Looking for a perfect power charger for touring

[fatguyslim]

Hey guys, I will soon be travelling for a long tour all over the east of India including Nepal. Now knowing that them places have very little access to electricity, it will make the touring hard for me as I want all my equipment to stay charged and ready to use so I can stay connected with my family and friends. I will be travelling light weight and will be using the charger to charge up things like phone, tablet, rechargeable batteries etc. Now I have looked at various options from solar, wind etc to dynamo both side runners and hubs. The problem that I have with side runner dynamo is that the tear and wear on the tyre, due to prolonged usage, will damage the tyre and I might have to change the tyres more frequently. The problem with dynamo hub is that I have to replace a perfectly good hub on my new bike in order to fit a huge machine which reduces speed and also costs a lot on top of the charger itself. With Solar panels I am still looking for a reasonably small system which can provide that punch, and charge my equipment in less time. Those little fans that go on either the handle bars or on the helmet just looks silly so I might not prefer that.

I have come on this forum because you guys must have same problems and probably find it hard to charge your equipment when on the road in India? I was at first hoping to find some sort of a charger that could be contact-less and yet uses the kinetic energy of the wheel to produce electricity (similar to those magnets that come with speedometers). Not sure if that would work but I thought I should throw that in, just in case something like that already exists. My ideal charger needs to be easy to use, doesn't compromise on the speed, doesn't have a lot of tear and wear, doesn't require any replacement of the existing parts etc. Would love to know what you guys use when you are out touring for long distances and what works best for you?

Cheers

[RNair]

There is electricity pretty much everywhere in India. I would think it is easy to just keep a track of your equipment and charge them in places u will take a break. For instance when you stop for lunch or other breaks, take then out and charge them? That is what I do and it works.

[knmurthy]

Phones now a days have good standby power, so I would suggest once done with making calls/sms/text switch the phone off and swicth it on only when needed, by this you can save a lot of power, works well when you travel in bus, train or by flight, the network search takes up lot of power.
+1 to what Rajesh said
Murthy

[hitanshu]

Don't take a "smartphone". Take a Nokia 1210 or Samsung guru and the likes. Be really sparing in your smartphone GPS navigation usage.

For the rest there are enough places to charge. You will anyways not use tablet etc during the day.

Why add one more thing for curious junta to fiddle/break?

[rishabh9]

+1 to everything said above!
#1. A low end, monochrome screen mobile phone (eg.: Nokia 1100) would give you the best battery back up, if staying in touch with your family and friends is priority. Also, the investment on such a phone is way less than trying to fit gadgetry on your bike to generate power.
#2. If you need to access to GPS, I suggest carrying maps (paper) with you. If by any chance they do get wet, they can be easily dried. Also, you get covers/casing to keep those maps dry. Getting your smart phone wet is very painful. You do get casing for smart phones, but then battery backup would be a problem. See point #1.

[hitanshu]

oh btw, airplane mode is designed for these instances. I got excellent backup from my motorola defy last august during hemkund sahib/VoF trek by using it in offline mode and occasionally switching on the GPS for recording altitude readings! :p

[arvindg]

IMO it's not a bad idea to have a side runner dynamo, just in case. If you don't need it (i.e, you are able to charge your devices elsewhere), then you don't use it. They are lightweight and you don't have any drag/tire wear when you don't use them. Hub dynamos still have some drag even when not being used, even if it is negligible. Bottle dynamos (side runner type) have evolved quite a bit over the years and if you get a good one, you may be surprised to find that your worries are moot. Try reading this http://blog.dutchbikebits.com/2012/01/selecting-and-installing-dynamo.html

You can find tires with dynamo strips, if you are really worried about tire wear. I think that unless you plan on using a bottle dynamo in wet conditions, this is not a worry.

A new dynamo using the kind of technology you may like is coming to the market (in development right now) http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dynamodirk/magnic-light-get-new-energy
For the moment that appears to have lighting only, no ability to charge your gadgets.

Btw, I went with this light/usb device combo for my needs. Yet to install/use it, but was attracted enough by the feature set to buy it. http://www.bikeszone.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=11415. It will be powered by a Shimano Hub Dynamo.

[krishna.sjc]

new dynamo using the kind of technology you may like is coming to the market (in development right now) http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dyn ... new-energy
For the moment that appears to have lighting only, no ability to charge your gadgets.

i have started something in similar lines for my final year project..hopefully ill be able to present it for others by june/july nxt year

[fatguyslim]

I agree with all of you who carry old school phones with them for longer battery life (I am doing the same) but the only problem I have is that I will be using the tablet quite often to go online and upload videos when I am on the move. I like the concept of contact-less lights in the link that arvindg sent me. But I thought that would have been out there in the market as a charger as well? But anyways I should let you guys know what my travel plans are so you can see if I could recharge my equipment on the move.

The plan is to travel for a considerably long time in which I will be travelling to all the Organic farms hosted by WWOOFers in the region of Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim etc. Now I can understand in Uttarakhand I wont have a lot of problem with recharging my equipment and stuff but in places like Nepal and Sikkim the likelihood of me finding a power a source to charge my goods are slim. So is anyone in this forum using a dynamo, solar chargers or anything of the sort etc. can let us all know how good does it perform when on the road? Cheers

[hitanshu]

When was the last time you went to Sikkim? It had electricity everywhere many years back.

Solar chargers are cumbersome, and are used in places like MLH to light up single bulbs.

Why not call up your potential hosts?

[arvindg]

Here is a product I have my eye on. Haven't tried it yet, so nothing to report. http://www.getsolmate.com/products.php?id=8
If you do get it, please report back on your experience.

[obelix75]

Looks like a great product... more on this article http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/smartbuy/other-gadgets/article2008945.ece

[prabuddhadg]

I use a battery back up that has 9000mah, and 3 volts. It charges my smart phone three times and my garmin 305 once from a single charge. It has a single usb outlet for chargeing the gadgets. It can be charged from a laptop or a charger that provides 5volts which charges it fully overnight.

Its a little heavy, like a mug of coffee. Bought it online, but can't seem the find links anywhere right now.

[arvindg]

Looks like a great product... more on this article http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/smartbuy/other-gadgets/article2008945.ece

Thanks for the linkie, but that product is a different one from the same maker. The Flare seems capable of recharging a device to full from scratch. It has a 1200mAh battery, as compared to 600mAh in the Fusion.

[arvindg]

I use a battery back up that has 9000mah, and 3 volts. It charges my smart phone three times and my garmin 305 once from a single charge. It has a single usb outlet for chargeing the gadgets. It can be charged from a laptop or a charger that provides 5volts which charges it fully overnight.

Its a little heavy, like a mug of coffee. Bought it online, but can't seem the find links anywhere right now.

Something like this? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZBZ64Q
I have that one and it works great. It suits me fine for a weekend trip without power.

[fatguyslim]

Something like this? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZBZ64Q
I have that one and it works great. It suits me fine for a weekend trip without power.

I have used that in the past the only thing with these power pack is that it takes a long time to recharge. Unless I have a solar panel that could recharge this then we are talking of something reasonable. Good product though I use to run my tablet on this for hours when I was living abroad.

[arvindg]

fatguyslim, your thoughts on the Solmate Flare? Seems like it would fit the bill - also available locally.

[prabuddhadg]

I use a battery back up that has 9000mah, and 3 volts. It charges my smart phone three times and my garmin 305 once from a single charge. It has a single usb outlet for chargeing the gadgets. It can be charged from a laptop or a charger that provides 5volts which charges it fully overnight.

Its a little heavy, like a mug of coffee. Bought it online, but can't seem the find links anywhere right now.

Something like this? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZBZ64Q
I have that one and it works great. It suits me fine for a weekend trip without power.

That kind, right, Arving. Mine is a square section block, but yes, essentially this.

[sid_rane]

I have a portable charger that uses AA battery as source. Its cylindrical in shape and just slightly bigger than AA battery. Multiple connectors are available to connect variety of phones. Since AA batteries can be found anywhere, using this charger wont be an issue and charging can be done on the move.
Here's a link:

http://www.touchmatepc.com/new/proddeta ... prodid=347

I bought it specifically for trips to my native place which witnesses frequent blackouts. Has worked glitch free for 4 years.
So with this charger you can use the smartphone instead of the tab to upload videos, and use an entry level nokia for calls only.

[fatguyslim]

The solmate in my opinion will take a long time to charge up and also the battery on this thing is not sufficient. I am happy to carry something hefty but I wont compromise on the power and charge up time. I will keep looking and when I find something amazing I will get it and write a review about it on this website. For now over and out

[arvindg]

Okay, sounds good

[hebbarmail]

Hi,

IMO I think there are loads of options...you can select the one that suits your needs here...

http://www.dealextreme.com/c/external-b ... pplies-522

Cheers!
Raghu

[hebbarmail]

Hi,

There are loads of options available on Dealextreme.com - http://www.dealextreme.com/c/external-b ... pplies-522

I have a 12000mAh one.. it will last me for about 5-6 charges of my BB. It claims 12k mah...but i think it is around 8000mah. its about 600-800gms in weight, you can charge 2 usb devices in one go... and if u have a smart cable...you can charge many more. I charges the devices quickly...but charges itself really slow.

I have had this for a few months now... works really well.

If you need cheaper options the link above has it all. I wouldn't recommend the solar ones though.

Regards
Raghu

[matrix.bharath]

buy a Coolermaster Power Fort its the best around for now- it has 6600 MAH battery - i have a galaxy note i face the same problem while cycling, so i just use this for charging my phone while riding

http://www.flipkart.com/cooler-master-c ... d93030def5

[RidingOnEmotions]

I have a portable charger that uses AA battery as source. Its cylindrical in shape and just slightly bigger than AA battery. Multiple connectors are available to connect variety of phones. Since AA batteries can be found anywhere, using this charger wont be an issue and charging can be done on the move.
Here's a link:

http://www.touchmatepc.com/new/proddeta ... prodid=347

I bought it specifically for trips to my native place which witnesses frequent blackouts. Has worked glitch free for 4 years.
So with this charger you can use the smartphone instead of the tab to upload videos, and use an entry level nokia for calls only.

i can't find any option where I can buy this