If you have trouble organizing your belongings and you worry about keeping your gadgets safe and juiced up while on the go, then the Lifepack is going to catch your eye. It’s a rugged, durable, weather-resistant backpack with a variety of different pockets and antitheft features. But that’s not all, because the Solarbank slots into a special pocket inside and offers 12,000mAh of battery power for your phone. It has a solar panel to charge it up on one side and a Bluetooth speaker on the other.
This unusual backpack was created in Denmark by Solgaard Design and proved to be a big hit on Indiegogo and Kickstarter. It’s a nice, multifunctional bag that’s designed to confound thieves. There’s a retractable 3-digit combination lock and a reinforced cable for attaching it to table legs, so it doesn’t got snatched while you’re on a bathroom break. There are various compartments, hidden pockets, and lockable zippers inside to help secure your gadgets and documents. The lock even doubles as a bottle opener. It’s a smart design that could serve you well around town or on a trip into the wilderness.
The Solarbank is a brick-sized battery pack that has a solar panel on one side. The slot for it in the Lifepack leaves the solar panel exposed, so it can charge up while you walk. There’s a power button with LEDs that light up to show remaining charge. Flip it over and you’ll see the black speaker grille, because the Solarbank also works as a fairly loud Bluetooth speaker. There are two USB ports at one end, which can charge devices at 2A and 1A, so one fast and one slow. There’s also a Micro USB port for charging it up on days when the sun isn’t shining, as well as a 3.5mm audio jack for plugging in headphones.
You can get up to six full charges for an iPhone 6S from this hefty power bank. The solar panel is pretty effective, too. An hour of decent sunshine is going to give you enough juice to fill about 25 percent of your iPhone’s battery and it will still charge up if it’s cloudy, as long as there’s some light. A fully charged Solarbank can also give you up to 96 hours of tunes streamed via Bluetooth from your phone.
You can pre-order the Lifepack on Indiegogo right now for $180, and it’s due to ship in October. It will hit retail in November, but the price is set to jump up to $280. If you just like the sound of the Solarbank, then you can buy it separately for $120 on Indiegogo . It’s set to jump to $150 when it goes on sale later in the year.