+1 on Goal Zero chargers. There are cheaper ways to do solar, but with GZ, it's plug and play,right away....

One side note for solar. They kinda not work when there is like very little to no sun. So in winter, if you are more in the north, that can be a issue. My Goalzero works fine in the summer, but barely starts to blink in the winter.

Ah,the joys of living at 34 degrees N.....

Yeah, blinding sun this morning at 8 AM, still bright but not as low so it's not too annoying while I'm driving. OTOH, it was all the way down to 40F at the park this morning.

Bingley: I can't recommend any particular radios because I don't keep up with the various manufacturers offerings. However it depends a lot on how you intend to use the radios.

The bubble pack frs/gmrs are OK if you want a "squad" radio. That is to talk with a pre-arranged group of your friends. But most of them are very difficult to use if you want to listen to all the frequencies (scan) and respond to others as you hear them. It has to do with how they use sub-audible tones to control the squelch.

I can elaborate if you want, however a short bit about how you intend to use them would help focus the conversation.

I have been off the grid (solar) for over 20 years, but again, not up to speed with the current manufacturers offerings. I am interested in the replies on the current portable solar offerings.

Mostly I find it easier to swipe power from other sources like car batteries etc than to generate it myself. Especially for the short duration. A small inverter will do a lot and many folks will let you use their car battery so they can also charge their equipment using your inverter. I have seen that in many disaster situations. An inverter and a power strip is worth the effort.

Nomad

Bingely, et.al.:
FMR/GMRS frequency access is available in to many current ham radio handi-talkies. These frequencies need to be programmed in to the radios however, using a computer, connecting cable, and programming CD. These units can also be programmed to access the weather radio bands if not already built in, and marine bands, along with the amateur radio bands. All with much better build quality, durability, greater power, and ability to screw in a much better antenna ( a very important difference from the Midland/Cobra/Motorola FMR/GMRS radios). The Chinese Baofeng and Wouxun brands are among the most popular, for as little as $35 or so. They even come with a built in LED light for one more source of illuminiation

Well, one of these days I'll get my ham license. But until then, I won't be take to take advantage of Famdoc's suggestion.

For the FMR/GMRS radios, I'm just aiming for communication amongst friends in case of emergency. I live alone, like Jeanette. So that means no family or kids that I need to equip with radios. I'm thinking that if I work with neighbors on a project during emergency (i.e., getting supplies), or if I need to keep in touch with a friend visiting from out of town, such a radio would come in handy. Since I'm new to the neighborhood and don't even know very many people in the state, I don't view the radio as top priority right now. But it looks like it might still be useful.

Please remember that ham radio HTs are not type accepted for FMRS, GMRS, or Marine VHF. It is illegal to transmit on those bands with ham radio HTs excepting for a bona fide emergency.

to tag on to Nomad's comments about stealing power...I survived sleeping in the 9 day 2004 outage with the use of 12v fans powered by an old Harley Davidson and auto batteries... thanks to having a 12v female receptacle that hooked to the battery terminals with clips...lower left in picture... it allows you portability if you have a storage type battery... I later built a dedicated deep discharge battery with permanently attached receptacle that is kept on a float charger...I would highly recommend one of the adapter cables... check for the lowest wire gage rating ( 14 > 16)

I’m now in the Dallas/Fort Worth Meroplex visiting my sisters where, last night, we had the Category 4 tornados. I have limited access to the Internet; if everything goes well, I’ll be in Florida tomorrow.

Jeanette Isabelle