Getting charged up

I am in the very early stages of planning a tour of Wales next year (3, 4 or maybe 5 days) and one question keeps on occurring. I have a phone, GPS and iPod, all of which have rechargeable batteries. For a day or two, that is not a problem, but for a longer tour one or more of these devices will fail. I realise that you can take chargers but leave the gadgets in the toilet/shower block whilst they charge? How do you do it?
0
Posts
Help I'm Being Oppressed
Help I'm Being Oppressed
If it's only for a few days consider an external battery and charge from that. Cheap enough and better to be leaving one of those charging in a shower block than your phone.
Have you considered ditching the ipod and GPS and using the functionality on a smartphone?
That and a crafty "mind if I plug this in?" When in a cafe/pub and job done.
I don't worry about it on short trips. I do have a B&M Luxos U which I can use if needs be.
Yes, but two problems. Firstly I haven't got a smartphone with that capability (if I PM you my address you could send me one as a present
I like the sound of the external battery pack, that may be worth considering. I must do a test to see how long the batteries do last. I just wanted to avoid taking chargers with me.
Most campsites are happy to charge stuff for you - in fact they'd probably rather you did that than leave stuff in the washrooms.
You should also be able to buy an adapter for the three-phase sockets - this will let you use an electrical socket near your tent.
A GPS that uses rechargeable AA batteries is a much better idea than using a smartphone as you can leave the batteries charging in a washroom without worrying too much. And of course, if you have to, you can buy disposables. Expect a pair of 2800 MAh AA batteries to last two days (so 3 pairs would be easily enough).
Chargers weigh next to nothing, but you could/should be able to charge everything from a single charger (with the right charger and cables/tips).
The Powermonkey can charge from a mains supply or from a solar panel, which i've also got and it performs fairly well, just bungee it to the rack while i'm cycling.
I did 2 weeks cycling in Iceland with a GPS and smartphone and with a combination of battery pack charged before we left, solar charger and charging in cafes, we lasted 2 weeks with no real issues. I did switch my phone off during the day though, checking it in the morning, at lunch and in the evening as i was using it for weather updates and "checking in" with their safety app.