Expedition Planning- set up charging electronics

I’m mentally beginning to prepare for first real expedition to either Ruth or kahiltna gorge. Thinking I’m going to be happy with just my phone, fully charged walkies, head lamps, and gps rescue device. Whats your set up for this when you go into a remote place like that for 10-14 days? Solar obviously but what’re peoples go to solar system set up to have all electronics They need for safe and enjoyable expeditions.

My considerations are cos for the set up, weight, packability, and how well it all performs in potential extreme cold.

 I’d also obviously would have AAAs as backup for avy beacon and head lamp too.

I got a Brunton Solaris on pro deal and its the shit.  There's one on ebay for $180 right now, which is a screaming deal.  In any case, aim for a fabric charger, not a folding hard charger.  

This may not be much help, but for Aconcagua 5 years ago I used a Goal Zero Nomad 20 for charging an array of devices similar to yours. I used an Anker power bank (20K-ish mAh, I think), which I think more than earned its place despite the relatively high weight. I found that as the elevation increases, the charging power goes up almost exponentially (thinner atmosphere!). I've read that cold makes panels more efficient, and batteries less efficient, so it's probably a wash. I haven't noticed any issues with mine at -20C or thereabouts, but I haven't tested it in colder temps. I found that at base camp (4200m) and above, I had a surplus of power and ended up charging several of my team's devices too.  We also had generally clear skies, so of course that makes a huge difference.  Build in a margin for error/cloudy days (again, power storage is good)!

20w seems like the smallest that is worth carrying. I’ve been really happy with a Nitecore 30w solar panel that weighs less than the Goal Zero 20, plus it has USB-C out which was harder to find when I was looking… it may be getting more popular now. 

Get a power bank and solar one! 

It saved my life in Kilimanjaro!!

Ray Lovpal wrote:

I’m mentally beginning to prepare for first real expedition to either Ruth or kahiltna gorge. Thinking I’m going to be happy with just my phone, fully charged walkies, head lamps, and gps rescue device. Whats your set up for this when you go into a remote place like that for 10-14 days? Solar obviously but what’re peoples go to solar system set up to have all electronics They need for safe and enjoyable expeditions.

My considerations are cos for the set up, weight, packability, and how well it all performs in potential extreme cold.

 I’d also obviously would have AAAs as backup for avy beacon and head lamp too.

For my last 3 trips to the Alaska Range I've used a 20w solar panel (no longer made by Anker but there are several identical variants on Amazon that are better than bigger names) and a Nitecore nb100000 charger. This has worked for charging sock batteries, kindle, phone, earbuds, inreach and a few other miscellaneous items. The whole setup weighs 590g. 

NateC wrote:

For my last 3 trips to the Alaska Range I've used a 20w solar panel (no longer made by Anker but there are several identical variants on Amazon that are better than bigger names) and a Nitecore nb100000 charger. This has worked for charging sock batteries, kindle, phone, earbuds, inreach and a few other miscellaneous items. The whole setup weighs 590g. 

Hell yea thanks for this! Do you have any direct links you could share to the best gear you’ve used or would recommend?

Also how long were you out there climbing in AK and was the performance of everything solid? Any tweaks to the system/setup you brought or is this the final setup after tweaking it? My first expedition will likely be to climb a moderate classic or two like ham and eggs, west ridge of hunter shaken not stirred or something on along the kahiltna like mini mini moonflower. So planning ideally for 2 week trip from Detroit to anchorage then out there for however many days we can get for good weather. Hoping the system I put together will be more than sufficient for charging everything that’s needed out of pretty much the list you provided with the addition of a 360head cam and maybe a sat phone. 

Ray Lovpal wrote:

Hell yea thanks for this! Do you have any direct links you could share to the best gear you’ve used or would recommend?

Also how long were you out there climbing in AK and was the performance of everything solid? Any tweaks to the system/setup you brought or is this the final setup after tweaking it? My first expedition will likely be to climb a moderate classic or two like ham and eggs, west ridge of hunter shaken not stirred or something on along the kahiltna like mini mini moonflower. So planning ideally for 2 week trip from Detroit to anchorage then out there for however many days we can get for good weather. Hoping the system I put together will be more than sufficient for charging everything that’s needed out of pretty much the list you provided with the addition of a 360head cam and maybe a sat phone. 

Given that the Anker is no longer available here's what I would buy today. 

Nitecore NB10000

Big Blue Solar Panel - my partner got this one after we did a fair bit of research to figure out what would work best up there. 

Everything performed great. My wife and I both used the Nitecore and our climbing partner bought one after seeing how good ours were. The Big Blue Panel does really well for him. In total I've used the setup from my previous post for more than 8 weeks up there. I've never had any problems with performance. I don't usually use the panel while we are moving. I set it up in camp and let it charge the powerbank, then charge my devices from the powerbank. It's pretty easy to rig it so that it's charging while you are dragging your sled if you need to.  I've not done it because I've always had time in camp to keep things charged and then there's less issue of breaking the panel from falling or rolling my sled. 

NateC wrote:

Given that the Anker is no longer available here's what I would buy today. 

<snip>

Everything performed great. My wife and I both used the Nitecore and our climbing partner bought one after seeing how good ours were. The Big Blue Panel does really well for him. In total I've used the setup from my previous post for more than 8 weeks up there. I've never had any problems with performance. I don't usually use the panel while we are moving. I set it up in camp and let it charge the powerbank, then charge my devices from the powerbank. It's pretty easy to rig it so that it's charging while you are dragging your sled if you need to.  I've not done it because I've always had time in camp to keep things charged and then there's less issue of breaking the panel from falling or rolling my sled. 

The big blue panel has outperformed my goalzero, especially at off angle when you are not constantly managing it throughout the day.

And I went with the summit 20000... been very happy with it.

NateC wrote:

For my last 3 trips to the Alaska Range I've used a 20w solar panel (no longer made by Anker but there are several identical variants on Amazon that are better than bigger names) and a Nitecore nb100000 charger. This has worked for charging sock batteries, kindle, phone, earbuds, inreach and a few other miscellaneous items. The whole setup weighs 590g. 

This is absolutely the way! Now i think it's called the big blue charger on Amazon(same factory)... It's about $80 and it's 28w whereas goal zero is like 150 for 20w... Way better dollar/watt and I've used it 2 times in the Ruth/kahiltna and once on Denali... 

More tips:

-short cords save energy=faster charging/less waste 

-1 long cord to run from solar outside tent to 20kah battery inside tent is ideal

-Just turn things off/have dedicated devices for different uses and the battery lifes last longer but is heavier overall

I totally agree about the BigBlue 28. I bought one in 2019 and it works so well I got a second, though generally one is enough.

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/camping-and-hiking/best-portable-solar-charger

for AK stuff other than Denali you really aren't going far from the runway with base camp, portability is a far secondary consideration IMO...

 I've always brought a bigger bank like a Goal Zero Yeti 200 for base camp, for 2 people that makes it through 10 days no problem without solar, bring even a small solar panel and have it charging whenever you have a chance, even inside the tent fly on snowy days and you will probably never take it below 80%. I'd then take something like the Nitecore 10000 on route, I'd make every effort to avoid an on-route solar charging situation...