As a UCAN member, you’ve no doubt already signed up to receive our latest and greatest offer: UCAN's Blackout Buster, an emergency crank radio. This is a great little piece of technology, as it is not only a flash light and a radio but it is also a charger for your cell phone. Most people with smart phones know just how atrocious the battery life can be. The UCAN emergency crank radio is great for charging phones and you should consider it a vital tool in your emergency kit.

However, just like any handyman worth his salt has multiple tools in his tool kit to tackle any job, a prepared UCAN member should have more than one tool in their emergency kit. In addition to the UCAN crank radio, you can now get an emergency cell phone that is powered by a single AA battery.

SpareOne is an emergency cell phone that you can keep in the trunk of your car or in your earthquake emergency backpack in your closet at home. It’s fairly no frills (it doesn’t even have a screen) but the beauty of this device is its power supply. Instead of fumbling around for various chargers or trying to keep a proprietary cell phone battery pack charged, the SpareOne uses a single AA battery to power the phone. SpareOne boasts a 15-year battery life, too. To be fair, this is limited only by the shelf life of the battery you choose to use in your SpareOne.

Additionally, it’s a piece of cake to use. According to SpareOne’s website, there are three steps to operating the phone:

Making a first call:

Step 1: Remove battery door and Insert SIM card

Step 2: Power On [ On sound beeps ]

Step 3: Dial

http://www.spareonephone.com/frequently-asked-questions.html

If you are an AT&T and T-Mobile customer, you can put the SIM card from your every day phone into the SpareOne and make calls on your same calling plan. If you are a CDMA customer and don’t have a SIM card, you can easily get a prepaid SIM card from many of the prepaid GSM providers. In a real emergency where you simply need to dial 911, you do not need a SIM card and can just dial 911.

While not a be-all-end-all solution, the SpareOne would be a nice complement to the UCAN emergency crank radio in your emergency kit. Next time SDG&E decides to cut your power for an unexplainable reason, you will be well-equipped with your UCAN emergency crank radio, your SpareOne phone, and a Costco-sized box of AA batteries. The SpareOne goes on sale in March for around $50.