Portable Power Packs for Electronic Devices

[minaret]

Ventura Portable Power PB100 Powerbank



http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-PB-12.../dp/B00GDGZ046



Snooper Ventura Portable Power PB50 Powerbank


Snooper Ventura Portable Power SPV280 28W Solar Panel


http://www.amazon.com/Poweradd-trade...rtable+charger



http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Folda...+charger+solar

I'm sure most already know about this stuff, but for those who don't, there it is. Pretty cool gear for cruising.

[hellosailor]

There's been a lot of variety in "USB" level power sources in the last couple of years. Although they all seem to be lithium-something packs, I'd have to expect some to hold up better than others, since there's so much variety in battery quality. Ignoring the ones that cheat on ratings, and the variation in capacity when you fast charge or slow charge.

And then there are some 'crank' options out there, and the solar ones. Lots of choices! Or...just a car charger plug. Those dc-dc converters are pretty efficient, and if you've got ship's power, they'll recharge all sorts of things very nicely too. For all of $5-10.

[minaret]

I like the ability to plug the folding solar panel into the power pack, as a method of charging tablets or laptops for navigation completely separate from ships power, even if traveling inland or in a country with different electrics.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by minaret

I like the ability to plug the folding solar panel into the power pack, as a method of charging tablets or laptops for navigation completely separate from ships power, even if traveling inland or in a country with different electrics.

I definitely see the advantage of such packs for traveling, but if I'm on a car or boat there's already a source of inexpensive DC power, accessible with a $6 car-USB adaptor.

Also, the portable lithium packs are relatively complex, with charge and voltage regulators that can and do fail.

I do like redundancy, though. For the cost of some of those packs, you could buy a higher-capacity 12v gel-cell or small deep-cycle lead-acid battery, and charge it from a cheap small solar panel, and from the boat's main 12v system, as desired.