[pct-l] solar panels - useful or not?

[Sir Mix-a-lot]

Is this for geotagging pictures? That's the only reason I can think you need
for a gps to be on all the time since Halfmile already has great tracks and
it's easy to stay on the trail.  In any case, you'll already have to carry 2
pairs of AA's...one in the gps and another set in the solar charger.  If you
went with rechargeables, you'd need to add a solar charger.  If you went
with lithiums, and assuming 4 days between trail towns, you would only need
that second set of batteries that you would have had anyway...and lithiums
weigh less than nimh batteries.  If you get an Amazon Prime membership, you
can get free 2 day shipping along with paying much less than in trail
towns.  Even the weight of twice as many lithiums would weigh less than a
solar charger.

Now if you plan to keep that camera, AA's and phone charged solely with the
solar charger, you're going to need a very substantial solar charger.  One
option is to use a camera that uses AA batteries so you can share batteries
and eliminate one more device to charge.  I can't advise much on the cell
phone since I have a very simple dumb phone.

On Sat, Sep 17, 2011 at 4:57 PM, Robert Kristoferitsch <
robert at kristoferitsch.com> wrote:

> hi folks!
>
> i will use my Garmin GPSMap62s on my 2012 hike...
> with 2AA batteries it will last two days permanent tracking... so I'll need
> a lot of AAs
>
> recharging in town needs time I do not have :-(
> always buying new ones  costs a lot and isn't environmentally friendly  :-(
>
> are there some hikers out there using any kind of solar panels?... any
> suggestions?
> i'll also have a small camera and some journaling device (cell phone)...
>
> thanks,
> robert
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