Backcountry power source

[ODB]

You probably already read the whole thread, but it was aukey instead of anker... my bad.. corrected it in a later post.

Ah, actually missed that. Sounds good.

 

[Rammer8227]

Following

 

[commandoNate]

I like the small 10,000-15,000 MaH battery packs because I can put it in my pants pocket with a short cord and my phone if I need it mid day. I have one Anker and one other misc amazon one that both give me about 2 1/2-3 phone charges each. Plus you don't have all your eggs in one basket if one bites the dust.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Depends on what or how much weight you want to pack. I use a easyacc 20k mah. It’s not light at all but can charge my iPhone 6x. I used a goal zero Sherpa 50 and that thing was a brick.

 

[wapitibob]

Dark Energy is #1 and expensive, Anker #2 and they quit working.

 

[mcseal2]

I have a pair of the Dark Energy Poseidon's. One is 3 years old and still working fine, the other I got last year. I also have an Anker 26800mah battery pack. Most hunts the Dark Energy is enough but when base camping I take both. The DE lives in my pack and the Anker stays in a ziplock in the tipi to charge everything at night. My headlamp, phone, steripen, and In reach all run off the battery pack. I really like having a fully charged headlamp each day when I leave camp instead of batteries with an undetermined amount of life left.

I will have the big Anker in my carry on bag next time I fly to AK, and top it off the last night before flying into the field. I had several longer waits in airports between flights and used my phone on the internet and to read books. The USB ports on the plane were so worn my charging cord kept falling out. Having the big Anker will make keeping my phone battery up easy. For the caribou hunt in 2020 we will use my big Anker for the group to recharge our smaller packs and devices. I plan to take the 21W Anker solar panel I have also to keep it topped off. Long days should make that more efficient than each carrying a large and small pack.

 

[pkahnke]

Definitely worth a shot.

 

[Patrickaz93]

I currently use an anker 10000. Have used a few other ones but after getting the anker have been using that. Its convenient for weekend camping trips as well as 3+ day hunting trips.

 

[Jackson]

It's better to do two small units than one large. Usually cheaper, too.

 

[calnorthco]

I use goal zero solar panel to charge my phone and zippo battery bank/hand warmer during the day and use battery bank to charge my phone at night! Good luck!


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[n2mywake]

My setup has worked out great for the past several years (I charge 3 people's devices)
I will make one change this year and go to the 10k miliamp Anker that I carry for my phone and gopro just to save some weight.

I have been carrying the Anker 20k with me during the day

Anker 20000mAh Portable Charger... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X5RV14Y?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

And then have this 26k at camp for recharging.(has a led on it too) I chose it because it has 2 inputs for charging and my Anker solar panel has 2 outputs (it means I can recharge the whole pack on a good sunny day)

[Fast and Efficient] EasyAcc... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016DA61V2?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Solar panel
Anker 21W Dual USB Solar Charger,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012YUJJM8?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Just a note this stuff isn't waterproof so you have to get a little creative. I use a small sheet of plastic.

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Got the 10k mAh to add to my setup. So far so good very light

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[Boarmaster]

Got the 10k mAh to add to my setup. So far so good very light

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The 10k seems to be where weight and power are going to work for me. I can get by with my 6700 Anker but 10k doesn't weigh much more.

 

[Savage99]

Portable Charger RAVPower 20000mAh USB External Battery Pack Dual iSmart 2.0 USB Ports, 3.4A Max Output, 2A Input Power Bank iPhone, iPad, Galaxy Android Devices https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075LBHQVZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_HA-xDb5RCZCX3

RavPower 20,000mAH. It’s heavy. At some point I’d like to be in the 10,000mAH neighborhood, probably an Anker.


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[dtwhite]

I've been seriously eyeballing the Anker model. Goal zero is a little too pricey IMO, it's a branding thing.

Amazon.com: Anker PowerCore 10000, One of the Smallest and Lightest 10000mAh External Batteries, Ultra-Compact, High-speed Charging Technology Power Bank for iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and More: Cell Phones & Accessories

This has gotten really good reviews and they supposedly use Panasonic CR18650 batteries.

For the price of the 'name brands' you can almost buy 3-4 of these.

Got this unit last year and its worked great.

 

[Hucklebear]

I have the 13k mAh version Anker that n2mywake above has. I used it on a 5 day 50 mi backpack last summer as well as all my fall hunts. Compact and can do two devices at the same time if your buddy needs a charge too.

 

[Downeaster]

I don't really have any AA stuff normally anymore but the AAA version of those is interesting for a headlamp (could top it off each trip or after a long night, etc.).

Amazon.com: Rechargeable Batteries Aaa Usb Port Lithium, 1.5V Remote Batteries Rechargeable, 4-Pack, 1 Hour Quick Charged to Powerbank, Socket, Car: Home Audio & Theater

Edit: Nevermind I see these capacity is like 1/3-1/2 of a typical alkaline battery, I don't think I'd want that much loss of capacity even if I could top them up on the fly.

Having had these for a bit now i would say to hold off. They work ok but power is limited and for some reason go from full to dead on my garmin without showing any loss of bars.

On the other hand, the eneloop AAs i bought in 2015 are still going strong.
Ymmv

 

[Poser]

I used the Anker 10k on a 4.5 day bike trip recently, running Strava all day to track mileage and elevation and about an hour of Spotify at night and I had at least a charge leftover at the end of the trip and my IPhone battery isn’t exactly in great shape.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Having had these for a bit now i would say to hold off. They work ok but power is limited and for some reason go from full to dead on my garmin without showing any loss of bars.

On the other hand, the eneloop AAs i bought in 2015 are still going strong.
Ymmv

I ended up going with amazon’s enloops rebrand, nice to top off everything after each trip vs using half drained batteries or tossing them early. Also in general just nice to avoid tossing so many batteries in the long run.