Summary
➡ The author highly recommends a Faraday bag that can hold all electronic and solar gear, and can be easily stored when not in use. The creator of the bag also provides educational content on his YouTube channel and blog, which the author suggests checking out. The author encourages engagement with his video and promises to reciprocate any comments or reactions.
Transcript
Well, I happen to know somebody that owns a company called Off Grid Trek, and this guy has the credentials and has done the research and development, making his own Faraday bags, making his own solar panels that are the best a civilian can possibly buy. I had an opportunity to meet him once at an Overland Expo in Virginia, and I stay in touch with him, and I own many of his products, and you’re going to want to see this, because if you prepare Overland or just live on this earth right now, protecting what you have, especially preparations for power outages, is paramount.
And with this setup, you’ll be able to do that. So you’re going to want to sit back, you’re going to want to relax, and you are most definitely going to want to check this out. Now right off the bat, I’m going to show you the website. I’ll leave links to it below. But Rene lives in Canada. He is an ex-military dude with communications, etc. under his belt, and he went and had these solar panels built to his specifications. He carries all the best solar generators. I happen to have one of those top units up there right now, and he’s been in magazines, all the biggest YouTube channels like my buddy Mike from Last Land of Defense.
Everyone’s reviewed his gear, and it is second to none. Now it’s expensive, but here’s the deal. Unlike the other solar panels I’ve used over the years, these don’t degregate over the years. You leave these things laying in the sun, the sun kills things, period. So solar panels usually only last two, three years. My off-grid track panel has performed exactly as well as it did the first time as it did the last time. They cost money because it costs money to make them. These are paramount. These are second to none. These are the best you can get as a civilian, period.
And I want you to hear the credentials this guy has, and I want you to see the Faraday bag that he’s had made, has constructed. These things are amazing, and they work. And he’s tested them ad nauseam to make sure that they work, unlike other companies. I can say that as a fact. What made you do this? What made you say, I have to make a better solar blanket than everybody else? Long story short, I’m ex-military myself, ex-telecommunication. When I got out, I actually contracted to a satellite-based company out of Canada. And we were actually supplying SATCOMs to militaries worldwide, NGOs, three-letter entities in the U.S.
And I always remember years ago seeing a picture. I don’t think the company’s around anymore, but it was kind of like a solar blanket. But there’s a picture of a marine on a sat-phone, on a donkey, with this draped over, and I always thought, I can do that better. That’s basically where it came from. I know exactly who you’re talking about, and those are incredibly expensive. You can still get them. They’re still on eBay, used, and they’re incredibly expensive. Thing is, this is a brand. I’ve never seen solar cells like this before. Did you design these yourself? These are my design.
I went through several manufacturers until I found one that could do exactly what I was wanting. These are basically the newest solar cells that you can get. They’re the SunPower Gen 3 solar cells. And the biggest thing about our product is their 23.8 percent efficiency rating. And that’s the most important number to know, and most manufacturers won’t tell you that, because most of the product that is on the market is, on average, 12 to 15 percent, because that’s the best profit margin. That’s where they make the most money. I looked at the, you chose to use Anderson connectors.
You chose to use solar charge controllers, instead of the little crappy one that comes with all of them, that came to give you a little bit of power. And just on a small side note, this foldable panel is closed, and Rene just pointed out that it’s actually still making power. It’s not even open. That’s pretty amazing. I just put really, really high-end solar panels on the top of my Alucap. These are the ones that you stick them up there, they stay there for five years, then you rip them down. And they work well, but I had never seen anything like this.
How did you get these from, you know, what you were thinking about, into actually making them into production? It was about a year process, went through several manufacturers, like even the solar charge controllers, I tested over 30 of them. I know it’s over 30, that’s just the number I remember. So long story short, he’s gone through exhaustive testing, research and development, and it worked. And I can attest to that, and everyone that owns Off-Grid Trek can attest to that. So I’m going to leave you links to his YouTube channel, as well as his Instagram, because he’s up in Canada, and as Americans, it’s always good to have a contact in other countries just to see what’s going on.
But let’s listen to him in his own words explain this Faraday bag that he’s developed, because it’s amazing. Renny here with Off-Grid Trek. With these interesting times, I know I’ve had a lot of people asking about our Faraday bags, so I just kind of want to go over those. This is what they are when they’re not being used. You can see how small and lightweight it is. This will actually hold 126 litres. I believe that’s about 30 gallons, I might be off on that a little bit. But it gives you an idea. This is it when it’s actually, this is an example.
What I’m going to show you is everything that I normally have in it for myself, and it’ll kind of give you an idea based on what could work for you, and might not work for you, based on your own scenario. First and foremost, internally what we use is three layers of the shielding for EMP, so that basically it offers complete protection for all of your electronics inside. And for those of you that don’t know, EMP is basically, it’s an electromagnetic pulse. And what that’s caused by, it could be something as simple as a solar flare, or it could be because of nuclear.
So this will protect any of your devices inside if there is an EMP. So what we use is, on the outside is a military grade fabric, which gives it a lot of durability. And then we do use some very heavy duty Velcro as well too. What that does is it allows for no airflow whatsoever. If you have airflow going in and out, that means signal is going to go in and out, and there is a chance that you’re going to damage the electronics inside. So as an example, right on the front, we have two layers.
So two layers right here on the outside, on the sides. We also have another layer right here. To me, it was just smart to do that. It really, it’s a little more effort to open and close it, but it gives you peace of mind that everything is going to be kept safe in there. So go ahead, take a look inside. This gives you an example of everything, and I’ll pull it all out, and I’ll give you some ideas, just basically what we use ourselves. So first and foremost, it’s always good to have a multimeter.
So I always have a multimeter in there. And by the way, everything I’m going to be pulling out will charge from our solar blankets as well too, because if there is an EMP strike, if there is something along that lines, unfortunately gas stations, unless you’re able to siphon manually, you’re not going to be able to get gas to run your generator. You’re going to have to rely on electronics to be powered from solar. So here’s two of the headlamps that we use that power from solar to our flashlights that we use.
That one actually turned itself on. So you get the idea. These bags hold an incredible amount of equipment, and it actually has been tested ad nauseam to make sure that these do exactly as they’re designed to do. Rene has gone through more research and development, more money out of his pocket than anybody else that I’ve met that’s designed a product that’s already existing. It is a better product. Off-grid Trek makes the best solar panels and gear you can possibly get, period. And I have no monetary affiliation with him or anyone else. That’s how I can give you honest reviews, period.
So there, as they say, is that. And the beauty of his Faraday bag is it folds down flat. I have one behind my seat, but it opens up enormous and can literally hold every piece of electronics, solar gear, everything in my truck in this one bag. But when I don’t need it, it’s folded out of the way. Also, if you’re interested in this stuff and you want to learn more, he teaches on his YouTube channel, and he also writes a phenomenal blog, especially on the Faraday bag, right on his website. So I’ll leave links to all of those below.
And you should use them, because we are in some crazy times right now. At any rate. If you enjoyed this video, make sure you hit that like, share, and subscribe. All the links to Off-grid Trek will be in the description box below. Leave a comment, a thumbs up, a thumbs down, and I will try to return the favor. I am out. [tr:trw].
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