Trying to decide on power solutions.

There is no power in the backcountry.
Last year, I took a battery pack rather than a solar panel. I did the math (ex: 2 x iphone, 1 x GoPro, etc.) and figured out it was lighter (and more reliable) to carry a battery pack rather than a solar panel and a smaller battery pack. I carried a 16000 mAh battery pack and had plenty of juice left at the end of the trip.

My plan for 2019 is an Anker 20000 for my cell phone, Fenix 5x and Fauxpro.

My theory is the solar panel will be an annoyance and I question how much I can rely on it if we’re in shade or rain. You still need a battery.

My plan for this summer is a 5W Suntactics and some sized power brick – 5.6K or 10K – I don’t know yet.  I have an Iphone 6S and Delorme Inreach (which I plan to use for emergencies).  I plan to use the Iphone for photos and maybe GPS (Gaia) from time to time.

In 2016 I brought a solar panel to keep my Galaxy S6 charged.  I kept the phone in Airplane mod, but ran the BackCountryNavigator app and used it for pictures.  I got about 2.5 days before I ran out of juice and had a difficult time keeping up using the solar charger after that.  I won’t be bringing the solar charger this time due to size, weight and general PITA nature of having to arrange to panel to get sunlight while also trying to get from camp to camp.

This time, I’m bringing an Anker 13000mAh, an S7 Active and my Garmin Fenix 3 watch.  I will keep the phone in full Airplane mode (GPS off, but keeping in on in the day for a camera) and use the Fenix for tracking/GPS purposes.  I have a foot pod for distance and pace which will allow me to use the battery saving Ultra-Trac mode on the watch. I’ll also turn the Heart Rate monitor off.  I’ll upload the watch data to the phone in the evenings.

I have a 3-day backpacking trip planned this weekend to test out battery life on the phone and watch using this set-up.

Edit:  See below for report

Thank you all.

I have a 20000ma and a 6700 ma.  I havent tested the eken’s battery, but its listed as 1050.  I also may just buy and charge 2-3 of those.  I havent even used it enough to know how far a single battey can go.  I also have a goalzero , but only use that when base camping. I do have the battery pack from goalzero that takes either aa or aaa.  I may try that as well because I know I can buy those batteries.

My main question was about being able to plug in.  I 100% understand the general stance that we should leave electronics home.  And that philmont is not exactly overflowing with powerlines throughout its 250000 acres.  I just find it hard to believe there are ZERO.  In several of the youtube videos I watched I see staff camps or other stops with overhead lights.

Other then my luxury, or addiction, to books and music, my concern is in being able to document this trip for them.  I am working on handing off those duties to the boys (eken or little canon point and shoot) as much as possible.  For many of these boys, they may never be able to experience something like this again.  I would rather have them enjoy the trip then to worry about battery power.

Thanks again for the advice.

I have an Anker 20800, it did well in the backcountry charging an iPhone from below 20% to full at least 6 times.

The drawback is that the Anker takes 10-12 hours to fully charge itself.

-Phil

Report from my trip this past weekend:  The trip got cut short due to weather.  We had two full days on the trail.

Phone:  My Galaxy S7 Active was primarily on airplane mod with location services off.  It was taken off airplane mod about 30 minutes total to check our location and text my wife.  The phone was turned off overnight.  I ended up with 80% of battery charge left on the phone for the two days.

Watch:  I intended to put the watch in Ultra-trac mode and use a footpod for distance and pace, but I forgot to turn the Utra-trac mode on for 1/2 of the first day.  I also had the watch in auto-pause the entirety of the first day.  Running the watch with the normal GPS accuracy for the first 6 or 7 hours ate up a good bit of battery (50% +-), but once Ultra-trac was turned on, it lasted the rest of the trip.  Although the pod has not been calibrated, I found it to be pretty accurate in terms of distance covered (compared to other devices carried by our group), when the auto-pause was off.  Auto-pause seemed to cause problems with pace and distance.  The tracked route created by Ultra-trac had some aberrations, especially around switchbacks, but was expected and acceptable.

Bottom line:  Keeping the phone in airplane mod 95% of the time will conservatively give me at least 5 days of charge.  The watch, in ultra-trac mode, should last 3+ days.  The phone has a 4000mAh battery, while the watch’s is 300.  The 13,000 mAh battery will be plenty, if I don’t do something stupid.

I looked at this hard from a UL perspective.

Bottom line: just before you go buy the lastest Anker Powercore 10,000 mAh (or so) sized power pack for ~$30.  Buying late gets you the freshest cells and latest technology. (Same applies to the cells in your phone and other devices.)  10K is sufficient for 14 days if yer only taking occasional pix, reading nature guides, and rarely using GPS on a smartphone (mostly in airplane mode).  Compare then-current models for weight.  Recommend you estimate consumption during a long-weekend shakedown trip and multiply.  If you use it more, just pick a larger size.  Strongly recommend buying from a high-reputation vendor (like Anker, etc.). Carry multiple cords for others and a small charger if your route takes you by civilization.