HiLight Stories
What do our users think about HiNation HiLight ?
We'd love to hear what you think! Not only can we make our products even better if we know what you are missing, we also want to spread tips between our users. Have you found a new way to use the HiLight while kayaking, or managed to have friends for dinner despite a power outage? Tell us! Send an email to
WenXiang Pang, preferably with photos, and we will publish it!
England April 2012 – Max WenXiang Pang
I went to London during the Easter Break and decided to bring along the HiLight. As an employee of HiNation AB, I understand the uses of HiLight and its applications. However, I want to see under what other circumstances HiLight can be used.
Throughout the trip, I always bring HiLight along with me. HiLight was being hung on the side of my bag and with its bright orange colour and unique design; it certainly received a lot of attention. Sometimes, I wonder if HiLight can be used as a fashion accessory as well.
I first used HiLight when I landed in London. We arrived at night and on the bus towards the city, the bus driver switched off the lights for passengers to rest. As I had to read the maps and local information, I decided to switch on the HiLight. With the orange flap put down, the light is being focused on my maps. This is really very good as it minimizes disturbances to others yet benefits me. Indeed a win-win situation.
During one of the days, I used HiLight to charge my phone as I forgot to do it the night before. This is really very important as I cannot imagine myself without any form of communication in a foreign land.
After the trip, I had a better understanding of the HiLight and also get to appreciate the many “other” uses of the product. However, one issue I observed is with the strap. During one of the bus rides, the straps just undid by itself and left my HiLight on the floor. I think one way of solving this is to use a strap clip instead of buttons.
In all, it’s an enjoyable trip and the HiLight certainly helped me quite a lot.
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Photograph in courtesy and by Max WenXiang Pang
HiNation AB
Nepal March 2012 – Jenny Bisther
During my 10 days of trekking between the gurung-villages of western Nepal, I could really put my HiLight to a test. These villages lack both electricity supply and road access and when the sun goes down in the evening most activities come to an end. My HiLight attracted much curiosity and attention, often the only source of light in the villages except for some kerosene lamps, cooking fires and the occasional solar lamp offering a weak bluish light. Kerosene is both expensive and hazardous and is therefore used sparingly.
We used my HiLight all the time. The Himalayan sun is strong and after a day of charging, strapped to my backpack, we could charge both cameras and mobile phones apart from having access to proper light. We also used HiLight as a strong torch when heading out into the dark!
The use and knowledge of solar cells is generally widespread in Nepal and even in the most remote villages people know how solar cells can help them. Many houses have a small panel on the roof that provides enough energy for a couple of hours of weak light. Both the domestic government and foreign NGO’s are involved in distributing basic solar lanterns to schoolchildren in remote areas.
A product such as HiLight can really make a change in the living conditions for villagers like the ones we visited. Not only does it permit to keep studying and working after dark. It also offers efficient charging of mobile phones (otherwise charging possibilities is a big dilemma for villagers who have the opportunity to acquire a mobile phone) as well as other equipment such as for example a small radio via USB. Access to mobile phones and radios provide many positive effects; contact with the outside world, the ability to perform banking transactions, increased revenue opportunities, etc. I hope that more people will have the opportunity to discover the advantages of HiLight. For me, HiLight has become just as essential as my camera when I pack my bags for this kind of travelling!
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Photograph in courtesy and by Jenny Bisther
Expedition Travel
Tanzania February 2012 – Mats Andersson
I participated in an expedition to Kilimanjaro organized by Expedition Travel (Ola Skinnarmo and Jonas Sundqvist). You can read more on www.expeditionsresor.se. We were a group of 15 participants including Swedish guides and domestic carriers. We took 7 days to reach the summit Uhuru Peak (5895 m) and back down.
During the day, I would strap HiLight onto my backpack and at night, I would hang it up on the roof of the tent and it gave a general good lighting to the surrounding. I also used it to charge my iPhone twice during the trip.
However, there was a problem with HiLight when we got up to about 3000m. The lamp lit by itself without me activating it. I pressed the button to off it but it lit up again. Maybe it was the high air pressure due to the height that caused the problem.
Apart from that, I have no other views on improvement. The switch should be able to close so the HiLight does not turn on accidentally. ------------------------------------------------------------
Photograph in courtesy and by Mats Andersson
Expedition Travel
India November 2011 – Åsa Sköndal
Through a school project I had the opportunity to go to India and that is where I got the chance to test out the HiLight. We were not in India during the hot summer period but autumn instead. The temperature of the day was around 25 degrees at midday and the area was quite dry. I tested the light in Madhya Pradesh at The Kanha National Park and the desert state of Rajasthan. In Rajasthan, it was really dry and the temperature was around 30 degrees.
During the trip, the HiLight has worked exactly as it should, the only thing was that the plastic edge was a bit loose in one place but it has not affected the HiLight’s performance at all. We used the HiLight to charge our camera, iPhone and MP3. First, we will charge the HiLight under the sun during the day and then we would charge our equipments in the evenings.
Initially, my friends were a bit skeptical. They thought it was a pretty big lamp and did not understand why it looked so “odd”. When I told them that the HiLight could recharge electronics, no one believed me. It was during one of the nights when my friend’s iPhone was out of battery and the electricity was turned off so she could not charge it. When I offered her my HiLight, she said, “Nah, then it will take so long.”
The funny thing was that then when we realized how smart it is to charge with the HiLight, we began to start using it excessively. When the first mp3 player was charged, we were all surprised. “It loaded the giant frog”, exclaimed one of the girls.
The HiLight has certainly been very useful for us during the trip. During our travel, although we mostly had good access
for charging and power, it was still difficult to get along. The reason I did not use the HiLight was when we were at
Bode. In the evenings, we were so used to the wall lights and if we need light, it was easier to just take a flashlight. But I can certainly imagine that if you are camping or hiking, HiLight is certainly perfect for brightening up a space for a long time.
If people are more interested in using HiLight as a charger, I think the weight and size of HiLight should be reduced. However, if people are using it just for the light, then the opposite is true.
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Photograph in courtesy and by Åsa Sköndal
Student
Nepal November 2011 - Johannes Paloheimo
Kapu is a Finnish charity project which combines both charity and adventure. The project consists of 15 participants who collect money for pre-defined project, and then climb a mountain in the assisted area. This year's Kapu project was the fourth project in a row and was focused to Nepal. All contributions will go to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and FPANs (Family Planning Association) in southern Nepal (Terai Arc area), where their work focuses on family health and reducing the growing population’s pressure on nature. Since the project started in 1st April 2011, the 15 participants have raised over € 88,000.
On 11th April, we went from Fort Helsing to Kathmandu. I was very grateful that HiNation lent me a HiLight. This meant that I could use my Contour camera and smartphone without worrying about the batteries going flat. I was actually one of the few who had solar charger, so I had a hunch that I would become popular with the other photography enthusiasts in our group.
During the first week we visited FPANs and WWF project sites in the tropical southern Nepal. We visited the medical clinics for women in Dang, and saw the work WWF is doing to preserve endangered animals in Chitwan National Park. At the project sites, we participated in practical work. This includes painting a clinic, planting flowers, clearing the forests and participating in the hunt for poachers.
After our first week in southern Nepal, it was time to head back to Kathmandu for our flight to Lukla and from there begin the trek to Peak Mera (6462 m). Due to the bad weather, our flight could not land at Lukla airport and we had to turn back to Kathmandu and come up with a plan "B". Plan "B" turned out to be a 12-hrs bus ride and 6-days hike. Due to time constraint, we decided to climb up Island Peak (6189 m) instead. A interesting thing about our plan was that Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the same trip when they were practicing for their Everest expedition in 1953.
During our expedition, HiLight has withstood the highly unpredictable climate and harsh conditions; from Chitwan tropical landscape, through the ball fields in central Nepal, to the magnificent peaks around the Khumbu Valley in the Himalayas. During the climb up, however, HiLight was left to stay in base camp (5100m) to charge my smartphone so it would be ready for me when I came down from the top. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photograph in courtesy and by Johannes Paloheimo
Climbing for Charity – Kapua
www.kapua.fi
Sweden July 2011 – Katarina Widoff
Having received my HiLight at the start of the summer, I have been using the charging function to charge my cell phone and mp3 player since then.
In addition, the light works perfectly on my boat. When I was looking for something in small and dark spaces, the HiLight always comes in handy. Apart from that, the strong LED light enables me to see further into the engine compartment or when I am taking a walk at the bay at night.
Since I like to read at night, I used the HiLight to read in the dark. In the past, I often encountered the problem of the boat's light turning off due to flat batteries. Sometimes in total darkness and without the boat's light, it is difficult to start the engine. So it is always important to keep the HiLight close to me.
Many people are interested in the lamp and mobile chargers.
Once, I met a few sailors during a walk. When I was about to charge the solar light, they asked me ,"What is it?". We had a converstion about USB, Light and Africa and it generated quite a great interest.
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Photograph in courtesy and by Katarina Widoff
KOMFAB
Germany June 2011 – Markus Gründel
I used the HiLight while I was away on a few small tours. We were hiking in the night to the Brocken in Harz then to Niedersachsen and Sachsenanhalt all in Germany. We were a group of 5 people and the HiLight was also constantly used in our caravan at Clausthal-Zellerfeld and also caravan at Steinhuder Meer.
I like the HiLight as it is very simple to use! It does not require you to take the battery out of the charger and avoids the trouble of having to attach a separate solar-panel. All I had to do was to put the HiLight on my backpack during the day, let the sun shine on it and in the evening I simply switch it on.
Also I like design of the short stripes as it allows me to attach it to a backpack and hang it for light.
I see the use of HiLight for both small and big groups, which want a hassle free experience with solar power, not need to set it up like an experiment. I would recommend the HiLight for pathfinders and officials like THW, fire department or military - because it is easy to use and nobody can connect something in the wrong way.
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Photograph in courtesy and by Markus Gründel
http://www.cachetool.de/tests.htm
Kenya December 2010 – Ken Levicki
I work in the field of development assistance, mainly with rural development in East Africa. For the past couple of years, I’ve occasionally been experimenting with various solar and dynamo powered products for portable lighting and mobile phone charging. During a recent 3 week assignment to the Lake Victoria region in Kenya I had the opportunity to test HiLight.
In my experience, HiLight is the first product that truly lives up to its performance claims. Charging my phone with it is just as effective as plugging in to electricity mains. The device’s construction was of good quality and durability to handle the elements and bumps while motor biking out on rough, dusty country trails.
The capacity of the battery met my expectations both as phone charger and lamp. I was especially impressed by the strength and wide shine of the light. My Kenyan colleague, Pastor John Ombwayo, stated it well - “this light is bright, just like electricity”! I was even surprised it was capable of charging 2 phones at once though not designed for it.
HiLight became such an important kit in my travel that I felt insecure leaving it unattended! There were times when it needed to continue charging but I couldn’t or didn’t want to stay out in direct sun with it. It would be useful to have some means of fastening a small padlock in order to reduce the risk of it quickly walking away.
In any case, I can safely say that the HiLight will become a regular item of my travel kit. It’ll certainly be my trusted companion out on remote field assignments, and even when based in town it will find good use to allow me to continue working through the frequent power outages.
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Ken Levicki
INUG - Ingenjörer och Naturvetare utan Gränser
Nicaragua December 2010 – Benoit Guyot
I brought my HiLight to Nicaragua (Central America) where I travelled from the Pacific region with lakes and volcanoes to the Caribbean Sea for 3 weeks. During this time, the weather was generally good with sunny clear skies and temperatures around 25-30°C.
During our trip we exposed the product on a rucksack while travelling around, and when we were resting, we would put HiLight on a roof or on top of a hut/sunshade while resting. The HiLight works perfectly! When exposed it for a full day of sun, I manage to charge the battery to almost the full capacity. While in not so favourable conditions, I still managed to charge enough to be able to charge my camera.
I found the HiLight very useful as I did not have a US-style plug adaptor to charge our camera. I used the HiLight to charge my camera almost on a daily basis and it came in really handy when I experience an electricity breakdown (blackout), particularly on Corn Island. On this paradisiacal Nicaraguan island in the Caribbean Sea, electricity is provided by an old power plant that uses fuel-powered generators. Disruptions at night had become norm on the island.
One occasion made me especially grateful to have the HiLight with me; during New Years Eve! We experienced yet another electrical breakdown. Not only was it very convenient to have a solution at hand, but also, it makes one really proud when the guest of the New Year’s Eve party moved around us to also enjoy and express their enthusiasm regarding the HiLight.
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Benoît Guyot
Abondance by Design
Scotland, July 2010 - Leif Josefsson
I have had the privilege to follow the HiLight project on for the past few years. In July I finally got the opportunity to test one of the first three prototypes on a trip to Scotland.
Scotland and the Orkneys are not just the places you go to, to get access to much sun, which limits the ability to charge. But two weeks of the buses, trains and walking is still a good opportunity to test the handling of the HiLight. I've tried a few simple charging solutions before, including a solution with a separate battery pack and a detachable solar panel. After a few days, the sockets started to get loose, and parts were lost. The most important experience of two weeks with HiLight was that there is nothing really negative to report on the product. HiLight stays in place and does not get in the way if you attach it to a backpack. I travelled with a small backpack and a total of 6.5 kg packing, where every item was carefully evaluated. At no time was HiLight a hindrance during the trip.
- Thanks to the flexible straps and the shape of HiLight, it was very simple to attach to the outside of a backpack.
- When required, eg when I looked at some military fortresses at Scapa Flow, it was easy to turn HiLight so that the light comes out. Put your backpack on your chest and use the lamp as a forward-facing light.
- It's easy to find places to attach HiLight to recharge the solar cells, such as in windows.
- The lamp gives enough light to a small room to be able to read in.
- Even a low charge level gives good light for a few hours, which goes a long way.
- When you have the opportunity to recharge from the mains, HiLight charges the battery for at least two electrical devices and a few evenings of light. That is, a fully charged HiLight is good enough for a weekend of use, even if the sun does not appear.
- What you first think of as an odd shape, proves to be very useful. The lamp can be hung as a pendant, hung on the wall, leaning against a subject. When I was looking for my glasses, it proved to be very useful to push the HiLight under the bed.
After two weeks of use I have found one possible improvement: it would be good to attach a tripod to its edge so that you can use HiLight with a camera tripod. It would make it even easier to position for charging, and to use as a table or reading light. But it is an improvement that a user could easily do by gluing a nut with the right thread on the edge of HiLight.
I just bought a new Androidmobile. If you use the full functionality such as GPS, the battery does not last for many hours. If today's modern mobile phones should be useful, it requires finding appropriate solutions for the charging. HiLight is the perfect companion; sustainable, well thought through and robust product with many uses.
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Leif Josefsson
Facilitator
LeanderLeander AB
Your HiLight story
As more and more HiLights are available on the market, we will post your stories and photos. Contact WenXiang Pang if you want to share your story!