Solar Power Pre-Deployment To Afghanistan?

dAzED1 writes "My little brother is heading for training at 29 Palms as a Navy Corpsman with FMF. He gets a [Sailor|Soldier|Marine]'s pay, so while he can't afford gadgets, I can; since he'll be in a LAR unit, I was thinking of getting him a small video camera, an iPod, and some sort of solar recharger. Whatever he takes, he'll have to be able to carry in his pack, which is already going to be heavy with his medic gear. Other than the weight issue, I am having problems finding a solar recharger that doesn't get wildly differing reviews as to basic quality. He'll have plenty of sun and few clouds, but it needs to be lightweight, effective, and robust. With price not being much of a concern, what would you suggest for accomplishing this? Advice on a small robust video camera would be appreciated as well."

Comments

Foldable solar charger

[Anonymous Coward]

This foldable solar charger from treehugger is great http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/01/foldable_solar.php

Pay

[Ethanol-fueled]

He gets a [Sailor|Soldier|Marine]'s pay, so while he can't afford gadgets

Unless he has kids or liens, he should be able to afford gadgets since his housing is free and He'll get a lot of tax-free combat pay if he deploys.

Anybody who's visited a larger military base such as Lackland AFB or Fort Bragg knows the many junior enlisteds driving pimped out ridez and sporting gadgets and bling. When younger recruits get out of basic training they're like kids in candy stores, especially since base exchanges have the latest stuff at low prices.

Also, given his unit, I hope that he dosen't plan to listen with headphones while on duty.

Re:Pay

[jericho4.0]

You do realize that a new soldier is the prime target for credit card companies, right? After all, they can't quit.

Re:Pay

[Anonymous Coward]

I just looked at it.

1399.50/month for an enlisted with 4 months of active "experience". It's not a lot of money on the surface, but it's plenty of money when you have no expenses.

$1399.50 is more money than I spend in any given month, if I exclude rent. It's much more money than I spend in any given month if I also exclude food. Given that enlisted can do both, if they wish, they're not destitute.

I'm not saying you'll ever make a lot of money as an enlisted man, but you wouldn't need to save up for "months" to buy an ipod. You'd need to save for about a week.

Re:Pay

[palegray.net]

I just got out of the Navy as an E-4. Sorry, but your assertion that young enlisted men can't afford a bunch of gadgets is just plain wrong. I was a contract E-2 going in, made E-3 nine months later (automatic), and made E-4 six months after that. Here's the current pay for each grade (pre-tax, but you're only taxed on your base pay, all allowances are tax free):

• E-2 (less than 2 years of service): $1,569.00
• E-3 (less than 2 years of service): $1,650.00
• E-4 (over 2 years $1,921.00

Unmarried Sailors get galley rations, comprehensive medical and dental care, an annual clothing allowance (doesn't completely cover uniforms, but it's pretty close), plus any special pays for rate designation (submarines, etc). While they're at sea they receive sea pay as well. Married Sailors received a housing allowance, commuted rations in their paycheck, and all the other standard benefits.

Virtually every young Sailor I knew in submarine school had, at minimum, a video game system, decent sized TV, fancy cell phone, laptop, various games, a CD/DVD collection, and more in their barracks rooms. All without going into much unsecured credit debt, if any.

Of course, there's always a few idiots who overextend themselves, and there's always a few who are more conservative with their money (a roommate of mine finished sub school with over $20,000 in his checking account). My primary point still stands.

In any event, thank you for your service!

Re:Pay

[Frosty Piss]

You should see the first term Airmen tooling around McChord in a variety of hot muscle cars or fast imports, latest game console, iPhone or similarly priced phone thingy... You have to remember, these guys HAVE NO EXPENSES, so for most of them, that $1500 to $1900 is cash in the pocket to spend. On toys. On alcohol. On the opposite sex. On alcohol. On alcohol. On alcohol...

Re:Pay

[Eil]

Right on. When you compare military pay to the salary of the average 19-year-old with only a high school diploma, the miliary pay wins out. And that's even before you consider that food, housing, health care, and education expenses are already paid for.

My first year in active duty left me with enough money to buy a new $4,000 computer and a slew of fun electronic gadgets. And I still had more left over that I honestly wasn't sure what to do with except save. Even though I wasn't rich, I sure felt rich because everyone in my life up until that point had told me about how difficult it was to pay bills and taxes when you're an adult.

Now, if I were smart, I would have invested it and kept saving. It's not a secret that if you invest a few hundred a month, every month, you can retire a millionaire by the age of 65.

(I threw that plan out the window when I got a girlfriend.)

Re:Pay

[im_thatoneguy]

Wait, universal health care, Government ID Cards, government food, housing and clothing assistance? .... COMMUNISM!!!! THEY'VE TAKEN OVER OUR MILITARY! GRAB YOUR GUNS! :D

Re:Pay

[John Hasler]

> But never the target of insurance companies.

Whatever gave you that idea? Soldiers can and sometimes do purchase private life insurance to supplement their government-sudsidized insurance.

Re:Pay

[freebase]

Semper Fi, Jarhead.

I got out in '93, mainly because I was tired of working two extra jobs plus keeping up with everything with the Corps, just to support my family. I was a Cpl at the time, living in base housing, with one kid, one car, one wife, and not much else. As I recall, my total gross from my military pay was right at 13K that year. I made almost that much working part time at McD's that year.

I got out and took a job with a defense contractor doing the same thing I was doing in the Corps (TMDE repair/calibration), and immediately was grossing more than 25K.

While I was in, everyone I knew below the rank of Gunny or SSgt, and had a family was on food stamps and WIC.

And for the other poster commenting on the tricked out cars and crap he saw on the air force base... Stop and think... There's not many places to spend money when you're deployed to a combat zone. I suspect most of those 'kids' you saw that you thought were right outta boot have been to the sandbox and back.

Also, for your further education, the military doesn't pay all your expenses as an enlisted man... at least not when I was in the Corps. No one drew a pay check for the entire 12 weeks of boot camp, but when we got our initial pay, we took that $900 check they gave us, and spent most of it paying for our uniforms, our PX bill, and our travel to take our 10 day leave. While I was in school at 29 Palms, I didn't get paid at all for three months because of a payroll screw up. When I finally got paid, I owed for uniforms, haircuts, etc. When I was in school at MCLB Albany, GA, I ended up spending more than an entire months take home on a complete new issue of uniforms just so I could pass the Junk on Bunk inspections to get weekend liberty and not spend all weekend picking up trash on the CG's detail, or doing something equally banal on orders designed to give me something to do to keep young Marines out of trouble.

I'll end the rant this has become by simply saying this... no matter how much members of the military get paid, especially young enlisted men and women, they've made the choice to put their lives on the line, to shed their blood, just so other people back home can continue to make statements and assumptions about things they truly don't and will never understand.

It is by the blood of these men and women, my brothers and sisters in arms, that this country, as bad as it may be at the moment, is still the place people such as yourself gladly call home.

"With price not being much of a concern..."

[Hertne]

Money may not be much of a concern, but what about time and skill?

I had family overseas recently and had the same thought, but didn't have as much money to spend. I decided to go the DIY route and made one of these Solarize your backpack and power all your gizmos

It's handy because it's lightweight and can be strapped (as the description says) to nearly any backpack, including most military ones, or taken off and set up somewhere stationary.

It also adds more of a personal touch to the whole idea. Buying something nice and expensive for a soldier is nice, but I've often times heard from them that having something personally made (even if it's a letter) is worth gold over there as well. Reminds 'em of home and all, y'know?

If you know how (or know someone that does) I would recommend making one of these.

Re:"With price not being much of a concern..."

[Aggrajag]

And gives a really nice target for enemy snipers.

Re:"With price not being much of a concern..."

[Lokinator]

More survival-oriented, but.. Operation Helmet, Operation BoreSnake (defunct but offers useful information for troops), and comfort kits all help out. Check with your brother about his armor vest quality - this has been an issue in Iraq, though some reports report it as resolved. The solar kit will help, but recall that most solar panels *reflect* in sunlight (see: "Iraq", "Desert Climes") and reflections have an unfortunate tendency to *draw fire*. This is an un-good thing in a combat environment. Think this through.

PowerTraveller maybe?

[GCsoftware]

Whilst I haven't used their solar products, I do have a v1 PowerMonkey and love it. Their solargorilla product seems to do what you need:

https://powertraveller.com/iwantsome/primatepower/solargorilla/

Video Cam

[cc_pirate]

Make sure the video cam you get him is flash memory based. HD based ones will certainly die with the shock and vibration they will take in the field. I recently got Canon Vixia HF10, which is flash based, HD and works quite well. However, for something the field he may prefer something a bit more robust like a Sanyo Xacti or a Flip HD.

Re:Video Cam

[destuxor]

I'll throw this out there as a Soldier recently returned from Iraq: everything gets ruined by the sand. Everything. The CD drive in my computer doesn't read most store-bought DVD's and will not burn anything. Sand got into the lens on my camera and scratched the glass when the shutter closed. My buddies work computer over there made a disturbing squeak anytime the fan turned. Another friend zapped an Xbox with the 250VDC they use over there (yeah, that one was avoidable). We had to replace all the laptop batteries for one of our Forward Surgical Teams after the heat ruined their ability to keep charge. Bottom line: commercial electronics don't fare well in Iraq. The sand isn't like American sand - it's almost as fine as flour, not rough like sugar crystals. I haven't been to Afghanistan so I wouldn't know if it's better there but I wouldn't take anything expensive. Another idea I'll throw out there - see what you can do for making a transformer that will work with the HMMWV's 24VDC batteries. That's something he could share with everyone in the vehicle and it'd be fun, especially as a DIY project.

Wind up?

[PolygamousRanchKid]

How about a wind up power supply instead? I read that the US Military was actually considering procuring and deploying these to combat the "battery problem."

Oh, wind up power supplies are powered themselves by . . . MREs.

Re:Wind up?

[fm6]

I read that the US Military was actually considering procuring and deploying these to combat the "battery problem."

I've been watching "Generation Kill" on DVD. These poor guys are always scrounging for batteries for their night vision gear. The silly thing is that they spend half their time charging around in HUMVs — that presumably have huge alternators. Funny that nobody thought to equip them with a supply of NiCads and a changing station.

But out on a mission, away from such sources of power, I can't see grunts finding the time to lay solar cells in the sun or to wind up a charger.

Bling? In Combat?

[actionbastard]

Anything that makes noise or is highly reflective won't go over very well in a combat scenario. What with giving away his unit's position and such. Get something decent that can be used back at a basecamp that he won't need to lug around. He'll appreciate your thoughtfulness when he comes home alive to show you his vids.

Re:Bling? In Combat?

[jericho4.0]

Good advice. Our medic was sniped in the glow of his iPod.

Re:Go for the better battery....

[tjstork]

Troll / insightful...I honestly have no idea what category to put you in. Congratulations

I am a writer, is what I am. Thank you.

Powerfilm

[DynaSoar]

http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/
Flexible, thin film cells.
I use their components for rocketry.
Very tough stuff.

Re:Go for the better battery....

[dAzED1]

forward light-armor recon in Afghanistan; we're talking luxury items anyway, so if it's raining...well, no juice - he'll live. Batteries are hard to get, heavy, and expensive. He generally will be away from camp, for days on end. And since he's a medic and not a Marine...he won't be point.

Forget the charger...

[an.echte.trilingue]

As a former infantryman, I can tell you that you are really over thinking this. Rugged means more than just hard to break. It also means that it is a single piece (so he can't loose part of it) and that those pieces are easily replaceable.

Forget the charger, and get him something nice that runs on AAs. Lots of military equipment, such as the AN/PRC-14 night vision goggles or the little radios that squads carry around, run on AAs and so he is sure never to have a shortage. You literally have boxes of these things just floating around where ever you go. They aren't that heavy, they are virtually unbreakable, and he will have to carry some anyway. When I was in, guys bought electric shavers that ran on AAs expressly for this reason.

Besides, his unit will appreciate him not flipping a mirror out for all to see whenever he wants to listen to music.

Re:Forget the charger...

[gandhi_2]

AN/PRC-14 night vision goggles

Sorry to be a blue falcon and spotlight a fellow Infantryman...but it's AN/PVS-14. PRC's are radios. Now go get me a Prick/E-7 and a box of grid squares. (:

Re:Forget the charger...

[meyekul]

"What do you mean the radio is dead?"

"Sorry sir, these iPods really suck the batteries!"

Re:Forget the charger...

[MrNaz]

When he walks over it, will his HUD have this line?

Found: 1 box AA batteries

No solar.

[Dr. Phreakenstein]

As a recent veteran, here is what I brought which proved essential.

Black Leatherman Charge XTi, and Spec-OPS case, spare/additional bits, leatherman tool adapter, and one set of velleman security bits (30-some pieces, $15)

Spare CR2016 and CR2032 coin cells, and type 377 button batteries (should have brought more 377 and 357s)

Wavetek-Meterman VT-201 non-contact voltage detector (now only the fluke is available) (I put mine in a Spec-OPS brand case)

one of those test plugs to check 110v american style outlets

Weller Portasol refillable soldering iron, with an additional smaller tip or 2. Stay away from ones powered by lighters, as it will be hard to find any given brand, but butane is easy to source anywhere.

4-oz fine roll of solder.

small semi-flush cutters

flux pen

paste flux (must bring, digikey, mouser, etc will not send, they only deleted it from my order)

super glue. super glue. super glue. fixes anything. if you can only have one kind o' glue for a year, super glue

also, i brought a small tube of some 3m general purpose glue, not sure what kind.

3M Super 88+ better get 2 rolls, and hide 'em

Tiny, cheap multimeter and spare battery.

ordinary screwdriver, phillips and flat. bit kits are great, but they do not get into certain recesses.

3M high performance cloth, 2x. Lots of dust over there.

there is a particular plug adapter available at certain PX's that works very well and reliably. It is small, fits into a british outlet, and has an LED in the upper right corner. The rest weld themselves to the plug or jack and/or burn plastic at some point

Everything i brought was dual-voltage, so all I did was buy a 220v "universal" power strip in country where I could plug different types of plugs in to it's outlets, and it's plug was the correct style.

Also, I would recomend a sandisk sansa, *not* IPOD. Less likely to get stolen, and somewhat more reliable. Also does not need crazy software, so can be updated from most computers. Remember, I had to sustain myself for a year. Most 'pods do not last that long. I was seeing 6-8 months out of most soldier's in Iraq. Get 2-3 pairs of earphones, like those JVC gummy ones, which handle lots of sweat and different sized ears better, at a reasonable price. Available in colors, avoid pink. Will not be stolen, but not worth the hazing.

Also, have him go to PX/BX and get some slip 'n' snips, and SLIVER GRIPPER tweezers. Also available at Brigade Quartermasters, and Ranger Joes. These tweezers are the ones our medics borrowed from me about once a week before they had their supply guy get them some. Tiny, they come in a little keeper. goes in first aid kit, on keyring, whatever.

Other items i was glad to have was a good set of clothespins and string (got in country), but I brought, and had my wife replenish, some laundry detergent. Now, the military has powdered detergent, but I was able to use less perhaps 3-4 lbs in 15 months, and get actually clean clothes with 5 parts Arm & Hammer perfume and dye free detergent, 2 parts perfume and dye free oxyclean, and 2 parts 20 mule team borax. I know A&H is now available w/ Oxyclean. I did all of my own laundry (no, i was not a fobbit, yes, I worked 16-18 hours a day) but it was worth it, and good relaxation time for me. Plus, I did not care when the laundry came back, and never lost any after that. YMMV per situation, but it worked for me.

Spec-OPS Recon Wrap, 2x. Best headgear ever. serious. available to match uniform, at PX/BX

A few long-life AAA batteries, as good ones are hard to find over there.

Also, I brought an MSR (and MSR only) multi-fuel stove, 33 oz fuel bottle, Titan Kettle and mug, mugmate, and a skillet and spatula. It runs on gas, white gas, (use g-jet) diesel, kerosene and JP-8 (use k-jet, clean often, prime well with denatured alcohol if you can as JP-8 burns filthy and clogs jet). I enjoy cooking, and having a choice besides 8 entree rotation. You can do cool stuff with ramen or