Europeean Tour - unsupported equipment stuffs

incurab1e

Hey!

Many thanks for the replies on my older thread - I thought i'd start a new one since my plans have changed somewhat and I was hoping to benefit from the experience on here.

I am now going to follow my grandads route through Europe during WW2 - following 151 regiment and the 11th armoured division through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Its in aid of the Royal British Legion. (i'll put the route up once the research is finished)

Anywho, thanks to a good amount of advice on here, I am equipped with My Bianchi Via Nirone, some Planet X model B's a SRAM 11-32 cassette, Ortelib Back Roller Panniers, Quechua T2 Pro ultralight tent and a good light sleeping bag.

Now then, I am taking a camera with me, Mp3 player, Phone and Garmin.

Charging these is obviously going to be difficult. I was looking at THIS CLICK - which is pretty bad ass - AA batteries are obviously available everywhere.

BUT, My camera, and i dont' think the Garmin 705 (correct me if i'm wrong) charge from USB - SO Has anyone foudn any good mobile solutions for charging stuff from a plug? An AA-> female plug charger would be perfect but i'll be ballbagged if i can find one.

I'm sure there will be soem route issues whilst plannign and more (probably silly) questions - but I can't thnak you enough for your help already (iPete!!)

andymiller

Two possibilities: either a Powertraveller Powerchimp which comes with a kit of bits and leads which you can use with a USB charger or look around for a traveller phone charger - I bought one from ASDA which had a useful selection of bits and leads.

nicktheluddite

How about only taking one or two electronic gadgets which can do the job of all 4 things you are thinking of taking? Save yourself a few hundred grams and have less chargers.

I am aware that my username my make my advice seem less credible.

deal

incurab1e wrote:

I dont' think the Garmin 705 (correct me if i'm wrong) charge from USB -

Mine certainly does, I have only used the original charger once (for the first charge).

daviesee

deal wrote:

incurab1e wrote:

I dont' think the Garmin 705 (correct me if i'm wrong) charge from USB -

Mine certainly does, I have only used the original charger once (for the first charge).

^^^^ ditto ^^^^

mz__jo

There are no end of smartphone chargers for charging USB devices direct from the mains - I have one that I use for charging my mp3 player. Shop around, the simple chargers carry smartphone prices.
The bigger problem will be standing over your power socket in the middle of the campsite to make sure that no-one pinches your smart device while it is charging!
Don't use alkaline batteries in a digital camera, the voltage drops too quickly, they are knackered after half a dozen photos (if, like us, you have a camera that takes proper batteries - much easier for charging on the move!)

incurab1e

Thanks for the reply guys.

My dilemma is really this: Charging a LITHIUM battery from somewhere OTHER THAN MAINS

A good AA charging unit will give me the neccessary power, I just need to be able to either Plug my lithium chrage into the AA unit OR find a lithium charger that runs from USB


My testicles are beginning to ache

mz__jo

Having once had a device for powering a normal mobile (not a smartphone) from AAA batteries i would not use alkaline batteries for this job (the device that I had would power the phone to make a short call but couldn't charge it, in spite of all the claims).
I think the best thing is to cut the number of devices (use the phone for photos, use maps instead of GPS etc), take a normal mains charger and continental adapter and book a night in a cheap hotel once every 4 days or so to charge your devices up in relative security.
Cheers Jo

incurab1e

Thanks Jo,

i'm going for spare batteries I think. i'm a bit of nerdlinger so need my tech :-) The cheap hotel is a fine idea :-)

Up to Germany with the Route now!

andymiller

It's not easy to work out what your priblem/question is (AND USING CAPITAL LETTERS DOESN'T HELP). I'm guessing that you want to buy a lithium-Ion battery unit that has a female USB connection and you want to use it to charge a Germin 805. I think the Garmin has a mini-USZb connectiin. So you need a cable with a male-USB connectpr
And a male mini-USB connector. Am I right so far?

To put my original post in different terms: if you get something like a travel charger or powerchimp these come with a lead that has a male USB on one end and a kit of tips ( mini-USB, micro-USB etc). I suspect that this will do what you want. Perhaps you can get the cable nad kit of tips separately, I don't know.