Mobile Cell Phone Charger?

[Sombeech]

I've been looking for some mobile cell phone recharging options while out backpacking this summer. I've been considering either a solar USB charger or a precharged battery pack with the USB connection.

Anybody have a preference/experience?

I'm looking for something that would recharge the phone fully at least 3X

[DOSS]

I have found that a full 3x recharge can be done on even the cheapest of them I have a XTG technology one I got off of amazon for $18 that will do the job.. but only with nice sunlight...

I don't know if you have RC cars or not but if you do you could just use one of those battery packs wired up to a 12V car adapter thing and charge 5+ times and not have to worry about recharge with the sun.

[Sombeech]

Interesting idea, thanks

I'm going to Havasupai for the third time next month, a lot of it doesn't have direct sunlight most of the day so that's why I'm leaning to the pre-charged battery pack instead of the solar.

[Painted Horse]

How about the power pot. Charge your phone while you boil water to cook you lunchhttp://www.thepowerpot.com/about-the-powerpot

[2065toyota]

http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/79/Guide-10-Adventure-Kit/1:1/ (http://www.goalzero.com)

[kiwi_outdoors]

Powerpen's "Mobile Juice Pack Ultra" comes with lots of adapters, I am very pleased with it - used it on the Kaiparawitz Plateau.

[DOSS]

How about the power pot. Charge your phone while you boil water to cook you lunchhttp://www.thepowerpot.com/about-the-powerpot

The only problem with those is you have to stop and cook something in order to charge your phone.. can't do it on the go.. also they take a lot of time to charge up your phone :(

[Appalachia]

Minty Boost! We use these all the time. Easy to make your own: http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/

[Glenn]

So, what did you end up using for your trip?

I usually bring lots of extra batteries for my phone (yep, my Windows phone uses replaceable batteries), camera, & GoPro. Plus only lithium AA & AAA (half the weight of rechargeables). BUT, I would like a good solar-powered as a backup.

[Bluff-Canyoneer]

I use one of these, but it would be a bit heavy for backpacking. On the upside, you could recharge your phone quite a few times with it.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Trent-iCarrier-IMP120D-chargeable/dp/B003ZBZ64Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378996832&sr=8-1&keywords=new+trent

[Bootboy]

Isn't the point of going into the backcountry to get away from all the complications of our modern lives? - To get back to basics, to be unreachable and disconnected from our ever shrinking and complicated world? Do you need to Instagram you're sunset photos? (#nofilter, #sunsets, #nature) or update your FB status? What's so pressing that you can't disconnect for a few days? My bet is you won't have reception in Havasupai anyway, at least not below the village, but I could be wrong.

Forget the charger. Turn your phone off and take it for emergency use only.

Just my thoughts.

[phatch]

I use the phone for my clock, alarms, gps, trip notes, reading, some photography. It's very much worth the weight to me. The wifi and cellular antennas are turned off to save battery and to be out of contact.

The solar chargers are pretty slow right now. I've got a Goal Zero I've used and it's only for emergencies in my opinion. The charger solutions are better solutions at this time if you need a recharge in the field.

[MiCamp]

Isn't the point of going into the backcountry to get away from all the complications of our modern lives? - To get back to basics, to be unreachable and disconnected from our ever shrinking and complicated world?

Fully agree, but sometimes you need some juice for a camera, GPS, etc. And so I've also been looking around for some options. I haven't bought anything yet, but the hydrogen fuel cell by Brunton, set to be released in October or November (B&H Photo has a Nov 15th release date), looks pretty damn cool.:cool2:
It'll charge your phone 6x off one rechargeable fuel cell (which can be recharged around 1000 times), it comes with two fuel cells (the equivalent of 30 AA batteries) and is priced nicely at $150.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/08/brunton-hydrogen-reactor/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l8-L-VLhPA

[Sombeech]

I ended up going with this, now at $40, that's insane.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZBZ64Q/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003ZBZ64Q&linkCode=as2&tag=bogloutdcomm-20

[Bluff-Canyoneer]

[QUOTE=Bootboy;543285

Forget the charger. Turn your phone off and take it for emergency use only.

[/QUOTE]

No worries, I only use my iPhone as a GPS (and occasionally a camera) when I'm out in the boonies. The downside is it kills the battery pretty quickly, so I need a method to recharge.
I have a rather expensive dedicated GPS (Delorme PN-40) but it is so difficult to use that it now just gathers dust. If you buy the GAIA GPS app for the phone, you'll throw away the dedicated unit and never look back. Of course the iPhone is not waterproof, but I simply keep it in a small waterproof box when I'm in wet conditions. The GAIA app is really nice and totally worth the $20 they are asking for it (I bought it way back when it was only $5).