Bivy Bivystick

OUR TAKE Get a little juice with your ability to SOS. That’s the shtick with the Bivystick, a two-way Iridium satellite messenger that doubles as a power bank. The Bivystick, which is about the size of a bar of baker’s chocolate, works in conjunction with an easy-to-use app for sending and receiving texts, sharing your location, getting weather forecasts, and initiating SOS alerts. It has a 5200mAh battery that can charge your smartphone twice. Note: It can charge other devices via USB, but it’s useless without your phone, so keep your priorities straight.

TRAIL CRED “The Bivystick’s service plan is credit-based, so I could send a text, share my location, or update the weather on one trip, then carry my leftover credits into my next trip,” says one Colorado wilderness guide. “I never had to pay for a month or a year like other messengers I’ve used.” (The base plan starts at $18 for 10 credits.)

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