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anyone smart about power banks?

Original Post
mike again · · Ouray · Joined Dec 2015 · Points: 47

I'd welcome recommendations for these, including thoughts on what to consider. Any general thoughts on what to look for for multi-day trips would be useful, as well as particular recommendations from those of you who have done some comparison. 

For the moment, the Anker 533 looks reasonably good in the 10,000mAh range, with relatively light weight plus the wireless phone charger to free up a port. But again I have not started down the rabbit hole of what's out there and would welcome the chance to piggyback of of your journey if you have. 

I'm guessing that low weight per mAh; multiple charging ports; ability to connect to a solar charger if necessary would be the things I can think of as valuable features, but expanding this list would be nice. Don't care about a bombproof shell as I'll plan to treat it with some care, for example. 

Thanks for any thoughts! 

that guy named seb · · Britland · Joined Oct 2015 · Points: 236

Any battery pack will work, any pack with a USB of any kind will connect to a solar panel. 18650 based packs offer the best storage for the weight. I have used the  anker power core 13000 with the anker power port solar 21W. 1 Usb-C cable for my phone and 1 micro USB to charge the powerpack and my 18560 headtorch. 

Wireless charging is a fucking waste of time, energy inefficient and requires a flat surface that let's the phone sit juuuuust right. 

Turn your phone onto whichever extreme powers save mode you have on it and it will last at least 48 hours with taking pictures. 

PatMas · · Las Vegas, NV · Joined Jan 2017 · Points: 40

There's a user on r/ultralight that has a massive spreadsheet on weights and power outputs that is insanely helpful. It doesn't have all your considerations, but does have weights compared to capacity and charge time and all that stuff. So a good place to start for you. Lots of good anecdotal evidence in the comments too. They update it annually~ish as new stuff comes out and gets recommended by other users.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/u5o1ac/hiking_power_bank_comparison_2022/ 

Tim Wheatley · · Chattanooga, TN · Joined May 2019 · Points: 931

Don’t use wireless charging in an enviroment where power is limited as it’s extremely inefficient. Just use a cord and wait for a port to open up. I’d also recommend solar panels as I’ve gone 10 days in backcountry with only a solar panel and no power bank. You don’t even need to necessarily buy an expensive one. The one I got was 45W and was 45$ which in my eyes is pretty good for what it’s worth. If you do end up going down this path the biggest recommendation I can give is to keep the panel part clean as the cleaner it is the more efficient it works. In practice this actually makes a huge difference in charging times.

Desert Rock Sports · · Las Vegas, NV · Joined Aug 2019 · Points: 2

Nitecore NB10000 Gen 2 (just released, probably not available for purchase yet).

There are a ton of options out there. Best for you to realistically look at your needs first.

bmdhacks · · Bellingham, WA · Joined Jan 2012 · Points: 1,752

If you're going ultra-light, I've been using these cheap shells for 18650 cells.  You can get them off alibaba or here on amazon:
https://a.co/d/j2Fytnf

Buy the highest capacity unprotected 18650 cell you can find (beware of fakes, only buy name brand)  and you'll get the best weight-to-power ratio.  Also for long trips you can bring multiple cells and just swap them out as needed:

https://www.batteryjunction.com/samsung-35e-18650-flat.html

If you really really wanna shave weight, these magnetic chargers have worked well for me, but you have to be careful about knocking them around:
https://a.co/d/3I4TdbH

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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