Battery Powered Travel Iron

[grimslim]

Where can I find a battery powered ( not car battery, just normal batteries) clothing iron. Need it for a trip to Africa - to fix t Shirt prints without mains electricity. Found one on ebay but got outbid - so I know they exist!!!

[ACtheTROLL]

I don't think it would last very long.

couple of suggestions
if the e-bay entry shows the brand ... google it.
e-mail the seller ... see if they can help.

would it be possible to use those butane curling tongs

[beso]

You were lucky you were outbid. A battery will last a very very short time in an iron. The whole idea of a battery powered iron is ridiculous.

I have seen butane gas powered irons from Brasil. An excellent product but I don't think they are made any more.

[ACtheTROLL]

this is becoming an unhealthy interest ... but it's just too hot in the garden ....

looking at irons - most turn out to be curling irons or soldering irons
however for clothes
the average seems to be 500-1000 watts (that's 4 - 8amps) - some are higher.
1 duracell dd mn1300 is 14000mah which will deliver 800watts for approx 10 mins (absolute top estimate)

I can't see any battery operated device (even from lead acid cells) that would even have time to warm up enough to do transfers.
although the huge high powered torches 1-5000000 candles - do have reasonable sized battery power sources

In the old days
there were flat irons ... heated from a fire
these are easy enough to get from most antique fairs (although your baggage allowance will be halved!)

there were irons that used charcoal or coal embers.
getable .... but quite expensive

and there was a hot water version (which was used on silk)

there are cordless irons ... and it looks like at least one of those uses a big capacitor to maintain the heat ... but it only lasts seconds between charges

found this
http://www.lehmans.com/jump.jsp?itemType=PRODU CT&itemID=1093

back to the curling tongs

and I'm certain I've seen a solar powered thingy
a matte black metal panel which gets incredibly hot in direct sunlight .... but we are getting into sci-fi now

I honestly just can't see you gettind an effective one
I hope I'm wrong.
if you do find one .... please post the details

time for a magnum.

[BillySugger]

Put your shirtd between 2 planks of wood & drive a heavy vehicle over them - Spike Milligan used a tank

[BillySugger]

When Spike was in the war that's how he & his mates ironed their clothes , good old British ingenuity