Solar Charger Recommendations for GPS/iPhone

[gwiggin1]

Greetings fellow Glacier Addicts!

Will be coming out in a couple weeks for my 11th trip to Glacier. Was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for portable, lightweight solar chargers.
I am usually very anti-cell phone when we are in the backcountry. However, since I've joined the iPhone revolution, I have discovered that the AccuTerra GPS Hiking app is absolutely fantastic and I plan on bringing it with for my upcoming backpacking itinerary. Like most PDA devices these days, the batteries drain very quickly.
I have been checking out the Brunton Solaris, and was wondering if anyone has tried it, and if you feel that it is worth the high price tag.
Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks much!
Happy Hiking!

[Hockey Ref]

The chances of getting a regular cell phone signal while in Glacier's backcountry are pretty low. You basically have to be atop a peak to get a signal, and even then it's very hit-and-miss. If you're talking about satellite reception, that would be a horse of a different color.

[gwiggin1]

Thanks Hockey

This would strictly be for the GPS App. I would turn off the phone feature and internet. The AccuTerra App works without those features.

[poky5mom]

That app sounds interesting - what does it do? Is it a free one?
Kim

[gwiggin1]

Hi Kim
No, I actually paid like 3 or 4 bucks for the Glacier Maps part of the AccuTerra. From what I understand, now you can get the whole country for $9.99
I like it because of the detailed terrain. Also what I heard is that its much more detailed than some of the $300+ hand held GPS units out there. Plus you can record where you go, gives stats, can take pictures along the way, and will show them when you are done and you do your trip summary "report". With all the snow still in the high country, it will be nice to have, should we need to go off trail around avalanche, and steep snow fields, etc. Check it out!

[muddog]

We recently bought a unit called Nomad 7 made by Goalzero. It's a 2 panel solar charger that weighs in at about 13 ounces and when folded up measures about 6 inches by 9 inches and about 1 inch thick. It has a USB plug, plus a cigarette plug adapter, and they claim it can charge a smartphone or gps unit in about 1-2 hours in full sun, or twice that on a cloudy day. It has eyelets on it so you can hook it to your backpack and charge while you are hiking. We use it for our Droid phones (for the GPS) and use Everytrail and Maverick for GPS tracking programs. Both allow you to load up maps for offline use, and Everytrail even has most Glacier Park trails loaded in it in the terrain mode. The solar unit ran us $79.99 at Costco with a pair of rechargeable speakers. My wife also uses it to recharge her camera batteries.

Here's a pic of it hooked onto my wife's Osprey pack.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtmuddog/6007151666/