Running out of gigabytes on the AT

[MuggleMike]

I was thinking about getting a GoPro for my thru-hike and adventures beyond. My query concerns the thru-hike. I solved the problem of running out of power by carrying an external battery, but not running out of storage space. I could carry multiple SD cards, but the quality of high resolution footage means spending $65 per 64GB SD card. That is more than I can spend. I assume uploading data to cloud storage in town is unreliable.

I've seen lots of videos taken on a thru-hike and was wondering how people handled dwindling storage space. Does anyone have experience with this?

[Starchild]

Uploading in towns is possible but speeds will be variable. Are you planning your entire thru in HD or 4K, every step? That may require some $$$ in terms of cards.

[ATAdam]

Unless you want to buy 4 cards maybe, send two home to be downloaded and keep two for video? Not many options on the AT. Even with a galaxy S5 you cant upload without a reformat, maybe carry a usb card adapter and try to upload at hostels/hotels many of them have computers. Or the public library.

[Miner]

HD video uses a lot of memory compared to photos (and 4K even more so). The most practical method would be to mail memory cards home or to a friend who can copy the files off and then mail them back to you on the trail. You'll need extra cards to use while the other cards are in transit. As an alternative method, I ended up bouncing an older laptop with an external USB haddrive and copied my files off in town every 2-3 weeks.

[MuggleMike]

I'm not planning to record every step, and definitely not in 4K. Even in 1080 a 64GB card will only hold four hours and twenty-two minutes. But I'm betting that I'll want to capture more than four hours in six months of walking. Yeah uploading is not really plan A as there will be a lot of data traveling very slowly. I thought about having two cards and sending one back when it gets full and having it mailed back empty as you said, Miner. If I ship it in something like a birthday card it would cost me little more than the price of a stamp. Maybe a little risky. But hey, the Hope Diamond was sent through the USPS. How did bouncing your laptop work out for you? Did it cost a lot?

[Alligator]

Do you have additional restrictions beyond a 64 GB SD card? I found some for $25.
https://www.google.com/shopping/product/11993993493668144387?client=chrome-mobile&espv=1&sboxchip=Shopping&biw=800&bih=1280&q=64+gb+sd+card&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.&bvm=bv.83829542,d.cWc&tch=1&ech=1&psi=kpW4VPHYF6bdsAS8tYDwDg.1421383133856.5&ei=EJa4VPq-G-ffsATH-4HICw&ved=0COQCEKYrMAg
I saw others for that price as well as $35.

[Alligator]

If upload speed was an issue, you could use three cards. Copy a card to another card locally, then mail one off. They make USB card readers then you could use a card slot and the USB card reader locally. If you have a smartphone that reads cards, you could insert it when you get WiFi. Last option is to pay for cloud service, you'd need a 100 GB plan probably. Then somebody could download on the other end. But you would need to upload. Could be other options too.

[Starchild]

I believe they make self contained hard drive based card readers, after a quick google:
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6201873948/western-digital-launches-the-my-passport-wireless-hard-drive-with-built-in-sd-card-reader

0.5, 1 or 2 terabytes of storage for $120 $180 or $220. or 30 cards, or 5.3 days, worth at 2 TB's.

May be other products or cheaper prices out there, heavier option then a bunch of cards but worth a look.

[MuggleMike]

Thanks for the advice everyone! If I end up with a GoPro the plan will be to get two cards and send one home when I get to town so it can be uploaded to my Google Drive account and then sent back empty to the next town. Three cards could provide me with a local backup in case anything happens in transit, but I have no way of transferring data between cards. I don't want to carry more equipment and make it more complicated. I may buy a third on the trail if I end up running out of space too soon. We will see.

Alligator: I did look at those cards but there are speed minimums for GoPro cameras that make the SD cards they need so expensive. I did look at cloud services and Google Drive's pricing is insanely cheap. I can get 1TB for only $10/month. That is unmatched anywhere else.

Starchild: I did not know those existed. Definitely worth considering, but in the end I'd feel safer (and, more importantly, lighter and wealthier) if the files were stored in the cloud.

[Old Hillwalker]

This is what I used on hikes overseas. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1077915-REG/digital_foci_p31_500_photo_safe_ii_on.html I usually was only out three of four days at a time using a hostel as a base camp. On the AT you could bounce it ahead as needed. I was using a GoPro2 at the time. I carried three 32 GB Type 10 cards in the field and extra batteries. Last summer in Spain, under almost constant bright sun I also used this http://www.bushnell.com/all-products/bear-grylls/solarwrap-mini to charge my GoPro once from a fully charged device, then would hang it from my pack to charge it up again. I don't think it would work well unless you were under intense sunlight like I was for long periods. It did work for me in Southern Spain in the Pyrenees where many days were fully above treeline. And I myst add, it was wicked hot almost every day in the 90s+.

[Bucho]

I was thinking about getting a GoPro for my thru-hike and adventures beyond. My query concerns the thru-hike. I solved the problem of running out of power by carrying an external battery, but not running out of storage space. I could carry multiple SD cards, but the quality of high resolution footage means spending $65 per 64GB SD card. That is more than I can spend. I assume uploading data to cloud storage in town is unreliable.

I've seen lots of videos taken on a thru-hike and was wondering how people handled dwindling storage space. Does anyone have experience with this?

My solution won't work unless you have friends with a bluray burner who will pick you up but I met a couple who had an external hard drive in a bounce box. I don't know how that went though I can say they were having trouble connecting their USB 3 device to a library computer when I met them.

[Offshore]

I did look at those cards but there are speed minimums for GoPro cameras that make the SD cards they need so expensive. I did look at cloud services and Google Drive's pricing is insanely cheap. I can get 1TB for only $10/month. That is unmatched anywhere else..

Microsoft's OneDrive is a lot cheaper than Google Drive. (I just finished my research and did a "cloud consolidation".) Microsoft includes unlimited storage on OneDrive with each Office 365 subscription. If you buy a year of Office 365 Personal (list $69.99), you wind up paying $5.75 per month. As a part of the deal, you also get the real Microsoft Office for one Windows 8.1 tablet and one PC or Mac - instead of those half-baked Google Apps - and the premium versions of Office for your phone and iPad. I went with Office 365 Home (list $99.99/year) since it gives you 5 installs of Office. It was a no brainer and made is easy to walk away from Google.

They initially provision you at 1 TB during the current unlimited storage rollout, but you can look on the Office blog and find the form to request a quicker update to unlimited. (Takes a day or so.) You'll then show 10 TB. If you go over 10 TB, your allowance will just get larger - they use the 10 TB as a number to plan/provision their storage arrays. I'm using OneDrive on Android, iOS, OS X and Windows 7 and 8.1. All of the apps are solid.

[theeulogy]

I recommend picking up a Passport drive, I think they are up to 3TB now, and using this. http://www.amazon.com/iKross-Essential-Micro-USB-Adapter-Samsung/dp/B00DTPQDQI
Then I would hook up the passport drive to your Android phone, plug your SD card into the adapter, and move the contents to your Passport drive. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YUuWKDAwCV8

[MuggleMike]

Microsoft's OneDrive is a lot cheaper than Google Drive. (I just finished my research and did a "cloud consolidation".) Microsoft includes unlimited storage on OneDrive with each Office 365 subscription. If you buy a year of Office 365 Personal (list $69.99), you wind up paying $5.75 per month. As a part of the deal, you also get the real Microsoft Office for one Windows 8.1 tablet and one PC or Mac - instead of those half-baked Google Apps - and the premium versions of Office for your phone and iPad. I went with Office 365 Home (list $99.99/year) since it gives you 5 installs of Office. It was a no brainer and made is easy to walk away from Google.

Thanks for that information. For some reason I did not come across that. I will look into it as I am definitely sending cards home to get uploaded. It's just easier.

[Offshore]

Thanks for that information. For some reason I did not come across that. I will look into it as I am definitely sending cards home to get uploaded. It's just easier.

Official Info re: unlimited storage: https://blog.onedrive.com/office-365-onedrive-unlimited-storage/
Here's the link for Office 365 Personal: http://products.office.com/en-us/office-365-personal
Here's the link for the priority upgrade to unlimited (Quota will show 10 TB but grow if you go over): https://preview.onedrive.com/?wt.mc_id=oo_blog_onedrive_onedriveunlimitedstorag e

[MuggleMike]

Official Info re: unlimited storage: https://blog.onedrive.com/office-365-onedrive-unlimited-storage/
Here's the link for Office 365 Personal: http://products.office.com/en-us/office-365-personal
Here's the link for the priority upgrade to unlimited (Quota will show 10 TB but grow if you go over): https://preview.onedrive.com/?wt.mc_id=oo_blog_onedrive_onedriveunlimitedstorag e

Thanks! I looked into your previous post last night and it is indeed the best deal. Although, I had forgotten about the unlimited storage special you mentioned so I'm glad you posted these links.

[MuggleMike]

Just a quick update. I went with Microsoft's Office 365 deal as it is the best value (thanks Offshore!). I actually bought a HP Stream 7 because it included Office 365 for not much more. Also, I ended up getting a Panasonic Lumix TS-5 and two SD cards so I could mail one home when full. The GoPro would have been overkill for what I wanted to do with it. Thanks for the advice everyone!

[Offshore]

Just a quick update. I went with Microsoft's Office 365 deal as it is the best value (thanks Offshore!). I actually bought a HP Stream 7 because it included Office 365 for not much more. Also, I ended up getting a Panasonic Lumix TS-5 and two SD cards so I could mail one home when full. The GoPro would have been overkill for what I wanted to do with it. Thanks for the advice everyone!

That's funny - I did the exact same thing with getting the Stream 7. All things considered, you get the Stream 7 for $30.

Here's another thing I discovered. The Stream 7 comes with Office 365 Personal (one tablet, one PC/Mac). If you need Office on more than one PC/Mac, you can buy a Office 365 Home (5 tablets, 5 PC/Macs) license key and stack it onto your new Office Personal subscription and it will extend it out another year and will convert it to an Office Home plan for the full term (original plus the additional year).

BTW - Microsoft just dropped new updates to the OneDrive mobile apps yesterday that add a lot of photo-centric features.