The solar powered RailLight Mini™easily attaches to railings on boats, RVs, decks and much more.
RailLight Mini- Solar Powered LED Light
The modern and compact design of our solar-powered RailLight Mini will provide light where you need it on your boat, RV, dock, deck or railing without adding wiring or worrying about ever replacing batteries. The stainless Mini, constructed of tough marine grade materials, comes equipped with our high efficient FastSolar™ technology and QuickMount™ rail and post clamp system that allows you to quickly disconnect the light from the rail clamp with the quick release connection.
Quick Feature Overview
Marine grade, stainless construction resists rust and corrosion
Light lasts up to 8 hours on a full charge of sunshine
SolLight, Innovators in Outdoor and Marine Solar Lighting Solutions Introduces the only Multipurpose Solar-Lantern, The LightCap 300
LightCap 300 - Solar-powered lantern, BPA-free water bottle and waterproof container
The new LightCap300 is a solar powered lantern, a one-liter BPA Freewater bottle and a waterproof container for valuables all under one lid. Our custom wide mouth bottle has a 50% wider opening than standard bottles for easier cleaning, mixing, drinking and storing contents.
The LightCap300 represents the culmination of three years of customer feedback and testing. It is 20% lighter, 4 times brighter and charges 50% faster, using FastSolar™ technology, than our original solar powered lantern. The sealed charging system stores up to 8 hours of light on a full charge, the integrated light sensor prevents accidental battery drain during the day. The complete LightCap300 weighs just 9.7.oz. (275 grams). Instead of a single LED, there are now four super-bright white LEDs for 4x the light with less relative power consumption. The sealed waterproof push button switch allows you to go from white LEDs to a red LED to off.
On August 7 , 2009, two friends and I took off on our motorcycles to ride from the California/Oregon border to the Washington/Oregon border.
Big deal, you might say. Ha! Try doing it all on dirt. Barely discernable rails and forest roads, over steep, rocky, mountain passes, through the barren desert, across rivers and streams, and… well, you get the picture.
The route is called the OBDR: Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route. (http://www.treknow.com/obcdr/). It is unclear when it was first done, or by who, or why. But it was, and it is, and it’s now a virtual rite-of-passage for any serious adventure rider in the northwest. Indeed, riders come from all over the world to test their endurance, equipment, and most of all, their route finding skills on the OBDR.
Starting just south of Lakeview, Oregon, the route winds it’s way gradually north for 900 grueling miles. Occasionally there are a few miles of paved roads, but it engages 95% dirt. All kinds of dirt. And sand and rocks. Over high mountain passes and across hip-deep rivers and creeks. Fun!
Our start was auspicious: we arrived at our starting point just after several days of torrential (and highly unusual) rain. In fact, because of the mud, we couldn’t even make it to our first campground that night—and we hadn’t even begun the ride. The next day we took our time getting started, hoping things would dry out a bit as we poured over our maps and gear. Finally around 10am we headed out.
We rode hard all day. And ended up, around 4pm, right back where we started. That, as it would turn out, was the story of our trip. We were lost for virtually the entire time. Occasionally we would find ourselves where we had set out to go, but usually by accident, and not before at least fifty stops at unmarked trail and road junctions, trying to figure out where the hell we were.
The riding was fun and challenging, but the route finding heinous. One day it took us nine hours to travel forty-five miles. Actually, we rode over a hundred miles, but mostly in the wrong direction, or simply up (and back down) dead-end roads trying to find our way. Think of it this way: you’re in New York City and you want to drive to Chicago. There are virtually no street signs or road numbers. Most of the time you’re unable to see where you’re headed, but it doesn’t really matter because 75% of the roads you go down simply end. That’s the OBDR. Woohoo!!!
We took seven days to cover 2/3 of the route, encountering perhaps three other groups of riders along the way. Some people ride north to south; we rode south to north. The three roughest days (some very challenging terrain) are the one heading north from California; it gets a bit easier the further north you get, but the navigation is still a chore.
Yes, we had lost of maps and route descriptions and a GPS. Didn’t matter. There were roads on the maps that weren’t there; there were roads on the ground that weren’t on the map. There were totally unmarked six way intersections. There were steep, rocky single-tracks, washed out roads and boulder fields, deep-sand desert sections, mud bogs, dust-choked logging roads with piles of loose gravel, and yes, occasional sections of beautiful traveling.
Mostly, we camped, aside from a couple nights in small hotels in a couple of the tiny towns not far from the trail along the way. The camping was beautiful and the Oregon State Parks were remote, spotless, and virtually empty. What a treat!
As we packed up for our sixth day, it began to rain. Hard. We delayed and procrastinated until noon, and finally decided to throw everything in the truck and head further north out of the rain and into the desert where we hoped it would be dryer since the section of the trail we were planning on riding that day was deep in the forest which would have been a dangerous mud-fest.
I rode an old Suzuki DR350, Kelly rode a brand new Beta 450 and Wayne had a Yamaha WR250. All were street-legal dirt bikes with very aggressive knobby tires. A friend of mine had done the route last year on her BMW F650GS—and indeed we passed one group on huge, fully loaded touring bikes (BMW F800GS and KTM 950 Adventure). While I guess it’s possible to do it this way, it is much more enjoyable on a lighter dual-sport bike, that’s for sure. I’ve ridden similar terrain in Patagonia, Alaska and the western US on my BMW and it’s a chore!
Of course we secured everything to our bikes with Mini-Shockles, ShockStraps and SofTies and nothing came loose. That was in sharp contrast to the stories I heard from other riders who lost all sorts of gear as their bikes bucked and jumped around, especially in the rocky sections. One rider we talked to had his tent tied on with heavy duty bungie cords, only to discover that it had wiggled it’s way loose somewhere in the past twenty miles. Oops.
I’m working on putting together an off-road route from the Washington/Oregon border all the way north to Canada. All on dirt. I’ll keep you posted. Indeed, the journey is the destination.
Two students of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design have incorporated Sollight products into their first project as architecture professionals. Shin Cho and Stuart Helo, two 2009 Harvard grads and partners of Cho+Helo created a jagged aluminum pavilion hovering over the lawn outside the Graduate School of Design’s main building. The structure consists of 120 tetrahedra bolted to nine curvy secondary supports attached to a steel base. The tetrahedra are also equipped with SolLight solar-powered LEDs for nighttime illumination.
Speaking about the Sollight’s used in their installation, Helo said,
We love your lights! They really provide just the right kind of subtle and delicate lighting that we think makes our installation quite an elegant feature at night. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to use them again in the future. Thanks again!
Sollight customer Jerry Whiting from Seattle shared with us this unique use of the LightCap 200. According to Jerry:
During the 728 Club’s 21st annual hike, we had a chance to use the Lightcap/200’s given to us by member Mark C. Clyde took it upon himself to use them as “light bongos”. We were all duly impressed.
Yakima is running a contest in OutSide magazine for a chance to win the new SkyBox LoPro featuring the SkyLightT, a custom solar powered light designed by SolLight.
Go to outsideinfo.com by July 31st to register for your chance to win.
SolLight is a custom solar design company that is capable of designing solar solutions for solar lighting, solar charging for devices like the iPhone, iTouch, iPod, Garmin GPS devices and solar power and energy. SolLight’s designs can stand alone or can be integrated into existing products like the Yakima SkyBox LoPro 15.
We left Portland last Thursday and headed west down the Columbia on a warm, sunny, glorious morning for the 90 mile cruise, pulling into Astoria 8 hours later where we dropped off one crew member and picked up another. The journey went from glassy cruising at 10 knots to rollicking climbs up 7′ wind swell due to 20 knots of head wind in a couple places, but quickly settled back down. Just to keep things interesting, we brought along a shotgun and went skeet shooting off the back deck while cruising along. Pull….Blam!!!! Nothing like beer, guns and boats, you know.
The tidal gods were smiling upon us so Friday, at the civilized hour of 9am, we headed out through the Columbia River Bar and into the Pacific. The conditions were ideal for the crossing-which doesn’t mean easy, just that there weren’t 25′ breaking waves to crush us. The strong currents, big ocean swells that welled up out of nowhere, and giant freighter traffic kept us busy. By 11am had cleared ‘The Graveyard of the Pacific’ and rounded Cape Disappointment heading north.
The sea was ‘flat’ – meaning just 4-6′ swells, coming from the north. We motored along at 9 knots, gradually heading NNW so as to keep our course 8-10 miles off shore to avoid the various capes, points, headlands, islands and hidden rocks in our path. At times the breeze would kick up, turning the ocean from placid to tumultuous in just a few minutes. Then just as quickly it would subside. We ate and drank and napped and told old ocean tales all day.
At 9pm we chose the night watches, with each of us taking a 2 hour turn at the wheel. It finally got dark around 11pm, and with that a thick fog also settled in, meaning navigation by compass and radar, with the occasional glance at the GPS to make sure we were far enough off shore to stay out of trouble, yet close enough that we could tuck into one of the very sporadic harbors along the way if the weather got really bad.
Driving a boat in the fog on the ocean at night in big, irregular ocean swells is not an easy task. It demands pretty much sustained concentration since the boat is pitching wildly as it climbs up one big (unseen) swell, rolls down the back side, then gets slammed from the side by an (unseen) rogue wave. Direction of travel can swing 90º in a matter of seconds as the compass spins wildly. Imagine driving a big truck on an icy road. While blindfolded. Fun!!!
Around 5am we were approaching Cape Flattery and the entrance to the Straights of Juan de Fuca, carefully steering clear of Tatoosh Island and Duntze Rock in the early morning darkness and fog. As expected, the seas were building from the northwest, meaning huge, rolling swells were pouring into the straights and reflecting off the cape. The F/V Shockles was behaving delightfully, surfing down the massive waves (at one point we hit 14.5 knots), then lifting slowly over the top and down the back side as the swell passed us by just before the next one picked us up again.
Twenty miles along and the fog was still thick, but the seas got flatter as we headed southeast down the straights, staying a few miles off the northern shore of Washington so as to avoid the center of the channel where the big freighters ripped along at 20 knots. We kept a careful eye on the radar, spotting several enormous vessels on the screen, just a couple miles away, that were totally invisible in the fog.
We finally crossed over the main shipping channel (which also happens to be the border between the US and Canada) about mid way down the straights, just as a gigantic freighter came hurtling out of the fog right towards us. At first we thought we just be looking at a side view because it was so big; but then we realized that it was coming right at us when it sounded a low, groaning fog horn that echoed along the sea surface like a giant drum head. Nine hundred feet of steel coming at you out of the fog at 25 knots is indeed an impressive sight.
Five miles before Victoria, the fog lifted and the sun came out. The temperature sprang up from 55º to 75º in a matter of minutes and life was indeed good! Around 3pm we headed into the channel and into Victoria, exactly 30 hours from our start (just as I had planned!). We cleared customs (simply pull up to the customs dock, pick up the big yellow phone fastened to a pole, and tell them you’re here to party. Woohoo!!), and settled into a slip right in front of the spectacular Empress Hotel, with downtown Victoria a block away.
After a quick boat cleaning we headed into town, sampling a half dozen little pubs, street-side cafes and bakeries, eating and drinking. We finished the evening at an Irish pub with a Beatles cover band that actually (probably due to our various states of inebriation) sounded pretty good. We were back on board in in our bunks by 1am.
After a leisurely morning drinking coffee, visiting the Maritime Museum, and taking a long walk through the city and out along the coast, we headed to the San Juan Islands, anchoring for the night off the east side of James Island. We took one of the kayaks to shore and went ’splorin’ for a couple hours before returning to the boat for cocktails and a big pile of grub on the barbie. It was a warm, clear, tropical evening with an almost full moon – perfect.
We awoke to a cold mist, drank a pot or black coffee, yanked the anchor and headed to Anacortes. Fighting some wild currents and an outgoing tide, our speed ranged between 2 and 11 knots as we headed to the mainland. What a crazy place. We pulled into the marina (where I have a covered slip) by 1pm, closed up the boat and hopped the train from Mount Vernon back to Portland ($35 – what a deal!) where my friend Fred picked us up at the train station and brought us back to our cars.
All in all, a fine time was had by all. Now that the F/V Shockles is up in Anacortes, there’s lots more fun to be had!
DON’T THROW AWAY YOUR OLD POLYCARBONATE WATER BOTTLE – TURN IT INTO A LANTERN!
The last thing this planet needs is any more plastic in the landfills. But what do you do with your old polycarbonate water bottle (Nalgene or similar) that you don’t want to use any more? Don’t throw it away! With the incredibly handy LightCap 200 you can turn your old bottle into the coolest home, deck, boat or camping lantern anywhere!
Just pull off the old cap and replace it with a safe, bright, environmentally-friendly solar-powered LED LightCap200 and you’ll have light anywhere you want without wasteful batteries, dangerous, toxic fuel, or electric cords.
Put one on your picnic table, deck, out by the BBQ, kids playhouse, bedroom nightlight, car safety light, cockpit light on your boat, camper, tent or anywhere else. Simply fill your bottle with water (even colored water) for a safe lantern that won’t run out of fuel or be a fire hazard. No candles to burn out, and when your bottle is filled with water it won’t tip over if the wind comes up.
The built-in light sensor automatically turns the light on whenever it gets dark, and off when there’s enough light for charging. Or you can click the water-tight switch and turn it off manually. It weights only 2.6oz and you can even use it as a flashlight. The four super-bright, white LEDs provide lots of light.
By adding a LightCap200 cap to your bottle you’re not only creating a useful item, you’re helping the environment. You can even use your bottle to store things: trail snacks, dog treats, fire starting supplies, first aid kit—anything you want to keep safe, floating and dry. And with the LightCap200 on top, you’ve always got a useful emergency light.
“We’ve taken a bunch of LightCaps on every Grand Canyon trip we’ve done in the past 4 years and they are without a doubt the best and most talked about item we carry. We give one to each customer and over half have requested to purchase more by the end of the trip. The LightCap is the perfect river expedition accessory – sturdy, versatile and incredibly useful. We used the new LightCap300 on our trip this January and the brightness amazed everyone. Despite the shorter days (for charging) we got several hours of light each night. Good job on a great product!!!”
Gary Galbraith
Owner, Alaska Rivers Company
“At first I was skeptical about the brightness and usefulness of a water bottle with a light in it. As it turned out, the LightCap was incredibly bright and useful! We’ve used them as our only lanterns on multi-day trips down the Escalante, Delores and Colorado Rivers for the past two years with no problems. They charge plenty each day for an evening of light. I started keeping my reading glasses, cell phone, iPod and GPS in one, using it as a waterproof container while it was charging during the day. I could easily clip it to the raft so I wouldn’t lose it, and if it ever fell in the water, it floats. Our clients love your product and many have returned for subsequent trips with their own.”
Cully Erdman
Owner, Slickrock Expeditions
“I’ve been testing your new LightCap300 bottle/lantern for the past 3 months and I have to say you’ve got a real winner. It is much brighter than the older version, the switch is better, and it seems to charge much faster. We use it on the river, in the camper, and of course trying to find Dane when he’s out messing around at night.”
Eric Jackson
Jackson Kayaks
“We’re presently at Camp 2 on Everest waiting for our weather window to go for the summit. I’m sitting in my tent reading by the amazingly bright light from the LightCap300 you gave me. This is a great product and I know you’ll sell a ton of them. I’m recommending that all our clients bring one along. While I can’t keep water in it at this altitude (it’s -10F at night!), I can still use the cap as a solar flashlight and it charges great while hanging from my pack during the day. Cool product!”
Scott Wollums
Owner, Adventures International
“Everyone raved about my LightCap that I took on my three week trip to Bhutan last fall. Even legendary mountaineer Lou Whittiker (owner of Rainier Mountaineering and the first American to summit Everest from the north side) who was along on our trip thought it was the coolest gadget he’d seen in a while. He loved the idea that it didn’t need batteries which is perfect for long trips. He went right out an actually bought one when we got back, and that says a lot.”
Leroy Kingland
President, Sports Unlimited
“Thanks so much for the LightCap you gave me for my recent river expedition to Nepal. We actually made it down the Kali Gandaki River for a first descent. The LightCap was the hit of the expedition, as we camped in remote villages along the way. Other than our headlamps (until the batteries went dead) and small occasional campfires, the LightCap was our only night light. It worked great! At the end of the expedition I gave it to Raju Bista, a member of the Mustangi royal family and board member of the Gyalpo Jimge Foundation that is working to promote education and childcare projects in the upper Mustang District. It is now his prized possession… so I’ll be needing another one!”
Arlene Burns
Director – Telluride Mountain Film
Director – National Geographic Society Expeditions
British rower Roz Savage continues her bid to be the first woman to row across the Pacific Ocean. She completed the first stage of her journey last fall, rowing her 24’ ocean rowing boat from San Francisco to Hawaii. On May 24 she set out from Hawaii for the second leg of her quest—the 2,500 mile crossing from Waikiki to Tuvalu. She hopes to complete this
leg in 100 days. Then comes the final leg—from Tuvalu to Australia.
As with the first part of her historic row, Roz is using a solar-powered RailLight as her nighttime navigation, safety and cockpit light. She is testing the new prototype RailLight that features more waterproofing, brighter LEDs, and a stronger, enhanced clamp system. Despite major storms and massive waves, the RailLight survived the first 100 days at sea on the crossing from San Francisco to Hawaii. “I was amazed that it kept working, despite getting rolled three times. The clamps kept it secure on my grab rail even when getting washed with enormous waves. What a great product!”
You can see the RailLight on Roz’s boat, the Brocade, in this video of her departure.
British rower Roz Savage continues her bid to be the first woman to row across the Pacific Ocean. She completed the first stage of her journey last fall, rowing her 24’ ocean rowing boat from San Francisco to Hawaii. On May 24 she set out from Hawaii for the second leg of her quest—the 2,500 mile crossing from Waikiki to Tuvalu. She hopes to complete this