You know Smith & Bradley for their watches but soon you may know them for interesting outdoor/survival related gear. The veterans of Kickstarter have launched a campaign to fund their latest project, The Beacon Outdoor Survival Box.
The Beacon is a floating, water-tight storage box with an integrated solar charger (with battery) and flashlight functionality built in. The interesting thing is that in spite of the fact that it combines 3 useful outdoor tools, it isn’t really any larger than a typical solar charger or water-tight storage box is on its own.
The USB charging receptacles (3) are located inside the storage compartment so you can actually store a mobile device inside The Beacon to protect it from the elements and charge it at the same time. If you have to charge multiple devices, you can open The Beacon and use all 3 ports simultaneously. The Beacon’s 10,000 mAh lithium ion battery can also be wall charged and the entire “power puck” portion can be removed from the box for separate use or cleaning.
The integrated LEDs gives you the choice of white flood light or SOS flashing modes. There is also an amber colored LED flood light option for situations where you may not want to overload your dark adjusted eyes.
Often, these widgets that try to combine a ton of features end up being monstrosities that are larger and heavier than just carry the items separately. The Beacon actually appears to combine the functionality of several items into a package that actually makes it an attractive alternative to the items it replaces.
