Many people love to go into nature to escape the overwhelming world at least for a while, but their phones (and other gadgets), can be very useful tools in these trips because they can be used as camera, as a GPS device, as an additional flashlight, as clock, and of course, as a communication device.
For all these gadgets, you will need a pretty large power bank, but if you plan to keep mostly your phone charged (and maybe a better camera and a headlamp) during the entire trip, you can use a backup battery, or a solar charger that charges while you walk in nature and requires only the presence of the sunlight.
How To Choose Your Backup Battery Pack?
There are two main ways to charge your gadgets while you are backpacking: by using a battery pack or a solar charger.
Battery packs come in all different shapes and sizes, but before getting one to power your electronics, you have to know what gadgets will be powered by the battery pack.
The electrical capacity of the power bank (backup battery) is measured in mAh (milliamp hours), which is a unit that measures electric power over time.
If You Want To Charge More Than One Device
If you want to charge more than one device with the power bank, you have to check the mAh of all those devices.
To charge only your smartphone and maybe a headlamp, a 10000 mAh power bank would be enough, however, if you want to charge an additional camera and maybe other small devices, a 20000 mAh power bank would be enough.
The bigger the battery pack the longer will take to charge. A 10000 mAh power bank will take about 6 to 7 hours to charge, and you can use it to charge your phone 3 to 4 times.
How To Choose A Solar Panel Charger?
Solar panel chargers are not so common among the backpacking world, but there are still people that use solar panels and the sunlight to power their devices.
To know what is better for you to choose (a power bank or a solar charger), you have to ask yourself where you’ll be hiking.
If you are planning to travel in the woods where the tall trees are making a lot of shade, you might not want to use a solar charger because the sunlight will be less available to charge your devices.
However, if you are planning to make a trip in the woods for only a short period of time, and you will generally visit open areas, and in high elevation (above the tree line), then yes, you can use a solar charger because it will be way more practical.
Don’t Forget About The Weather
You also want to consider the weather conditions in the area visited by you, because the solar charger will not work well in cloudy or rainy weather.
If you prefer only sunny days to travel, and you generally walk on surface areas, your solar charger will charge very quickly and you will be able to use it to charge whatever electronics you may have.
When selecting a solar charger, the output capacity is definitely something that you want to consider (is measured in Watts), so the higher the number, the more electricity will be generated in a given time.
On www.canadasatellite.ca, I found a list of powerful solar chargers, which can be used to power even satellite phones.
Final conclusion
A solar charger will be useful only if you’re backpacking on a certain location (where you have full sun) and you will stay there for a few days, or you want to travel over a long distance, but only in open areas where the solar panels have a chance to charge due to the presence of the sunlight.
