Prepping: the new world...

Van_Girl

mandco said:

Has anyone tried a solar power power bank?  I’m guessing they aren’t particularly good at charging just by using the solar power option but wondering if it might be worth it as a back up in an emergency type situation if there was no access to electricity. What made me wonder is dd went camping recently and the power bank they took ran out as they ended up using it for multiple things as they had no access to electricity to charge/power anything. 

I'm in two minds about adding solar to my power bank, so I'd be interested to know if anyone else has experience with doing this

DigForVictory

This is why I happen not to mention to my sons that my hand cranked radio includes a USB port. I want it working as a radio, not abused by impatient teens to power their phones. And it seems Amazon no longer have the Duronic Solar radio hybrid wind up manual hand crank self powered emergency dynamo AM/FM radio but that gives you a lot of key words to look for something similar. I do not recommend a torch function, I think it burns power too easily although LEDs should be a Lot Less demanding and I like the look of the 'simpeak emergency flashlight handcrank' which cannot charge a phone but can illuminate you. (I'm So Old Fashioned in thinking a tool should do one thing properly not a bunch of things & trigger small wars between users, but that may be the mother of sons in me wanting relative peace!)  

MrsCD

We have a small radio which has a solar panel on the top to keep it charged, but also runs on batteries. Ditto a couple of camping lanterns which can also be charged with a USB. We have numerous torches around the house in strategic places so we can find them easily and I've got lots of candles which I would only use as a very last resort. I just need to work out the best way to keep warm if the house is cold and not likely to heat up for a while if there's a power cut. We have lots of thermal underwear and layers etc but when the air gets cold you feel colder. Maybe I need a tent!

Bravepants

Van_Girl said:

mandco said:

Has anyone tried a solar power power bank?  I’m guessing they aren’t particularly good at charging just by using the solar power option but wondering if it might be worth it as a back up in an emergency type situation if there was no access to electricity. What made me wonder is dd went camping recently and the power bank they took ran out as they ended up using it for multiple things as they had no access to electricity to charge/power anything. 

I'm in two minds about adding solar to my power bank, so I'd be interested to know if anyone else has experience with doing this

I got a Jackery Explorer 1000 V2 with one SolarSaga 100 solar panel a few months ago around Father's Day when they were doing deals. They were literally half the price they are now, so watch out for deals!

I take the Jackery camping to save paying the extra for electric hookup. A mate of mine suggested buying a travel kettle (800 Watt) to save gas. It hold two mugs worth of water enough for the two of us and uses 6% of the capacity of the Jackery each boil. Using the solar panel (and a nice sunny day) this was replenished in a couple of hours. After three days of camping I was down to about 11% capacity, because it was quite cloudy and I didn't put the panels out while we were away from the tent. You can also buy 200W panels, and you can connect upto two 200W panels to the jackery directly; or four 100W panels via a splitter connector. So maximium you can shove 400W of solar into it. The power bank/inverter is based on Lithium-Ferro-Phosphate batteries, which can take upto about 4000 charges, so should last 10 years with one recharge a day. I'm very pleased with it, and may well invest in another panel at some point. I think solar is a very useful feature. 

The panel has a little physical indicator that helps you aim towards the sun when you deploy it. It's a kind of circle with a dot that casts a shadow, aim the panel so the shadow lies in the middle of "target" area - couldn't be simpler. I think generally pointing the panels to the south (in the Northern Hemisphere) for the day will work pretty well.     

Also I learned pretty quickly to buy an extension cable for the solar panels. I keep the Jackery in the tent of course, and the extra cable length allows one to place the panel anywhere around our 6m long tent! 

boultdj

I've not long bought a small travel solar charger, A ADDTOP Solar Charger Power Bank is the name. My phone was nearly out yesterday and it charged my phone, laptop and other half's torch during our 8 hour power cut.  It takes longer to charge back up just using the sun but it did it's job and actually charged the phone quicker than using the plug socket. 
Like @Bravepants I looked for deals.

MrsCD

boultdj said:

I've not long bought a small travel solar charger, A ADDTOP Solar Charger Power Bank is the name. My phone was nearly out yesterday and it charged my phone, laptop and other half's torch during our 8 hour power cut.  It takes longer to charge back up just using the sun but it did it's job and actually charged the phone quicker than using the plug socket. 
Like @Bravepants I looked for deals.

Thanks for the recommendation. I've just ordered one at 40% off! I'll see how it works out, but I've wanted a solar charger for a while for back up when the other power banks run out.

DigForVictory

I've got a storm warning over Manchester (& northeast of England & Wales today)
"Whilst the vast majority of places will have either non-impactful rain or remain dry, a few places within this area could see 30 to 60mm in an hour. Hail and lightning will be additional, possibly locally impactful, hazards."
Frankly I take that to mean pack the brolly I don't mind losing & if it turns nasty have a plan to duck into a public building & wait out the weather. Then drive home cautiously.
I do wish I'd paid more attention to the weather forecast last night...

MrsCD

Well, the solar charger power bank has arrived and is charging from the mains to make sure it's fully charged to start off. We'll see how it goes with solar once I use it to top up my phone as a try out. 
We've had a lovely bright and breezy day up here in the Northeast. I think we're on the top edge of the warning area, so seem to have got away with it for now at least.

DigForVictory

We are entering flu jab season & no, September is Not Too Early. Asda in Lancashire start selling on Mon 15 for the private shots then will start delivering the free NHS ones from 1 Oct as well. (Same chemistry, private or NHS.)
Given how long it can take on the phone to your GP to book a place in the queue for the flu jab clinic, and how quickly you can book online for Asda, you may want to consider your local pharmacy for the flu jab. If you were going to get the trifecta of flu covid & the respiratory one (can't recall its name) that may be simpler sorted through your GP, as once you're connected they can sort several dates. I seem to recall the covid booster left mum distinctly willing to spend time napping to give her immune system time to install the new software, you may want to schedule it with some recovery time in mind. 

Suffolksue

My surgery booked my Autumn flu and Covid when I had my spring Covid booster in April/May 
( cos I’m old ) 
I was impressed ,they pointed out that it saves the phone lines at this time of the year !,