5 things

Tropical toys

TROPICAL TOYS

It's the time of year when some monster out of the tropics occasionally knocks out our electrical grid, plunging us back into the Stone Age for a few weeks. Here are five devices to keep you connected to civilization, no matter what.

---------------------------------------------

1. Coleman Retro Rechargeable Family-Size Lantern ($35). There are hand-crank lanterns out there, but their output is typically dreary. When this one runs down, you plug it into your car's cigarette lighter for nine hours of cordless operation.

2. Sunlinq 12-Watt Foldable Solar Panel ($200). Recharge your cell phone, your laptop, your camcorder, etc.

3.Ecodigital Eco Media Player. Currently available only in the United Kingdom (for about $340), this wind-up MP3 player gets 40 minutes of music out of one minute of hand cranking. We want one.

4. Forever Flashlight ($25). No batteries. No bulbs. Shake it for 30 seconds to generate a charge that provides about five minutes of light via a light-emitting diode (LED). It even floats.

5. Bicycle-Powered "Mini-B3" Blender (complete kit: $400 — bike not included). It's hot and there's no electricity. So how's a pluffmudder supposed to make a decent daiquiri? With this gizmo, you hook up your bike to this kit and convert your peddling to blending. An essential Lowcountry emergency accessory, so long as those heathens from FEMA remember to deliver us ice.