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Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

• Zanni 1y ago
  Why your [ultra-light hiker] friend suddenly has [the world's lightest] power bank. I remember Colin Fletcher, years ago, writing in The Complete Walker about trimming the borders off his paper maps to save weight, which seemed like an insane over-optimization to me. But then, I'm not an ultralight hiker. I am impressed folks are getting their loads down to 10 pounds though.
  • JohnFen 1y ago
    That insane over-optimization is how folks are getting down to (and below) 10 pounds. I'm not even remotely an ultralight backpacker, but I do count ounces (no matter what your weight limit is, you can't escape making tradeoffs to stay within it). Your hiking load is a great example of how quickly apparently insignificant quantities can add up. Saving fractions of an ounce multiple times gets you large savings far more quickly than you'd think.
    • anonymars 1y ago
      The topic reminds me of the .NET core peanut butter improvements: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/performance-improvements-in-net-6/#%E2%80%9Cpeanut-butter%E2%80%9D https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/performance-improvemen...
    • addaon 1y ago
      I'm down to around 10 lb base load. And then I hike in the desert where I carry 5 - 7 liters of water (11 - 15 lbs). And food. Saving a pound here and there is totally worth it, but there's a large part of the country where prudent hiking means the majority of your weight is water.
      • jeffbee 1y ago
        If saving here and there is worth it, why would a hiker carry a 300g battery? Imagine the savings from leaving that boat anchor at home along with whatever obviously non-essential gadget wants to be recharged.
        • addaon 1y ago
          I don't carry a battery, but I do carry a solar panel that weighs around 300 g. I use my phone when backpacking as a GPS receiver, map, flashlight, and eBook reader. Phone + solar panel weighs less than paperback + paper map + flashlight, gives me more flexibility for adjusting plans, and doesn't leave me out of novel after a few days.
          • otoburb 1y ago
            Assuming you could afford it, would the new iPhone Air be a consideration in your ultralight base load going forward?
            • addaon 1y ago
              Potentially? I have an iPhone 15 Pro now, which I got both because it was lighter than previous equivalents, and was the first (?) with direct-to-satellite, which I definitely value. I know I can get ~5 days of navigation (but not reading) out of it, which is one of the reasons I don't take a backup battery (the solar panel isn't a single point of failure; but of course the phone still is for nav, so still need a minimal paper map and a compass). I only spend a couple weeks a year backpacking so I wouldn't choose a phone purely based on that; but if I were in the market for an update this cycle I'd consider it. Edit: Looks like the Air is 165 g, vs 187 g for the 15 Pro; not even an ounce difference. A bit more compared to the 17 Pro (206 g); but I probably just hold on until Russia collapses into a new metastable state and we can get bulk titanium again.
          • GuB-42 1y ago
            I have tried my luck with portable solar panels, and my conclusion is that in most cases, they suck. For a solar panel to be useful you need: - At least a few days without access to electricity, otherwise even at max power, you won't get as much charge as a similarly sized power bank - Good sunlight, preferably in the summer (more daylight) - No shade, which is the opposite of what you want in hot and sunny summer days - Correct placement for your solar panel, for example, having it hanging from your backpack will only work if you have the sun in your back - A large enough solar panel, these tiny panels you sometimes find on power banks are useless - Compatible devices. Solar panels have a variable power output, not all devices support it, some of them just shut down charging. Your best bet is to use a compatible power bank, but that information is not often specified. Test it beforehand! My experience with a solar panel is from two week-long music festivals in the summer, which would be almost ideal conditions. My experience was that over the course of a week, I got about the charge equivalent of a 10Ah battery from my solar panel (rated 10W, 300g), so about half the efficiency of that gummy bear battery, for the reasons cited earlier. Maybe I could have done better with a better panel and better planning, but I'd rather have a battery, much more convenient, and cheaper too. I want to enjoy the festival, not babysit my solar panel. So I'd say you need at least a week without electricity in the best conditions to make a solar panel worth it, preferably more, which I believe is rather uncommon. Also, I am talking about these portable <1kg solar panels. The large solar panels that go in your car/van are another story.
    • vasco 1y ago
      Better not forget to take a shit in the morning ever, or all your efforts are wasted.
    • jfengel 1y ago
      I'm surprised that the gram weenies are carrying a battery at all. Carrying a phone at all must be galling, but you really need it for emergencies (and final pickup).
  • 2OEH8eoCRo0 1y ago
    Ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain.
    • lightedman 1y ago
      Pain equals gain. Most ultralight hikers optimize for low weight, I optimize for low weight and maximum leftover space to haul a ton of weight back. https://imgur.com/a/ezPqNG1 https://imgur.com/a/ezPqNG1 Cuz trust me, you don't wanna leave that behind when you find it.
      • bluGill 1y ago
        Leave only footprints, take only pictures! Leave no trace. Everything you take is stolen from the next.
      • zparky 1y ago
        yours will be an unpopular view, for good reason. however it is funny imagining you hiking back with a backpack full of stolen rocks.
        • steve_adams_86 1y ago
          Is it really so bad? My son and I have hiked out to fairly remote places and dug up some rocks to find fossils. I know there are more there and very few people are likely to visit the spot, let alone to find fossils in the dirt. We leave very little trace at all. Is this actually frowned upon?
        • lightedman 1y ago
          Stolen? I have mining claims. What's stolen? To boot, these are in areas nobody hikes because it's too dangerous for hikers. These are in actual mining districts.
        • OkayPhysicist 1y ago
          To clarify, it depends on where you are. In the US, federal land comes in different tiers of protection. National Parks are tourist destinations, generally requiring you to stay on trail, take nothing, leave nothing, etc. National Wilderness Areas allow you off trail, but no motor vehicles. National Forests allow a pretty varied level of recreational usage, often including non-commercial rockhounding, and may allow off-road vehicles (depends on the forest), and then Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land is basically a free-for-all, allowing pretty much any recreational activity and even commercial activity with the appropriate permits. Out here in the west, you'll find a LOT of land in all 4 categories, not to mention state-level parks, which at least here in California allow some rockhounding near streams and beaches.
  • heelix 1y ago
    The trick to lighter packs for many was weighing everything. Not uncommon to break everything down by grams - which tells you what could be improved. No point in spending $50 on a .5oz spoon, if your pack is coming in at 4lbs. Does help optimize where things could be cut and where the faf is. Lets you focus on what you really want to bring in when you have a breakdown of everything you bring. I really like lighterpack.com for my trip planning. Very easy to bring crap you don't need as well. Always surprised me how much an extra hoodie or something would add to what was on my back. Also there is a 'stupid' light, where shaving grams is silly. Was shrinking down my hammock tarp and discovered my setup was not great when the wind shifted direction. When it comes to power bricks, smaller things like this is great for the normal laptop bag or purse. This is cheap enough that I'd send it off to be black holed with all the other bricks I lend my kid.
    • JohnFen 1y ago
      > Very easy to bring crap you don't need as well. This is so true it's not even funny. I keep a spreadsheet for each trip, and among other things, I record which of the items I actually used on the trips. It was very surprising to me how many things I thought I used and therefore needed, but when reviewing the records, I never (or very rarely) actually used. Those items get cut from future loads.
      • SoftTalker 1y ago
        I'm not a backpacker, but I presume there is stuff you normally don't use, but don't want to be without. Some amount of first-aid supplies, etc.
        • adrianmonk 1y ago
          Hmm, my records show I only used the bear spray on 1 out of 10 trips.
        • strken 1y ago
          For me, a not-particularly-lightweight hiker with a 10kg base weight, that list includes: - a knife - a first-aid kit with some niche stuff like big gauze pads, electrolytes, strapping tape, etc. - quarter of a roll of toilet paper - a compass and whistle - a paper map - spare laces - 3L of water, unless water is guaranteed to be available (2L is more standard) - spare calories in case I'm delayed - emergency beacon (except my phone does this now) I could sacrifice these and be fine most of the time, but I've needed nearly everything except the whistle, the full quarter-roll, and the emergency beacon.
  • matwood 1y ago
    A guy I knew biked across part of Europe and borrowed a travel book of mine. He bought me a new one when he got back because he would tear out the pages of places he visited in order to lighten his load.
  • binary132 1y ago
    I mean, maybe that makes sense if you carry 50+ pages of maps, but carrying a whole book of maps on a single expedition doesn’t.
    • JohnFen 1y ago
      Paper is very heavy. Even if you just carry a single map, you could likely save much of an ounce by trimming the borders.
      • int_19h 1y ago
        And then there are things such as maps printed on silk...
        • eichin 1y ago
          ... and tyvek (no idea if that wins on weight, but they're disproportionately durable)
      • eru 1y ago
        If you are bringing your phone anyway, might as well use that for your mapping needs? You can have a backup paper map inked on your skin.
        • prawn 1y ago
          I have previously wondered about printed handkerchiefs and bandanas that functioned as backup maps. Invest in my kickstarter!
          • eru 1y ago
            That's a great idea! (Mildly amusing, I first read 'printed handkerchiefs and bananas'. Like paint your map on the skin of your apple, or the shell of your hardboiled eggs.)
          • heelix 1y ago
  • int_19h 1y ago
    There's a point past which it becomes a number game without any practical utility. But there's a lot of people (especially hereabouts!) that find this kind of thing very enticing. Think of min-maxing D&D builds... it's kind of like that, but your rulebook is basically physics.
  • chrisweekly 1y ago
    Tangent: as a web performance consultant, I've sometimes used "shaving down half the toothbrush handle while carrying a bowling ball in your backpack" as a metaphor for misguided performance optimization efforts.
    • jancsika 1y ago
      To turn it back around-- your entire codebase is on the hiker's back. They feel its aggregate weight with every step. It's all literally in the hot path. When bugs show up in the form of back pain, "pre-optimize everything" sounds like a sensible option to me.
      • chrisweekly 1y ago
        Ok, but I'd still say start with the low-hanging fruit.
  • dreadnip 1y ago
    I’ve met people on trail with 5-6 pound baseweights. Crazy world out there.
    • WithinReason 1y ago
      does that include food and water?
      • cess11 1y ago
        No, it's likely a bag, a hammock, a small gas bottle with burner and pot, and perhaps sleeping bag, tarp and some gadgets and eating utensils, plus an extra set of clothes. I.e. the core equipment you're going to reuse indefinitely. Perhaps they weigh in things like reusable bottles and the like too. Personally I'm not into paying a premium for "ultralight" and similar so I might have misinterpreted something when glancing at people that seem to be. For me part of the hiking experience is getting used to carrying weight and living off equipment that would work in a crisis or adjacent to armed conflict, i.e. my basic gear clocks in at about twenty kilos or so, though that's enough to feed and 'house' about four people. Two field kitchens, teepee-style storage tent as well as a large pyramidal tent for sleeping, field spade, handheld radio units for the family/team, fishing equipment, &c. Usually I carry ~10 liters of water, a liter of ethanol, food, spare clothes and whatnot on top of it. I find that lowering weight into the single digits doesn't give me that much extra range consistently over several days so I'd rather set up camp close to the area where I'd need it and leave some weight behind while I take on the more demanding trail or climb. At the end of the day it's going to be an endurance activity rather than a sprint anyway, at least for a non-athletic button pusher in his forties, like me. Clearly people that mostly roam areas close to cities or that have joint issues or similar would have reason to make other decisions.
      • JohnFen 1y ago
        With ultralighters, food and water aren't usually counted in the weight. I'm no ultralighter, but I rarely carry water aside from a 16oz bag to sip on while I'm heading towards my destination. Water is crazy heavy. I make sure that the route I'm taking, and my destination, have water nearby that I filter and drink.
  • duxup 1y ago
    I recall reading about mountain climbing and some experienced climber was joking about the folks who are all about the weight and gear and so forth. He didn't say it was unimportant, but he did say that everything that makes him better than the amateurs, or even amateurs better than other amateurs had nothing to do with gear or weight fixation. It was the same thing when I got into photography. It's always easy to talk about the easily measurable things. This lens is better than that and so on. Gear is cool and fun... But the old guy with the beat up camera and not optimal lens shooting next to me ... he will take better photos almost every single shot.
• dole 1y ago
  https://archive.is/1G2Ut https://archive.is/1G2Ut
  • pvsukale3 1y ago
    Thanks!
  • neonate 1y ago
    https://web.archive.org/web/20250918192436/https://www.theverge.com/tech/781387/backpacking-ultralight-haribo-power-bank https://web.archive.org/web/20250918192436/https://www.theve...
• NoiseBert69 1y ago
  You can learn a lot from the ultra light dudes. I replaced all my travel electronics to be powerable from USB-C. This saved me from a lot cables and adapters. Even re-soldered the cable of my electric shaver to use a USB-C PD adapter PCB. As long it's somehow close to the standardized voltages (5/9/12/18/etc.) there will be no problems.
  • JohnFen 1y ago
    If you're taking a shaving device of any sort on your backpacking trip, you've missed a core lesson of the ultra light dudes.
    • wpm 1y ago
      They never said they were packing for a backpacking trip.
      • JohnFen 1y ago
        Ah, true. I made an assumption.
    • giantg2 1y ago
      Should be one safety razor - just the blade. Just need a steady hand...
      • Lio 1y ago
        You're budgeting for the weight of a safety razor? Surely the hunting knife you use to kill your dinner when combined with the mirror you use for starting your forraged twig fires, that would be the ultimate solution. ...or just not shave for a few days. I guess you could do that too.
        • Nexxxeh 1y ago
          Think of the weight of all the extra hairs though.
• cenamus 1y ago
  20Ah for 23 bucks? Seems like it's almost too good to be true. Wouldn't surprise me if it was just half that, would explain the price and weight.
  • heelix 1y ago
    I'll find out if this is true. Hiking buddy of mine pointed it out on Friday, so got one on the way. Was $18 when he called it out, $23 by the time I ordered. Apparently they have a bunch of random stuff like this. They must have some outdoorsy folks in marketing.
    • etempleton 1y ago
      Thru hikers just kind of find this stuff. They are obsessed with weight and recommendations spread quickly through word of mouth on the trail and on forums.
      • nunez 1y ago
        Us one-baggers also find the weirdest things, for the same reason.
      • prawn 1y ago
        And sometimes there are items that flare up and get popular before disappearing, leaving stragglers to scour second-hand lists. I remember people talking about CostCo ultralight quilts and similar.
      • heelix 1y ago
        Mine came in at 288g, which is a bit more than the 280g that the article mentioned. The nightcore NB10000 w/cable comes in around 167g. Will see this week how it does from a battery performance perspective.
    • Fricken 1y ago
      Some endurance athletes do love their gummies. I'm not one of them.
    • 1y ago
• Retr0id 1y ago
  Has anyone actually measured the true capacity?
  • Mistletoe 1y ago
    https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1li5rxw/20000mah_haribolicensed_gummy_bear_power_bank_is/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1li5rxw/20000ma... Looks like a guy there measured it and it is 14.7 which is more than I thought it would be. > So at a nominal 3.7 volts that’s around 14700mAh, which is around 73-74% efficiency. That’s fairly standard. If you perform the same tests with other batteries rated at 20k mAh, you’ll generally see a similar usable capacity. I was thinking of getting the Haribo one because I like to camp and climb mountains, but I found an old Ravpower battery bank (RP-P819) my Mom got all of us maybe a decade ago and it is 16,750 mAh on the label and weighs 308.5g. I'm not worried about ultralight enough to make that into e-waste and get the Haribo. I guess technology hasn't changed that much with regard to battery packs. The age of the plateau continues.
    • coin 1y ago
      > 20k mAh Or just write it as 20 Ah (not you, the reddit poster). I suspect people have no concept of SI prefixes. They know that k = one thousand but are unaware that milli is one thousandth.
      • nwallin 1y ago
        No he meant 20kmAh. It's rated for a 5km hike, delivering 2 amps the whole time, taking 2 hours. 5*2*2 = 20. (I wish batteries were just rated in Joules)
• madaxe_again 1y ago
  This is great and all, but for me it feels like much more of an achievement when I reach the summit with 30kg+ of mixed gear and child on my back - and there’s nothing quite like the feeling of putting it all down and feeling like you might just float away. Then again I am the kind of masochist who used to run ultramarathons with a backpack full of rocks just for the jollies.
  • dylan604 1y ago
    What does it feel like to put it all on again to go down? That is the absolute worst for me. I’ve had lug all sorts of heavy gear to some crazy uphill locations for photo/video shoots, and none of that is designed to wear comforatably on your back. Downhill back to the truck after going up hill and then doing the shoot has on more than one occasion made me think “I’m too old for this”
    • madaxe_again 1y ago
      Just “here we go again”, with a few squeaks and pops from various body parts, as I’m not quite the unblemished young thing I once was. These days the luggage also likes to yank my hair and kick my kidneys, and occasionally violently lurch to one side or the other without warning, which definitely makes matters exciting. Empathise on the gear-lugging - I have Sherpa’d full size solar panels up a pathless and sheer mountainside, and it was not fun - although again standing up there with two tonnes of hardware going “heh, I hand lugged all this here” was gratifying. At least I didn’t have to carry them back down.
  • int_19h 1y ago
    I mean, if you find it easy enough to reach the summit with 30kg+ of mixed gear, then surely there's another more difficult summit that would be just as much of an achievement without?
  • semi-extrinsic 1y ago
    I've done the same many times with the 30+ kg of gear and kid, even once going up to resupply a friend on a multi-week trip. It's good fun for your quads. Helps to put some of the heavier gear in a pair of those large waterproof roll-top bags and sling them across your chest, gets your centre of gravity more neutral.
• rattlesnakedave 1y ago
  Is the manufacturer of these things trustworthy? I am especially skeptical of any battery pack manufacturers because of the inherent risk of these things.
• codedokode 1y ago
  Sorry for being off-topic, but why with all the advanced technology today I have to manually copy ounces and pounds into Google to learn how much it is? Instead of adding dark themes and material design, it would be better to add a unit converter. Also do you really need a power bank for a 2-day trip? In airplane mode a phone can live like 2 weeks.
  • happytoexplain 1y ago
    Under normal usage, even in airplane mode, some phones last only 12-48 hours after just three to five years.
    • TacticalCoder 1y ago
      [dead]
  • jdblair 1y ago
    1 oz =~ 28 grams is a really useful conversion to remember (signed, an American living in Europe)
    • dylan604 1y ago
      28.4 grams. The rounding adds up quickly, and there’s comments here about people trimming borders off of paper maps. That .4 matters. Also, 16oz to 1lb. Also matters when your buying things for recreational purposes. Especially when only buying points.
      • binary132 1y ago
        Grams are ounces. Ounces are pounds. Milligrams are grams. Micrograms are milligrams. Picograms are micrograms.
      • jdblair 1y ago
        the point of knowing the rough conversion is to be able to do head-math to get a close number. I use 30 a lot of the time, b/c most of the time a close estimate is all I need. if you're cutting off the borders of your map, by all means, use a calculator
• tedggh 1y ago
  I traveled ultralight until I got into landscape photography. Those tele zooms are heavy AF. I got bigger quads and biceps.
  • pier25 1y ago
    Are you shooting full frame?
    • jeffbee 1y ago
      Landscape photographers do not consider the 35mm format to be "full".
      • I_AM_A_SMURF 1y ago
        Zoom on medium format? what's the point?
      • alexgrover 1y ago
        Any photographer who pretends to not understand what the term “full frame” is referring to is an asshole.
  • rhinoceraptor 1y ago
    I don't like camping or hiking deep into nature, but I do like rucking, my bag empty weighs 5lbs, and then I put a 30lb steel plate in it.
  • kybernetyk 1y ago
    Try out Micro Four Thirds. I have an OM-5 as my secondary camera and it's great for hiking, etc.
• AdmiralAsshat 1y ago
  Are these actually designed by Haribo? Or is it just a branding on top of a Chinese generic?
  • nickthegreek 1y ago
    I feel comfortable in stating that they are not designed by Haribo, a candy company.
    • tshaddox 1y ago
      Indeed, but it is odd that it’s apparently only these Haribo batteries with this design. I’d expect them to be white-label products that many companies resell with their own branding.
    • AdmiralAsshat 1y ago
      Well, yes, that was my thought. I mean my own employer had some company branded power banks that they gave out to employees. They're crap! But they were requested by the Sales team to hand out as swag at trade shows and whatnot, so they probably didn't put much more thought into it than "Find supplier that can create small power banks, slap company logo on them. Do it cheaply." I have to think the Haribo power banks were on the same lines, although it's a bit strange that they're actually being sold on the company's Amazon storefront.
      • Nexxxeh 1y ago
        Perhaps it was a rushed tradeshow/employee perk gone awry. Something like: Tradeshow coming up very quickly, previous merch supplier has let the sales team down. Mid-level Haribo employee responsible for merch finds a supplier willing to rush through everything, because let's face it, Haribo are probably going to pay their bills. MoQ is 100 units, which is 1 lot. Sales person intends to order 2000 units, better to be safe than sorry and run out. Accidentally orders 2000 lots of units with 100 units per lot. This isn't noticed until they're already printed and then it's, as they say in the legal profession, no takesie backsies. Haribo suddenly have a lot more power banks than they have booth visitors, and employees combined. Rather than store them indefinitely, they sell them off at cost and shift them quickly though Amazon. This drastically cuts down on warehousing space of small lithium (explosive) packs that the candy people have to store. And kids and grown-ups love it so, with 20,000mAh wherever they go.
• jasonsb 1y ago
  This is advertising done right. Wish more companies would do this. Instead of spamming me with your brand on every platform, sell a dirt cheap product with your branding. This way the middle man gets nothing, everyone else is happy.
  • gavmor 1y ago
    Social media is a dirt cheap product with branding, and the battery manufacturer is a middle man.
• XiphiasX 1y ago
  Better question - why do you keep linking to websites that block visitor from reading the article?
  • jml7c5 1y ago
    It's not paywalled on my end. What message do you get?
  • dole 1y ago
    Worse question: who’s got a hn frontpage/grease monkey/ai assisted subscription service to replace the main links with the archives?
    • pcmaffey 1y ago
      And then open them in reader mode.
      • wkat4242 1y ago
        That would be so amazing. But there's the edge case that the page is not archived yet. Though admittedly that'll be very rare for paywall links on HN.
• jauntywundrkind 1y ago
  Nitecore is somewhat accepted as the best lightweight battery, but they aren't cheap. 10Ah battery is $60, 5.9oz. the 20Ah is 10.2oz and $100. Unlike the Hasbro, it comes close to its rated specification. My backpacking trips have definitely not needed 20Ah. For two or three nights I can usually get by with a 5000mah, if I shutdown at night and frequently use airplane mode. And my phones are usually getting on, don't have Greta battery life.
  • itsmek 1y ago
    What is your source for the nitecore being higher capacity than the equivalently rated haribo? All primary sources I've seen so far indicate they are comparable at 70-75%
  • DynamicStatic 1y ago
    I've made it with 10Ah as well but carrying cameras and such it is nice being able to charge stuff up and also have battery enough to power my headlamp at night. I can understand why people want more charge.
• neonate 1y ago
  https://web.archive.org/web/20250918192436/https://www.theverge.com/tech/781387/backpacking-ultralight-haribo-power-bank https://web.archive.org/web/20250918192436/https://www.theve...
• bawolff 1y ago
  I thought the point of back country hiking was to get away from technology and society. Weight is of course a major consideration, but its not the primary reason im not bringing batteries on a hiking trip.
  • Teknoman117 1y ago
    As someone who does backpacking, a few reasons for bringing power sources: - A satellite communication device. You don't use them for internet access, but it does allow me to send my location and a small message so I can let an emergency contact know where I've made camp for the night (and a lack of a message means I'm in trouble). It also enables me to contact search and rescue if I know I'm in trouble. We did have to use it once when my sister lost her footing and fell of the side of a mountain and shattered her leg. (full recovery, thankfully) - GPS receiver. I've shifted to using my phone as my GPS unit (with Gaia GPS). Trail GPS units have been subjected to planned obsolescence in a bad way, many will only be supported for a few years now, after that you can't load maps into them anymore. Might as well use your phone and Gaia works offline. Although you do learn that modern cellphones really, really hate being offline for weeks on end and random things start breaking down. The latter was super important this year. With the budget cuts to park services this year in the US, many of our back country trails are in worse disrepair than they usually are. There were multiple days where the only way I knew I was still on the trail was to follow the dot on my GPS and look for the occasional cut log...
    • auxym 1y ago
      Rechargeable headlamp is another one.
  • int_19h 1y ago
    As with most other activities, the point varies for different people. For some, it's a way to test their preparedness against the elements. And for some of those, the game is to do that in as small and light a package as possible.
  • s0rce 1y ago
    I use my phone for navigation and camera. I also use it to read before bed. The powerbank recharges the phone on multiday trips. The powerbank can also charge satellite communication devices and headlamps when needed. This is pretty common for many backpackers.
• exabrial 1y ago
  > Ultralight culture seems a little nuts to the uninitiated. I prefer "Durable, but as light as possible", not the other way around. Most ultralight gear breaks after a few uses or when it is mishandled in anything-less-than-perfect conditions, which, happens a lot outside.
  • s0rce 1y ago
    My ultralight gear has been sufficiently durable for my backpacking and hiking, even off trail. I'm not hunting or repairing trails but stuff lasts a while. The only exception I've found is inflatable pads which get punctured but no more often than bicycle tire inner tubes and they can similarly be patched with some effort.
    • wkat4242 1y ago
      What do you use those pads for I wonder?
      • mrexroad 1y ago
        sleeping. my thermarest pad is a decade+ old and I won't hesitate to take it on a lengthy backpacking trip as long as I have a patch kit, same as a bike tire.
      • trenchpilgrim 1y ago
        You put them under your sleeping bag and they make your sleep way warmer than if your sleeping bag is directly on the tent floor. https://www.nemoequipment.com/collections/sleeping-pads https://www.nemoequipment.com/collections/sleeping-pads
        • ashdksnndck 1y ago
          That the purpose of the sleeping pad is characterized as thermal performance and not comfort is proof that I am not capable of the ultralight mindset.
• peanut-walrus 1y ago
  This article seems like referral link spam. Who is upvoting this?
• SeanAnderson 1y ago
  I guess I default to assuming this is BS? I was in the market for a 20Ah battery to power my Burning Man totem last month. I ended up buying two off Amazon - a no-name brand and an Anker for 2.5x the price ($65 for 28Ah). The Anker bank was heavier than the no-name and had substantially longer battery life under the same usage patterns. I don't know a lot about batteries, but what I do know is that they're very important tech and any performance wins would have cascading effects through multiple industries. It's incredibly unlikely that there is new battery tech that is meaningfully better while also not taking the world by storm. It's far more likely that whitelabel/noname brands are just lying about the specs/cheaping out on energy density and hoping consumers don't notice or care.
  • quxbar 1y ago
    Yeah, my assumption is a ton of people are getting for half the advertised capacity, and if they looked at actual 10Ah batteries this would be in line with their energy density.
  • slightwinder 1y ago
    Batteries are improved all the time. An improvement of 5% in weight is not really a big breakthrough at this point, especially as we do not know the reason; could be the battery, but also lighter casing or something else.
• two_handfuls 1y ago
  > I haven’t done capacity testing yet Seems like this article is skipping something important. What's the point of a light battery if it won't hold enough charge?
  • hinkley 1y ago
    In a world where electronics lie, if it’s too good to be true, assume it is until someone proves it isn’t.
  • RyanShook 1y ago
    Haribo power bank has 4.8 stars on Amazon… https://amzn.to/4nAgugy https://amzn.to/4nAgugy
    • gitaarik 1y ago
      Oh yeah, that confirms everything!
• mbesto 1y ago
  This is a very poorly researched article. A few things worth considering: - 20,000 mAh is the rated capacity. Anyone who has tested 18650 batteries (which are the cells typically used in these battery packs) knows the rated capacity != tested capacity. - Watthours is more important than amp hours - Tested watt hours as typical loads is more important than amp hours - It's very normal to see tested capacity to be roughly 70~80% of rated capacity. - This commenter said they got "At 18W average, I pulled out 55.4Wh" on the Haribo [0] - The generally considered "gold standard" for ultra light batteries in this range is the Nitecore NB20000 Gen 3, which regularly tests around 56 Wh. So yes the conclusion is correct - you get roughly the same amount of capacity for a typical load (18W phone) for a cheaper price and slightly less weight. Very curious what battery cells the Haribo uses. [0] - https://old.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1li5rxw/20000mah_haribolicensed_gummy_bear_power_bank_is/n50wqb9/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1li5rxw/20000ma...
  • 1oooqooq 1y ago
    you don't have to go that far. probably that demographic won't even carry a power bank to begin with.
  • emilfihlman 1y ago
    >18650 batteries (which are the cells typically used in these battery packs) Absolutely not. Pouch cells are what most powerbanks have.
    • mbesto 1y ago
      "Power bank cells are mainly divided into 18650 cells and polymer cells. The most common one on the market is 18650 lithium-ion batteries, with a market share of 70%." https://www.benzoenergy.com/blog/post/type-of-cells-used-for-power-bank.html https://www.benzoenergy.com/blog/post/type-of-cells-used-for...
      • saidinesh5 1y ago
        Looks like the article you've shared is from 2019 (at the bottom of their page?). Things changed a lot since then. Most power banks these days use just lipo pouches.
• test6554 1y ago
  Those extra ounces will build muscle. Those extra hundreds of dollars you save won’t hurt either.
• reassess_blind 1y ago
  Is this same model with different "Powelephant" branding? Looking for one available in Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Built-Cable-20000mAh-Power-Bank/dp/B0DQDW6B36 https://www.amazon.com.au/Built-Cable-20000mAh-Power-Bank/dp... EDIT: Doesn't seem to be. Similar design, but two USB cables on that one. Not sure I trust the capacity.
• stefanka 1y ago
  I’m kind of disappointed that the earbuds mentioned in the text aren’t shaped like gummy bears (and the power bank not like a pack thereof)
• dustypotato 1y ago
  I use INIU 20000mAh Mini Power Bank. Is also small and weights around the same. Don't know why there aren't more of this kind out there
• B-Con 1y ago
  Probably not. The community is always hungry for ways to trim weight, any new offering in the field is interesting, but since the battery is one of the most critical items, well, people tend to be conservative and stick to established models. Most ultralight folks go light so they can cover more ground while being more comfortable. Experienced ultralighters consider how a weight reduction introduces risk against that goal, rather than simply "lighter is always better". Aka, don't go "stupid light". An ultralighter is basically guaranteed to use their phone for navigation. A surprise battery failure may cut a trip short and possibly risk their well-being, both of which go against the goal. It's not recommended to use battery models that haven't been extensively tested because there are conditions in the backcountry that you may not think about or be able to test beforehand, such as performance in cold conditions, whether the IPX rating really holds up, whether it's possible to brick the device accidentally by pressing the wrong button combination, etc. A common recommendation is the Nitecore nb10000[1] for 10k of battery, and if you want 20k then bring two. (One of the Anker 20k models is also popular.) Bringing two 10ks is ~0.3 oz heavier than one 20k (per manufacturer specs), but it gives you charging parallelism (shortening down your recharging time by N hours, if your trip requires that you recharge midway) and device redundancy, both of which help you move faster with more reliably. Related, it is also recommended to only use a battery bank that you have personally used for a few full charge cycles beforehand, to smoke out manufacturing defects. [1]: https://nitecorestore.com/products/nitecore-nb10000-gen-2-qc-dual-port-10000mah-power-bank https://nitecorestore.com/products/nitecore-nb10000-gen-2-qc... [2]: https://nitecorestore.com/products/nitecore-nb20000-gen-3-dual-usb-c-power-bank https://nitecorestore.com/products/nitecore-nb20000-gen-3-du...
  • askvictor 1y ago
    > it gives you charging parallelism (shortening down your recharging time How do two independent power banks achieve this?
    • Xylakant 1y ago
      I believe the parent means you can charge the powerbanks in parallel.
• spyrefused 1y ago
  We used to say this in mountain biking years ago, but I guess it applies here too: -Lightweight -Durable -Reasonable price In reality, you can only choose two of these.
• londons_explore 1y ago
  In a typical hike, not only do I care about weight and capacity, but also recharge speed from AC. I often will be stopping at a cafe for lunch, and in the 45 mins I'm there I want my phone to charge from 15% to 90%, and I also want my battery to recharge from 15% to 90% to give me another 3 days hiking before the next recharge stop. That involves carrying a dual-output USB adaptor where both outputs are fast charging, two cables, a battery bank and my phone. Thats a lot of stuff to carry, when someone would ideally make a single AC adaptor with a built in battery and cable such that when plugged in to AC it recharges both itself and an attached phone, and when unplugged from AC it discharges itself into the phone. With clever design, some of those bits of electronics can be combined and casings and heatsinks shared making the whole setup smaller, lighter and cheaper. By integrating the battery charging logic into the AC adaptor, the temperature of the adaptor and output towards the phone can be used to adjust the charging speed to maximize use of the flyback transformers saturation current.
• Dumblydorr 1y ago
  Canoe camping is nicer than backpacking. I’ve done both and I’ll never prefer backpacking again. Much easier on the body to canoe, you can hold 200 pounds of gear, ice, cot, cast iron cookware, guitar, huge power bank. Backpacking is spartan and uncomfortable by comparison. And with canoe camping, much more primo sites and much fewer people around.
• pards 1y ago
  There are better options out there. I recently bought the INIU 10,000mAh 22.5W powerbank from Amazon for $29.69 CAD [0]. It weighs 205g/7.2oz. [0]: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09176JCKZ https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09176JCKZ
  • deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  • sva_ 1y ago
    I like INIU, but this has half the Wh? 10Ah @ 205g vs 20Ah @ 280g.