solar charger?

[BrianLe]

To any aspiring thru-hiker that wants to carry a solar charger on the AT, I say go for it, recognizing however that I've never seen any reports from any that carried it all the way and recommended that approach for others. I admit that my own (PCT-based) solar experience was based on not-current technology, for what that's worth (I used the Solio available in 2008). I'd point out that it's not just the green tunnel effect, but also the "walking most of the day" effect. I.e., don't test in a stationary location and expect to get the same charge as having the thing mounted in some way on your pack.

Please DO report your personal results here afterwards. If at some point someone does a thru-hike, on the AT, carrying a solar charger all the way, and shortly AFTER finishing their trip they recommend that approach to others --- that's the time I might start considering it.

[paintedstars]

I will be sure to update on here actually while hiking the A.T. with my droid bionic full charged from my joos orange solar charger =)

~paintedstars~
www.nathanielmaloney.com

[Shutter]

Good luck, chances are you'll be shipping it back home by the time you hit damascus, you're simply not in one sunny spot long enough to get a charge. By the time you stop at the end of the day the sun isn't as powerful as you'd need to charge. You're better off buying an extra battery or two from amazon. Buy the cheap chinese knockoffs. I had 3 batteries for my HTC Evo and never went though all 3 of them. I found a set of 2 for $30.
Tips for longer battery life:
Keep the phone turned off while not using it! You wouldnt' believe how much of a foreign concept this was to some people.
If you're listening to music make sure to keep it on airplane mode.
Airplane mode doesn't use the radios thus doesn't search for signal constantly wasting MASSIVE amounts of battery.
Only turn on your phone when you need it.

I would listen to music for several hours a day while hiking. In airplane mode I could listen to 20 or so hours of music before the battery went dead. Just charge the batteries when you get into town.

If you want to know how long you can listen to music then test it at home. One night make sure your phone is fully charged, put it in airplane mode, unplug your phone, play music through headphones, go to sleep. When you wake up see how much battery is left and do the math. That'll give you a good idea about battery life. Do the same for simply keeping it on airplane mode without music.

Solar chargers are really a waste of weight. The benefit to weight ratio is horrible. You're better off buying an extra battery or two, it will weigh less and you'll get way more battery life out of your phone. Remember, you're not watching movies, making calls, writing e-mails all day out there. You're just using it as a lifeline or maybe music. I carried 3 batteries since I was using it to blog along the way. I'd write posts at night, save them and wait until I had signal on a summit the following day to post.

Good luck, reconsider the solar charger for a multiple battery solution. You're only going 4 days between towns, not 6 months. There are PLENTY of outlets available when you get to town. You'll get a 6th sense as to where to find power outlets while out shopping. Many shop owners are happy to charge your phone while you shop, eat or just lounge around.

[GrassyNoel]

Please view my backpacking review of the Solio Bolt solar charger HERE. It didn't work on a clear day with no leaves. There's just no way it will be worth carrying a solar charger once the leaves are on the trees... As much as I wanted to be electronically self-reliant, it seems that the best way to deal with batteries is to charge it in town every few days. Turn it off or put in in "airplane mode" to save batteries.

[Wise Old Owl]

To any aspiring thru-hiker that wants to carry a solar charger on the AT, I say go for it, recognizing however that I've never seen any reports from any that carried it all the way and recommended that approach for others. I admit that my own (PCT-based) solar experience was based on not-current technology, for what that's worth (I used the Solio available in 2008). I'd point out that it's not just the green tunnel effect, but also the "walking most of the day" effect. I.e., don't test in a stationary location and expect to get the same charge as having the thing mounted in some way on your pack.

Please DO report your personal results here afterwards. If at some point someone does a thru-hike, on the AT, carrying a solar charger all the way, and shortly AFTER finishing their trip they recommend that approach to others --- that's the time I might start considering it.

Good luck, chances are you'll be shipping it back home by the time you hit damascus, you're simply not in one sunny spot long enough to get a charge. By the time you stop at the end of the day the sun isn't as powerful as you'd need to charge. You're better off buying an extra battery or two from amazon. Buy the cheap chinese knockoffs. I had 3 batteries for my HTC Evo and never went though all 3 of them. I found a set of 2 for $30.
Tips for longer battery life:
Keep the phone turned off while not using it! You wouldnt' believe how much of a foreign concept this was to some people.
If you're listening to music make sure to keep it on airplane mode.
Airplane mode doesn't use the radios thus doesn't search for signal constantly wasting MASSIVE amounts of battery.
Only turn on your phone when you need it.

I would listen to music for several hours a day while hiking. In airplane mode I could listen to 20 or so hours of music before the battery went dead. Just charge the batteries when you get into town.

If you want to know how long you can listen to music then test it at home. One night make sure your phone is fully charged, put it in airplane mode, unplug your phone, play music through headphones, go to sleep. When you wake up see how much battery is left and do the math. That'll give you a good idea about battery life. Do the same for simply keeping it on airplane mode without music.

Solar chargers are really a waste of weight. The benefit to weight ratio is horrible. You're better off buying an extra battery or two, it will weigh less and you'll get way more battery life out of your phone. Remember, you're not watching movies, making calls, writing e-mails all day out there. You're just using it as a lifeline or maybe music. I carried 3 batteries since I was using it to blog along the way. I'd write posts at night, save them and wait until I had signal on a summit the following day to post.

Good luck, reconsider the solar charger for a multiple battery solution. You're only going 4 days between towns, not 6 months. There are PLENTY of outlets available when you get to town. You'll get a 6th sense as to where to find power outlets while out shopping. Many shop owners are happy to charge your phone while you shop, eat or just lounge around.

I have done this too... it works.

Please view my backpacking review of the Solio Bolt solar charger HERE. It didn't work on a clear day with no leaves. There's just no way it will be worth carrying a solar charger once the leaves are on the trees... As much as I wanted to be electronically self-reliant, it seems that the best way to deal with batteries is to charge it in town every few days. Turn it off or put in in "airplane mode" to save batteries.

An adjusted reply - Solio is very small and not suited for well for smart phones for todays electronics.... when they came out years ago it was a good run..... Today there are better panels, that have smaller thinner wires that are closer together.... the sunlight can generate better power to charge a battery... Batteries have improved and phones now have apps that control the power.

Brianle my phone is far more than making a call.
My phone has the AT and all other trails -
My phone has MP4 and sat music
My phone is my camera and laptop
My phone is my journal and camera
My phone is my heaven - star chart and meteorites.

Now welcome to Goal Zero!

[GrassyNoel]

Why be so harsh, Wise Old Owl? Who's dwelling on it? Sorry we're not all as all-knowing as you. Do us all a favor and when you get that superior, angry feeling, don't log on. Attitudes like yours are what make boards like this aggravating for people just looking for information, or newer, more unexperienced folks like me. It's hiking, not a competition. I took the damn thing back anyway...

[dbs1crew]

I was looking into one of these when they become more readily available. You can contact them if you need one by a specific date. If you use a compass, I wouldnt recommend it though lol.

http://www.npowerpeg.com/

[Wise Old Owl]

GrassyNoel you are correct - I get frustrated when after several years of informative posts about solutions to problems written by a wealth of folk her at WB - and yet there are a bunch of folk who put down - doesn't work - waste of time comments. Just because someone had a bad time on the trail with Solio - all solar panels are aweful....

many exspensive panels are too small to do much of anything....the panel has to be a collector and a large one. They do collect on cloudy days and can defray most somewhat discharged phones with one sunny outcrop and an hour at noon... lunch.



Just like a simple post about dogs, causes someone to yell leashes and leave the dog at home.... Good Grief.

[paintedstars]

Great post Wise One =) Two thumbs up. Technology is ever evolving, they are creating new solar technology as we speak that will be as thin as paper, and collects even more

http://www.pcbdesign007.com/pages/zo...=82757&artpg=1

[BrianLe]

Brianle my phone is far more than making a call.

Ditto. In fact, I wrote the guide to picking a smartphone article for Postholer some time back: http://postholer.com/smartPhone.html
It's not been updated in a while, but I think a lot of the overall ideas and approach are still helpful. In any event, I used my smartphone in a very multi-purpose role on all three thru-hikers I've done to date.

To be clear, I'm not arguing about whether newer technology is (significantly) better. I simply don't know, maybe it is. What I said above, however, makes a lot of sense to me still: I don't suggest that anyone get too eager about using solar on a thru-hike ... and particularly not on a thru-hike of the AT ... unless and until someone completes such a thru-hike using a solar charger and reports afterwards that it was worth while to do so (and not out a stubborn sense of having to be shown to be right, but because they actually did feel it was worth carrying ... !).

I found my Solio to have been marginally worth carrying in Southern California on the PCT, but really even that was questionable because the weight of carrying an extra battery or two plus the time and effort to recharge all batteries during town stops was IMO less than the weight and hassle and fiddle factor of using solar. And that was using the phone as my only camera, internet device (weather reports, email, uploading journal entries), occasional GPS, daily journaling device, infrequent book reader, occasional voice recorder, and I even once in a great while used the phone as a phone.
The solar charger was kind of fun in a way, but in the end I carried it more out a lack of experience coupled with a desire for being free of town stops to recharge. When confronted with a similar situation for the CDT (lots of sunshine in New Mexico in particular), I opted to not bother, and regardless of how much improvement has occurred in solar chargers in very recent years, I still think that I made the right choice.

This is certainly a HYOH thing; I just think that it's helpful when discussing this in the context of a thru-hiker thread to point out that, to my knowledge, no one has through-hiked the AT with a solar charger and then afterwards recommended that anyone else do so. I'd be happy to be shown to be wrong on this, it's not a point of pride or anything, just what I think is a helpful data point for would-be thru-hikers considering this route.

For others --- I'd suggest that a discussion of the benefits of solar for an extended base camp or the like be done in another thread?

[kayak karl]

This is certainly a HYOH thing; I just think that it's helpful when discussing this in the context of a thru-hiker thread to point out that, to my knowledge, no one has through-hiked the AT with a solar charger and then afterwards recommended that anyone else do so. I'd be happy to be shown to be wrong on this, it's not a point of pride or anything, just what I think is a helpful data point for would-be thru-hikers considering this route.

For others --- I'd suggest that a discussion of the benefits of solar for an extended base camp or the like be done in another thread?

thanks for pointing that out. i was thinking the same as i read through. i use one on the kayak, but that is apples and oranges.
i would like to hear from long distance hikers also on solar.

[dornstar]

I will be sure to update on here actually while hiking the A.T. with my droid bionic full charged from my joos orange solar charger =)

~paintedstars~
www.nathanielmaloney.com

How do you like the Joos so far? I am right on the verge of buying one myself.

[hoosch]

I started off thinking I could buy a solar charger that would work for my upcoming AT thru-hike, but now realize that's not the way to go. I really like the idea dbs1crew suggested - to use a passive kinetic energy charger, but can't justify the cost vs. the charge it provides. So far I like ChillyWilly's suggestion to go with a NewTrent external battery charger. They offer products that seem to be smaller, lighter, and provide more power than others I've looked at (i.e. Brunton). Not only do these devices weigh less and take up less room than solar chargers, but I won't have to mess around trying to get a charge into it and weather won't change the fact that I'll get multiple full charges out of it.

My plan (as of now) is to use my Droid HTC Incredible as my camera and audio journal on the trail, as well as a phone/laptop while in town. I'd rather not have to go to town just to charge my devices (this may change as the weeks of hiking tick by - it may become just the excuse I need to leave the trail!), but instead stay on the trail for longer than 4 or 5 days.

I've used my phone as a camera in the BWCA multiple times, keeping it off until I need it and in airplane mode when it was on, so I'm aware of how quickly my battery drains even when using that technique. Also, I'm in no position to buy a new phone just for this trip (by the time I'm back from my trip I'll be due for a new phone anyway). In addition to this, I'd like to be able to power my GPS (Garmin Oregon 300). This is another reason why buying an extended battery or additional battery for my phone won't solve my issue.

Garmin told me that I can't charge the batteries while they're in the unit (bummer), but I'm wondering if an external battery charger would be able to power (as opposed to charge) my GPS should it run out of batteries on the trail. The GPS power connector is a mini-USB. Has anyone had any experience trying to do this? I've asked NewTrent, but like their website their customer service doesn't seem all that well put together.

[BrianLe]

"... but I'm wondering if an external battery charger would be able to power (as opposed to charge) my GPS should it run out of batteries on the trail."

Unless you're just really into GPS units and it's a weight "luxury" for you, I think the right answer for an AT thru-hike is to not take a standalone GPS. My smartphone was a fine GPS the couple of times I wanted one when snow was quite deep in Feb/March on my trip.

"I'd rather not have to go to town just to charge my devices (this may change as the weeks of hiking tick by - it may become just the excuse I need to leave the trail!), but instead stay on the trail for longer than 4 or 5 days. "

I suspect that you'll find that if for no other reason you'll want to go into town so as to not have to carry so much food at any one time. Even if you don't stay in town, just have a meal at a diner or fast food place or restaurant and get your phone charged there. One way you can tell a thru-hiker in town these days is that when they go into such a place to eat, they're leaning over and looking under tables as they walk along, trying to find a table next to a wall plug!

[hoosch]

I've asked NewTrent, but like their website their customer service doesn't seem all that well put together.

I should update this comment. I emailed NewTrent and asked if they could provide me a customer service phone number (they don't list one on their website). They provided me a number and when I called they were very helpful in answering any questions they could. They also explained that they are currently in the middle of revamping their website and apologized for the inaccurate info they have out there. They said they have been replacing older products with newer ones and have some discrepancies as a result. The guy I talked to is going to weigh the units I'm interested in and email me the weights, dimensions, and even updated pictures. I asked for updated weights based on other posts I've seen where the customer said the device weighed more or less than was stated on the website.

[paintedstars]

How do you like the Joos so far? I am right on the verge of buying one myself.

It's really great and charges even in cloudy overcast conditions. =)

[ferdEggmont]

I used a small battery pack made by New Trent that I found on Amazon for my thru. It worked great and held 3-4 charges for my iphone. highly recommend

[sdisser]

I used a small battery pack made by New Trent that I found on Amazon for my thru. It worked great and held 3-4 charges for my iphone. highly recommend

It looks like you can only charge those using a USB port in a computer, so how did you recharge it? Also, if I'm reading correctly, it takes 8 hours to recharge? I'm guessing something like this would not work for someone like me who is planning on never staying in anything but a tent.

Has anyone had any revelations since the last posts in this thread? I'm trying to figure this out for myself. Thanks!

[leaftye]

It looks like you can only charge those using a USB port in a computer, so how did you recharge it? Also, if I'm reading correctly, it takes 8 hours to recharge? I'm guessing something like this would not work for someone like me who is planning on never staying in anything but a tent.

Has anyone had any revelations since the last posts in this thread? I'm trying to figure this out for myself. Thanks!

You can get a small wall charger that has a usb charging port. You can get one for less than $2 shipped. I'd give you a link to where I got mine, but the website is down. These chargers can be smaller than those wooden blocks we played with as a child. Get one with at least 1A of output per port or you'll be waiting many hours for your battery to charge. More current is better, but the chargers I've found are much bigger, although some here would probably think they're more than small and light enough. You can charge while you're eating in town. I've heard of folks charging at grocery stores.

[Wise Old Owl]

I will be carrying the New Trent Arcadia Pack ACD66 6600mAh External Battery Pack and Charger. 8 oz with some good reviews.

Here is the update the page expired

http://www.amazon.com/New-Trent-NT70.../dp/B002D4IHYM