Charging cameras in the wilderness

DBNissan wrote in post #15434328
If you have cell service, then you're not in the wilderness, IMO

This is quite true.

If a cell phone is turned on and there is no available service, the phone's battery will be depleted faster than if it's got good service. The reason is the phone will be frequently transmitting in an attempt to find service.

Kaigler wrote in post #15432060
If you are going to be in the wilderness for an extended period of time (7-10 days), what do you do to charge your camera batteries? Also cell phones?

just buy loads of $20 bateries

SkipD wrote in post #15434288
The last few posts are ignoring the cell phone charging issue brought up by the OP.

http://www.amazon.co.u​k …MVO&coliid=I214​LVL1JW7B96

done

As suggested by many here I'd go the AA route for the camera. As far as the cell, assuming service exists, look into the Eton radio that has weather, AM & FM bands. There is a hand crank built in that can charge the radio or an attached cell phone. Also has a small solar panel. See http://www.amazon.com …one-Charger/dp/B007KFLVB0.

A warning, some reviews are not too positive but I suspect they are from people who don't read instruction books, especially when challenged. I have one, it took me some experimentation to charge my cell, but once figured out it worked great, at least in a test.

You could use one of these for the phone, then pick up a DC LP-E6 charger for cheap for the camera batteries?

http://www.goalzero.co​m …omad%207%20Sola​r%20Panel/

GoalZero seems to produce nice solar hiking kits. Their Guide10 mobile kits seem to be good options too.

I'd consider another cell, no use for a smartphone in the wilderness. I have an iPhone with a griffin survivor case, and a Nokia 5210. The people that need to, know both numbers. The iPhone gets turned off, and I can take spare battery's for the 5210 and insert them quickly, and unlike the iPhone I don't have to charge it every night if its getting used!

Now if wilderness was true wilderness, then you're looking at satellite phones etc, but my wilderness is normally just into the bush, less than an hour helicopter/less than 2 days hiking.

Potential of a big trip to the Yukon this summer, so I might be looking into this'd more seriously soon!

I carry a "Duracell" charger for my 3 phones. It will also charge my iPad. You plug it into the mains, get a full charge into it then you're good to go. It has 2 USB ports to simultaneously charge 2 items.
It was a gift so I'm not sure of cost, bout £25 ish but it gets me out of trouble lots of times. It's also only the size of a mobile phone.........

Maybe something like this?
http://biolitestove.co​m …e/camp-overview/features/

That seems to be a better multitasker for the wilderness...

-Mike

For my phone or any USB chargeable device, I use an Anker Astro 3E 10000mah external battery. It's small enough to fit in a pocket and comes in handy when I'm away from a power port for a few days. It lasted me full 2 days at Disneyland and I did a lot of picture and video shooting with my phone.

http://www.amazon.com …10000mah+extern​al+battery

Kaigler wrote in post #15432060
If you are going to be in the wilderness for an extended period of time (7-10 days), what do you do to charge your camera batteries? Also cell phones?

Go to an electronics store and buy a power inverter. You then buy a spare car battery and you are in business. You can comfortably charge appliances that way. I run my coffee machine that way too.

Leave phone off fully charged until you need it.

Pack a couple extra generic camera batteries

Done.

I would recommend getting a few extra batteries for whichever camera you take. (My definition of "wilderness" includes no electrical outlets.) If you have a car, I think that most Stirlingtek chargers have a 12-v car option.

Consider using Canon batteries rather than third-party. I get about 800+ shots with my 60D before recharging. But the battery-usage screen on my 60D suggests that the Stirlingtek batteries will give only about 4-500.

I'd just take my Voigtlander R3M with a fresh set of batteries and loads of film. The beauty of the R3M is that the batteries are only needed for the built in meter. But the camera will function without them. Just need to memorize the variations of the Sunny 16 rule (or take a printed cheat sheet).

Get some extra batteries, surprised at how many people don't get atleast 3-6 extra batteries to have in the bag. Also there is cheap and reliable rechargers for the Iphone or any smartphone. You charge them and throw them in the bag with the rest of your batteries and boom you can go atleast a week without having to plug anything into a wall.

lannes wrote in post #15433014
I found this page useful

http://www.modernoutpo​st.com …_Canon_lp-e6_battery.html

Thanks for this link! Really interesting.