A map to light lost hikers' way

(Credit: Owen Song)

You're lost in the woods and it's getting darker. Wouldn't it be nice if the two items most essential to you finding your way out before night falls (not counting a GPS unit) were rolled into one convenient little package? Boston-based designer Owen Song has come up with just such a contraption. The Light is a map that can double as a flashlight.

The concept device consists of two sheets of paper, one with a map printed on it, the other a cover sheet with two electrodes on the back. Between the papers is a thin battery and LEDs. Roll the map up so the two electrodes touch and the LEDs turn on. Voila--map becomes flashlight! (Of course, our keen-eyed readers pointed out one minor flaw; you can't actually use the flashlight to illuminate the map. Picky, picky...)

We'll be watching to see if this device makes it past the concept stage. Oh, and please don't make me tell the story of that afternoon-turned-evening last fall when I really could have used one of these. Not my proudest outdoorsy moment. (Thanks designzen, for showing us the light on this one.)

[John_Johnson]

So you can't use the flashlight to view the map? Fantastic.

[ajcphoto]

How do you read the map if its all folded up? Is this like he screen door everyone needs on their submarine?

[Leslie Katz]

Fine points, both of you! Yes, it does have its limitations.

[Renegade Knight]

Simple. Given the size of the paper, odds are you will have more than one to cover your hike. Use one of the other map to light the one you need.

This is an example of something that "doesn't hurt". If it's cheap enough it's a redundancy. It may not help you read the map, but you are no worse off for having it.

[DrollTroll]

silly posters...you first copy the map with the portable xerox machine that comes with The Light and then you fold up the map and light up the xerox copy.