Camping gear

[TimberWolf]

[SimonMac]

l-r

ATW, MF, SY, Russell, Doodab & OG at the last forum social

[suityou01]

Ultimate camping gear

[SimonMac]

WOW! and with the Merc slung underneath.

Was there a price?

I think the "price" is something along the lines of "If you have to ask..."

I think this was on Topgear a few years back and they said about $750,000!

[TimberWolf]

I think they do smaller ones.

What about something like this? No solar panels but 3x the capacity for less than twice the price.

New Trent Dual-port Pack IMP50D 5000mAh with 1Amp plus: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Or this one is £40 but has 55Wh.

New Trent iCruiser IMP1000 11000mAh External Battery: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

I'm tempted to pick one of those up myself.

They do look good value.

[doodab]

True, its solar panel is too small to realistically offer much juice. The unit might suit my purposes though, for a few days away with iPod Touch without mains charger (i.e. roughing it on holiday). Specifically, having charged the unit from the mains before leaving and treating its solar input as mostly a gimmick. Still, for £13...

The gorilla's 1/10 kWh capacity is mighty impressive, as is the unit, but a bit out of my price range.

I think they do smaller ones.

What about something like this? No solar panels but 3x the capacity for less than twice the price.

New Trent Dual-port Pack IMP50D 5000mAh with 1Amp plus: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Or this one is £40 but has 55Wh.

New Trent iCruiser IMP1000 11000mAh External Battery: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

I'm tempted to pick one of those up myself.

[TimberWolf]

I have something similar, and it's not up to much.

The one I have actually takes 2 x AA cells (I have quite a lot of NiMH ones up to about 2.7Ah) so it can either charge those or use them to store energy for later use. If you put fully charged batteries in it works quite well, but a little solar panel that takes 20hrs to charge the batteries just isn't much use, you don't get 20hrs of sun a day and in practice even left in the sun as much as possible you can just about stop your phone from switching itself off.

Bear in mind a standard USB connection provides a maximum 500mA at 5V, I would say you need something more in that league. It's possible to get solar powered things that will give you that, but they cost a bit more. I would guess you need to spend about £30-40 to get something that is actually worth having. Another option is to carry a large, charged, battery that will give you a week or so of charging little ones. Something like

powergorilla153 Free Delivery : Portable Power : Maplin

True, its solar panel is too small to realistically offer much juice. The unit might suit my purposes though, for a few days away with iPod Touch without mains charger (i.e. roughing it on holiday). Specifically, having charged the unit from the mains before leaving and treating its solar input as mostly a gimmick. Still, for £13...

The gorilla's 1/10 kWh capacity is mighty impressive, as is the unit, but a bit out of my price range.

[Churchill]

WOW! and with the Merc slung underneath.

Was there a price?

I think the "price" is something along the lines of "If you have to ask..."

[Scrag Meister]

If you're going to go camping, get yourself one of these, they're indispensable.

japforum.com • View topic - The Ultimate Mobile Home

WOW! and with the Merc slung underneath.

Was there a price?

[SupremeSpod]

If you're going to go camping, get yourself one of these, they're indispensable.

japforum.com • View topic - The Ultimate Mobile Home

[doodab]

I have something similar, and it's not up to much.

The one I have actually takes 2 x AA cells (I have quite a lot of NiMH ones up to about 2.7Ah) so it can either charge those or use them to store energy for later use. If you put fully charged batteries in it works quite well, but a little solar panel that takes 20hrs to charge the batteries just isn't much use, you don't get 20hrs of sun a day and in practice even left in the sun as much as possible you can just about stop your phone from switching itself off.

Bear in mind a standard USB connection provides a maximum 500mA at 5V, I would say you need something more in that league. It's possible to get solar powered things that will give you that, but they cost a bit more. I would guess you need to spend about £30-40 to get something that is actually worth having. Another option is to carry a large, charged, battery that will give you a week or so of charging little ones. Something like

powergorilla153 Free Delivery : Portable Power : Maplin

[TimberWolf]

Aldi has a special buys day tomorrow (Thursday) for camping stuff. Can't say I go to Aldi often, but I gather their stuff is cheap and fairly good quality?

Solar Powered Charger
£12. 99 each

* Small compact pocket-sized panel charger
* Stylish aluminium casing
* High charging current
* Charge time from USB: 2.5 hours, from daylight: 20 hours
* Approximate device charging time: 1-2 hours
* Lithium polymer battery 1200mAh
* Size: 43 x 94 x 10.5mm
ALDI - Thursday Special Buys 9th June 2011