Charging electronic devices when climbing?

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could answer or share their opinions

• What are the most common electronic devices you take with you climbing? 
• How do charge your electronic devices when out climbing and how do you prevent the battery from dying? 

I'm a university final year Product Design student currently looking at the growing challenges mountaineers face with a lack of power to charge electronic devices when outdoors at various altitudes & temperatures.

Many Thanks!

I don't do multi day winter trips so not you best subject matter. 3 season trips I have a solar powered van to charge everything before I go in the field.   Winter time I climb a fair bit of ice. I have a Samsung rather than apple so don't have to worry about dead battery in the phone though I don't always bring it with me.   I use a cannon small P&S camera and carry 3 batteries for it.  one in the camera, one in the case and one in an inside pocket. rotate if nessicary.  on super cold days I will have to change the battery twice switching with the one that was kept warm in an inside pocket. 

This thread is going to be truly soul crushing.  The title says it all.  How sad.  "Growing Challenges" - that's FUBAR man.

PS - I use my testicles to warm my iphone up to take that last photo before the battery dies...I'd rather have the photo than the extra juice to call for rescue since I just press the SPOT button whenever I run into the least bit of trouble.

Expect massive negativity in this thread.

I have yet to do a big objective climb, but I will carry headlamps in the dark and small FRS radios on multi-pitch.  I make sure everything is charged the day before, and have backups in mind (like rope tugs instead of the radio) just in case.  The only other thing with a battery I have is my phone, and I don't worry too much about it, since there's usually no signal anyway.  It makes a nice backup for the headlamp, though!

Airplane mode saves.

Uh there is no growing challenge all climbing and mountaineering predate electronic crap.
I hold a degree in industrial design so can see both sides here...

Headlamp is the real absolute essential it turning itself on in my bag is mah heart bleeding out
Hash pen is probably second essential
Phone is third
16” 60volt battery op dewalt chainsaw is my new baby
20v dewalt rock drill
Boom box for blasting dirty rap and pissing off as many twats as i can.
 Most of this stuff already has solutions, carry a battery bank the kicker is that everything has a different cable/connection and weight trumps all, when i gotta hike, lots of stuff gets left behind.

Oh oh dont forget charging you “fast ice” ice screw gun(kidding this product is a joke amongst 99% of ice climbers, i do feel there is room to improve ice screw placement tho this is not it.

1) i bring a small headlamp
2) i bring a set of back-up batteries in a small ziplock bag

never really needed anything else.

so, i see my posts were deleted....thats cool....

except i actually gave true advice for long duration mountaineering trips.

Shannon G wrote:

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could answer or share their opinions

• What are the most common electronic devices you take with you climbing? 
• How do charge your electronic devices when out climbing and how do you prevent the battery from dying? 

I'm a university final year Product Design student currently looking at the growing challenges mountaineers face with a lack of power to charge electronic devices when outdoors at various altitudes & temperatures.

Many Thanks!

Happy to assist:

• What are the most common electronic devices you take with you climbing?
  (While I don't take anything electronic when I actually climb, I take the following on climbing trips)
  • Phone
  • Bluetooth speaker
  • Small music player
  • Unpowered speaker (guess it's not really electronic as it's unpowered)
  • Head lamp x 2
  • Three power banks (1 is a solar and plug in chargeable power bank)
  • Solar powered light
• How do charge your electronic devices when out climbing and how do you prevent the battery from dying?
  • I take three power banks, 1 is solar chargeable.  I leave it in the sun on top of my tent when I'm out during the day
  • I use airplane mode on my phone when I'm not using it
  • If I'm away for a long trip (a month) I take a trip to town each week for a hot shower, clothes washing, shopping, beer, ice, water.  The hotel where I can get a shower has a powerpoint.  I take a powerboard so I can change the bluetooth speaker, phone, etc as I shower.

. wrote:...Hash pen is probably second essential...

What's a hash pen?  Is that a dope vape?

curt86iroc wrote: so, i see my posts were deleted....thats cool....

Do you mean your posts in this thread? mountainproject.com/forum/t… Because they're still there. The OP's just trying to confuse us by starting two different threads on the same topic on the same day.

Forgot about headlamps, I carry  two headlamps. Much easier than changing batteries in the dark and cold.  mobes. switch to Samsung and you won't have to worry about your phone going dead :) that's an I phone thing. 

Martin le Roux wrote:

Do you mean your posts in this thread? mountainproject.com/forum/t… Because they're still there. The OP's just trying to confuse us by starting two different threads on the same topic on the same day.

I got pwned hard...

Carl Schneider wrote:

What's a hash pen?  Is that a dope vape?

The correct term is “douche flute”

For extended trips, I carry spare batteries for devices I care about (headlamp).  I might take a battery bank to recharge others (phone, inreach) if I am out long enough.  

I don't listen to music or watch videos so my phone can last a week in airplane mode.  Turning the phone off at night and keeping it warm while on is key.  I like having the phone on and in airplane mode while I am awake so I can take pictures or look at a map quickly.

I leave the inreach off most of the time; only turning it on in the morning and evening to receive messages.  I presume I would turn it on during the day in an emergency.  It can run for months using the tactic.  

If I am out for just a couple of days I do not take any spare batteries.  On a month long trip I considered solar power but even for that duration spare batteries was both more weight and cost effective.  Additionally you have to allow the solar charger to be in the sun which can be problematic if you are moving camp a lot.   This was in 2011, perhaps the technology has improved enough since then to change the evaluation.  

I have a love hate with rechargeable gear. A. You have to charge it and B. you have to charge it. Batteries have always been my way to go, keep the extras in a chest pocket and don't be using the Gram.

FWIW: I reviewed some BioLite gear a couple months ago. The SolarHome, which is more of a set up for basecamp and the Solar Panel 5+ which has a good argument for backpacking (although it is rigid). Might be worth checking out for your application.

When I was on Denali iPods were still a thing and back then I plugged it into a "portable panel" and it fried my iPod on day 2 of the 19 day trip... I don't think that is a problem now!

http://dirtandsol.com/biolite-power-and-lighting/

When I climb the only devices that require batteries is my head lamp and P&S camera. they both take the same AA batteries.
although I am thinking about buying a goPro in the near future.
I usually take two sets of standard batteries( just in case)  however I usually get a months of use before I need to change out the Duracell or Energizers. The camera will take 500-600 pics on a set of batteries, while my head lamp will burn for like 40+ hours. 
There is no cell service so no phone (why take the extra weight).
I don't have a need to instagram or FB with a computer up the mountain.
Fuel consumption for cooking and heating devices is more of a concern than the need to recharge batteries.

You might need something like Blu Pro Kit... Or just carry a rechargeable battery with you. You need a good charger as well. I think you can easily buy this stuff online. Also check out the blogs here on vapingdaily.com, there might be some useful info as well.