Beginner prep - Chargers

Get a 2nd charger for your bag. Our cell phones are so useful, its important to have a way to keep it active

It is best to have chargers for both auto and AC. Plus one can get an external battery that can be used to charge a cellphone when no power source is available. A solar charger could also be useful, however, they are still quite expensive.

The cheap solar chargers I've toyed with haven't been remotely worth the money. If mobile solar is part of your strategy, get a good one that either charges its own onboard battery (which you can then use to charge your device) or charges AA batteries that your device can use.

Crank-based chargers might be good enough to send a quick text message or 911 call, but as a charging strategy for other use they leave a lot to be desired.

On the issue of solar charging, I've tried a couple from Goal Zero and they work fine. However, they are not cheap.

the Guide 10(4 AA battery pack of the Goal Zero system)can be charged via a 5v mini USB as well as the solar panels... it has a small LED hand light and a USB out connection, comes with a USB to mini USB cable which I use for my older Motorola flip phone

+1 vote for the Goal Zero products line. You can put regular AA's into Guide 10 and have you phone charged over its USB port.

Yes, and the 5v output is at least 750ma which is enough to charge my Android smartphone.

It is 500mA - for sure according to specs, but they are real 500mA, unlike some gimmicky USB/solar chargers.

(Just found my old thread abandoned by an accident about a year ago, where we had discussed the GoalZero bundle in details).

There are so many really qualified and educated people on this forum that can educate us on chargers. I am not that person but here is what I do. And my set up is because I don't just think about myself in these situations. If I can add a few items that make my family or friends situations easier, then prepping is worth it.

I carry an electronics package in my daily EDC pack. Its a small waterproof pelican case. Inside I have a folding socket wall charger with USB out. A mini car charger plug with USB out, a portable battery charger with USB out. Then I carry a short iPhone cord, mini USB cord (for most other phone and electronic inputs) and a specialized cord for my Gtab. This way I can charge almost any electronic device, anywhere, three ways: from inside a building, traveling by vehicle or stuck in the middle of nowhere. I can also recharge the external battery with the other two options.

Recent real world situation. I was working out at the lake I normally go to and using my gopro helmet cam to record it. The battery died right at the beginning of a long session. I used the mini USB and portable battery and charged it on the beach while I worked out and was able to get some good video of the hike that ended the day.

I also have a couple pair of inexpensive headphones tucked into micro zip baggies in the kit. Because I have run into situations where I didn't have a pair on me or someone needed them.

I have a kit similar to comms'--a wall charger w/ 2 USB ports, a car charger w/ 2 USB ports, and a battery w/ 1 USB port. Then I have multiple cables and adapters to charge all my and my DW's devices and most others I come across. They all fit into a small, soft-sided, portable hard drive case.

I would like to add solar though.

Like others, I have multiple cables and chargers for just about any electronic gadget we have.

A sampling of some.


I also carry a 140 watt 12V/120V inverter and also a 750 watt 12V/120V inverter along with a 120V/12V volt AA/AAA battery charger and 12 volt power outlet which also has 2 USB ports.


For solar, I have 2 sets of these folding portable panels which connect via a controller to a Group 34 AGM deep cycle battery. These panels don't have the highest ouput but easily work for our needs when doing longer term camping and hiking where we will set up a base camp as a jumping off point to other destinations.

I'm OK on the idea of charger for vehicle and home/office. But about 3-4 years ago, the cellphone and electronics industry all agreed to standardize on USB chargers specifically the micro-USB adapter. It took a little while longer but the manufacturers finally got around to doing so. Unfortunately there are still some electronics that use the mini-USB and some unfortuate souls using the full size USB.

Once everybody gets on board and properly standardized, the number of chargers required should go dramatically lower. Car manufacturers are getting the hint as well as they are supplying USB ports for accessories in addition to the lighter plug outlet in their newer vehicles. These ports are used for both data transfer and power.

As it is, in the car I use a mini-USB to lighter plug for my GPS. I use a micro-USB for the both work and personal cell phones and my bluetooth earpeice. I carry a 75-watt inverter in the vehicle to use with my AAx4 battery charger. I haven't tried running my laptop off the inverter yet but theroretically it shouldn't be a problem since the wall charger only outputs 65-watts. I suspect the inverter will handle it but the wiring might get a bit warm if used for an extended period.

Otherwise I use 1 micro-USB charger for home and another for the office. The problem comes with the circuity for the chargers. A USB charger is supposed to conform to the standards for power usage, but my Samsung Galaxy wants to see a trickle charge for the last 4% of charging so any other conforming charger will not completely charge the phone. On the other hand my BlackBerry charger can deliver 0.7amps when the USB spec says 0.5amps max. SO MUCH for standardization!

Can you say too much electronics???

My solution on this issue was to buy a Morphie case/battery unit for my IPhone 4S. This not only almost doubles my battery storage capacity, it allows me to charge the combined uni with a miniUSB cable. That fits onto the Apple supplied wall charger AND lets me continue to use my old Energizer 2AA lithium Charg-To-Go, as an emergency backup. For the car I have two DC coil cord chargers. One to go directly into the IPhone, without the Morphie. The other with the miniUSB connection, a leftover from my Blackberry, can charge the Morphie alone or both units if they're connected.

I'd like to add solar to my charging options as well, but the panels still seem quite expensive, and some of the terminology is way more than confusing and quite overwhelming to me at times. I think we've had some decent threads before on solar panels and chargers, maybe I'll take another look and try to decipher it all.

car charger
work charger ( left at work)
Home chargers 2

Is that too many?

tro

And I have an aa battery phone charger for when the power goes...

If your phone has a replaceable battery, check amazon, they are typically not expensive these days. I got a couple batteries for my Galaxy Note 2 for about $20, and one fits nicely in my jeans watch pocket.

Mark... since obtaining my 7w Goal Zero, a couple of additional units have caught my attention... ones by Powerfilm and Instapark... the one from Instapark claims 10w and ability to charge from two 5v USB ports at 2a.....I think like most any new technology, as soon as it hits the market, there is an upgrade by someone...that being said, my charging requirements are for an old flip phone that uses miniUSB, and charges with the Guide 10 battery pack, my Goal Zero unit works well...the Guide 10 pack charges additionally from a USB charger... auto or home... an additional controller charger recommended by AFLM is the Fujicell SCH 808F... it works on 120v as well as 12v dc....a lot of recommendations on the Maha brand chargers on the net... I've been happy with the 808, but use it only for charging the Sanyo Eneloop AAs... I can't recommend them enough...so far, tropical storm season has been light, so no actual use, even during Debbie... good luck on your search.. please report back...

Good point, my satchel I use for work and wandering the city has a few support items for my phone: wall charger and usb cable, external battery, and aloksak for severe weather. I have an Iphone which burns through battery at a ridiculous pace when its used a lot, but by turning off different functions (data, location services, putting in airplane mode) when I'm not using them, I can extend the battery for days. I do this when I'm camping since I don't need to be connected, but I might want to be. In an emergency I would probably do the same thing. Data and location off to conserve battery or turn it to airplane mode and just check for messages every half-hour or so.

...And thinking about an external battery as well ( phone, tablet, etc)

I am not an expert but there is a new technology out there called fuel cell chargers that might be of interest for these purposes.

We have a thread on it here: http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.ph...rue#Post263936. While the current technology doesn't make sense for me, I could see it making sense for some.

I've picked up two radios (solar, battery, crank) which have USB charging ports.
Useful in a blackout.