Bckcntry power (of the electrical nature) sltns

[jesselillis]

I'd like to recharge ipod, some fancy phone, kindle, things of that nature while out and about for a few weeks.

I found product 'solar focus battery bank', which sounded perfect, but based on reviews appears to be debilitatingly inefficient.

Are there solutions other than solar panels?

 

[ScaredSilly]

Yeah, leave all shit at home. That said what does out and about mean ? On boat, in the woods, in the mountains, in a car? Are ya carrying everything or packing with a beast of burden? Kinda of makes an impact on the solution.

[ScottP]

PowerMonkey

[jesselillis]

Climbing Denali.

Leaving things at home is definitely an option, but I'd like to consider it amongst alternatives.

[matt_warfield]

Yeah, leave all shit at home. That said what does out and about mean ? On boat, in the woods, in the mountains, in a car? Are ya carrying everything or packing with a beast of burden? Kinda of makes an impact on the solution.

 

I agree. Backcountry means backcountry. No electronics. But I am old school where if there was an accident you would just hope they could see the vultures circling.

 

Eventually we can power everthing by solar or biomass or kickass batteries and then realize we lost the reason for being out there.

Edited March 31, 2013 by matt_warfield

[ScaredSilly]

Are ya planning on camping or climbing? Sounds like camping if yer bringing all that crap to Denali. People bring too much crap and wonder why they can not get up the hill. Leave it at home and bring a book that contains drama, sex, and violence. Everyone should bring one book. Then trade around. When you are all done trade with others at 14K.

[matt_warfield]

Historically, what climbers do is read and tell each other stories. Most climbers know each other better than they know their own spouse. If they have one. The stories are better when multiple ex's are involved which is normal for climbers with time.

 

So again I agree with Scared. Cell and Sat phones have saved lives but entertainment perhaps belongs at base camp.

 

And like Scared said, you are not going to trade electronics around on the climb, but books and conversation are always fair game and as always are powered by our minds and bodies. Recharging happens with sleep.

 

One of my favorite climbing stories was a man and woman on El Capitan who didn't speak the same language and spent several days stranded in a storm on a ledge. No Kindle, no Smartphone, no Iphone, and also no communication whatsoever in the midst of a blizzard. These climbers survived but others died in the storm. I am sure others on this site are aware of this incident.

Edited March 31, 2013 by matt_warfield

[Buckaroo]

Why no solar panel?

 

On Whitney I took a Goal Zero folding panel. Charged my Android and read two Kindle e-books. Downloaded one of them by walking to the edge of the ridge to get reception, it was chill having internet access in the wilderness.

 

My climbing partner took his I-phone and proprietary solar panel. It was inadequate, you could tell just by the size of it, way too small. The Goal Zero is about 12"x12" so a square foot. The I-phone panel was about 4"x4". There were some other panels at REI but they were similarly too small. You could see they had all been returned, the packages had been opened.

 

The I-phone would have needed an adapter to plug into the Goal Zero solar panel, which has a USB connection. Which is just another reason I would never have an Apple product, too proprietary.

 

The Goal Zero is a little heavy at 13.3 oz.

[Buckaroo]

One of my favorite climbing stories was a man and woman on El Capitan who didn't speak the same language and spent several days stranded in a storm on a ledge. No Kindle, no Smartphone, no Iphone, and also no communication whatsoever in the midst of a blizzard. These climbers survived but others died in the storm. I am sure others on this site are aware of this incident.

 

Are you talking about the storm of Oct 2004?

 

Here's the first half of the article in Nat Geo's Adventure. I bought the Feb 2005 Adventure on Ebay just to read the rest of it.

 

Six Nights on the Dark Tower

 

Basically their ropes froze but after the storm abated somewhat they climbed up to the roof but could get no further. They called for rescue but it was too late in the day but they did deliver supplies via chopper. They were then rescued the next day via rope haul from the top.

 

My understanding was the Spanish woman did speak some English.

[layton]

jesus what a bunch of self important a-holes. Buckaroo has good advice

[AlpineK]

Climbing Denali.

Leaving things at home is definitely an option, but I'd like to consider it amongst alternatives.

 

If I remember correctly one of the park service rules for Denali climber is you must carry a radio. Don't worry you can get one in Talkeetna prior to flying in. Aside from that there's a radio where you land on the Kahiltna and several at the 14 grand medical station.

 

The park service can give you more info if you're going in from the Wonder Lake side.

 

Of course if you need to constantly update your Facebook status none of the radios will help

[genepires]

Climbing Denali.

Leaving things at home is definitely an option, but I'd like to consider it amongst alternatives.

 

If I remember right, small fm radios work good at 14K camp and higher, right around the time that you could use some outside stimulation. cheap, light, and running on AA batteries.

[AlpineK]

Line of site is the magic rule. Once you reach a high elevation radios work like a charm. We talked to Talkeetna from 16 grand without problems.

 

Low on the Kahiltna, mountains and ridge lines get in the way. The radio at Kahiltna base has a repeater or booster.

[tvashtarkatena]

By day 3 of being stuck in a 2 man you'll shoot a baby in the face for an Arrested Development rerun. Hell, you'll shoot Baby just to get your partner to stop recycling that story.

 

And you should always be prepared to shoot your partner for over Instagraming your ugly ass.

Edited April 1, 2013 by tvashtarkatena