Camping used to be all about getting away from the clutter of our increasingly connected lives. But then electronic devices became “mobile”, which it turns out means “magnetically attracted to our thumbs,” and solar charging was a necessity. Now Eddie Bauer (the company) is making a tent with a built in solar charger, and Eddie Bauer (the badarse) is probably screaming obscenities in his grave.
So this tent, the Power Katabatic, wears a Goal Zero solar charger up top, a triangular piece that folds with the tent for storage. Inside is a Goal Zero-supplied battery which, when charged up by Mr. Sun, can bring your survival iPad or other USB device back to life. Based on Eddie Bauer’s Katabatic tent, the never-really-off-the-grid version offers 36 sq. feet of interior space and weighs around 8 pounds.
I guess this is a good way to introduce your tech-addled kids to the great outdoors without completely shocking them with a world of natural beauty that’s not made of pixels. Or maybe it’s for hardcore adventurers who can navigate the woods using nothing but spit and a toenail clipper, but want to throw some technology in the mix. Whoever ends up buying this thing, it’ll set them back about $US500. [GearJunkie]