Going wilderness camping? Dislike the toxic waste of batteries in landfills? Need sex toys for your post-apocalypse bunker? This is the vibe you’ve been waiting for!


California Exotic’s “Solar Bullet: The Totally Renewable Sun-Powered Stimulator” is a surprisingly powerful little vibe. It runs from a small solar panel, has a strong kick, and does, as advertised, run for nearly 60 minutes on a charge. I was skeptical of that, since the solar panel is very compact, but I timed it running, twice, and the buzzing buzzed on steadily.

This toy is made of very light materials. On first handling it felt nearly flimsy, and I was concerned about its quality. No need to worry, though—the light weight is part of the toy’s eco-friendly design and does not diminish the strength of the bullet. The design of the small solar cell has an eco/techno edge, and if you travel in green/sustainable circles, you’ll be proud to have it lying about on table or night stand. The controls are minimal, but effective: a jack to plug in the vibe cord, a small LED light that indicates the toy is charging, and a very small hard plastic button that slides to control the speed of the vibe. The range of this “multi-speed power slider” isn’t vast, from a slightly slower vibration to a quite quick one. I’m a top-speed-only vibe user, so that did not affect my use.

For reasons the packaging doesn’t explain, the bullet vibe has a LED light on the top end. It illuminates when the toy is turned on. I found it very playful, as I could target the vibe’s destination. My girlfriend, who likes bullet vibes in general much more than I do, was delighted to find that the little bump of the light concentrated the vibrations. She uses it frequently now; it continues to buzz, recharge, and buzz some more.

The packaging notes that the toy takes 8 hours to get a full charge. This seems to be true, but if need to vibe run 10-15 minutes and not 60, that charge time is much shorter. The panel will charge in daylight or under a lamp, so keeping it charged is not difficult. Play in the morning, leave it on a sunny windowsill, and play again at night! The only drawback to the toy’s design is how the power cord attaches to the solar cell. While the power cord is advertised as “extra long,” the ad copy doesn’t mention that the bullet only works when it is plugged in—it is the cell that contains the stored energy, not the vibe itself. The cord connects via a mini-jack (think cell-phone ear piece) which pulls out very easily and at inconvenient moments. This means you have to keep the solar cell quite close to your body. Maybe as more solar toys are developed, a cyborg/tech fetish will grow along with the market! The toy is also not waterproof, so can’t easily be completely sterilized; use standard precautions, including wiping the bullet with a toy cleaner and using a condom if you are sharing it.

My girlfriend keeps the toy in her pickup, the bullet vibe in a small drop-down storage unit and the solar cell on the dashboard. It easily stays fully charged and is right there on hand should we decide it’s time to play. We’ve pulled it out for fun while driving, bad traffic stress relief, and when we go parking at night. If you hike you could easily keep the vibe in a pack and the cell in the sun, and then surprise your tent-mate by being on the spot while off the grid.

The solar bullet continues to be a great little toy. We keep it in my partner's truck, so it is always charging on the dash. It still holds the charge, and we get still a good strong buzz for 40 minutes or so on a charge. While it's definitely a warm-up toy, not a climax toy, it's still a lot of fun, especially considering its reasonable price and portability/use anywhere nature.