Portable power – recos?

Looking to get set up to use a iPhone for many consecutive days on my bike, in and out of the BC in Oregon.

I'm not wowed by the Dynamo hub concept for some reason; thinking solar panel. I have two battery packs which I plan to rotate. The panel would need to strap to a small backpack for charging while on the move. (Although I've read that some are powerful enough to use at camp only.)

Any testimonials on current gear that works? TIA!

 

I have a few friends that have Goal Zero Yeti products and like them, have you checked them out?

They have a Venture phone recharger that can be run with solar... It'll give you 6-7 smartphone charges per charge. Hope this helps!

https://www.goalzero.com/shop/venture-power-banks-accessories/venture-70-power-bank-micromicro/

 

It was right there beneath you all along...

 

Certainly no expert... But I'd find someone who's tried to use solar off the grid in Oregon. When I ride there, most of the time my GPS can't even get a signal. The cloud cover and canopy have just been too thick. I'm not sure what the sun looks like in Oregon...

 

How much use? Airplane mode on?

We just keep the phone on during the day for pictures and Inreach comm, and get 3-5 days that way. Toss the Mophie in the pack for a second and maybe third charge.

And we travel with 2 phones, but usually only one on at a time.

 

Excellent info, thanks guys.

@tick, yes, airplane mode ~80% of the time. GPS app for nav (not recording), photos, music, blogging every 2-3 days.

I should add: At several points I will have 120v power overnight (as in, a powered campsite etc.). So every X days I can top everything off. Past experience says a 10k mAh battery will supply my needs for ~a few days. Running two similar batteries, the solar panel becomes more assurance and backup than a primary source, but I'd like to explore it. At that latitude (and cover, as you suggest, Steve), a panel might be a bust. But I think the route has a lot of open terrain, and I'm planning S-N direction so my backpack might have a lot of southern exposure.

 

We own a Costco special goalzero nomad 7. It is very effective at charging a phone on a Sierra summer day. The iPad overwhelmed it. But the bulk and weight mean it’s only ever won a spot in the pack when we decided to let the kids bring their devices along.

 

Even a modest battery backup of 10,000mAh should do well for days and they are pretty small, light and cheap.

 

iPhone is maybe 3000 ma/h? So a 10k will charge it 3 times. My phone will last all day taking photos, data on, listening to podcasts and/music. If I turned data off I am sure I could get several days out of it.

I like the idea of solar, but in reality, they are not very effective. You can find out how much power the panel produces and do the math on how much charge you will get in a perfect condition. Going through tree cover in Oregon? Assume no more than 50% promised. Then of course you only get to charge during the day hours. You can experiment with a 10k pack with a solar panel. I bet 10k ma/h is enough but then have a little solar to help it out.

 

Right on, guys – thanks.

Josh, you are getting to the root of it, and I agree that solar is often better in theory than use. But it depends a lot on the terrain, which will be varied. The saving grace could be long daylight in upper latitudes.

 

So I guess my hydro idea isn’t a consideration? Fine then, how about a pinwheel wind farm? You could set a bunch up around camp to recharge.*



*Patent pending

 

See, I knew I came to the right place.

 

I ordered a Jackers pack off Amazon for about $17. The reason I went with it is you can charge it from a source at the same time it powers or charges other dwvides. Not all packs can do that. I use a Dynamo so it can top the power pack off while I ride and I can charge 2 devices off of it. You could do that with a solar panel too. If you have two and can alternate them maybe that is not so important. There are plenty cheap ones on Amazon.

 

Yea, there are some good and relatively light 20,000mAh packs on Amazon for under $40. That's pretty good. I have a 10,000mAh unit that also serves as a jump start pack for motorcycles and small cars from Amazon for $29.