Best Camping/Hiking Power Bank – Reviews and Guide 2020

Benefits for using power bank

A power bank is a device that is particularly designed to meet all your charging needs on the go. It is essentially designed for traveling purposes, and hence, it is a very useful choice for camping or hiking.

1. It is a suitable choice for living off the grid.
2. You will not run out of juice.
3. You can charge multiple devices at a time.
4. Charge your devices on the go.
5. Excellent for portability and will not add much to the weight of your backpack.

Buying Guide

There are different aspects associated with a power backup, and you need to keep all of them in mind if you want to get your hands on the best product. Here we are listing down some of the most important points that you must keep in mind while looking for a power backup for your camping trip.

Capacity

To estimate how much capacity you require, you need to know how many devices you will be taking with you on your trip. You must also consider how many times you will be charging each of these items and what the capacity of their batteries is as well.

You will need to calculate the total capacity, and the number will be in mAh. Now you need to choose a power bank about 1.5 times greater than the total number you have calculated. You need to do this because battery packs are not perfectly efficient in the real world scenario.

Number of Ports

This number is also important because you need to be able to connect more than one device with your power backup to save time. With more ports, you will be able to charge multiple devices at a time. This number depends on how many devices you are taking with you. You can find power banks with a number of ports ranging from 2 to 5 or even more. Usually, the power backups with more ports have more capacity as well.

Input & Output Charging Speed

This one is no brainer because the input and output rates of your power bank need to be fast to charge all your devices faster. This rate needs to be fast, so the power backup itself can charge faster. You need to go for the power banks that have quick charging features because they truly live up to their name. Manufacturers do mention the input/output speeds on their product specs. But these rates stay true, and they are not influenced by the real world scenarios like capacity.

Miscellaneous Features

These features don’t matter that much on the actual performance of a power backup. But they might intrigue you in one way or the other. You might find power banks with inbuilt cables, inbuilt flashlights, or even inbuilt wall chargers. Some of them also feature solar panels on them for you to charge them in the day without the need to plug them into an outlet.

Solar Considerations

As we have just mentioned, some of the power backups also come with an inbuilt solar panel in them. This feature will enable you to charge your power bank whenever there is sunlight available. This is such a convenience because you will never run out of juice if you have a power backup with an inbuilt solar panel.

Physical Size

Of course, you are looking for a power bank for camping; then, portability is a concern. You don’t want to get too carried away with the capacity and inbuilt solar features because these power backups are large in size.

The ones with solar panels are also large in size, so portability is at stake. Surely you want the capacity to be high so that your power bank can last longer and charge more devices, but with more power and capacity, size also increases.

You can look for flat power banks that you can hook on your backpack. You can also add a solar panel this way, but the size is going to be critical, and you never know about the weather too. If you are hiking in a place where the sun comes and goes without any warnings, then you need to be careful with your solar panel. So you need to balance it out.

Weight

Another thing that you need to consider besides the physical size is the weight of a power backup. With more capacity or any add-ons like solar panels, the overall weight of a power bank will increase. This will add to the weight of your backpack significantly. Therefore, you need to make your decision carefully and balance it out between weight and capacity.

Our top choices

Best phone charger for camping

The PowerPie by ElecJet is a power backup that comes with a capacity of 20,000mAh. This means that you can charge your phone multiple times without an issue. The best part about this power bank is that despite the fact that it has a large capacity, the power backup doesn’t have much weight on it, and you can easily carry it in your backpack. The 45W charger does a pretty neat job to charge your iPhone rapidly.

Best lightweight power bank for camping

If you are looking for a lightweight option, then consider Ainope Portable Charger. This device features three different ports, and it also has fast charging features. It has very compact construction, and despite having a capacity of 20,000mAh, it is very lightweight.

Best solar power backup for backpacking

The NexGadget Solar Charger is the best solar option. It also comes with a capacity of 20,000mAh, and it has a flashlight in it as well. Entirely rain-proof, this power bank is rated IP54 water resistant. It is an excellent choice for camping because it can charge three different devices simultaneously.

Final Words

If you want your camping trip to go as smoothly as you have planned, then you will need a power backup. This device will allow you to keep all your electronics charged and ready to be used whenever you need them.

Some of the power banks also come with a solar panel on them, so you never run out of charge during your trip. But with more capacity, a power backup will become heavier and bulkier, so keep this factor in mind as well. A good quality power bank will allow you to charge different devices multiple times.

You will make sure that your trip remains powered up when you need it the most. As there are a plethora of options available to choose from, you must make your decision by calculating how many devices you will need to charge how many times on your trip and add the number.

Make sure that you get a power backup that has 1.5 times greater the total number that you have calculated because, in the real world, these power banks are not 100% efficient.

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