View Full Version : solar chargers
I take my iPhone with me when I hike, but have a problem with limited battery life. Do any of you use a solar charger or external battery pack? If so which one do you recommend and how well do they work? thanks
I bought a nice solar charger and had little luck with it, even in the desert on the PCT. I either never passed the learning curve, or the gear was just to finicky to be useful.
the model I had was somethign along these lines
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=brunton+solar+charger&oe=utf-8&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:official&client=firefox&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=15500518365351227720&sa=X&ei=2Ib7Tb-GAuyv0AGZkoWrAw&ved=0CH4Q8gIwBA
for music i found some older model mp3 players that had 40 hour battery lives for a AAA and only cost about $20.
if I were going to thru-hike with a cell phone I'd leave the ihpone at home and try to carry an older model, lighter, crappy phone with a longer battery life as well.
I get about a 50% full recharge of my iPhone from a device I found on eBay that uses 4 AA batteries and has a USB connection. This was enough to get me to my next hostel/town/resupply where I could plug in. Device without batteries weighs 1.8 oz.
If anyone has found a really light, and effective solar solution, I'd love to hear about it.