Canvas Satchel Bag

Enter the canvas satchel bag a fairly funky looking canvas bagwith one big difference, a large solar panel is prominently placed onthe front of the bag behind a durable thick plastic screen. The bagitself is very sturdy: manufactured in thick canvas in a limegreen/white colour scheme and has a thick white leather strap forcarrying around, again of good quality.

The basic concept behind the bag is that the on board solar panelcharges up four AAA rechargeable batteries which can in turn be used toprovide backup power or charge up a variety of devices, such as mobilephones, PDAs, hand held gaming devices (PSP etc), MP3 players andcameras through a 6V outlet. The bag we were sent came with pretty muchevery type of tip for each of these devices so it would seem that onlythose with very exotic devices would have to source alternative powertips. Also included is a standard mains charger so that devices canstill be charged even if there is low or no light.

We tested the device using a couple of Nokia phones as well as an iPodclassic and found that the solar panel performed well as long assufficient light levels were available, which during the last few weeksin the UK winter has meant outside. Due to the cold weather we wereunable to test charging times, but from our estimation based on ourtesting and calculations from the included data sheet we predicted thatdepending on the rechargeable batteries used in the charger (we used1300maH) we could charge the average mobile phone around four times ifthe rechargeable batteries were fully charged, definitely useful forregular travellers.

We think the canvas satchel bag would make an excellent travelcompanion whether just for students or regular travellers, providingbackup power whenever required as long as there is sunlight. Bags retail for around ?40-50 bringing them within the grasp of mostpeoples budget for travel accessories and the bags come with a standard1 year warranty.