raybo

This reminds of a time I was camping just north of Bodega Bay on the California Coast. I was walking back to the campground after dinner only turning on my flashlight to warn cars I was on the side of the road. Everything was fine until I stepped into a 2 foot hole someone had dug and left unmarked. I scraped up my knee pretty good and limped for the rest of the tour.

Now, I keep my flashlight on whenever I am moving around in the dark!

apolloturner

I saw that kit, but when I was a kid I had one of those generators and it robbed a lot of power from my bike when I used it. Are the new ones less drag? I ended up going with a 7W panel with built in regulator and a 10,000 mah battery back up. It all costed me under 30 dollars. I will test it all out next week on my 590 mile tour of Texas.

Rob_E

I had a bottle dynamo as a kid, and it was cheap and took some energy to turn. I came across another one in recent years, and it was the not much better. However, in Europe, where wheel-driven lights are more common, I believe they have more reliable, efficient bottle dynamos. I have considered getting one, but now both of my bikes have a Shimano dynamo hub. These are far and away more efficient than either of the bottle dynamos that I have used in the past. When it's not drawing power, you can't even really tell it's there. When it is drawing power, it's still barely noticeable.

MassiveD

I had the full on euro electrics on a recumbent, that had the features for stopping and all that jazz. It was about 10 years ago, and it was pre led. The bottle generator was still a chore at that time, and to charge electronics still would be. The advantage to sidewall is for occasional users, for full on use, whell dynos are the way to go, as you say.

Funny about the solar, and our So Cal friend. Yesterday up here was a hot day with a lot of direct sunlight. I had just bought the kid a solar 6 in 1 kit. It has a "dog" in it that flips a tail around and vibrates around on smooth ground. With the solar cell directed to the sun, just the minor movements at mid-day were enough to shut the motor down. Very instructive for what it was.

This thread reminds my I just bought two new , very small, SLRs. But their batteries aren't the best. I also have a 10 year old Canon that uses 2 A cells. What are the best camera options that use A cells these days.

zeppinger

My last long tour was 4 years ago through some very remote parts of Asia. Technology has changed since then but what I did was make sure that everything in my kit ran on AA. Head light, rear light, camera, etc.... For things that this didnt work for, like my Kindle or iPod, I bought an "emergency charger." Mine was like this one: Amazon.com: Portable USB Emergency AA Battery Powered Charger With Flashlight for Cellphone iPhone iPod MP3/MP4 player Black: Cell Phones & Accessories There are better ones out there but they are all inexpensive. Since you should always carry extra batteries for lights I always had extra power for all my devices and only had to carry one charger. It was very simple an effective.

Tourist in MSN

Depends on the type of camera you want. I recently bought a used Pentax K-30 DSLR. Comes with Li Ion but also can run on AA batteries with a cheap adapter. I think Pentax is the only company that has tried to make AA batteries an option in several of their DSLR cameras. My older K100D Pentax DSLR uses AA batteries too, but that camera is pretty dated with a low pixel count.

My niece gave my sister a Pentax X-5 that uses AA batteries a year and a half ago, she loves it.

If you try to use a camera on AA batteries, I suggest the Eneloop rechargeables. I have been using them for years, have the best luck with them. At my nieces wedding, I changed out my batteries about 10 minutes before the ceremony. Thus, I had some used Eneloops in my pocket. Later that evening the professional photographer mentioned to me that the restaurant staff picked up her spare batteries for her flash - she was out of battery power. I loaned her my partially used Eneloops and they got her thru the rest of the night.

apolloturner

I have been testing my set up a lot and have to tell you.....I don't think I will even need the solar panel. I charged my 4s Iphone 2 times, all my lights, My portable bluetoothe speaker and my daughters Ipad mini to 100% with the 10,000 mah battery and it still had 1 light out of 4 lit. I am thinking it with the solar panel topping it off and the occasional wall charge and I will be fine. We rode 40 miles 2 days ago with my go pro on constant record mode plugged into the battery back up and it didn't even lose 25% charge.

mijome07

Uh... what?

apolloturner

10,000 mah battery back up with 1 amp and 2.1 amp USB output. I meant to say .I am thinking it with the solar panel topping it off *OR the occasional wall charge and I will be fine.

mijome07

Those are good. What kind, Anker?

apolloturner

Amazon.com: KMASHI 10000mAh MP816 (2.1Amp+1Amp Output,2Amp Input Fast Charging) Dual USB Portable External Extended Battery Pack Power Bank Backup Charger For iPhone 6 Plus 5S 5C 5 4S 4 iPad Air Retina Mini Samsung Galaxy S5 I9600 Neo S4 I9500 I9190

mijome07

This is the one I'm looking at:



10K mAh, with up to 3A charging.

apolloturner

3Amp Charging should make it super fast to top off.

tmac100

I gave up on my HEAVY crank-charged Grundig radio. Reception only @ night in outback Australia. Now have an mp3 player that will last 15 hours on a full charge - enough for over a week evening listening before falling asleep.

Turn on the PC once an evening or whenever there is evening reception. The 3 lb PC has a Telstra mobile broadband "dongle".

Paper strip maps, etc. No need for a GPS as there are "mile posts" every 5 km or so. Only 1 basic road between Perth and Adelaide.

So, I basically stop at a roadhouse, eat a meal and have a beer while my equipment is being topped up with their diesel generator "power". They don't mind as long as I have a beer and meal.

damo010

I'm looking for a good quality solar / USB battery pack, i did see a really good one on a you tube video of Bug out Bags but didn't catch the name, its wasn't a cheapo ebay item.

i think it had a 8000 mili amp battery with a good quality solar panel ad was IPX splash & dust proof. its also had a LED flood light and a pair of USB out lets.

can any one recommend something like this??

Tourist in MSN

All I can say is that square inches of solar panel is a critical factor. Small panels with exaggerated claims are sure to disappoint. I have a couple solar panels where the actual solar part is 4.75 X 5.5 inches with USB port (but no built in battery) that will just barely charge my android phone, anything smaller won't do much. And the panel has to be aimed well too.

mijome07

The panel(s) I got are rated at 14W/2.55A (peak sunlight). I'll never see that. But for the items I do have, there is no problem charging/powering them, even a few of them at a time (via USB hub).

I don't own a STUPIDphone (and never will), but I have charged both an Android and a tablet w/ both rated @ 2A's. Well, the specs on the plug says they require 2A to charge but only draw 1.6A (thanks to my USB meter).

I can test items inside or outside. Also doubles as a small DMM. I made a custom stand I can tilt around to get the best angle. Meter tells me the optimal position. And the stand breaks down and is portable.

Also, good cables mean a lot. Not the over-hyped Monster cable-like ones. But ones that are made for "charge only".

mijome07

One of the items I got is a portable shortwave radio. Also has AM/FM and longwave. It came w/ 4 AA's. Radio has a built-in charger. Forget that. It'll take forever. Got the optional USB power cable. Now I can easily run this directly off the Sun, w/ no batteries (and still charge stuff simultaneously). The radio only draws 100 mA! Wow.

apolloturner

The Cydekick Frictionless Bicycle Generator Powers Lights and Mobile Devices

This looks promising.