goTenna™ A Magic Wand Enabling Smartphone Texting

Had the pleasure to check out some new technology that enables you to send & receive text messages on a smartphone, without need of cell towers or a wifi hotspot. I used a magic wand... a goTenna. In the race to develop additional communication capability for smartphones, goTenna has taken a simple approach, and has crossed the finish line with a winner.

Here's the problem... smartphones turn to dumb bricks when cell & wifi service is gone.  While a bunch of products have attempted to marry alternative communication like two-way radio to the smartphone platform, trying to add an additional layer of technology is problematic. We've seen prototypes of handheld radios glommed onto backs of smartphones, only to see them fall victim to ever changing smartphone technology, falling short in keeping up with the endless parade of new models & new hardware.

Magic Wand?

But goTenna took a different tack... make a simple device to establish an independent peer to peer communication mode. Instead of adding something new to smartphones, goTenna simply enables smartphones to do what does already... send & receive text...and enables it to do so when it can't be done through normal means.

A goTenna is a cognitive digital radio combined with an app that generates its own signal and automatically coordinates with other units within range. It does all the heavy-lifting, so you can chat 1-to-1, with a group, or even broadcast openly to anyone nearby. Distance is it's only limitation. The goTenna has a VHF signal in the unlicensed portion of the MURS band, transmitting 2 watts, so location, elevation, & surroundings are the only unknown variables where range is concerned. Still, you may count on 1 to 3 miles as typical. In my case, out on the bike trail I got just over 2 miles away before I lost connectivity to my other goTenna, although it was more due to terrain than distance. If I was on flat ground I would have likely got further.

Couldn't be any simpler...

Being a text only device, goTenna is not hamstrung by bandwidth & power needs that voice and imagery require.  And since the link between goTenna & smartphone is via bluetooth, any bluetooth equipped smartphone can use a goTenna. You install the free goTenna app available for Android or iOS, pair with the goTenna device, and you're sending & receiving text with other goTenna equipped smartphones.

The goTenna is packaged in pairs, so you have an alternative text communication method for you and one other right out of the box. You're not limited to just that pair of goTennas, you can broadcast to any goTenna within range. There's future potential with the technology to establish a mesh network, and goTenna maintains the capability lies in further development. In the meantime, this magic wand device offers you a way to stay in contact using your smartphone, when everyone else is carrying bricks seeking a cell signal or wifi hotspot.

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PDW Shiny Object: A Pocketful of Pressure When You Need It

Outfitting my bicycle for trips longer than around the block, has lead me to more gear valuable for the Practical Prepper living in the real world.
In this case, a pocket sized tire inflator.
The bicycle world knows it as the Shiny Object, by Portland Design Works, but you'll call it a miracle maker the first time it saves you a tire change on a dark lonely road, some cold rainy night.


The Shiny Object uses threaded 16 Gram CO2 cylinders to fill bicycle tires, but any Presta or Schrader valve tires can get a fill up from this shiny wonder too!

It may take a two or three CO2 cylinders to bring a Motorcycle, truck, or car tire up to pressure, but ATV's & smaller trailer tires can get topped off & back to civilization in no time.  Toss a Shiny Object and a half dozen CO2 Cylinders in your Go Bag, or Glovebox, & you'll have enough wind to fill valve equipped inflatables with ease.

The Shiny Object has a built-in adjustable cut-off valve, so it's not a single use proposition either. Use it to fill sleeping pads & other inflatables over & over & over. The solid alloy device is ruggedly built, and the complete kit comes with a CO2 Cylinder and leather sleeve. Cylinder's get frosty cold when they discharge, and the vegetable dyed leather sleeve keeps the frost from your fingertips.  The Shiny Object is not intended to replace regular tire pumps and the like, but rather, serve as a quick fix tool to get you home or further along safe & with minimum effort.
With every gram of weight, and every cubic inch of space important considerations with gear you pack out, you immediately see the real value in this handy, hardy, pocket of pressure. The PDW Shiny Object is available at finer Bicycle shops, as well as online. Including HERE.