Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. HOMEPAGE

This lantern can light up and charge a phone using saltwater — no battery required

hydra-light lantern
Hydra-Light

Beyond encountering a bear or poison oak, forgetting to bring batteries is just about the worst thing that can happen on a camping trip. Those little devices power everything from flashlights to portable speakers.

Advertisement

A new lantern called the Hydra-Light aims to render your single-use batteries useless. The Hydra-Light uses salt and water as a power source, charging cell phones and USB devices in addition to lighting your surroundings.

It crushed its Kickstarter goal, raising over $31,000 as of writing.

The Hydra-Light contains a carbon-based battery, which kind of looks like the filter in a Brita water pitcher, and an inexpensive metal cylinder called a PowerRod. The user removes the PowerRod and fills the battery compartment with saltwater (water and table salt also work). Once the PowerRod is placed back inside, an electric current forms and generates power. Voila.

hydra-light lantern
Hydra-Light

Users can get over 250 hours of continuous use. A USB port also allows campers to charge their iPhones in the middle of the wilderness.

Advertisement

It's a little bulky, with the power base taking up more space than the LED light fixture. Hopefully future iterations create a larger glow.

The Hydra-Light retails for $48 through the end of the Kickstarter campaign.

Energy
Advertisement
Close icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.

Jump to

  1. Main content
  2. Search
  3. Account