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Charging a phone while tripping

We recently got a smartphone for our business. It sits on my desk connceted to wi-fi all the time and I usually keep it plugged into the USB port for constant charging. Last weekend I left it unplugged but turned on all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. When I came to work on Monday morning it still showed 85% charge.

Of course it was unused all those 3 days (except a little on Friday) but shows that if the phone isn't being used all the time that battery life can be pretty good.

Alan
 
She had her backlit e-reader, and was simply swiping right through the virtual pages. I wondered if she was missing the smell, the feel of paper pages in her hands. Evidently not she said.

My dad used to read voraciously. Then his eyes, while not terrible, got to the point that it was a little bit of work to read a book. And when he wanted a new book to read he didn't always have one on hand that he wanted. So he didn't read much at all for a few years. Then he got a kindle and has been reading like a fiend ever since. He finds it much easier on the eyes to read and when he wants a new book the world, quite literally, is at his fingertips. He loves history so if he wants to read about a given subject he can search it, check reviews to see which are the best, and be reading a new book in minutes. He said he really likes that when he wakes up in the middle of the night he can read without turning on a light and bothering his wife. For him there's no going back to paper.

I've thought of taking an e-reader on trips rather than a few paperbacks but haven't done so yet. I still love going to my bookshelves but sometimes am a bit envious when I find the choices limited. Ordered 1/2 dozen used books this morning so that should keep me going for a little while.

Alan
 
Allen
Your phone test will not translate to wilderness tripping where there are no cell towers. When the phone can’t get a response back from a tower it keeps trying until it runs the battery down. This can be prevented by shutting the phone function off.
As an experiment you might leave your phone on your desk overnight and see how much it runs down. The next night wrap it in aluminum foil and leave it on your desk and see how much it runs down.
 
Love my e reader. And it is not necessary to rassle with a headlamp. It always goes with me now on canoe trips. It really will last some 80 hours of reading. And I don't kill anyone when I drop it on me or my mate
 
Yes I take my NOOK reader with glow lite and love it for the above reasons. Will a smart phone do what it does? I'm all for multipurpose stuff.
 
Big Al
Thanks for the information. The data looks reasonable. Your charger has about 1.1 Ah/oz and .85 Ah/in^3. Those are very reasonable numbers and very achievable with battery technology today.
 
25% lower weight than the Cat, double the power output and Amz has a great deal on it TODAY so less than half the price.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S829LBX (Anker PowerCore Essential 20000)

I've "handled" the Cat power bank, it's tough for sure and if you were using it around a worksite with heavy equipment, power tools and building materials it might be a good choice. For paddling where it's going to most likely be buried inside a barrel or dry bag it's a bit excessive.
 
Kathleen and I are like scoutergriz. For taking pictures, we have our digital camera, with two extra batteries. Since the camera is off most of the time, we have never had to use the extra batteries. We also have a gps, again with extra batteries. Since we navigate primarily by compass and topo maps, we have never run out of juice for our gps.
 
I should add that my 3g flip Verizon phone won't work after this year, so I have to do something.
 
Or should I just carry a spare charged battery at a fraction of the cost of a power bank?


For those that are are part of a group with various devices a few battery packs and small solar panel can alleviate the need for multiple backups for multiple battery types. My little video camera uses a lot of power, a problem back home pulls more juice from the InReach and now there are even more devices being packed for a canoe trip. AA powered devices are harder to find after every upgrade.
 
I learned something last night in a dinner conversation with my GIS son. In his opinion "a decent phone these days will give you good GPS accuracy within a meter." I told him I was concerned with battery life. He asked how often I wanted a ping anyway, given that I intended to use it only a couple of times a day. Again his opinion was that I was overly worried about it. Just turn everything off, and he showed me that. (Okay, that's two things I learned.) But when we went to load some map apps we learned my phone wouldn't support them. (Okay, that's three things.) Guess I'm due for a phone upgrade. So when he gets back from a DC mappy kinda business trip we'll delve further into this phone thing. Oh, and his wife makes a mean green curry and panang curry dinner. That's four things I learned last night.
This idea mayn't result in a reliable tripping device for me but I have other applications planned for it around the region and province where I live, driving, cycling, rambling. I'll see where this leads. Always willing to learn.
 
For reading material, I use Amazon's Kindle app which has the same functionality and name as Amazon's e-reader. I believe the Nook and the Nook app are owned by Barnes & Noble. I also use Amazon's Audible app, which has a huge selection of audio books. I mostly play them over my car's speakers while driving long distances. I prefer to read actual, paper books, but having a nearly unlimited supply of reading material in a single, small device is undeniably advantageous when you're counting ounces and minimizing bulk. My current device has an IP68 waterproof rating, which exceeds paper by a wide margin. I am not sure if any of the dedicated e-readers out there are this waterproof.

There are many apps out there to provide maps, from detailed satellite imagery to public-domain TOPO and everything in between. Google Maps has a function where you can save maps for offline use and I make sure to do this for any area I'm paddling through. I will also take 'screen shots' or download .pdf maps from websites like PaddlePlanner.com, USGS.gov, and the forest service website, FS.USDA.gov. In the BWCA I prefer to carry Fisher brand maps but I like to take pictures of the McKenzie/Voyageur/Chrismar maps that cover the same area, especially when someone more experienced than I has annotated them. I should note that I prefer a paper map and compass, only pulling out the GPS (google maps for this) when I do not know where I am exactly (lost). Most of the time I do not actually look at the extra maps I have on the device either but they're there if I need them and weigh nothing. When I have, it's normally because a portage cannot be found and a different brand of map will show it's proper place or the trail itself can be discerned from satellite imagery.

Every smart phone on the market today is also equipped with a flashlight. They normally take quite a bit of juice and only have one power level so using it as a primary night time light source is not a good idea.

I also have a Deeper Pro Plus wireless sonar/fishfinder. It weighs 3.52 ounces and is the size of a tennis ball. It is only the transducer itself and requires a smart phone to display the graph. The battery only lasts 6-8 hours but it can be charged with the same powerbank that keeps the GPS/Camera alive. I do not like to stare at a screen while fishing like so many others however it is very useful for finding structure or quickly figuring out what depth late summer fish are holding at iff my initial efforts are fruitless.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is this: When I go paddling, the entirety of my reading material, GPS, spare/alternate maps, camera, backup flashlight, fishfinder and extra batteries weigh 26.02 oz. and have approximately the same bulk as one mass-market paperback and a tennis ball. When in range of a tower, it also makes phone calls and puts most of the knowledge of the entire world in the palm of your hand, including this website. When tripping, however, I appreciate losing this functionality.

It is up to the owner of such a powerful device to look away and not fall under it's spell like so many of my generation have. The world will pass you by if you do.
 
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I brought my smartphone for the 1st time on a week long trip this past September to the Boundary Waters......I swore I never would.....but then it happened.....On my phone I have the "Avenza Maps" app. where I can download topo maps cheaper than buying a back up paper map and use it as a gps device if needed in an emergency. My preference is paper map and compass because that is what I have been using since I was 11 years old and I am kind of a map geek. I also have the Apple proprietary "Books" app. as well as the "kindle" app. on my phone that saves me from carrying the two books that I would normally pack. On those rainy days where I am stuck in camp under a fly and my buddies won't play anymore cribbage with me because they are tired of getting their butts kicked....I have a cribbage and spades game downloaded on my phone....also handy for the long drives when I'm not behind the wheel. For Christmas this year, my wife got me a Delorme in reach mini which I can connect via "Bluetooth" to my phone to send/receive texts/e-mails which I will limit to keeping my wife updated so she is happy, but in the event of an emergency at home (elderly parents....) she has a way to contact me. With my I-phone 8 in "airplane" mode, I can get a couple of days out of it.....I carry it in a waterproof soft plastic case around my neck where it is available for a quick camera shot if needed (amazing how many more photos you take when your "camera" is readily available and not locked away in a case!). I sometimes also bring a go-pro which I mount on a thwart....I can operate it via bluetooth from my phone and view the images before and after the shot from my phone.......I generally carry one spare GoPro battery and have not run out of power on a 5-7 day trip......My phone, inreach and go pro can all be recharged via the "Anker" power core 20100 that I carry (see photo). I can completely charge my phone from near dead 5x with it.....the in reach and go pro with 2 batteries will last 5-7 days without a recharge, but in a pinch, I could also charge them from the Anker.....If I were to go beyond 7 days, I could bring a small goal zero solar charger or a second anker.....probably opt for the solar panel.....

Mike
 

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I forgot.....my Black Diamond headlamp can be recharged off the Anker as well.....

Mike

Which model do you have and how do you like it? I've been looking at rechargeable headlamps this winter and haven't pulled the trigger yet. Right now my headlamps are the only thing I take that require disposable batteries and I would like to eliminate them completely. I normally carry two, one small ultralight headlamp that is more or less a backup and then a larger model with many functions including a brighter spot light for navigating should the need arise. I had a Black Diamond a couple years ago and loved how rugged the housing was but it walked off on a job site.
 
Which model do you have and how do you like it? I've been looking at rechargeable headlamps this winter and haven't pulled the trigger yet. Right now my headlamps are the only thing I take that require disposable batteries and I would like to eliminate them completely. I normally carry two, one small ultralight headlamp that is more or less a backup and then a larger model with many functions including a brighter spot light for navigating should the need arise. I had a Black Diamond a couple years ago and loved how rugged the housing was but it walked off on a job site.

I have the "Iota" at max brightness, it's 150 Lumens so probably not ideal for emergency situations, but great for around camp when I only want minimal lighting...I generally keep it on lowest setting so as to not blind everyone. I have another headlamp that runs on regular batteries that is much brighter that has become my back up.....I really like the Iota, it's also pretty smallll/light...

Mike
 
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