Heading in for a week next Tuesday, and I plan on using my iPhone for pics and am going to try the satellite feature (my inReach has moved on to another world, and I am not going to purchase another) to let my wife know I am okay at the end of each day.

I have never brought my phone in before, so I am wondering how this works with the Power Bank. For those of you with experience, do you turn your phone off when not using it? Leave it on airplane mode? Plug it in to the Power Bank each evening? Again, I want to use it for pics (no music, gps, etc.) and to send an end-of-the-day message to my wife.

Any and all suggestions (other than hearing the ills of technology in the BW; please!) would be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance for your time.

I leave mine on airplane mode and shut it off each night. I have never used a power bank but the longest I've stayed in is 4 nights. Never had my phone die. I use mine for pictures as well.

I just emailed you a copy of a phone battery management blog post. It will help you- details may vary slightly as it's several years old.

Battery life can vary greatly from person to person and phone to phone.

Personally, I just put my phone in Airplane Mode and Battery Saving mode and it will last 5-6 days, taking probably 10-15 pictures and a couple short videos each day. Still a good idea to have a charger regardless, since it can be a critical in an emergency.

I can fully charge my phone four times on the small, lightweight charger I bring along. I use my phone for pictures and communicating with wife/kids at night.

I constantly take photos 200-300 a trip. My phone is also the newest model. Leave on airplane mode, though you need to take it off airplane to access SOS Satellite texting. I shut mine off at night. I was just in for 5 days and on my paddle out i still had 53%. I also carry an inreach, and don't worry about the iphone battery for that reason. Very small battery banks will top it off multiple times. Get one and don't look back. Could even go Goal Zero (or any other brand) and get a mini bank plus a mini solar panel.

Thanks, everyone!

boonie: "I just emailed you a copy of a phone battery management blog post. It will help you- details may vary slightly as it's several years old."

Did not receive this; will you please try again @ mdallman19@gmail.com


Thanks!

I will. I assume you checked junk . . . ?

Sent again, subject is phone battery management

Here's a link to the blog post

The battery management part is later in the post . . .

boonie: " Here's a link to the blog post

The battery management part is later in the post . . ."

Thanks so very much!

This is all very helpful. I recently purchased one of the small chargers and they should work great if carefully managed.

I use my iPhone for pictures and occasional GPS to confirm my location (but not to navigate). I haven't tried using the satellite texting service, so I'm not sure how much that will impact battery life.

For my use so far, I have found the battery life is best if, in addition to Airplane Mode I also set the phone to Low Power Mode (found in settings, under battery). The Low Power Mode turns off background app refreshing and mail fetch, so that the phone doesn't try to do that stuff while in Airplane Mode. The first time I took the phone with me, I started out using the phone just in Airplane mode and the battery drained really fast. Luckily I was still at the Sawbill campground and could recharge it in my car. Once it was recharged, I switched Low Power Mode on, and had no more rapid battery drain.

Also be careful to close the camera app when you're done taking your picture/video. (One time I left the camera app open and inadvertently took a 1+ hour video of the inside of my CCS seat saddle bag, and lost a lot of battery charge.)

I usually don't turn the phone off at night, but do bring a small portable charger, like an Anker or Nitecore. I generally need to charge the phone once on a week-long trip (or twice if I have an accident like described above).

EmmaMorgan: "I use my iPhone for pictures and occasional GPS to confirm my location (but not to navigate). I haven't tried using the satellite texting service, so I'm not sure how much that will impact battery life.


For my use so far, I have found the battery life is best if, in addition to Airplane Mode I also set the phone to Low Power Mode (found in settings, under battery). The Low Power Mode turns off background app refreshing and mail fetch, so that the phone doesn't try to do that stuff while in Airplane Mode. The first time I took the phone with me, I started out using the phone just in Airplane mode and the battery drained really fast. Luckily I was still at the Sawbill campground and could recharge it in my car. Once it was recharged, I switched Low Power Mode on, and had no more rapid battery drain.


Also be careful to close the camera app when you're done taking your picture/video. (One time I left the camera app open and inadvertently took a 1+ hour video of the inside of my CCS seat saddle bag, and lost a lot of battery charge.)


I usually don't turn the phone off at night, but do bring a small portable charger, like an Anker or Nitecore. I generally need to charge the phone once on a week-long trip (or twice if I have an accident like described above). "

This is good stuff-esp. the low power mode piece. And I can totally see myself filming the inside of my thwart bag for hours if not careful!! Thanks so much.

Airplane mode! Shut off any other things like wifi, Bluetooth etc. I've heard that powering down/powering up will take more battery power than a whole day in airplane mode so I leave mine on at night. I've carried a ~ 20,000 mah anker or rav power bank on all my long trips in the last few years and it has kept my phone charged for up to 11 days. I also usually bring a Deeper brand bluetooth sonar but use it sparingly, only an hour or two every couple of days, and sometimes I'll have to charge a headlamp too. I also bring a larger Luci light, the one with power output, so I can put a couple volts back into the power bank if it happens to be sunny on layover day.

All these things, plus I bring a 36k mah power bank with a built in solar panel. I think it was less than $40 from Walmart and I have used this on many different trips.