Suggestions for portable/self-powered radio

[sweeps]

Getting serious now about building up a survival "kit".

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for a portable radio. Preferably self-powered because I'd hate to be facing dead batteries at a critical time. I see some radios come with an LED flashlight and a cell phone charger built in. These sound like useful features -- or should those be kept separate.

Thanks.

[Broken Arrow]

Sweeps, you're not really thinking the world is coming to an end do you?

Does this help?

In my personal opinion, it's handier if they're kept together. The mechanism for many hand cranks are large and cumbersome. Last thing you want to do is to keep track and carry several of these cumbersome devices at once, especially during an emergency.

Hand cranks should be the last line of defense in the event of power outage though. Much preferable to keep a healthy stock of (lithium) batteries as well for lithium powered lights and devices.

I also recommend looking to solar chargers. Even without TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World As We Know It), it's still pretty handy to keep cellphone and other devices charged.

Oh, and candles! For ambient lighting and warming up meals.

[sweeps]

Originally Posted by Broken Arrow

Sweeps, you're not really thinking the world is coming to an end do you?

Well, not completely. Otherwise a radio wouldn't do me much good.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

We had a cheap one. I think it was a German make, long known for radios, yet I can't think of the name now. Grundig? Gundig? Anyway, it was broken in no time flat, but a fun novelty while it lasted. Also, the short wave dial was too compressed, so nearly impossible to tune. If I were going to buy another, I'd try to find one that at least made a claim for ruggedness and spend some more $$. This was a case where cheaping-out was not the way to go. Stupid me.

[GrimJack]

A British group came up with the idea of a cheap radio; they were wind up and cost less than %50 @ so they can be delivered free to the heart of the 3rd world - Africa was the test location. They are rugged and pretty much maintenance free.

The 1st world versions have lot of add-ons like solar cells, c-phone recharging and so on. I picked one up for our cabin in the mountains and gave it to my sister; she keeps it on her file cabinet at work - go figure