@TwoWheelsDC 142173 wrote:
Have you tried charging anything with the solar panel directly? Panel>battery pack>device seems like the smartest route, but would you be able to ditch the battery back if you were trying to minimize what you were going to carry?
Great question. Yes, the solar panel can charge a device directly. Here it is charging my iPhone with a lightning cable.
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The catch is, we didn’t consistently get sun on the GAP-C&O. I’ve developed the habit to toss the panel-battery combo in an open area (grass, sidewalk, table) as soon as I stop somewhere, but otherwise it’s on my rear rack. The nice thing about the Venture battery pack is it’s storing whatever intermittent energy it gets as we ride through sun and shade.
The other great thing about the Venture 30 is its capacity. I could charge every gadget I had, daily, without draining the battery. My previous solar thingy (a Solio) had terrible capacity, and wasn’t as reliable.
If I had to choose only one, I would take the Venture battery pack and leave the solar panel home. Because the Venture can be charged at an electrical outlet, I’d only need to worry about it every couple of days. For a wilderness trip, I’d take both.
Also, the battery pack allows “pass-through power” so it can charge a device and be recharged at the same time. Pretty smart. I had to plug in my Polar watch halfway through each day (which meant I wasn’t wearing it) so it would record the entire day’s route. The Venture is also built to withstand water (spray or rain, not submersible), and it passed that test too.
I have a tiny USB converter (USB, mini, and micro) that I tuck into the pocket. Mine’s an iGo KeyJuice (discontinued but still available on Amazon), plenty of choices there for whatever interfaces you need.
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