A few weeks ago LaRynda and I went on the hunt for a solar-powered radio that we could use both inside and out when working and relaxing. I had been thinking about it ever since I read an article in Mother Earth News where a young lady was lamenting about a moment of clarity. It happened one evening when she was hand grinding the next morning's coffee by candlelight with her crank radio playing in the background. She was essentially, at that moment operating entirely (and quite happily) off-grid. The story stuck with me. The moment that she described was something that LaRynda and I both relate to and strive for. We already had the candles, lamps, a hand-crank coffee grinder, and a dyno (hand crank) radio for emergencies (although not a great one). A combination dyno/solar radio seemed to be the best option, so the Internet search was on! I'll tell you right now, there are a lot of choices out there and the prices and ratings vary greatly! What we finally settled on was a little radio from Kikkerland. The reviews on this little guy were for the most part very good...and so was the price, under $20!! It has a built-in solar panel on its top and a fold-up hand crank on the back. It's pretty loud considering how small it is. I've never had to turn it up past halfway and the tuning seems to work very well too. I've read that if you have it sitting in full sun throughout the day that it will play continuously without a problem. While we have not had a chance to test this, I will say that after it's left sitting in the sun for while it seems to hold a charge for at least a couple of hours of non-stop use. The crank option also works very well. I've had radios that claimed that a couple of minutes of cranking would constitute a couple of hours of use, but in reality it seemed to be just the opposite ;) Not with this guy! I'll usually crank it through a commercial set or through the length of a song for a good long session of music listening. These types of radios are only going to get better of course, but for right now..and for the money...this guy is the one to tune in to when you want some entertainment on an off-grid style dime!!!
