Battery Bank for charging electronics

[Bob Shuff]

I’m not seeing USB support on either the Folomov or Nightcore products.  Maybe I missed that?. Not saying you couldn’t use an adapter, but it would not be efficient.

I took an 10Ahr bank on a recent Sierra trek.  Happened to have a new iPhone 8, and since the scouts we’re navigating I didn’t use GPS and left it in airplane mode for photos only.  I did connect with my InReach by BT.  Surprisingly to me the phone lasted 3+ days.  So much better than the iPhone 6s I had previously.  I charged it when it dipped to 35% because I had this big battery in my pack, but I probably could have made the week if I had powered down when in the tent each day/ night.

Point is, I didn’t know the how long it would run.  I could have brought one of these single cell batteries.  This is where you have to start before picking a brand.

I don’t think discharge rate is that critical on a backpack, but the charge rate (not always published) and compatibility with a charger is, unless you have enough capacity for all eventualities.

You don’t mention your phone model or capacity, but I’ll bet a anker or similar USB-C battery might work better.  Also for the camera, most bring spare batteries instead of the charger.  I know you are looking for one backup, but I’m not sure it would be as efficient weight wise when you add up your battery capacity needs and the adapter/charger weights.

 

[Christoph Blank]

Hi Bob, how do you mean USB support? They both have USB plugs. The Nitecore has a Micro USB plug.

I also still have to decide which combination is most efficient, I’m looking for an overview of all the options. I have a lot of 18650 batteries and I’d like to select the batteries myself.

[Bob Shuff]

If you have  a USB-C port on your battery, I think you can get a micro USB or Lightning adapter to your phone or other device.  I’m confident that will charge.

I’m not sure any old battery bank with a micro or standard USB output will charge a USB-C device.  Others may have tried this, but I would check the spec.  According to CNET “these cables will offer 20 volts and 5 amps of power, compared with the 5 volts and 1.8 amps of its predecessor.” You may find some USB-C devices hungrier than a single 18650 can feed it.

[Bob Shuff]

Sorry…i meant to say I’m  not seeing USB-C support on either of the magnetic battery adapters.

They are really cool If you can adapt them to your USB-C device.

[Christoph Blank]

Ah – no that shouldn’t be a problem. I have an adapter and many cables, in this case they only supply 5V (as normal usb does).

I assume either of the posted chargers would work.

[J R]

Indeed you can get a female micro USB to male USB-C adapter, that’s what I did in order to continue carrying only one cable once I got a phone with USB-C but still needed the micro as well for the power bank and InReach. I fastened the adapter permanently to the existing short cable I carry backpacking, using a short segment of Zpacks Zline. Tip: some of these adapters have a little loop so you can tie it to something, but those have aluminum bodies that weigh more than if you get an adapter with a plastic body and no pre-fab loop but just use a little cuben repair tape to secure it.

[Brian Jones]

These options are new to me, so I was excited to see the LC10 mass value, but as I look at it closer, I’m struggling to make the math work vs. common power banks.  I have a 2014 vintage Ravpower 8400 mAh bank that weighs 191g with the USB cables/adapters included.  (Ignoring the Lighting cable for the moment.)  I’d love to beat that system mass for the same or better storage capacity.  An LC10 plus (3) NL1835HP cells would add up to 10500 mAh @ 27.8g + (3) * 49.9g = 177.5g.  Definitely better, but not as dramatic as I’d have hoped, especially for the cost.  (And I assume I’d want a better model wall charger for home use to charge the cells more efficiently than the LC10 itself would allow.)

Having said that, I’m awash in the sea of battery options… was there a better battery choice that would have improved the numbers appreciably?  (I just kept sifting through the drop down menus to find the highest mAh cells I could find.)

Thanks!

(For reference, if I stick with the more traditional power bank, I’d probably look at the $30 Anker 10,000 mAh unit that comes in at roughly 182g.)

[BPLwiia]

JR…very clever.

[Christoph Blank]

I’m currently also testing in this direction. I’ve just received two Folomov A1 chargers (similar to the LC10).

With this combination I have a) a powerbank and b) the same batteries for my flashlight (zebralight with 18650).

Furthermore I’m experimenting towards solar. In my case this serves a specific purpose that is different to hiking: I’m staying in the alps for photography trips, more or less at fixed locations. A fixed position is much easier for using solar panels.

With the Folomov A1 I can charge 18650 batteries during the day. I can then use those batteries for the flashlight and as a powerbank to re-charge my Canon DSLR batteries over nigh and to charge my phone. According to what I calculated so far the setup should be pretty lightweight and theoretically doesn’t need re-charching at power outlets.

It’s debatable if it is worth it, but it’s certainly an interesting topic :) I will also test this while hiking once I have put it all together.

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