I've already bought two outlet adapters for our August trip to Finland/Estonia/Sweden, but realized that we might well need more than that for periodic recharging of electronics, and expect that using even two of our hotel room outlets may leave us without one for a lamp! Can one pick up the equivalent of a multi-strip in, say, Helsinki? (I'm talking about recharging low-wattage, dual-voltage stuff like netbooks and camera batteries.)
Posted by
Edmonton, AB, Canada
668 posts
Presumably all your chargers, etc are North American, it would make sense to take a small power strip from here and one adapter to plug it into one outlet in your hotel, then plug everything into the power strip. Then you have (hopefully) a recepticle for the lamp. Make sure all the items you use are relativlley low anps. Also, recepticles are seldom duplex in Europe, so if your room has more than one, they will probably be in different places in the room.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
If you get a power strip in Europe to have multiple plugs, won't you need to also get a plug converter for each plug?
I'm not sure it fits with packing light (neither does packing multiple electronics) but I think you would be better off with a multi outlet extension cord from here that you could use with only one plug converter (assuming your stuff doesn't need the larger transformer) - then plug your stuff into without a plug converters.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
None of the female receptacles on the picture in the link will take an american plug. How does that help?
Also, if you had something that worked, it seems like you keep it rather than buying a new one all the time.
Brad's idea seems to work better.
Posted by
Las Cruces, NM, United States
136 posts
I take one European adapter. Then one small cube tap (the 1 into 3 US). This can do three devices in the bathroom that have lights (netbook, phone etc.) If necessary, simply duplicate elsewhere in the room. This is small, light and convenient.
Try Walmart for a small, cheap cube tap.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19242 posts
I do the same thing as Daniel. (See view). It's worked for me for eight trips. I often charge my camera at night while working with my netbook.
BTW, the European receptacles grip the round pins rather tightly. If you just grab the 3-way and pull it out, there is a tendency to leave the Europlug in the wall. Tape them together.
Posted by
Las Cruces, NM, United States
136 posts
The website told me it had a problem and told me it could not post the reply each time...ha, ha.
Posted by
Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada
629 posts
Lee, good call on the tape, we did that AFTER leaving 1 of our adapters behind.
Posted by
Orlando
191 posts
Lee's suggestion is probably the most economical and portable, but if the plugs for your devices are wide as in my case, Monster cables make several products called outlets to go. I carry one of these, because two of my devices have very wide plugs and could not be simultaneously plugged into Lee's 3-way. The following link is to their products, one of which probably would work well for you if you have the same problem I do. With an "outlets to go" you will need only one plug adapter.
http://www.monstercable.com/power/travel_power/outlets_to_go.asp
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19242 posts
Monster Cables looks like an expensive solution looking for a problem to justify its cost. Note: 1. The receptacles on my 3-way are on 90° apart surfaces, so there is very little chance of interference, certainly with at least two of the receptacles (on opposite sides). 2. Every power supply I have has it's own line cord, so I have no problem at all.