I used an Anker PowerCore (20,100mAh) portable charger last season and lost it.
I was very happy with it and am looking to replace it.

Because it was a last-minute purchase last season, I wanted to be a bit more intentional this season before I replace it.

Its intended use is charging an iPhone and InReach (mini). I pair my phone to the mini using the Earthmate App. I use the phone a lot for various purpouses during a trip, which may last 14 days or more. I do not need power banks for extensive video recording / GoPro type activity.

For those who use electronics and power banks, what are you using? I am especially interested in terms of solar chargers. What happens if you get 10 days of thick cloud cover?

If you happen to have DeWalt tools, this is a nice option. A 5 Ah battery will charge a laptop.

DeWalt USB-C Adapter

I have an older USB-A version but it doesn't charge laptops like this one does. I already have as many batteries as I could ever want...which can get heavy.

Ryobi, Ridgid, Milwaukee and Makita make similar adapters but I don't know if they are compatible with laptops. For phones any of them are probably fine.

Of course these are only good options if you are already invested in the batteries.

I have that Anker power bank and I've been satisfied with it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it is my motto.

I just got a second Anker PowerCore Slim 10000. About the size and shape of a cased cell phone. Very reliable.

My Mophie is on the stack o’gear for a trip this month. I have been pleasantly surprised at its capacity for charging my iPhone and inReach on a previous trip.

Mophie power banks

I bought mine at Best Buy and they are available elsewhere.

I also have a 20k Anker power bank. It is a little different than yours and a little cheaper. But I have been extremely happy with it, bulletproof, powerful and convenient. Both the one you had and the one I have are rated 4.7 out of 5 by between 45k and 72k users on Amazon, pretty darn good.

Here is the one I have:


Anker 20k

I wouldn't get anything less powerful and Anker is a highly rated brand. I am sure there are plenty of other good ones out there too.

I think the Anker 20k is a good bet. It should charge your phone about four times. I have an inReach Explorer + and its battery is about half the size of my mobile phone. My inReach is on all of the time broadcasting my tracks to the cloud and the battery lasts for days. It generally requires just one top-up on a ten day trip. I think the inReach mini would have a pretty small battery by comparison.

I have noticed that Earthmate uses a lot of resources on the phone and drains the battery at a much higher rate than normal. Close the app when you're not using it.

Back to the inReach, while I can't speak for the Mini, there are a number of settings you can either employ or avoid in order to preserve the battery.

Here is the one I use... absolutely love it!
Anker PowerCore 20,100mAh Portable Charger Ultra High Capacity Power Bank with 4.8A Output and PowerIQ Technology, External Battery Pack

RW

You can likely go with something smaller than that 20,000 mAh depending on usage. That's like 6 full recharges of an iphone 14? Turning on airplane mode will preserve battery quite a bit since it's not constantly searching for service. I easily make it 6 days without a recharge doing this on an iPhone 13. Can't imagine the inReach is that hard on battery either if you turn off the tracking updates or even just power it on when needed.

That said, I'd probably invest in a powerbank with Magsafe if your phone is compatible. Bonus if it's one of the ones with a built in stand.

You could bring a 6 or 7 amp hour lithium ion battery with the wiring adaptor bits to charge your electronics. These sell for roughly $60 on Amazon with a charger, weigh about 1.5 lbs (plus weight if wiring bits), and should provide plenty of power.

From my own experience on a 16 day trip last May.
I have and iPhone 12 min (90%) battery life and a Gamin mini.
I charged the Garmin Mini with a 5k maH battery with a bit in solar charger. It is hard to measure how much power I needed since I tried to constantly solar charge the battery. I kept the mini turned on all of the time with tracking turned off when in camp. This system lasted the entire duration for the mini. I used the mini every evening for texting back and forth to home.

My phone was used for maps intermittently while traveling (I did travel a lot), and texting to the mini while in camp (2 hour window). I did not use the GPS or cellular features (except to test once in camp for a cell signal). I also maintained it in low battery and airplane mode with the exception of using Bluetooth when texting to the mini. All other times I kept the phone turned off. I also reviewed all my background apps to turn off those I didn't need in the BWCA. My beigest battery burn was from maps and searching for cell service, I was surprised how much battery that took.

With this taken into account I used all of my 20k maH Anchor and all of my 10k maH Anchor. I had to ration my phone battery the last couple days. But I will not take more than the total 30k maH. This year I will just not use the phone as often.

If I feel it necessary to have more power. I will trade my 5k maH and/or 10k maH battery for a 20W solar panel (weight is the same, just bulkier). I have carried a 5W one in the past, but due to rain and clouds it was just a paper weight on my pack. I'm willing to try the newer technology to see if it has improved.

I am happy with my anker and see no reason to change now. Having said that, once it goes out or i lose it, I am going to look real hard at what nitecore has to offer. Last time I looked they were significantly lighter. Not a big deal for canoeing but if you are also doing any hiking you may find it worth it to spend a little money to save some ounces.

I went big with the Anker 337 PowerCore 26K. It's one of the few areas I don't mind the extra weight. I use the Gaia GPS app for navigation and to track my trip so even in airplane mode it's a battery suck. I'd rather end a trip with spare battery power than not enough.

I have the same Anker and it's always suited me well. Reliable, holds a charge, not large or heavy. Mine is 3-4 years old and works as good as new.

My dear mother-in-law liked to give me "wilderness gifts" (could do a humorous short story about these types of presents from her!) but she was not an outdoors person. One of the very helpful gifts she gave me was a solar 25,000 mAh bank with three little mini solar panels that fold out - hiluckly brand or something similar from amazon I would imagine. I was skeptical but it has worked great for several years and dozens of trips.

Weighs a pound and a quarter, I think, and I keep it open to the sun as often as possible. It keeps my phone, Garmin inreach, and GoPro batteries charged. I use about a 1/3 of my phone battery each day with pics and journal notes, Garmin used for tracking routes with waypoints and a few family texts - maybe 10% battery each day, and a full go pro battery each day. Solo trips, I've never run out. For group trips, I take two and have not run out including on trips over two weeks.

Over 9,000 ratings and nearly 70% 5 stars, but over 6% have very poor experiences so YMMV.

P.S. People are shocked at how poor of an electrician I am...

Anker is clearly a favorite and they make a good product.

I thought I would give a shoutout to a different brand, Nitecore. They make a bunch of batteries and headlamps. Their niche is super lightweight products.

So for a comparable 20k mAh you'll pay quite a bit more but will save a couple ounces. It looks like most if not all of their power banks are also IPX5 rated (can be exposed to light rain). As far as I can tell Anker doesn't offer that on their standard lineup of power banks.

I have the Nitecore NB10000 myself and have no complaints. Does what it's supposed to.

Thanks for all the responses.
I run the phone daily on these trips with both the Merlin Bird app and to capture certain bird recordings important to me or to the work I’m doing. I think I would actually go with more power storage, not less. And that’s why I was wondering about the solar panels.
Thanks for the thoughts!

jillpine: "Thanks for all the responses.
I run the phone daily on these trips with both the Merlin Bird app and to capture certain bird recordings important to me or to the work I’m doing. I think I would actually go with more power storage, not less. And that’s why I was wondering about the solar panels.
Thanks for the thoughts! "

Love the merlin bird app! Do you use your phone to record or another recording device? I really like the zoom h5 and I've never run out of the two AA batteries.

I took a solar panel once then I sold it after my trip. To hard to keep it in the sun, it seemed to be overcast 70% - 80% of the time, difficult to pack up multiple times a day when portaging, hard to keep solar panel and electronics dry during rain at least half the days. In my experience it also wasn't efficient. Much easier to use a power bank and let items charge overnight.

I have two Anker 20,000 power banks. I use one myself and bring one for the guests I take in to the park. Last year I added an Anker 24W foldable solar charger and it’s great. Be sure not to charge your phone or Garmin directly but rather you charge your power bank. Good luck and enjoy paddling!

scottiebaldwin: "I have two Anker 20,000 power banks. I use one myself and bring one for the guests I take in to the park. Last year I added an Anker 24W foldable solar charger and it’s great. Be sure not to charge your phone or Garmin directly but rather you charge your power bank. Good luck and enjoy paddling!

"

Novice here...any reason not to charge your device directly?

scottiebaldwin: "I have two Anker 20,000 power banks. I use one myself and bring one for the guests I take in to the park. Last year I added an Anker 24W foldable solar charger and it’s great. Be sure not to charge your phone or Garmin directly but rather you charge your power bank. Good luck and enjoy paddling!

"

What is your experience with this in overcast light?
Thank you!

YetiJedi: "

jillpine: "Thanks for all the responses.
I run the phone daily on these trips with both the Merlin Bird app and to capture certain bird recordings important to me or to the work I’m doing. I think I would actually go with more power storage, not less. And that’s why I was wondering about the solar panels.
Thanks for the thoughts! "

Love the merlin bird app! Do you use your phone to record or another recording device? I really like the zoom h5 and I've never run out of the two AA batteries."

I use a shotgun mic (with a windscreen, cable + adaptor and handheld stabilizer) to my iPhone. I record to Merlin, which means I don't need to worry about any further technical settings adjustment, and it stores the recordings in .wav format to upload to eBird. Do you record birdsong?

A few years ago I did a trip with 2 weeks of rain and clouds. My Goal Zero was useless. Power banks weigh more, but are more reliable.

egknuti: "A few years ago I did a trip with 2 weeks of rain and clouds. My Goal Zero was useless. Power banks weigh more, but are more reliable. "

Thanks. This is exactly the information I needed. I'll probably just get two power banks and be mindful of closing down tracking data and apps when not needed/in use.

Appreciate the replies, everyone!

Anker is great. Get whatever size you want. More power storage is heavier so it depends on your needs. Personally, I might grab a second one if I decide to bring my dog this year to charge the electronic collar and remote. I mostly just use my main power bank to keep my phone charged for the time, pictures, and possibly a video on a rainy day.

I own a couple of Ankers and they’ve been great.

If I were replacing them, I would get the Nitecore NB10000 for the weight savings. I understand that is the lightest option out there right now.

jillpine: "

YetiJedi: "

jillpine: "Thanks for all the responses.
I run the phone daily on these trips with both the Merlin Bird app and to capture certain bird recordings important to me or to the work I’m doing. I think I would actually go with more power storage, not less. And that’s why I was wondering about the solar panels.
Thanks for the thoughts! "

Love the merlin bird app! Do you use your phone to record or another recording device? I really like the zoom h5 and I've never run out of the two AA batteries."

I use a shotgun mic (with a windscreen, cable + adaptor and handheld stabilizer) to my iPhone. I record to Merlin, which means I don't need to worry about any further technical settings adjustment, and it stores the recordings in .wav format to upload to eBird. Do you record birdsong? "

Hi Jillpine...yes, I record bird sounds and have the shotgun mic, dead cat windscreen, and stuff. I haven't saved anything to Merlin - just use it for bird id...and maybe to see how birds react to the recordings. I also like to capture other sounds - wind, waves, rain, etc. and the stories and conversations we have on the trip.

Battery power is always a consideration, especially on longer than a week trips.

sns: ...
If I were replacing them, I would get the Nitecore NB10000 for the weight savings. I understand that is the lightest option out there right now."

Thanks for posting this, I just ordered one :-)
It's a balancing act between solar charging and power banks.
I have a 21W Anker solar charger that works great when the sun is out, but it is pretty worthless in overcast. Most trips I get at least a day or 2 of full sun, but not always. Therefore, I take a small power bank as well.

I'll just quote an old post of mine here because it remains true today. These days I have a Pixel 6 Pro, a Panasonic GX85, and a Insta360 X2 to power. I still get by with the same power banks I've always used--a combo of an Anker and Aukey for the important stuff and some random smaller one I got gifted once upon a time that gets used for the Luminoodle because I don't trust it enough to rely on it for the more important stuff. The Aukey is getting long in the tooth and might get replaced by a new Anker or Nimble soon, though.

mschi772: "Nimble, Anker, & Aukey are the best choices. What size depends on your needs, and you don't need to guess. The mAh of every device you plan to use should be pretty easy to find either on the device's battery, in its manual, or via a quick search. I quickly found that the capacity of the headlamp you linked is 170 mAh for example. Multiply each battery's mAh by the number of times you expect to have to charge it. Add the products of each device up, then round up to the nearest power bank size.


Example:
My Moto G5+ has a 3000 mAh battery.
My gf's Moto G6+ has a 3200 mAh battery.
Our two headlamps run on AA, and we use Panasonic Eneloop Pro to power them which have 2500-2600 (but we'll say 2500) mAh.
We also use a 10 ft Luminoodle which doesn't have a battery, but knowing its wattage (5), voltage (5), and estimated time in use (2 hr per night; 5 nights) gives an estimate of 10,000 mAh.


On my last trip, I used my phone as a gps and for a few photos. I kept in in airplane mode and turned it off at night and anytime I wouldn't be using for an extended period of time. I went into the park at 100% and when we exited the park six days later, I still had something like 10-20% of the usable battery life left. So my phone required 0 mAh of power bank.


My girlfriend used her phone similarly, but instead of using gps, she just took more photos. Her phone also never needed a recharge during the whole week. 0 mAh required from a power bank.


While Eneloop batteries are rechargeable, we do not recharge them in the field. We just bring multiple batteries. By not using brighter modes than necessary and turning them off when not needed, I don't think we even had to change the batteries in our headlamps once all week, but let's say we each would have had to swap once (if we had gone on night paddles/hikes, this would have been likely). Still no power bank necessary as we'd just have brought a total of 4 AA Eneloops.


The Luminoodle runs directly off of a power bank. I have a very small 7500 mAh power bank that I use just for it, and I've never sucked it dry, so clearly the reality is that we didn't even use the Luminoodle as much as 2 hr per day.
If we leave the Luminoodle (I love that name) home, we wouldn't need a single power bank for that entire 6-day trip, and that's with using phones for photos and gps.


The gist of all of that is that tons of power is rarely necessary with the right tools and habits.

--------

But just for the heck of it, let's pretend we burned the crap out of our phone batteries, used the Luminoodle a ton, and had a GoPro HERO7 that we used a bunch (1220 mAh battery).


2 recharges of my G5+ (counting the full batt going in, that's 3 full discharges)= 6000 mAh
2 recharges of the G6+ = 6400 mAh
6 recharges of the GoPro = 7320 mAh
3 hours of Luminoodle running every night = 15,000 mAh


Total of 34,720 mAh required. An Anker 20000 and 15000 would do the job, but you could go with two 20000 units in this hypothetical situation if you're paranoid. Take away my Luminoodle from the equation which is a unique piece of gear, and then all that would be needed for 4 phone recharges and 6 GoPro recharges would be a 20000 mAh bank."

YetiJedi: "

scottiebaldwin: "I have two Anker 20,000 power banks. I use one myself and bring one for the guests I take in to the park. Last year I added an Anker 24W foldable solar charger and it’s great. Be sure not to charge your phone or Garmin directly but rather you charge your power bank. Good luck and enjoy paddling!


"

Novice here...any reason not to charge your device directly?"

My experience if you try to charge your cell phone or device directly, the variable nature of the output of the solar panels will not charge the devices all the time. For instance my iPhone if it's not getting a minimum amount of charge (i'm not an electrician or expert either) then it doesn't collect it at all. Plugging the battery pack into the solar panel at least seems to imply a trickle charge is going into even if it's a low amount.

gsfisher13: "

YetiJedi: "

scottiebaldwin: "I have two Anker 20,000 power banks. I use one myself and bring one for the guests I take in to the park. Last year I added an Anker 24W foldable solar charger and it’s great. Be sure not to charge your phone or Garmin directly but rather you charge your power bank. Good luck and enjoy paddling!



"

Novice here...any reason not to charge your device directly?"

My experience if you try to charge your cell phone or device directly, the variable nature of the output of the solar panels will not charge the devices all the time. For instance my iPhone if it's not getting a minimum amount of charge (i'm not an electrician or expert either) then it doesn't collect it at all. Plugging the battery pack into the solar panel at least seems to imply a trickle charge is going into even if it's a low amount."

I didn't know that but it makes sense. Thanks for explaining it...I learned something new today!

Anker seems to be the gold standard for weight to power ratios and reliability. I love mine. I have tried using a foldable solar panel, but it was bulkier, heavier, and less reliable than my power bank. Since we travel almost everyday, it was hard to find good days to have it out. We have also carried the biolite twig stove on some trips and it can be used to charge devices. My husband loved this feature, but I felt like the stove was heavier than I like to carry, but for a really long trip it might be worth it since it would offset carrying a lot of fuel canisters and extra powerbanks.

straighthairedcurly: "Anker seems to be the gold standard for weight to power ratios and reliability. I love mine. I have tried using a foldable solar panel, but it was bulkier, heavier, and less reliable than my power bank. Since we travel almost everyday, it was hard to find good days to have it out. We have also carried the biolite twig stove on some trips and it can be used to charge devices. My husband loved this feature, but I felt like the stove was heavier than I like to carry, but for a really long trip it might be worth it since it would offset carrying a lot of fuel canisters and extra powerbanks.
"

That's pretty neat!

For my purposes, I needed more power (for camera gear & an ipad mini + the usual zoleo, gps, weather radio, lamps, etc).

For my solar panel, I went with Rockpals. The portable solar industry, for the most part, is repackaging cells produced by other manufacturers. I think the Anker panels use the same cells, though the point I'm making is that the cells in the rockpals are the cells which are superior. They are not flexible, though they have greater longevity & better efficiency. The 60W is what I use though it would be overkill for most. Rockpals 60W v2

For the power bank, again I required more power, though the bank I brought was sufficient for my needs (I required AC for charging a toothbrush & other stuff). This manufacturer unfortunately is no longer in business, though the type of storage medium used in this bank is the superior tech, imho, due to its weight to power storage ratio. It worked well until the temp dropped to freezing, below which I needed to heat the battery by putting it in my sleeping bag with me at night. Beaudens Power Bank

It's important to pair the solar panel size with the battery size. I selected my battery by calculating the capacity of everything I needed to charge & I estimated the charge frequency based on my anticipated usage. It ended up that I could go 3-5 days before needing to charge the battery bank. Whenever I charged the battery bank, I would also plug in my USB chargeable electronics directly into the solar panel.

For the solar panel, I selected a panel which I could expect to charge the battery in half a day. I figured eight hours of 'good light' hours are possible in a day & that I could expect at least one four hour window every three days. I didn't want to mess with charging on the trail if I could avoid it as this would put my electronics at more risk than at camp. One important differentiator with solar panels is having a charge controller, the benefits are worth considering. It's also worth noting that there is cap on panel output before a more robust setup like what I detailed is required. Once the panel reaches a certain wattage it cannot be used (efficiently at least) to charge a typical USB power bank. For example, I could plug a USB power bank into the USB output on my 60W panel though it would not be fully utilizing the panel output to charge the device & the extra panel size would be unused.

The setup I brought served me very well & I wouldn't have gone with more or less power. If my power requirements were lower & I was not tripping for months at a time, I would just bring a bigger or multiple banks & be more cognizant of my consumption.

If the name is Anker, you can't go wrong.

I have Anker 10,000mAh and Insignia 20,000mAh battery packs. Got the Insignia because it was on clearance & has USB-C as well as USB-A ports. The Insignia kept my phone & InReach topped up on my 10 night trip last September. In our last 24 hours in the wilderness I did have to use the Anker, but that was mostly because my buddy's battery pack had died and he was needing to recharge, too.

I have a 20-25w solar array that I picked up several years ago. Like others have said, attach the battery to the solar then charge your devices off the battery later. The only time(s) I may directly connect my device is if I have strong sun for the foreseeable short future and the device can't wait until later to charge.