o.k. are there any secrets to finding places to charge your cell phone during a thru-hike?
o.k. are there any secrets to finding places to charge your cell phone during a thru-hike?
My "secret" is to carry a small (6") extension cord, so if I find an outlet,-- even if it's in use,-- I can plug in the extension cord, re-plug in whatever was already there and also plug in my charger. Clear as mud?
That's on long hikes. Otherwise I carry a battery pack, sized for how many days I'm to be out. I can also charge it in wherever I can find an outlet.
[I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35
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I have an Ankor 10000map external but only used it a few times. I found there's a lot of places to grab a quick charge along the way. As usual, keep it in airplane mode, and don't use it unless you need to to save some battery. Used mine for all of my pics and vids on mlast years thru and battery was only little concern. Lots of places in towns, hostel stops, you go through a lot of parks that have outlets hidden here and there, etc...
- Trail name: Thumper
One can find outlets to charge at a wide variety of places in towns. Restaurants, grocery stores, laundromats, post offices, libraries, campgrounds, they are just everywhere.
I carry a wall plug which has 2 usb charging outlets on it.
This way I can charge both my phone and spare battery at the same time, or I can use it to share charging with another hiker.
The squirrels build secret outlets inside of certain knotted oak trees. They only work with squirrel chargers, though, so you need a squirrel-USB adapter.
On a slightly more serious note, I did see an electrical outlet inside a shelter once. I believe it was Bailey Gap Shelter in Virginia. No idea if it was a working outlet or just a joke, my money is on the latter.
It's all good in the woods.
It is much less of a problem than you imagine to find charging spots. The key, though, is to ask permission. Nobody likes entitled hikers.
Any time you see a vending machine, there will be an outlet behind it. Many commercial buildings have an outdoor outlet or two if you look around. I even found one hidden in a kiosk stand in the SNP.
I typically don't need to use my battery pack between town stops, but I use it to top off the phone charge on the hike into town and then charge the battery pack. That way I don't need to baby sit the phone while it charges and if someone does walk off with the battery pack, I haven't lost much. Although the chances of that is pretty small.
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One reason I carry 7 is cause I'm on the PCT where the distance between wall power is greater than it is on the AT. Also power is one of those things I want to be sure I have enough of. Also, some of those batteries might fail. So those are some reasons I have 7. But what so I use it for? Pictures and checking guthook during the day. If I turn it on to check guthook and notice I've got an email, I'll check to see if it's anything important.
At night in the tent I'll use it to text my kids, answer emails, let folks know about my day, pay bills.
I'm carrying a Samsung Galaxy S5 and the batteries that fit in that phone.
You’re probably thinking i-phone, or the new Samsungs where you can't change the batteries. Regardless, I'd look at: what's the longest section of my hike without power, and how long will it take me to get between those two points. Then - how much power do I want for that interval. Then just get the batteries, if you have a phone like mine, or the appropriate Anker or other charging power that you will need.
Wyoming, to one of your points about finding outlets...you are right. And in a pinch that will work. For example, there is sometimes an outlet in a campground restroom. But do you really want to hang sound in there for a few hours while you're charging something? Of course you can if necessary...
There was a picnic table pavilion right before the dam at Fontana that had an electric outlet.
charged my camcorder right before entering the park, this was before cell phones
there were still pay phones everywhere too
It's almost like electricity is free. Not a single mention of buying something from the establishment you're charging at. The Trail Provides I guess.
So many random places along the trail, like shacks of various types just off the trail. I agree, if in an establishment, you should be buying something to use a plug as a common courtesy, but when the owner of a shack isn't around and you use his plug without asking, let us do a bit of math:
A cell battery has about 3000 maH of energy at full charge. That's 3 amp-hours, at 5 volts (USB voltage) = 15 watt-hours of energy, which is about 1/70th of a kilowatt hour. A KWH goes for about 12 cents, so if you charge your phone you are costing the owner of the plug 12/70's of a cent, roughly a sixth of a penny. There are inefficiencies in the system, call it 50% so maybe it's more like 2/6th's of a penny or 1/3rd of a penny. Just sayin'.
So, in towns it's a no-brainer assuming you have errands at places, but along the trail look for shacks/barns/whatever that have overhead wires to them and many times there will be a plug somewhere on the building.
The guys running the vending machine will not exactly love you if you forgot to re-plug the machine after charging, thus spoiling the whole content of the fridge.
Luckily, in our country most outlets are double, so I didn't have to unplug the vending machine, but could use the free twin outlet.
Its highly recommended to carry a high performance charger with dual USB output, so you can charge the phone and the powerpack simultanousely while, say, sitting in a cafe.