Wouldn’t it be great to have all the survival information you have ever found online in your Bug Out Bag?
Enter the Mini Laptop or Tablet Computer…….
Laptops have been getting smaller and smaller, but a new generation of laptops and tablets has taken small to the next level. These little things are the perfect addition to any Bug out Bag.
They are small, require little power, and the batteries on some of them can last for over 12 hours. With the right solar charger in your backpack, you will be able to use these devices indefinitely! A lot of them also allow you to plug a portable hard drive or memory stick to increase your ability to store information.
So why add a mini Laptop or tablet to your Bug Out Bag?
- Knowledge – You can store a huge amount of survival articles and information on these things. You would have to carry thousands of pounds of books to have the same amount of information that you can store on one of these little laptops that at the most are going to weigh in at a couple of pounds.
- Internet – The ability to log onto the internet when you’re on the road. (I know if things go really bad this is going to be pointless, but during smaller scale disasters the internet is still a valuable resource.)
- Entertainment – Having something that can keep your spirits up during an emergency situation is extremely important. Imagine having all your favorite songs, games, and movies available to you anywhere in the world. Don’t overlook the power of entertainment, it helps keep your mind sharp and alert. Without entertainment, depression is a serious risk during any survival scenario.
Best Survival Laptops
Dell Latitude Rugged 14 5430 Laptop
Built for the outdoors, the Dell Latitude Rugged is ready for adventure and tested for ultimate field productivity. These bad boys are built to survive temperature, humidity, vibration, immersion, acoustic noise, gunfire shock, solar radiation, and even fungus.Â
Netbooks are great devices, and this new second generation has a lot of promise, new manufacturers, newer technology, much better screens.
The newer Atom chips are great in these devices, much better power. If you don’t need too much size, go for the SSD (Solid State Device) Drives. They use less power, and aren’t so prone to breaking due to getting jostled around, or a little bit of dust.
Also, many of them offer in a lower priced model a linux based OS. Don’t be afraid to try this. On our blog that’s a ‘future’ post coming from us geeks, about why preppers and survivalists really need to use things other than windows.
But hey, I’ll post that on mine :) In summary, here’s another vote for a netbook for you EDC/BOB/etc.
Although a method of storing survival information is a great idea, the Asus EEE PC’s battery life is only about six hours. I think an E-Ink reader would be better, they last much longer and can store lots of information. They can only show black-and-white images, but the battery can last for weeks.
Sony has an E-Ink reader
I found that the best survival Laptops the Panasonic toughbook. I am using it to write this comment. It is GPS enabled, it is dustproof, water resistant, has a magnisium body; if you drop it by accident, It even has a touch screen. Also having swappable media, battery, and hard drive bays. I got this one on ebay for 1100 dollars. All you really need for a internet connection; is either a WIFI connection, phoneline, ethernet(RJ-45) or buy/rent a mobile satellite system if you really need a highspeed connection. This is the perfect survival Laptop.
Also there are solar powered charging pads that can be rolled up for Laptops might be a good option for a bugout bag
Further still, we’re entering the age of photovoltaic integration with such items as Samsung’s Netbook, the NC215S:
http://technabob.com/blog/2011/06/21/samsung-solar-powered-netbook-nc215s/
Battery life or electrical utility availability is no longer a factor. Alternatively, as Bartlett pointed out, there are a growing multitude of solar harnessing mobile chargers, some are even integrated right into the cases/bags/packs that carry the devices. Survival aside, these items are also exceptional just for travel and outings. You’ll get your money’s worth in convenience and peace of mind.
I would prefer to use a solar panel, than let my notebook on the sun.
I think as “stone age” after a cataclism, and think it coul be a better idea if we can have a crank charged laptop… even in a cord/wired device.
I don’t know if we’ll have sun, like in “Matrix” or “The Road”.
I would like to strongly discourage SSDs as a solution for a survival laptop. In theory they are perfect, no moving parts, low power consumption, and very small. The downside is that this is all theoretical. In real world use, most SSDs do not last more than 1 year of use, which would be a real bummer. Also with hard drive platters data recovery is possible, SSDs are not. 3rd generation of SSDs look promising, but I think the technology is still too new to trust with something as vital as survival information.
I would suggest a Kindle 3rd gen. The battery last for about a month with light reading and a wekk with heavy reading. I combine it with a solar charger for long hiking trips and am good to go.
I too have added a netbook with an external drive to my b.o.g/ e.d.c… I have gone a step further and have comverted our dvd collection over to mpeg4’s on the external drive. The spare drive is mostly to keep the kids entertained if need be and dont need the portable dvd player this way.
I also have a solar charger for my phone and laptop.
Like it was mentioned in the eariler post….I too have be collecting and storing survival info….I convert them into P.D.Fs and store some of them on my droid smartphone. If your worried about abusing the the netbook, just wrap it in some foam padding or your bedroom, I have a padded backpack for mine.
Have a Galaxy tab that when in use off line has abattery that I have never been able to run out. Also have a Newtrent power pack (very small and light) that will completly recharge the Tab with enough juice left over for a cell phone or gps. I have 18+ gigs in pdfs stored on an SD card that stays in the Tab with everything imaginable on it. The tab travels in my EDC kit. Our bug out kit includes a Brunton Solaris solar charger that will recharge the Newrent power pack and recharge a little Dell mini laptop. We have a terra-byte drive to use with the Dell mini that contains the same pdf library as the Galaxy Tab plus over 250 gigs of movies, a music library, audiobook library, tons of classic literature in the form of ebooks and hundreds of hours of how-to videos from u-tube
My laptop has been ran like a dog for nearly 6 years and it runs as good today as it did new. Batteries as a challenge, but the device itself will last 10 years if you get a good one. I will be making an air battery with a jewel ringer so I don’t even need to worry about solar or recharging. I will be able to use my laptop for years without ever worrying about power. Batteries are for people that haven’t figured out alternative energy yet.
The thing with “OFF-GRID” is not so much the lack of electricity which can be provided by solar and batteries, but THERE IS NO INTERNET most of the time or at best it is slow and also expensive. This renders Chromebooks with Chrome OS virtually useless since they are “cloud” oriented. I am uncomfortable with cloud computing anyway even though supposedly Chrome os is more secure than Android. Put your ass shots on cloud and find them all over the internet. If there is a black out you can’t use your netbook even if it does have 10 hours of battery life. If you made the mistake of purchasing a chromebook you can always convert it to Ubuntu Linux if you have a head for these things and the time to make it work.
looking for a laptop/dslr camera solar powered built in a backpack, plus room for other personal items, but also lightweight and small to medium size, if any one knows of such a beast exsit please let me know or shoot me some alt. ideas for what i am looking for. thanks crow.