a little odd, but you have to try anything after SHTF.

1. Power bank – One of the first things you should look for when the power is down is a power bank. Portable power banks can store a few charges of electricity. If they are big enough and fully charged up, they could power your phone for a few days.

Even if you do not need a power bank in your daily life, it is still a good idea to have one. Always keep it charged and ready, just in case there is an emergency or power outage. You never know when it’s going to be needed.

2. Solar lantern – Solar lanterns are incredibly convenient, not only in emergency situations, but for camping trips and similar occasions. They are lightweight, inflatable with air, portable and highly efficient at recharging small devices such as your mobile phone.

As long as there is a sun in the sky, they will be able to generate electricity. This means they are sustainable and useful when the power is out for long periods of time. It is fast to inflate, great for gathering solar energy and can store quite a lot of battery.

3. Hand cranking – Hand cranking is a good way of powering up and recharging your phone when you do not have access to electricity. But it’s not super convenient, because you have to be actively using the hand-crank device until your phone is sufficiently charged. This also means you can’t just leave your phone to one side while it charges.

4. Solar energy – One of the best sources of energy that you will almost always have access to is the sun. You can harness solar energy and turn it into electricity to recharge your phone with the help of a solar power bank. This device is a power bank with built-in solar panels. It absorbs power from the sun throughout the day, which you can then use to recharge your phone or other small devices.

5. Take power from a car – If you have a car or are able to find a car, you can turn the DC current of the vehicle into an AC current and use that to power up your phone and other small devices.

To do this, you will need a power inverter, and there are many different types and sizes to suit different needs. A big power inverter would be best, so you can charge multiple devices.

6. Use a landline – Not many places have a landline nowadays, as it is becoming a thing of the past. But if you do find a landline, then you should be able to extract some emergency power from it. To do so, tap into the power from the telephone company to which the landline is connected so you can “borrow” from their electricity.

7. Wind Turbines – The wind itself is a good source of energy. You can create electricity using wind turbines. While you can’t have a full-sized wind turbine like the ones they use to create renewable wind-powered energy, you can have some pocket-sized wind turbines that will be enough to power up your phone or any other small device. However, take into account that you will need wind and that it will take a long time to fully charge up your phone.

8. Onion and some Gatorade – While this method is unusual, it could work in a pinch — provided you have the materials. Take the onion and create a hole on either side. Fill a cup with Gatorade and submerge the onion in the liquid. Leave the onion to soak up the Gatorade for about 30 minutes or so, then dry the onion on the outside. Insert the charging cable directly into the onion and plug your phone in. Note that this method will only be able to charge your phone for around 10 to 15 minutes, provided you soak the onion for 30 minutes or more.

9. Kinetic energy – Kinetic energy can produce electricity through movement, and you can make use of it to recharge your phone by simply walking around, being active or moving and spinning your phone. There are quite a few devices that can allow you to harness kinetic energy. Of course, these devices will require you to be active while charging your phone, but if you are on the go or walking to get somewhere, then this shouldn’t be a problem at all.

10. Sticks – It’s not exactly the sticks that will charge your phone, but rather the device that the sticks will feed. For this to work, you need a small camp stove that can turn fire into electricity. Look for a portable and lightweight camp stove that’s designed for camping trips. You can use the sticks to keep the fire alive in the stove, which will harness the thermal energy and generate electricity so you can charge your phone.

For more survival tips, visit SHTF.news.

Sources include:

SHTFPreparedness.com

Sea.PCMag.com

Bioliteenergy.com