[pct-l] solar charges?

[David Margavage]

My plan is to thru-hike with a bounce box. On my AT & TRT hikes I was able
to recharge in numerous places.  By using them conservativly they lasted 4
to 5 days with no problems. I'll put the charger in the bounce box and save
the money to buy some Screw shoes! ;-) It was strange to see the post on
screw shoes on the L. An old friend, Fiddlehead, had just told me about how
to make screw shoes.  I thought he was kidding!

On 12/14/08, Brian Lewis <brianle8 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> David asked: "If your using AAA's for your light and you have a MP3, phone
> or Blackberry, and/or a GPS is it practical and lighter to recharge and buy
> new batteries in town every 4 or 5 days or use a solar charger? Are solar
> charges useful or more of a burden? Would you use rechargeable AAA's?"
>
> Hi David.  IMO the trade-offs depend on multiple factors, so it's not easy
> --- or perhaps just "not too useful" --- to give a reply assuming things
> that might not be true for you.  Are you thru-hiking, section hiking, or
> out
> for a couple of days?  How many devices do you have with how many unique
> battery types? Do you already have all the devices you plan to carry, or
> can
> you select one or more to share a common battery type? Do you plan to carry
> charging cords anyway?  Is a bounce box part of the mix for you?  If not
> thru-hiking, what part of the PCT are you on?  (Solar charger is a lot more
> useful in SoCal than in the Pacific NW).      How much do you use your
> various devices and how power hungry are they?  Do you stop and stay at a
> motel every chance you get (where you can plug devices into wall current)
> or
> do you stay more at campgrounds and the like?
>
> I was happy I had a Solio charger with me this year through California; I
> think I stopped carrying mine at the OR/WA border, but I might have been
> better off mailing it home earlier.  I think it's only useful if somehow
> attached to the (~top of the) pack, unless your hiking style sees you
> stopped for significant time during each day.   I didn't get, nor did I
> expect fully charged devices each day from my solar charger, but while I
> was
> still somewhat on a "power budget", the solar charger allowed me to go
> longer between opportunities to use wall current to recharge my smartphone
> battery (and spare).
>
> I would use rechargeable batteries (AAA or whatever) if doing a week long
> or
> shorter trip.  For longer (unsupported) trips I'd be inclined to go another
> route.
>
> If you're asking in the context of doing a very long trip, my suggestion on
> this as well as for a number of other things is to take your best guess and
> then schedule one or more longish shakedown hikes and try out various
> things
> to see what feels best for you.   Thru-hikers that do the trip about the
> same time in the same year end up disagreeing about what is "best" on
> various issues after they're done.
>
>
> Brian Lewis
> http://postholer.com/brianle
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-l mailing list
> Pct-l at backcountry.net
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>