Power Storage

Reviewed by Hikermor

The power bank, 5000 mAh capacity, can recharge a cell phone or power an included set of components useful for lighting or emergency signaling especially. It is compact and portable, although not ultralight.

My initial impression is quite favorable. The basic power bank seems to be a 26850 lithium-ion battery with an integral small flashlight, potentially quite useful if you ever need to assemble the other components in the dark. Four blue LEDs indicate the charge status. Other components are: a siren, fire starter, flashlight, lantern/SOS flasher, and red laser. These all plug into a USB outlet on the power bank which is adjacent to a mini-USB receptacle on the port which recharges the power bank.

Read more: Seattle Sports SurviVolts Power Bank review (1)

Reviewed by Lane Fournerat

This is the most durable power bank that I have found. It's dustproof, waterproof, and shockproof. It also has a built-in flashlight and SOS signal.

I have been looking for a portable battery bank for a long time. My phone and cameras are always running low when I am out traveling or hiking with my family. I was about to get a cheap power bank, but then EasyAAC approached me about making a video of their battery bank for my YouTube channel.  In the video below I unbox the power bank and check out all of its features. I expected for a power bank to just charge some batteries, but this does so much more, and it holds a ton of power, 20,000 mAh to be exact.  My favorite thing about this power bank is how rugged it is.

Read more: EasyAcc 20000mAh Rugged Power Bank review (1)

Featured review by Bentbrook

A kettle with a built-in thermoelectric generator that can charge USB-powered devices off-grid. Heat water, get a charge. A superb option for emergency use during power outages and something to consider for multi-day basecamp expeditions, but likely too much weight to justify its presence on most backpacking trips.

BioLite KettleCharge The BioLite KettleCharge is a flat, stainless steel kettle with an opening for filling or pouring from the kettle, and a plastic handle that rises about the top of the kettle with an embedded LED panel and an on/off button. It is a thermoelectric device that produces electricity to charge devices while it heats water. It is a device that—according to the BioLite web site—“provides off-grid power in a matter of minutes using nothing but heat and water.” “Perfect for camping or power outages,” BioLite writes, “the KettleCharge will keep you charged day or night with BioLite's core thermoelectric technology.”  A simple control panel guides one’s use of the device.

Read more: BioLite KettleCharge reviews (2)

Featured review by Devian

On a week-long, dark backpacking trip, I kept my phone/camera and GoPro fully charged. I can only imagine if I have SUN. Very affordable and would highly recommend.

As weight conscience as I was, I never regretted bringing this on my trek. I looked and research other, more popular, chargers, but they offered less, lower watts, and cost more. This solar charger is a 10 watt, three-panel charger that includes two external batteries (USB and Micro connections) cables and even a special iPad/iPhone port. The day I got it in the mail, I grabbed the 1-page instructions (thank goodness, 1 page), a dead GoPro, and put it outside my office door on a sunny day. I had a quick question about the LED's on the spare batteries, and Support responded within 24 hours or much less. It charged the GoPro in about 3 hours.

Read more: InstaPark Mercury 10 Solar Panel Charger reviews (2)

Reviewed by Vladimir Gorbunov

Very capable (but large and heavy) power bank with two-way QuickCharge support and dual USB output. Nice and simple design, but no case or pouch for carrying. Mostly useful for owners of power-greedy equipment, such as action cameras.

Background In my outdoor trips I prefer avoiding the situations when I need a power socket for charging my electronic devices. There are many of them: smartphone, a couple of headlamps, health tracker, GPS navigator, DSLR camera, and every year this number grows. At some point it became impossible to store all the required energy in built-in and replaceable batteries, so I started carrying the power banks with removable 18650 Li-Ion batteries (I have a good stock of such batteries for powering the Chinese flashlights).

Read more: Xiaomi Power Bank 20000 mAh review (1)

Reviewed by Ben Rivers

This slim and sleek external battery is excellent for charging your phone (or other electronic device) on overnight trips in the great outdoors. A lot of people use their phone as their camera or for GPS, and this external battery allows you to charge your device without having electricity. It's also fairly inexpensive!

This external battery/portable charging device works excellent to charge your mobile electronics on overnight trips. Depending on how much you use your phone and what you use it for, you could possibly get two nights out of it. I own an iPhone 5s and this external battery will charge my phone 1.5 times from 0% battery life. I have used this charger so many times and it has consistently charged my phone the same every time.  This Anker charger will charge your device at about the same speed a wall charger will (at least for the iPhone).

Read more: Anker Astro Mini External Battery review (1)

Featured review by TheRambler

True innovation, leave those batteries at home! Fire+Water=Electricity. That is the company motto of Power Pot, and they certainly delivered with this product. I could not be happier with this product as it does everything they say it will do with no fuss, no unexpected fiddling, or tinkering involved. The Power Pot gives you a surefire way of generating power on the trail. This is a must have for anyone looking for a long term sustainable way to keep devices charged whether on the trail, or at home during a power outage, and everything in between. The Power Pot is capable of charging any device that can normally be charged by a USB connection.

I was excited to test the Power Pot and compare its functionality to the Biolite Camp Stove which I reviewed previously. Overall I am extremely impressed with the Power Pot. You can charge any device that uses a standard USB connection by simply applying an appropriate heat source to the bottom, and putting at least 2 cups of water in the pot. What’s in the box/Construction: All items included with a Power Pot purchase with the exception of the battery pack and baggie of connectors. The package includes the Power Pot itself, a bowl/lid, a 3 foot heat/fire resistant charging cable, a lexan spoon/fork, and a USB 5 LED flexible light.

Read more: Power Practical The PowerPot reviews (2)

Reviewed by XterroBrando

I have had these items through an entire season (I have two), and they have performed flawlessly in the back country while snowshoeing, at the beach while camping to power/support an iPad, iPhone, nintendo DS, rechargeable batteries, etc. They are worth every penny, and the dual Brunton Solaris i6 solar panels I also own can be linked together to create even more power and a faster re-charge of the Syncs. I can also recharge my Syncs quickly by A/C or D/C. I have many Apple products, which have such sensitive and refined voltage regulation and therefore require a consistent charge, something that doesn't occur with a direct connect to my solar panels (unless that panel has a built-in voltage regulator-I don't know of any that do).

Read more: Brunton Sync review (1)