My survival iPhone

[c.a.willard]

Not to nock the Iphone, but i think for this idea something that accepts a micro SD card to store the data would be more benificial.  If your phone ever does break you can always swap it to a different one. 

[Dolomite_supafly]

I bought a Kodak solar charger for cell phones and other USB devices. It takes rechargeable AA batteries that are removeable. On a clear day it seems to charge both batteries in a single day. I have plenty of military and survival manuals on my old iphone as well as my ballistic software. You would be surprized how much information a 8 gig device will hold. The charger cost me $20.

 

I also make sure that I buy flash lights that use AA batteries and have LED bulbs.That way I will always have at least one flash light to last through the night. In the event of a long term power failure I have batteries and solar. They are there for light only or maybe charge a device in a pinch. I have no illusions about using it to cook, heat or cool with. It is only there to keep the boogey man away at night.

 

Dolomite

[Guest USMC 2013]

Mother Earth News has CD's that are compilations of 30+ years of their articles.  AWESOME information that covers homesteading, gardening, canning, etc...

 

I would add this to your digital knowledge base.

 

Joe

[Caster]

Not to nock the Iphone, but i think for this idea something that accepts a micro SD card to store the data would be more benificial.  If your phone ever does break you can always swap it to a different one. 

 

 

I agree 100% ......BUT, I have a free iPhone to use.  Anything else involves me spending money.  

[peejman]

Mother Earth News has CD's that are compilations of 30+ years of their articles.  AWESOME information that covers homesteading, gardening, canning, etc...

 

I would add this to your digital knowledge base.

 

Joe

 

 

Yep, excellent source of information.

[Guest Razz]

PDF files can be stored and viewed from the Apple News Stand app. Not sure if it's been mentioned.

[Guest GhostHunter]

I downloaded a free program called "Copy Trans Control Center"  that I used on my PC instead of Itunes. I don't know if they make a version for the Mac or not, but its a drag and drop transfer program that I found quite useful. You might Google it and see if a Mac version is available..

 

"If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail"...

[jgradyc]

Can anyone cite some sources for free downloads of survival manuals and related books?  Oh, by the way, I've used dropbox for over a year. It's a good way to sync files. I also use Sugar Sync as an online backup, but it's a bit redundant now that I put everything on dropbox. I just don't like having my essential files on a free service.

 

I have a solar panel bought from either Harbor Freight or Northern Tool... I can't remember which one... that I paid about $30 for on sale. HF has a 1.5watt version right now on sale for $12. I don't know how many watts you'd need to charge a phone.  I also have 18650 Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries and a charger/adapter so I can charge the batteries from car or house and use the same device to charge my phone. Cost was $7 on fasttech.com. Good 18650 rechargeable batteries cost about $8-$12 apiece. I haven't figured out how to charge the battery from the solar panel yet.  I use these batteries because they can also be used in LED flashlights.

Edited February 10, 2013 by jgradyc

[mikegideon]

You need to tack together a Faraday cage to store it.

 

Pretty straightforward to accomplish.  You could repurpose some old ammo cans in a pinch - just remember the rubber seal will invalidate the protection - you will need to remove it and bridge the gap with some foil or something.

 

I doubt seriously that an emp would kill an iphone even in a plain old steel ammo can. They make RF gasket material. of course, it would take a gazillion dollars worth of lab gear to test it.

[Wingshooter]

Can anyone cite some sources for free downloads of survival manuals and related books? Oh, by the way, I've used dropbox for over a year. It's a good way to sync files. I also use Sugar Sync as an online backup, but it's a bit redundant now that I put everything on dropbox. I just don't like having my essential files on a free service.

I have a solar panel bought from either Harbor Freight or Northern Tool... I can't remember which one... that I paid about $30 for on sale. HF has a 1.5watt version right now on sale for $12. I don't know how many watts you'd need to charge a phone. I also have 18650 Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries and a charger/adapter so I can charge the batteries from car or house and use the same device to charge my phone. Cost was $7 on fasttech.com. Good 18650 rechargeable batteries cost about $8-$12 apiece. I haven't figured out how to charge the battery from the solar panel yet. I use these batteries because they can also be used in LED flashlights.

Not sure if the LDS manual has been mentioned yet... http://www.ldsavow.com/PrepManualGeneral.html Edited February 10, 2013 by Batman

[Wingshooter]

http://www.nukepills.com/docs/FEMA_Nuclear_War_Survival.pdf

[Ted S.]

The only con I can ever see in this (besides a diminishing battery over years of use) is in the off chance the software becomes corrupted. The only way to fix that is by hooking up to a computer that has internet access and restoring it.

 

Of course that is worse case scenerio. Otherwise I think storing massive amounts of relevant media into such a compact device as a quick-reference is a great idea.

[Guest uofmeet]

So if the SHTF, how long would the GPS satellites last? I think they average 7 years, anyone know how long they have been up there?

[subsonic]

Here's an alternative method for charging your phone with additional SHTF benefits:     

 

http://www.thecoolist.com/biolite-campstove-and-usb-charger/

[Guest GhostHunter]

Great idea Caster!! I downloaded a couple of free survival guides and am researching several others that may be beneficial should the SHTF. Currently looking at a First Aid manual in PDF format.  PDF Reader lite is a good app for reading PDF files stored on your phone.

[GoneBallistic]

http://www.extremeoutfitters.us/powergorilla.aspx

 

Check this out for your solar charger Caster. I have one and it works great! You can also get a battery pack to charge when the sun is out, then you can charge off the battery pack anytime you need to.

Edited February 17, 2013 by GoneBallistic

[KahrMan]

I forgot to post pics of the solar charger I got so here they are...

 

 

[Fire/hunting guy]

I'm waiting for the homestove to come out before I make my purchase, but here's another option for charging.

http://www.biolitestove.com/campstove/camp-overview/features/

[itw69fxst]

I have the SAS survival manual, IFirsrAid, Easy Home remedies and Wikihow on my Iphone - I also kept a mylar bag that a hard drive was shipped in to store my Iphone in. I am unsure if it will be enough protection from an EMP. I do not have the ability to test this scenario.

[Guest damonsecloro]

a little off topic, but speaking of solar chargers, have you had any experience with any of them? Ive been thinking of getting a small one like your talking about, but have no clue where to start, any suggestions? Also, good idea with the iphone. Kind of reminds me of "the book of eli" with denzel washington. he carried around his old ipod and a motorcycle battery to power it lol.

 

i got one and works fin great, scharger-5 its flat and about 7x7 inches and hand a blue usb port sticking out of it, uses no batteries and works great, charges my iphone in about 2 hours from 0%-100%. As far as the topic, its a great idea, i got a ipod shuffle, i bought 2 schargers one for my BOB and one for regular use, its very lightweight and compact so it takes no room up in my bag for the important stuff.

 

forgot the link:

 

http://www.suntactics.com/shop/usb-scharger-5/

Edited March 22, 2013 by damonsecloro

[Guest Cami]

As far a solar chargers go, if anyone can find a schematic, I bet I could make one?

[zapfbroad]

i've seen some interesting "solar power charger hacks" a.k.a. do it yourself jobs out there...

for instance http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-iPhone-Chargers/

 

I saw a real neat one, maybe it was a youtube vid?, where guy strung together a couple of the solar panels from the led garden lights to charge a phone. he soldered 2 little panels? onto the back of the case & could just leave it sittin in the sun to recharge sans extra cordage etc. which would work well on the back of a 7-10" tablet

Edited March 22, 2013 by zapfbroad

[jgradyc]

I found a free (open source) software program that will let you download an entire website to read offline. It's called WinHTTrack Website Copier.  I tried downloading a wiki book with no success so far. I get a "forbidden" message, but maybe that's unique to wiki books.

 

I'll try another website. I'm using the Linux version, but it should work the same as the Windows version.  (Once Windows 8 came out, I gave up on Windows. I use Linux Mint or Ubuntu for almost everything now.)

 

It would be great find a list of downloadable survival books. I found the following list at PreppersNetwork.  http://kentucky.preppersnetwork.com/2009/09/free-survival-ebooks.html

 

Surely, someone has already compiled a list of downloadable books.  If you find one or more lists, please post the link here.  Thanks. :wave:

[Bocephus]

I just downloaded several free survival skills books from I books. You have a great idea.

[Hershmeister]

Don't rely on email to store docs on a iPhone. The buffer will not retain downloads for very long. Better to save them into iBooks or Dropbox or evernote.<br /><br /><br />What is the consensus on a solar charger?