The link goes to the kind of products I'm talking about - batteries that could fill a phone and are able to be charge on solar.
The more I backpack the more I like the idea of this kind of device. The pragmatic parent in me justifies it as a safety measure in case I get hopelessly lost. The real reason I want it is because I like to take pictures but hate having to wait for my phone to power up to do so.
I'm wondering if there's either
a) Owners of such a device that could tell me about it or
b) People who understand solar well enough to tell me if such a small cell could really result in any kind of substantial charge.
this just got me excited about what might be a difficult goal to achieve: hubski camping meet up
If at all possible, I'd prefer to go when it's not summer because I am a huge baby about heat. I'll put up with it, but I'd be a lot happier in the fall or early spring.
that looks like a good midway point. Meriadoc and I have been trying to go camping out here basically since we moved out here. I'm still getting my bearing wrt east coast geography so my sense of distance might be off.
14 hours isn't so bad. We'd probably take a day trip or 2 on the way and then meet up with the group.
Cumberland Gap also has caves and I have always wanted to go spelunking
I have Okies on my mom's side. I bet I could find some sort of history connection there.
Huge backpacker here - Aren't we just getting along swimmingly lately? I have the Goal Zero Sherpa and it works great. When I go car camping and I can let it sit in the sun it will run a lot of stuff for a while just on the battery storage part. But for charging a phone, you are much better off in terms of weight with something like the Energizer Charger. It's super simple, you can recharge the whole thing with a new pair of batteries, and they work as advertised. Simply put, the Goal Zero is a much heavier solution to the problem because it can do more, but that's not what you really need. Of course, as a backpacker I know that sometimes need and want don't have to line up for a purchase so do what you want.
Amazing how solidly the people who fit in here fit in here. I love it. That last sentence is probably the truth. I just love the idea of a solar charger over batteries. Everything I've read says they're less practical and I'm just looking for the excuse that they aren't. I'll try the charger first. I carry that kind of battery for my steripen, so the weight won't even change much. Solid recommendation.
She doesn't know the number one rule of Ultralighting. Love the Sherpa. If someone is going to carry tea, you can be super thankful that they carried tea even though you wouldn't have. If someone wants to bring a 6 pack in the pack, even though Rumpleminze is my drink of choice for back packing, then you go ahead and swap a beer for some liquor later. That's just crazy. Lady ended up with no tea and a worse hike.
Solar chargers do not make sense from a price or weight perspective, unless you are taking an extended trek (2 plus weeks). At that point, you'll probably have resupply stops anyway, so they still don't make sense. Whatever small electronic device you're trying to use, whether it's a phone or a camera, you can pack three or four spare batteries for the weight of a solar charger. You can also swap a fully charged battery in seconds, as opposed to 8 hours for most of these smaller solar chargers.
I use the camera on my nexus 5 because I'm addicted to photospheres (but this will be coming soon) and that battery isn't swappable. I think the weight and performance arguments are going to beat out my gadget love though.
I had one of these about 8 years ago and charging was painful.
It would have been an earlier model, though, and I was camping in Wales, which is not famed for its sunshine. I've used this USB stove (or something very similar) successfully.
I was a little uneasy about having everyone's cables so near to open flames, though. Also I missed my favorite emergency stove.