Power Wellies

Power Wellies

This one-ups the footwear debate for me – a guy with an admitted Wellies-and-short-shorts fetish.

These  scintillating new gum boots from Orange can charge your mobile devices with the heat generated by your feet, and should be all the rage with the power hippies.

Developed for (and showcased at) the recent Glastonbury festival by Orange Mobile and renewable energy experts, Gotwind (ahem…), these boots:

“…use a unique ‘power generating sole’ that converts heat from your feet into an electrical current…”

A current they call – wait for it – “Welectricity”.

It’s all about heat, baby. These puppies will generate one hour of mobile charging time for every 12 hours your dogs are barking.  Go do a mud dance and you’ll generate even more heat and thus more charging power.

Plug your cell phone into a jack at the top of the boot at the end of the day, and your good to go. Because this is how all the girls I know roll at Fuji Rock:

Sweet sole sister

Sweet sole sister

I could impress her with my vast knowledge of thermoelectrics, but I think I’ll just let the marketing blag do it.

I’m big on the Wellies in more ways than one. Sean and Dave opt for the “pseudo hiker” and Kern goes for the Saucony sneaker solution. I can understand the reasons for that: lightness, comfort or a certain amount of disposability, but after five years of trekking Fuji Rock, I can honestly say that the Wellies are the way to go. I said it last year, and I’ll say it again.

Your shoes are going to get covered in shit. Figurative shit and literal shit. The ground in front of the stages will turn to mud. Wearing my under the knee Aigle boots with some good socks and a good in-sole, I walk through everything. No soakers, no shoe-sucking mud, so slipping and sliding. I wear one pair of footwear all weekend and wash them whenever I want by stepping through a creek, puddle or under a tap. No wet feet ever. Pure confidence. I bring a light weight set of beach slip-ons for the bus trip. but that’s it.

I even have fellow Fujirocker Dom convinced.

Anyway, the power Wellie and the girl-next-door aren’t the only eco-friendly ideas that will be flaunted around the Fuji Rock site. I’ve checked out a few of these doodads:

The Bun Bun Eco light lets you charge up the batteries with kinetic energy. It’s small and surprisingly bright, and yes – a light is a good idea at the festival. Even if you’re not camping. Plus, you can wave it in the air like you just don’t care.

They want $52 USD (¥4600) plus shipping for it online at Japan Trend Shop, but that’s a major rip-off. They sell it here at Yurindo book shop for ¥2100, fer chrissakes .

An “eco” device i wholeheartedly recommend you don’t buy is the iCharge Eco Solar Pack. I bought one of these for around ¥3000 in Akihabara last year, and it was a waste of money. It charges its own solar cell just fine, but plug into your iPhone and it will only charge for a few minutes (if that) before quitting.

I suppose if your really serious, seeing as how Softbank may help us actually get a mobile signal this year, you could put a wind charger on your tent. Another fine idea brought to you by those crazy folks with the methane name – Gotwind

WInd Charger

WInd Charger