Technology

Rhandirmwyn Campsite

There is no mobile coverage at all at this campsite – so no overnight blogging.

We got the tents up and sleeping gear laid out before the light rain set in. I cooked my meal on my titanium meths stove using my titanium mug with lid, to keep the rain drops out. I put the burner just outside the tent door, where it got some shelter but did endanger the tent.

Sausage mash and onion gravy

gone!

The Richard’s cooked on gas under the shelter of some trees.

Here is RAP’s fajitas.

RKW had chilli sausage with cous cous – with burnt bits as he had the gas up to high and did not stir the sauce enough – but it tasted fine.

This was followed, for all of us, by chocolate and bottled beer by the river.

We had some dry weather but by 8.30pm the rain was heavy enough that we retired to the tents.

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10Ah Power Bank Charger

This was a new item of equipment for this trip – this battery pack should give me about 4 to 5 charges for my iPhone, allowing me to use it for extended periods away from mains electricity.

It is about the size of a small external hard drive – I am storing it in a light padded case that used to hold such a drive – and weighs about 250g, so it is convenient for carrying on lightweight backpacking trips. For extra protection I plan to use a Aquapac 100% waterproof case.

The Power Bank is easy to use – I charged it, overnight, using a charger I had in the office that came with an HTC phone I no longer use. The Power Bank does not come with a charger. The Power Bank has overcharge and shortcircuit protection. If you press the power button four LEDs light up indicating how much charge remains in the unit.

To use plug your your device in using one of the supplied plugs and USB cable or just plug in your own device USB cable – I used an extendable iPhone/iPod cable.

I have used my iPhone all weekend and have charged it using the Power Bank – as I am writing this I have it plugged in charging/powering the iPhone – and about 50% of the power remains.

The phone usage was much higher than on a backpacking trip as I was online, reading from and playing music via the Bluetooth and car audio system for much of the car journey – and I used the iPhone in the tent last night again to read an ebook, play “Pocket Planes” and listen to an audio book for a longer time than normally because of the rain.

With normal backpacking use and careful power management on the iPhone this charger should allow me to be away from mains power for four of five days, including charging my iPod. To get a better estimate of the charging capacity I will test it when at home.