Hand-E-Charger

[Wander Yonder]

I was looking for a way to charge my cellphone without having to depend on electricity. I found this site--a wind-up charger that only weighs 2-1/2 ounces. http://www.hand-e-charger.com/

I asked them how it would hold up on a long distance hike if used for two lengthy calls a week plus a few short ones. They said it had not been tested in that environment and offered to send me two to test!

If someone is planning a lot of overnights in town, it wouldn't be necessary. But for someone who wants to minimize town expenses, it looks like a nice gadget, although a long call would take a lot of winding!

I had thought of solar chargers, but they are too heavy.

[blankman]

No one's replied to this yet, so far as I can see. Maybe it has something to do with our feelings about cell phones. Anyway, I don't carry a cell phone, since I feel like a cell phone would be vestige of the plastic-fantasic world that I'm trying to leave behind. Nevertheless, I sure know if I'm ever bitten by a rattler, badly twist my knee, or worse, that I hope someone comes along eventually who can call the EMS in the nearest town... It's selfish, maybe, this desire to have my cake and eat it, too. (I know personally of at least one thru hiker who was carried out by EMS last year after a day hiker made the call on her cell phone.)

Anyway, here's the scoop: If you use a Nokia handset, you can buy an adapter that charges it from a regular 9V battery (I think). I've seen ads all over the net, though I've never looked into it.

Alternately, if you restrict yourself to the two phone calls per week, you'll certainly be able to find a regular pay phone at least twice a week near most parts of the AT.

I don't think the hand-crank device is worth it. I've never seen it, but it's gotta be heavier than you want to carry, given the payoff.

So, I hope this has been moderately helpful. Don't let anyone give you crap about the cell phone. "Hike your own hike," as they say. And if I get bit by that snake, I hope you're around with the goods.

[Pencil Pusher]

I'll resurrect this dead thread only because I was browsing through these looking for one addressing cell phones. Last night I was thinking how nifty it would be to send e-mails from the trail and had just read the trail journal for a couple that had done the CDT and used PocketMail. But after reading about the product, I figured it wasn't worth it considering you still need access to at least a pay phone. Iridium and Globalstar offered rather pricey alternatives, but with good coverage in even the remotest of places.

Then I thought about a service I never use on my cell phone, text messaging. It seems like I can send and receive e-mails. Of course now that I'm thinking of this, my cell phone is off in Alaska, having been lent to friends for a few weeks. So next came the question of how to keep the battery charged. I found a flexible solar panel that would do the trick with its optional connectors: http://www.qkits.com/serv/qkits/icp/pages/4210.asp

Then I came across this thread and the hand-e-charger. That weblink for it is dead, but I googled it and found several retailers that have it. It seems like a nifty little device, it comes with a built in, one led light, and is small and light enough to justify. Relatively cheap too.

If I ever do make it on the trail, it'd be neat to have one of those phones with the built-in digital camera. Verizon's coverage looks pretty solid in most parts of the AT.

[jbwood5]

I'll throw in a few thoughts on this one. The last thing I want to hear anywhere on the AT is a cell phone that rings. I believe 98% of the hikers would agree with that. HOWEVER, I carry one. I do not turn it on except to make an outgoing call. When I make such a call, I do it away from people (with few exceptions).
I think that is the proper way to handle cell phone use on the trail and I believe I am echoing the thoughts of most people here.

This year, I started with a freshly charged high capacity battery and I was out for 32 days with no charger. I made numerous calls home (about 2 or 3 a week at an average of 10 to 12 minutes per call). I also called a shuttler 3 times, a motel once (to check on availability), and at the request of fellow hikers, we ordered a couple of pizzas into 501 shelter the night we stayed there. By the end of my hike, the battery indicator was still on full. Then on the last day, (trip home) from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM including the bus trip from Massachusetts to Pensylvania, the phone stayed on and a very few calls were made home to update my progress. By the time I got my my destination at 10:00 PM, the battery indicator showed 1/4 left.

The point is, if you are very conservative in your use, you may be able to go more then 60 days without re-charging your phone battery if you immediately turn it off after each use. My unit has voice mail, so I can check messages once a day (takes a few seconds if no messages are left). That way, if there is some dire emergency at home, my family should still be able to reach me within 24 hours or so.

As much as I like to avoid the comforts of modern society while hiking on the trail, I have found the unit to come in handy on a few occasions, and if nothing more, it provides some comfort to the family (1200 miles away), knowing that I have it.

Just John
Tampa, FL

[The Old Fhart]

The link to the hand-e-charger doesn't seem to work but try http://www.sidewindercharger.com/ instead. According to the ad it gives 6 minutes of talk for 2 minutes of cranking. To fully charge your battery would take basically as long as your home charger, maybe 0.5 hour, which is a lot of cranking.

I agree with jbwood5 on only using the phone for outgoing calls, and then away from others. The cell phone I carry with spare battery and a.c. charger weighs a total of only 5.5 oz.. This combo gives me the added security of a fully charged spare battery and I can charge them both up when I get to town. I did leave the phone on only once for incomming calls when I was trying to make connection with my ride from Maine and he needed to know where I was on the last day of my hike before Trail Days. I arranged to have my phone on for 10 minutes on the hour to allow him to contact me. I forgot to put it on vibrate only but doing that would have cut the impact to zero. The phone and spare battery rides in my padded glasses case (which has 2 compartments) with my sunglasses.

[Pencil Pusher]

Huh, that's interesting, the length of time your battery lasted. I did pick up an OEM battery for $4 on eBay a few months ago. I suppose I could do the same if I ever got one of those camera phones and then just mail a battery home to be charged while I used the other one. Somewhat like people that have digital cameras and two media sticks.

[SGT Rock]

I am going to assume that the battery is a Lithium-Ion which very well could perform that well. I don't know if you could get that sort of performance from NiMH.

[jbwood5]

Yes, SGT Rock, the battery is a Lithium Ion Battery, 3200 MAH. Ni Cad batteries tend to self-discharge over time where LI battery can carry a near full charge for several months. The phone is a Nokia 5185i. By no means is this the lightest phone/battery combination around, but a good compromise that balances weight and capacity. It is a little bulky wearing it on the belt, although I wore it for 2 years when I had an office job. When hiking, it is put in 2 zip lock bags and sits in the bottom of the pack.

Just John

[Ramble~On]

Phones and phone calls make the next town that much more appealling.
Hiking without one makes it that much more of an adventure.
Being in an emergency and having someone use theirs to call for help..Priceless !

[Jaybird]

[QUOTE=Wander Yonder]I was looking for a way to charge my cellphone without having to depend on electricity............blah,blah,blah............. .......
QUOTE]




Yo Wander Yonder



Why NOT go SOLAR???????????????????????? :sun


ck this out: www.donrowe.com/isun/isun.html


it's relatively lite-weight & cost efficient!


happy hikin'!

[tacode]

Hmmm...solar or hand crank. The solar is $79.95 and $24.95 for a hand crank.
Solar is passive; nice for while you're sitting around eating lunch or whatever, as long as it's sunny. The crank seems to work anytime, anywhere and doubles as an LED light. I would lean towards the crank - lighter, more useful at any time/condition, multifunctional with an LED light. But I wonder how it would hold up on a through-hike or long section.

[SGT Rock]

I have known a couple of people that tried solar power on the AT for various projects, one being One Leg. The AT doesn't lend well to a good solar power system it seems. I guess mainly because of the amount of time you spend under the canopy.

I have been doing some looking for battery solutions for digital cameras. I think the best system possibility that exsists is a Lithium Ion type system since it has all the benifits of lithium and is rechargable. If you could find a system that does in-system recharging then you could simply plug in when you get to town. A rapid recharging Lithium-Ion should charge to full in an hour or two and last for a good while under conservative use without self discharge or poor cold weather performance. You could bounce the recharger or if you have a system that allows you to recharge while plugged in, you might just carry the re-charger.

I personally don't carry a phone because I go to the woods to get away from that sort of thing.

[hungryhowie]

I have been doing some looking for battery solutions for digital cameras. I think the best system possibility that exsists is a Lithium Ion type system since it has all the benifits of lithium and is rechargable. If you could find a system that does in-system recharging then you could simply plug in when you get to town. A rapid recharging Lithium-Ion should charge to full in an hour or two and last for a good while under conservative use without self discharge or poor cold weather performance. You could bounce the recharger or if you have a system that allows you to recharge while plugged in, you might just carry the re-charger.

I am interested in this for digital cameras as well. I almost posted as much earlier today, but realized I'd probably find out more directly from the company...so shot them an email instead. I'll post back any info I receive from them regarding digital camera use.

I would imagine that it would be a matter of finding the correct plug adapter, of which they sell several. I wouldn't mind carrying a little hand-crank and cranking for an hour or two (you could break it up) once or twice a week to recharge my camera batteries. It may mean I need only two batteries (I'd still want a backup just incase) instead of however many that pile is...Which could be worth it.

It's an idea anyway...

-Howie

[Shoe Leather Express]

I carry a cell phone after a run in with a black bear. I rarely turn it on, but I have it in case I get mauled next time. :D

[SGT Rock]

What I found is that a lot of AA battery systems would be sweet. I have a Kodak 2.0 Megapixel camera with zoom and a LCD that can show the pic for a couple of seconds then shut down so it saves battery. The sweet thing is that there is now a rechargable Lithium-Ion battery that fits in a lot of the 2 AA applications, and my camera can use them. My strategy will probably be to get a Lithium-Ion rechargable, then carry a set of Lithium non-rechargable batteries as back up.

The issue for me is that the camera does support in-camera recharging of NiMH batteries when using the docking station, but at the time the rechargable Lithium-Ion version was not available so it is not mentioned. The docking unit is WAY bigger than I want to carry or bounce. I might be able to make my own cable using the correect adapter for the power on the dock and a power converter from Radio Shack. But there may be a voltage regulator that is in the docking unit that is required.