This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/Ultralight by /u/AceTracer on 2024-03-26 21:56:39.
I’m getting back on the PCT in a few weeks, so I decided to spend a couple days looking at what’s out there right now. This spreadsheet has become outdated, with many of the options no longer available, and Nitecore not an option for me. If you love Nitecore, great, I’m happy for you. I’ve seen too many reliability issues on trail, it only has 2 ports, no display, and it’s ridiculously expensive for what you get.
A note about price and reliability: none of these power banks are meant to take the abuse we put them through on a thru hike, so I can’t fault any of them for failing in the field. However, when they do, you don’t have time for a warranty replacement, you need a new power bank immediately and affordably. Preferably, it needs to be at your next town stop in a couple days via Amazon Prime and cost no more than $30ish.
Now then, the first contender is a power bank with a built-in wall plug and cables. It’s what I’ve been using since Nov '21 for over 1500 miles of hiking including (some of) the PCT and three Caminos. The brand I’ve been using is Charmast, but I don’t recommend it now simply because there are newer banks with slightly better technology. The brand I’ve been testing recently is ANOUV, which has an extra built in cable and can push/pull 18W from the USB C port. Here is a picture of me charging 5 devices while it also charges. Cost is about $20, and total weight including the built in cables and plug is 7.8 oz.
I’ve been pretty happy with this system, except that using the built-in plug it only charges at 10W, so it’ll take 4+ hours to fully charge itself and longer if you’re passthrough charging. That’s fine for overnight stays, but not for quick town stops. You can charge quicker if you use the USB C port, but you’d need to find a capable USB C outlet or carry an extra 18W wall plug which defeats the purpose of having everything built in.
So, I started looking at faster charging solutions. The next most popular recommendation as of late is the Anker Nano. It charges at 30W, and will take about 1.5 hours to fully charge. It also has a built-in cable and two ports so you can charge up to 3 devices at once. Cost is currently $35 and weight is 7.7 oz. However, you need to buy a 30W wall plug and any extra cables you need. It’s also the clunkiest size; small and thick.
This is…okay, but the major issue for me is that it doesn’t do pass through charging. So I can’t just hook everything up and forget about it; I need to charge it first and then charge my devices or use a multi-port plug or multiple plugs. This is a huge hassle, added weight, and cost. This is the option for you if you prioritize faster charge times and value a reliable brand name, but I don’t know if it’s worth the drawbacks.
Next, I looked at the Veektomx, the overall best power bank out there right now in terms of price, size, weight, and technology according to this recent video.
The Veektomx is currently $22 and weighs 6 oz. That’s only slightly heavier than the Nitecore, except it also has a percentage display and an extra port. It’ll fully charge in ~3 hours and it does have passthrough charging. I was able to charge from USB C at 19W and (oddly) the micro USB port between 10-15W depending on if I had anything else connected. You do have to carry a wall plug and extra cables, bringing the weight around the same as the other two options and no built-in cables means you can charge at most 2 devices. This is the viable option if you want the best combination of weight, size, price, and charge time at the cost of fiddlyness with having to switch out more devices to charge everything.
And that’s it! I looked at literally hundreds of other options, including a lot of higher capacity power banks with better features, but none were worth pursuing due to price, weight, availability, feature set, etc.