solar smartphone charger

smkettner wrote:
I would just get a battery for less than $50

Amazon:

20000mAh Capacity: Charge an iPhone 6 7.5 times, a Samsung S6 5 times or an iPad Mini 3 2 times.

^^Go this route. Charge it off your camper batteries which are being charged by your portable panels; therefore, this portable battery is also being recharged by solar as well as the devices you hook to it. We have a couple and they work great.

On e_bay you can find battery packs for about $10.00 that can charge your phone, I have a couple.

Yes, that's what I meant - external battery. Saw some for $12 in Walmart, 10 AH capacity. Heck, I don't even charge my phone every day, rarely run out of juice in daytime.

I would just get a battery for less than $50

Amazon:

20000mAh Capacity: Charge an iPhone 6 7.5 times, a Samsung S6 5 times or an iPad Mini 3 2 times.

Do you have to be online, with internet and video streaming all that time on your radial trips? Most apps can be temporary shut down, to save energy (and probably the phone itself too, if needed).

$20 inverter, OEM 120V phone charger, and you are done in 2 hours after you've come back to trailer. It will suck a whooping 1.5 or 2 AH out of your 200 AH trailer bank.

Or carry a $10 external battery from Walmart, if cell phone battery life is really a problem while hiking.

My kids gave me a PowerMonkey Extreme last Christmas. Lithium battery pack, rechargable from AC or DC or the included very small solar panel. Designed for backpacking. It holds quite a bit of juice and comes with connectors for all sorts of gear or use the cord which came with the item you want to charge.

Here's a kit you can put together for around $70.00 to keep your phone charged. It consists of:

20W Aukey solar panel
Koar battery pack
Micro USB cable (to charge the battery)
Cable to charge your phone

Use the solar panel to charge the battery, and then the battery can be used to charge your phone.

You can charge your phone directly from the panel if desired and forego the battery, but I find it easier and less risky to leave the battery unattended with the panel rather than your phone.

Bonus: You can even strap this to a backpack or tent.

The entire package folds up to a very compact size for packing and travel, and can be purchased on Amazon:

Aukey Solar Panel: $52.99
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011UH0ZCY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Koar Power Vault: $14.99
https://www.amazon.com/Koar-8000mAh-Portable-Battery-Outputs/dp/B019VUYA9Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1466175807&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=koar+power+vault+18000

Would you take along a small (7" x 12") aluminum box that attaches to your bike bars or can be used freestanding, provides good audio (possibly small video screen) and is battery powered? The player/box would also have a standard 5V USB jack for charging.