ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

This genius hack lets you charge your phone when you have no electricity

This hurricane-hit woman is extremely resourceful

This genius hack lets you charge your phone when you have no electricity
12 September 2017

Necessity, so they say, is the mother of invention and there is nothing more necessary than checking your Instagram during a massive, life-threatening hurricane that’s bearing down on you.

Which explains why one Reddit user’s ingenious cousin put all of their scientific knowhow together – and some batteries – to create a fully-functioning, off-grid phone charger.

Check out this glorious picture, posted under the title: “My cousin’s MacGyver'd a pretty effective way to charge her phone when she lost power.”

What they’ve done there is use eight batteries, a bunch of paperclips and a car charger to create a working phone charger, with no need for any power from the mains.

We’re impressed, and so were fellow redditors.

Some people got confused.

But how exactly does it work?

Someone asked for a schematic, and someone provided a schematic:

However, some smart alecs had other suggestions:

Alright guys, very clever. But where’s the fun in that?

However, a word of warning for anyone planning to copy this at home: