Have you ever gone camping, and on a day hike you come across a bearded, grizzly man who hasn't seen civilization in over a decade?

It's happened to me. Twice.

First thing I wanted to do is pull out my trusty, portable mp3/video player/phone to show Dan Boone some of society's glorious creations he's missed, starting with the "Chocolate Rain" video.

Oh, but there's one problem, your techno-vision-viewing device is low on power. What do you do?

Enter the Voltaic Systems solar powered backpack. The V-Pack (as I lovingly refer to it), is made entirely of recycled materials, and generates up to 4 watts of solar power which is more than enough to juice up cell and sat phones, iPods, PDA's, GPS's, cameras, and most other handheld devices.

It won't however charge up a laptop. You'll need their Generator for that. So you'll have to wait to show the survivor man your Hudson Hawk prequel script, but the Voltaic backpack can fulfill most of your other charging needs.

The V-pack, like a portly goth kid, doesn't necessarily need the sun, because the lithium-ion battery pack can be charged up using the AC travel charger, or the car charger. This will keep a surplus of power in your bag, which would quite useful if you find yourself lost in a sunless, post-apacolyptic hell scape.

It comes equipped with 11 standard adaptors that will fit most devices, maybe even that old Intellivision console you've been waiting to break out. Just think, if the hot hippie chick, who works at that vegan restaurant, sees your Voltaic solar bag, maybe she'll finally let you AC her DC.

$249
www.voltaicsystems.com