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Military-designed “bat hook” lets you charge your phone from overhead power lines

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When you think about it, it’s ridiculous to spend the effort lugging around spare batteries, hand-cranked chargers, piezoelectric gadgets, and all the other half-baked solutions we depend on to resuscitate a dead phone. There’s a potent supply of free power just waiting to be tapped, right above our heads. No, not the sun — overhead power lines.

The Bat Hook is as simple as any plug-in charger, but it’s great for on-the-go. It’s just a weighted hook with a razor blade in it, strung on the end of a cord: you toss it over the nearest power line. Its blade pierces the live wire, neatly and safely conducting electric current down to you, for convenient charging of gadgets, jumpstarting cars, or powering your roadside business. It even works in the rain!

WATCH THE BAT HOOK IN ACTION

Full story: Military-Designed “Bat Hook” Lets You Charge Your Phone from Overhead Power Lines – Popular Science