How do I charge my gadgets while camping for long periods?

[Kalout]

I do a lot of camping, and something a very commonly do (as I would assume a lot of people might) is bring along a cell phone, iPod, etc. On short camping trips I generally tend to buy a 24 pack of batteries and just use that with a USB charger, but on longer camping trips (usually about a week) I'll eat through those batteries within a few days. What's a cheaper solution to charge my stuff, as well as keep it as light and cost efficient as possible? (and the ability to get a full AC charging port would be great too).

 

[c_kayak_fun]

24 batteries! That's horribly wasteful. At least get rechargeables if you are going to do that.

You can buy portable solar units for charging small electronics. The Real Goods on line catalog has quite a few. That's what we've used in Archaeology field camps I've worked at so we could charge the laptops and run other electronics for the project. You are not going to get a full AC charging port for larger items out of that though.

You can also get hand crank units that will put a short term charge on a phone. I have a mini AM/FM/NOAA radio with a built in flashlight and USB charger that runs on batteries you can charge by vigorous handcranking of a rotary handle.

If you are really spending so much time yakking on the phone that you burn through 6 or 7 batteries a day I wonder why you bother camping. It would certainly drive me nuts to be in the woods with someone that addicted to their phone.

Frankly, for myself and most people I know, we DON'T haul a bunch of electronics along camping. Camping is for getting away from the rat race, technology and clamor. Most of the areas where I camp don't get cell reception anyway, and even if they do, if i carry a phone the power is turned off and reserved for any emergency that might arise. I would rather listen to birds and the wind in the trees than have an Ipod stuffed in my ear.

But if you insist on doing so, get a solar charger.