Five gadgets to take off-grid

Tow and fro

As I watched the Mink-E turn the corner, my first thought was “dinky”. Teardrop campers are compact by nature, but this fully electric teardrop (previous iterations were diesel-heated) is cute enough to warrant an affectionate pat. The advantages of its size and weight (just 510kg) are clear: it’s towable by the majority of EVs, and you can unhook and manoeuvre it by hand (a boon for people like me who find reversing with a trailer to be a gruelling test of agility). 

The Mink series was designed and built in Iceland for the tourist rental market, and the popularity of its form factor (and in particular its panoramic skylight) led to a Europe-wide roll-out. In theory it can sleep a family of three if the little one is sufficiently little; a queen-size mattress lies front to back, and a bunk sits left-to-right over the grown-ups’ legs (it can alternatively serve as a storage area.) Taller people may doubt their ability to squeeze in, but former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff – himself a sizeable unit – tested the older non-electric version for Top Gear, and according to a Mink spokesperson loved it enough to get one of his own. Awnings and canopies can be attached to the kitchen area at the rear to create additional living space.

The camper’s USB and 12v sockets are powered by two 70Ah batteries, which can be charged via a 13-pin cable while driving and kept topped-up on site with the roof-mounted solar panel. In summer, an airflow system keeps the cabin cool while on the road, and a combination of passive ventilation and a powered fan regulates the temperature while you’re asleep. In colder weather, the Mink-E’s thermal insulation does most of the work; it does have a heater, but the inevitable power draw means you’ll need mains power (or V2L from your car) to use it. The drinks holders on the wheel arches are just one example of the delightful attention to detail. MINK-E Teardrop Camper, £25,320

Hear the birdie

Bird enthusiasts may already be aware of Birdnet, a wonderful (and free) app that recognises bird calls and matches them to species. It only really works, however, when you’re looking at your phone – which is not always ideal. Californian engineer Tim Clark has solved this problem with a compact stereo audio recorder, equipped with environmental sensors, that works in tandem with Birdnet.

Take it on a hike and the app will later present you with a map of where you walked and all the birdsong data. It clips neatly to a backpack and certainly qualifies as rugged. “One fell off a cliff into the Rio Grande; it worked perfectly when it was recovered,” says Clark. BirdWeather PUC, $249

Must watch

Late last year, Polar launched the well-received Vantage V3 sports watch. This, the Grit X2 Pro, is essentially the same watch inside with a toughened exterior in either steel or, in the case of the Titan version, “aerospace” titanium. Unlike many hulking watches in the ultra-endurance market, it is very easy on the eye, with two straps: black silicone or brown leather. It measures, as you’d expect, a stack of health metrics and dovetails with services such as Strava, MyFitnessPal, Adidas Running and Apple Health. It has excellent navigation and step-retracing features, along with preloaded maps that don’t rely on data coverage to operate. Polar Grit X2 Pro Titan, £749

A real trooper

For nearly three decades, Panasonic has been the go-to brand for robust, verging-on-invincible laptops and tablets (it supplies the US military). The latest iteration of its Toughbook 33 range may not sit at the cutting edge in terms of processing power (it uses a 12th-generation Intel chip) but its magnesium alloy chassis is built to withstand dusty environments, jets of water, rapid changes of temperature (eg, from 20ºC inside to -29ºC outside) and punishing blows from various angles. It initially feels counter-intuitive to toss a laptop nonchalantly into a car boot, but after a few days you begin to treat it more like a hammer drill than a piece of IT gear. Panasonic Toughbook 33 Mk3, from £2,909

All tooled up

Danish firm Sitpack’s first product was a one-legged chair: very much a single-function item. This, by contrast, is the ultimate outdoor multitool in the form of a carabiner hook (although it’s not certified for climbing use). The body is titanium (“aluminium feels too light, steel too heavy, and the matte finish is difficult to achieve with other metals”, says Sitpack’s founder Jonas Lind-Bendixen) and the swappable knife attachment and multi-purpose bit holder give it real flexibility. It’s a bottle-opening, jar-popping, nut-wrenching, screw-turning, nail-removing, wire-stripping marvel – and difficult to lose, thanks to two glow-in-the-dark plates. Sitpack Octo Max 20-in-1 Carabiner, £97

@rhodri