The company announces “Eton believes that information truly is power. The Eton mission is to empower the world through direct access to news, information and entertainment.”

Weighing only 200g – because there’s no big alkaline battery pack – it makes a great outdoor companion. Obviously there are no plugs or wires, this is a radio for the days of powercuts, the end of civilisation as we know it… or camping. The Eton FR140 Wind Up Radio is quite small too, it sits neatly in my hand. You just have to turn the hand crank to power it or capture the sun’s energy and run it on solar power. Whatever, I’ve always found the products work well and are pretty cheap. This “microlink” is their latest offering.

The really bright three LED white torch and a mobile phone charger with supplied lead are odd accessories for a radio let’s face it but they’ll be really handy if you’re hiding in the trees after a breakdown in society. Or having a canal boat holiday in the Midlands.

If you wish to pack in more useful things such as this then you must take a look at the best travel accessories.