What size bag and battery solar charger

[Deano3]

Hi all i was recently asking about lowe alpine sting back what i might purchase, i am new to this and want to go wild camping for weekends etc over the lakes just wondering what size bag is required for this to hold my vangoo banshee tent + bag + gear would you say that this bag is about right ? i will also requre day sack for hiking eventually,

also i am thinking about a batter solar charger are any of them decent and batters actually last for a resonable price and does anyone else use them

thanks Dean

 

[Chrisf]

I have a solar power monkey. I forget the model but it's the new high capacity high cost one. I bought it to keep my iPhone charged on a five day trip and it failed. The battery pack did charge up my phone about three times but the Solar charging really is slow and a pain to setup and carry around. Once the storage battery was flat i never got it backup to full charge as this takes 13 hours. Smart phones are very power hungry so I also have a cheap pay as you go sonim phone and that last months turned off and about a week of normal use. The power monkey battery pack is also a bit bulky and heavy.

Chris

 

[brambles]

I don't think that the UK gets strong enough and long enough sun to make a portable solar pack worthwhile - I use a New Trent Li-Ion 7000mAh battery pack that will charge my iPhone about 3 times and is about 1.5 times the size of the phone.

 

[Deano3]

i seen one called power bee what seems ok but i wanted one that charges batterys incase all go flat etc any one know of any ?

thanks for replys
Dean

 

[cbr6fs]

Tried a few solar chargers and even over here in sunny Greece they're useless.

At the moment they just aren't efficient enough, so you'll have to either take a BIG solar panel and a small battery or just take some spare batteries with you.

 

[snozz]

I've tried several including the Freeloaders, and as others have said, we just don't get enough sun over here for them to perform well.

I have one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/PowerGen-Ex...92OK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346982606&sr=8-2 and it is a fantastic bit of kit. Charge it up before hand at home, and it'll charge an iphone ./ android phone 3-4 times. Also has a charge indicator showing how much is left in it and a torch.

Snozz

 

[Deano3]

thanks for that might get one of them then, cheap enough

thanks

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

The Sting will be plenty big enough for your gear. I did the 15 otems of less challenge for a weekend and it was practically empty. Make sure you get the side pounches.

on the charging front a power pack is far better than any solar charger. I recently did a week in southern france and even there i struggled to keep everything charged on solar

 

[rik_uk3]

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/aa-battery-usb-emergency-backup-power-and-charger-pack-15048 Takes AA bateries and works well.

 

[Dave]

I've got a Silva Solar 1 Battery Charger, which does work.
If you leave it attached to your rucksack for a typical UK cloudy day, it will put a charge in 2 or 4 AA batteries, if you needed them for an emergency, but only ever seems to get them about half full. I have some equiment like my torch which is powered on a single AA, or GPS on two AA's. So it can come in handy, and is adequate, if not ideal for those items which you would not leave on for a long time, [like the GPS] or like the torch, you wanted on a low setting for reading etc. I also have a small device which will power a mobile phone from 2 AA's.
If you specifically wanted a solar charger you have to match your equipment with the limited application of the charger.