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What is your preferred method for recharging back country devices ? I know a USB recharge is more effective than solar, but if you have some sun you can always get some charge via solar. It's a bit of a trade off. I recently purchased solar panels from suntastic.com which seem to be much better than the most of the back packable panels around. They are lightweight (8 ounces) and apparently capable of recharging an iphone in 2 hrs. It does only provide a USB connection, so to get other batteries charged you would need to charge to a USB based battery charger. It seems interesting.

I don't have a good option right now. I was planning to get a USB charger that I could stick a few lithium AAs in and be done.

I'll be interested to see how yours works out.

Initial testing has been positive. I received a USB battery charger, a USB power bank and the Solar Panel. Yesterday I charged my phone about 20 % in 30 minutes while using it a little. The USB power bank takes longer, about 6 hours but can be charged at home by a computer as well. This seems to have enough itself for 2 or 3 iphone recharges (I guess the iphone can hold 1430 ma, while the USB power pack is 5000 ma ). This is pretty light, just 4 ounces I believe and should be enough for most shorter duration trips. For longer duration, or for trips when multiple people are using devices you might need the solar panel as well.

Well that makes it a lot more affordable in my mind. So you get a USB power pack, with the capability of 2-3 recharges, plus a solar panel to recharge the power pack for longer trips? Does the USB pack have replaceable batteries or is it a sealed unit?

What about waterproofness? Could I leave it at camp out in the sun during the day to recharge the USB battery pack and then recharge my phone at night?

A power bank is a closed set-up, you can charge it with solarpower or mains. You can mostly attach USB devices like an USB battery charger or your phone.

If you want to be smart you can build your own powerbank made from rechargeable batteries, trhat way you might save the weight of the USB battery charger. Prerequisite with this method is that all your devices need to use the same kind of rechargeable batteries. A powerbank with a capacity of 4 rechargeable batteries and an additional 4 extra rechargable batteries should do it, to als be able to use products that use recharge able batteries that fit into your selfmade powerpack..

In summer, the packable solar chargers are OK in central Alberta but it takes a long time to get those batteries charged enough to work, even for a short time. Here in Alberta, in late August the sun is just not able to provide the energy to charge any camera or phone batteries using small solar chargers. We found, like Nathan C, that the ultimate lithium AAs are our best source of power. They have a few added advantages in that they are light, work at very low temperatures, and keep their voltage constant as they discharge. We use as many AA electronics as we can and take a couple of AA USB chargers with us up the mountain. The cords to charge phones and cameras do not add much weight to the pack. Two of our cameras take the same batteries so we take 6 charged spares of that type for a week long trip even in late November. Usually we only need to charge one or two times to get through the week. We use a Delorme IN Reach with the Iphones so the phones need charging more often. The only problem with this method is the cost of those UL batteries!

Being in the UK, solar charging isn't particularly effective, although I have tried it. power packs have been the way to go for me, and I have a 12,000MA version of this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50000mAh-Port ... 20d28edcfa which works very well, providing me with plenty of power for phone/tablet charging. THe size of the 12,000MA version is about the same as a packet of cigarettes, and in cold weather can be kept in a pocket to keep it at optimum temperature.

ps - no connection with the above company!

Solar works well here