Does anyone carry a solar charger for their cell phone?...or a regular plug in charger?...but where do you plug it in?...library?...restaurants?
Does anyone carry a solar charger for their cell phone?...or a regular plug in charger?...but where do you plug it in?...library?...restaurants?
I have not seen a solar charger that I would consider being useful. If you want to sit around all day in a sunny spot to get a 1/4 charge, then sure they work. I just take the regular wall charger. Every few days you will be either resupplying or eating at a gas station / restaurant / hotel. Just charge it then. It only takes about an hour to charge most phones from dead to full.
what kind of phone do you have?
i have a motorola razr and i was able to carry an extra battery. i realize iphones don't have that perk (+1 for androids).
i carried two batteries and simply charged them with the regular wall charger while i was in town. you can usually find electrical outlets in libraries, laundromats, fast food restaurants, etc. it's polite to ask before you charge your phone. i was never told, "no, you can't."
i started at springer with a solar charger, but it rained so much in georgia that i was hardly able to keep it outside of my pack, and it needs direct sunlight, which you will very rarely get on the trail. unless you find a product review that says, "i hiked the entire AT with this and it held up wonderfully," i would say skip a solar charger altogether. i sent mine home in hiawassee.
i DID, however, run into a guy in the shenandoahs who let me use his phone charger. i believe it was made specifically for motorola phones, but it was basically a device that held up to 7 charges at a time. it took a long time to charge my phone, but if you could find one of these, i would say it would be worth having. it was about the same size/weight as the phone (so relatively heavy), but you'd pretty much be guaranteed a charge the entire time you were out in the woods.
even with two batteries and using airplane mode for most of the powered-up life, it was more often than not that both of my batteries went dead in between towns.
"i ain't got a dime
but what i got is mine
i ain't rich,
but Lord, i'm free."
I just bought a wall charger from Staples that has two USB outlets on it - that will let me charge both my phone and my camera at the same time if I need to, instead of one at a time with my old charger. And will always ask permission first.
Everyone's first question:
"Wow - How tall are you?"
Answer: "I'm 6'6""
Ergo, my trail name: 'Six-Six'
When I was on the trail. I carried a blackberry with four extra batteries. You can find batteries on ebay at a good price sometimes. I never went through all four batteries while on any stretch of the trail. I would turn my phone off or put it in airplane mode until I needed to use it. This saved tremendously on the battery life. I would charge my batteries when ever I was in a hostel, motel room or any place that had an outlet. The main thing is, do not forget and leave you phone or battery plugged in and hike off.
I have been using the http://www.igo.com/ charger and am messing around with the http://www.npowerpeg.com/ which weighs in at 11 oz. which uses the igo adaptors for mp3 players and phone. No need to connect to the grid.
I just received two batteries for my LG phone for $5.42 each including shipping. I shopped around and found prices from $30.00 to $5.42. Batteries aer new and charged with no problem. http://www.tmart.com/search.html?q=BL-44JN
DeerPath
LIFE'S JOURNEY IS NOT TO ARRIVE AT THE GRAVE SAFELY
IN A WELL PRESERVED BODY,
BUT RATHER SKID IN SIDEWAYS, TOTALLY WORN OUT,
SHOUTING "HOLY CRAP....WHAT A RIDE!"
I intend to use my droid quite a bit between town visits, and bought a New Trent external battery pack that will recharge my phone, and my camera several times. Add a couple of the little Apple USP chargers and a pair of short USB cables and I'm set to recharge when I get to town. Those batteries ain't light, so you really have to figure how often you'll need to recharge in a five day period, multiply that times the mAh of your phone battery to determine the size battery you really need. Here's my write up on it:
http://www.laughingdog.com/2011/08/k...en-theres.html
L Dog
AT 2000 Miler
The Laughing Dog Blog
https://lighterpack.com/r/38fgjt
"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness." - John Muir
Maybe you could try this http://biolitestove.com/BioLite_HomeStove.html and let us know how well it works. We're all interested in multi-use equipment. The best advice is to turn off your phone until you absolutely have to use it.
"Keep moving: death is very, very still."
---Lily Wagner (nee Hennessy)
sorry for the late response. i didn't use it daily... there were some days i wouldn't even turn it on. when i did turn it on, i would mainly keep it on airplane mode so it wouldn't search for signal (if i wanted to take a picture or see what time/day it was [i didn't carry a watch]). if i got to the top of a mountain and thought i might have service/3G, i'd turn airplane mode off and use my phone until i was ready to hike down.
one of my batteries was brand new... bought it right before i hit the trail. my other battery was 1+ yrs old. the newer battery held a charge much better than the older one, even when not in use. if i charged the old one to 100% before i left town and then switched the batteries out, it was a gamble that it would even turn the phone on when the newer battery would die.
"i ain't got a dime
but what i got is mine
i ain't rich,
but Lord, i'm free."
I use an LG Incite on the trail and carry a single USB charger. I turn my phone off, not airplane mode - OFF. I only turn on to give a position update to my ground control (my wife is deaf, so I use TrailPhone.net and a friend transcribes to TrailJournals.com)
By keeping the phone off, I can usually go 4-5 days between charges which equals resupply-in-town day. Never had a problem finding electricity at picnic pavilions, park restrooms, ranger stations, hostels, etc. Greyhound now offers electric plugs for each seat so I now hit the trail fully charged after using my phone on the trip. Like the idea of a dual USB charger from Staples.
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4-5 days in off? Just thinking should have lasted much more than that. -
FYI folks if you are going to use multiple batteries - and your regular phone is 2 years old or more replace the primary and label the dates on them.
To get back to the original first post - Click here<<<<<<solar answer
Last edited by Wise Old Owl; 02-20-2012 at 20:41.
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Woo
If you have a phone that is USB compatible, Newegg puts out a pretty nifty device. It weighs about 8 ounces and will give an iPhone three full charges. You can plug it in when in town (and simultaneously give your phone a fourth charge).
If your phone is off, or even in airplane mode, four charges will keep your phone alive for a couple of weeks at least.
What is the name of this multi charger on new egg?
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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.387601,-73.077040
I have a Cellion MP-4000. It may be that this particular brand is no longer available. Newegg does, however, carry products with very similar specifications, namely 5000 mAh battery packs with USB output.
I have an I-phone & Coleman makes a battery operated charger that claims to fit most phones & mp3's. Paid about $30 for it. Its a little bit longer then a bic lighter & cylinder shaped.