ultralite phone charging ......what to use on the a.t.?

[rusty bumper]

I carried an extra battery that I bought from Amazon for $9...it weighs 0.75 ounces. I used my phone for voice, text, writing my journal entries (which I then emailed home), and as my camera. I only turned it on when I needed to use it. I carried a charger and anytime I was in town, I charged at least one battery and sometimes both. In over 5 months on the trail, I was never hiking with a dead phone.

[bear bag hanger]

The problem, as I see it, with solar charges is you have to take considerable time away from your hiking to charge your phone. Some days, there isn't enough sun to keep things charged either because of clouds or because the trail in underneath trees for a lot of the way. I know Stumpknocker put his on top of his pack, but it looks uncomfortable to me and maybe a bit heavy. If you've ever met Stumpknocker, then you know how big he is and added weight isn't a big problem for him (but, he has one of the lightest packs I ever seen). I've been experimenting with USB chargers and think maybe they are the way to go. I've tried three of them so far, the best one so far, for me, is the Anker Astro Slim 2 (4,500 mAh). Also tried the Newtrent IMP120D (12,000 mAh) and the Anker Astro Mini (2,600 mAh). The Newtrent works great, but I think too heavy for backpacking. The 2,600 mAh chargers don't have enough capacity to charge most phones, but can extend the time you can use the phone. The 4,500 mAh model seems to work for me, so far. It's much thinner than the Newtrent and a little less than half the weight. The biggest downside to USB chargers is they take a long time to recharge. I usually stop at a motel every three days to a week, so isn't a big problem for me. Need to do more testing.

For your information, I don't keep my phone on while hiking. I usually turn the phone on for a hour or two just after sunset (I've found reception is better after the sun goes down). If I'm in a zone where there isn't any reception, then I live without it for the day. I use Sprint and have trouble finding good reception on the AT. I'm told Verizon has the best coverage for the AT.

[Wise Old Owl]

The new solar panels will charge under cloudy conditions, they will not charge under light rain. If they are close to some of the most powerful wall chargers they will charge a smart phone in two hours. I am observing hikers on the AT hiking with the panels on top of the pack going to the New Trent or Anker.

Keep in mind BBH that sometimes just getting a little charge at some times of the day prevents a dead phone.

My options are limited as Motorola went to a hard wired battery that is not removable. So I might switch in two years to Samsung in a year or two.

[4Bears]

New Trent also has a 6000 mah storage charger at half the weight of the 12K unit

[litefoot2000]

I'm sure you do not want to hear this, but the simplest and lightest alternative is to leave the phone at home. If you need to call someone, there will be plenty of people willing to share.

[Slo-go'en]

I'm sure you do not want to hear this, but the simplest and lightest alternative is to leave the phone at home. If you need to call someone, there will be plenty of people willing to share.

But a phone is more then just a phone these days. Camera, internet access (weather reports), journaling, GPS, games, music and more. All in one little compact unit.

[Maui Rhino]

I plan on using this. Once in town I can chg both cell phone and power pack at the same time.
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-P4000.../dp/B009M27MBC

I have one of these too....Nice and light. It only recharges my Motorolla Atrix II once though. I picked up a bigger battery pack that can charge up my phone 2.5 times, but it weighs a lot more.

[Dharma Dog]

Solar charger- Ha! Let me know if anyone finds one that works anywhere near as well as the manufacturers claim.
I have a Mophie Juice Pack Air backup battery case on my iPhone and after much research I just purchased the Anker Astro backup battery.

[slbirdnerd]

The New Trent iTorch 5200 is cheap and works as advertised. I get about 3-4 charges out of it on an iPhone4. After six months of moderate use and getting soaked once it still works great. If there is a downside it would be that it takes several hours to charge once it is dead.

+1 for New Trent iTorch. U can charge lots of different things with it--many phone, iPod, Kindle, etc. Nice to have for if the power goes out at home too.

[ryanwflynn]

Last year during my thru hike, I carried an iPhone 4S and lost power to my phone only once, in the 100 Mile Wilderness. Tips: keep your phone in airplane mode, keep the screen brightness very low, invest in a mophie battery case (it uses same charger as my kindle), seek outlets and don't leave one without fully charging. I listen to a lot of music, took 5k pictures and sometimes spend 20 minutes on the Internet (Verizon rocks on the trail!) and with a four to five day battery life. Good luck!

[Wise Old Owl]

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[corrales_305]

The panel is under hard resin and attached to a fiberglass board - its already protected.

Gorrila Glass is a scratch resistant panel for your phone and is still very breakable, It is not needed for solar.

Aluminum power pots at ten ounces>>>>> http://www.thepowerpot.com/ I am making one from scratch in ti.

Thanks 4 bears that's a great example of good competitive unit in a case.

I didn't the solar panel was protected so, that's good. I bought a solar panel earlier which worked great and was inexpensive here is the link
http://www.harborfreight.com/5-watt-...ger-60449.html not bad for $40 and its 9 oz, a bit heavy but for $40 bucks its ok also it has room for weight to be shaved off (a lot of extra protective materials).But I returned it because my main concern with solar is that there may not be much sun on the trail.

[Wise Old Owl]

Yea its interesting but I am shooting for 7-10 watts and lighter... The ones I ordered left Shanghai about a week ago.

[hikingshoes]

I have one of these too....Nice and light. It only recharges my Motorolla Atrix II once though. I picked up a bigger battery pack that can charge up my phone 2.5 times, but it weighs a lot more.

I can get two charges, Plus charge my cell,camera,and power pack all at the sometime.

[corrales_305]

The power pot may be the best idea yet imo. Inexpensive too!! If I had to I can make a thermoelectric generator for free almost.. not sure if this would work but if I get a hold of a thermal electric (ceramic$30-free) unit from a colman electric cooler. plus some thermal paste($2-$5 to conduct heat/cool temp, heat sync(piece of copper or aluminum $free), and a 12 car charger[(free-$15) should have a voltage regulator plus cable/plug I need]. so I would heat the hot side of the unit with a home made copper heat sync thermal grease between and have the pot on the cool side with water for cooling. Attach(solder) the car charger to the corresponding neg and pos terminal while removing as much extra plastic not needed from the car charger. there it is a thermal electric generator. the most expensive part is the thermal electric unit. im not saying to go seal but if you are dead broke you would be able to buy a Colman cooler(or any thermal electric), open it remove the unit and return it and no one would notice, or just get one off ebay..lol sorry guys old habits die hard!!!!!just get it off Ebay, they are not that expensive!!

[hikingshoes]

When I stated I could charge all three items at the same time I was referring to when I get to a hostel or hotel.

[Slo-go'en]

The thermal electric coolers don't work very well in reverse to generate electricity. I played around with one I got off of ebay for a few dollars and came to the conclusion that to make something which would work would end up too bulky and heavy to be practical on the trail. You'd be better off buying a commercial unit like the bio-light stove or power pot, both of which are a little bulky and heavy to use on the trail...

I carried a cheap solar garden light on the back of my pack this spring to use as a night light next to my tent. It worked well until the trees leafed out and after that it only got enough charge to keep the light on for an hour at best when before it would go almost all night.

[hikingshoes]

I would think solar charger would only be good for a base camp in the open area. I always want to see how those things work but after reading a lot of reviews there not so good for backpacking.

[corrales_305]

The thermal electric coolers don't work very well in reverse to generate electricity. I played around with one I got off of ebay for a few dollars and came to the conclusion that to make something which would work would end up too bulky and heavy to be practical on the trail. You'd be better off buying a commercial unit like the bio-light stove or power pot, both of which are a little bulky and heavy to use on the trail...

I carried a cheap solar garden light on the back of my pack this spring to use as a night light next to my tent. It worked well until the trees leafed out and after that it only got enough charge to keep the light on for an hour at best when before it would go almost all night.

I was not sure how much the whole thermoelectric set-up would weight in total. The thing is I don't wanna build one to then notice that its waaaay too heavy. I know the heat sync and the charger plus the thermoelectric unit will probably be over 10 oz which is more than I'm willing to carry. I gave the solar light a thought for shelter illumination but I'm not sure its gonna be very lite either. I mean I am gonna probably buy one and strip it down to the battery, the panel, led and other circuitry needed for the light to work and not fall apart and the weigh it and see if its light enough that I'll be willing to haul it along

[leaftye]

Sorry I haven't got to this yet. I'll try hard tomorrow. I do have a battery exactly like you showed in the picture.