charging cell phones on the trail...

[clowd]

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?

[lush242000]

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.

[stonedflea]

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.

[eatapeach]

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.

How much did you use it each day? In hours? Did your phone just cache outgoing email till you got to town, or did you save as drafts?

[Lone Wolf]

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?

always ask permission

[Six-Six]

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.

[attroll]

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.

[Grits]

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.

[DeerPath]

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

[RETCW4]

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 too use the IGo powerxtender charger. It runs on two AA batteries and comes with a free tip for you device. Online it's $15.99. It can clso be bought at Radio Shack.

Tumbleweed

[LDog]

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 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

[mkmangold]

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.

[stonedflea]

How much did you use it each day? In hours? Did your phone just cache outgoing email till you got to town, or did you save as drafts?

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.

[BigHodag]

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.

[Wise Old Owl]

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

[Bob McCaw]

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.

[NuAgeDesigns]

What is the name of this multi charger on new egg?


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.387601,-73.077040

[Bob McCaw]

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.

[Kookork]

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.

That is my intention to carry on my long distant hiking if it turns out good. I love to drink hot milk a lot( by mixing coffee whitener and hot water) and tea .so I have another excuse to stop and make a fire since I want to charge my phone after all,,,,

[fins1838]

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.