Backcountry charging systems

[David]

Curious what everyone uses to charge their phone or other electronics in the backcountry. Battery pack? Solar charger?

 

[DKennedy951]

This is what I used in Montana for archery elk. Had no issues and it charged everything I needed.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

ANKER portable power bank. Depending on how long I'm going to be back there and the weather I will either bring the 6700mAH or the anker 26800mAH

 

[David]

This is what I used in Montana for archery elk. Had no issues and it charged everything I needed.

Nice, thank you!

 

[David]

ANKER portable power bank

Yeah, I've had an Anker bank forever and it's been really reliable. I bet they make lighter options now too. Thanks!

 

[Montucky]

This is what I used in Montana for archery elk. Had no issues and it charged everything I needed.

I have this same one as well….. works pretty awesome for the price. I have a Dark Energy also. It doesn’t impress me for the price…..

 

[TX_Diver]

I have had good luck with the no name chinesium solar/power bank combos from amazon, BUT I use them at camp for convenience where I could charge something from the car if it failed.

This year I'm probably going with a Big Blue 28W solar panel and an Anker 20100mah power bank. Little heavier but seems a bit better reviewed/more reliable. I also have a goal zero flip 36 that seems to work well but I haven't tested it in the backcountry yet or when charged by solar.

 

[MT_Wyatt]

I’ve been using the dark energy batt packs, but nitecore makes a 10000mAh pack that’s like 3 oz or so less in weight, that works quite well. I charge my headlamp, in reach, watch and phone all with that same battery pack.

 

[Luked]

Have had a 20k Anker for about 2 years. Still using it. Going to buy another to leave in the truck for a backup.
Can buy them pretty cheap on Amazon

 

[cornfedkiller]

This is what I used in Montana for archery elk. Had no issues and it charged everything I needed.

Will it actually recharge itself using the solar panel? Or did it charge everything you needed because its 42k mah and you never ran it out of juice?

 

[BuckRut]

Will it actually recharge itself using the solar panel? Or did it charge everything you needed because its 42k mah and you never ran it out of juice?

Likely the latter. Even if we are being generous that panel is maybe putting out 1W in full sunlight. That would require more than 100 hours of direct sunlight to recharge the unit complete 1 time. I use a black web 10k mAh and a big blue 28w solar panel.

 

[LIWolverine]

Been running a couple of Ankers and one of them since 2017 and it still works awesome. It’s a little slower to charge but still holds power. This is where confidence in gear will outweigh (pun intended) the weight savings of another brand. It just flat works and work every single time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[JF_Idaho]

10k Nitecore has worked fine for me. Have a larger 26.8k generic chinesium "Charmast" if needing more.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Would you guys prefer (2) 10k or (1) 20k charger? I see pros and cons to both ways and can't decide.

 

[DKennedy951]

Will it actually recharge itself using the solar panel? Or did it charge everything you needed because its 42k mah and you never ran it out of juice?

It met my needs. I left it out whenever I wasn't using it, so doubt it ever ran out of juice.

 

[Walkstoomuch]

I have 2 different sized nitecores depending on the length of trip

 

[Desk Jockey]

My $0.02 -

there are some “outdoor” power banks that are super rugged and weather resistant. If I was a guide or whatever and spent +100 days a year in the woods and beat the hell out of it, I would use one of those. I have a dark energy power bank and it is fine and works as advertised. It is heavier than the “non armored” options by about 2x. When it dies, I doubt I would buy another.

For my use, I prefer and use 2x Anker or Nitecore 10ks on longer trips. I keep them in a zip lock in my pack and have never had an issue with them getting wet. If one craps out, I have a back up. For the 10-20 nights a year that I sleep in the woods, it is a perfect, cheaper and lighter solution that one of the armored battery packs.

I haven’t done the math on solar in a while. The charge rates were on the slow side so you had to be able to leave the panels in full sun for most of a day to get good juice. I read a few articles that suggested that they really didn’t justify their weight unless you were using them for extended trips without access to power - like 15 days or more. I got a set of panels from REI and tried them on an 8-day trip. My conclusion was that my panels weighed more than 20k worth of batteries so I haven’t used them in a while.

 

[lukebrowning]

I messed with a Big Blue solar panel during spring bear and it was a bit of an eye opener (re: pain in the ass). I would only consider a solar panel if you’re going 2+ weeks otherwise the math just doesn’t work out… Even when angled correctly and repositioned throughout the day it’s a very slow charge, further affected by cloud cover.

In my opinion you’re better off carrying multiple power banks if necessary for the weight and ease of use. For reference the big blue weighs 21oz whereas my Anker 10,000mah power bank weighs 8.2oz. I get between 2-3 full charges on an iPhone 14 mini.

 

[BuckRut]

I'm surprised how many people resort to a guess and check method on power consumption and storage. This is often the source of frustration people have with solar in general. Everyone seems to try and just guess at there power needs. Calculate your consumption per day figure out how much storage/generation you need. Then you can easily do the math and know if you have enough battery power and if you go with solar you'll know how many hours you need.

 

[WanderingFarmer]

A few things worth noting
1) I have a 20,000 mah battery bank that has made it 7 days of running my phone with OnX for navigation, an inreach mini, my Garmin watch, and a small rechargeable headlamp. There was still a little juice left, but I’m also a pretty light user of those things.

2) I could never get the math to pencil out for a solar panel for weight. Even a decently light panel weighs about as much as my battery pack. So, two batteries gets me 14 days, maybe more, and there’s no way I’m backpacking THAT far in.

3 )batteries tend to be rated at voltage lower than they charge things like your phone. I have a 20,000 mah battery bank, but at the voltage most phones I’ve seen charge at (5V) it’s really only rated for 12,000 mah. That’s a difference between charging my old phone 5 and 8 times. I haven’t looked in awhile but I think the native voltage the lithium cells in most battery banks is 3v, so for charging at 5v you really only have 3/5 or 60% of the listed capacity.