Five gadgets for a modern castaway

Tech talks

While watching Tom Hanks’ character of Chuck Noland in Cast Away, Metrolife was caught up in an intriguing train of thought. What if someone were to be stranded on a deserted island following a mishap? Would the situations be the same as it might have been 15 years ago? Will an ordinary citizen be forced to transform himself to brave the elements of nature? To an extent, we believe yes.

With the technological progress making leaps by the second, however, we at Metrolife dug down a bit to find a few gadgets that can make the hazardous habitat a little more accommodating.

Unlike Hanks, we have a list of things that can help keep a marooned man in touch with civilisation, beginning with a laptop that can be regarded as a Navy Seal among the world of portable computers!

The Dell Latitude Rugged Extreme 14 looks like something Ethan Hunt might be seen working on in the Grand Canyon or Jason Bourne in the harsh winters of Germany, but that is not where the bragging ends. Built to withstand the harshest environments and every possible type of punishment, this mean machine is ready for anything.

It features protected ports and a 14-inch resistive touch screen that's made to be read outside. Inside, one will find discrete Nvidia graphics, an Intel Core i5 CPU and a 256GB SSD, which translates to roughly nine hours of battery life without a connection to a power source. In addition to this, the laptop can function in temperatures ranging from -29 degree Celsius to 63 degree Celsius and can also withstand torrential rainfall and dust storms.

We hear the word ‘invincible’ being whispered under the breath.

Now a laptop should also have a phone to go with it. Something as sturdy as to be able to take on whatever Mother Nature throws at it. We saw many worthy candidates and in the end, the battle came down between the Motorola X2 and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra. Both are water resistant, dust proof and boast a monstrous battery backup. However, in the multimedia department, the Xperia has a clear edge.

Before one can say “that is all fine and good, but how in the blazes am I to find a
power source on a deserted island?” we have the fix
right here and it is called a solar bank.

That’s right. We recommend the Voltaic Generator, a bag made out of recycled soda bottles with a solar patch and separate alcoves for wiring. While it takes somewhere between 4-8 hours to reach a point of optimum charge, it is strong enough to power a laptop and four phones and also holds a laptop sleeve.

Having taken care of the electronic requirements, we now turn our heads towards the basic utility needs. Fire, food and shelter to start with; Zippo has a very handy product called the neck flex utility lighter that cannot be extinguished even by winds blowing at 30 mph. That means no need to take two pieces of wood and rub them for hours on end or trying to ignite a spark with a couple of flints. Add a Victorinox Hunstman Army Knife to the equation and foraging for fuelwood and fodder gets a whole
lot easier.