Backcountry AA power solutions. Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus kit.

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
5,433
Location
New England woods.
First the hike! This is field use gear after all.





Within the margins of the woods/fields/open areas are often opportunities. In this case black cap raspberries. Hands down one of the best raspberries around.





The higher country. I have seen bears up here when the hucks and blueberries are ready.








When packing devices which use AA/AAA power in the woods or my preps I like to carry this kit. Keep in mind that I don't always pack all the components.





Lets go over the components.


Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus. It is a very simple charger with few options. For example I can't charge just one AA battery. I can't really tell the level of charge if not under load. I can tell to some degree how much progress to full during a charge and if empty under load. One pro to being so simple is a high degree of reliability when solar charging. I have noticed though testing the more complex the USB charger the greater the chances of a solar charging failure. There is no set standard for this statement but the simpler the better for solar charging IMHO. I put a blaze orange silicon cover plus reflective and orange lanyard for max visibility.





The light goes from flashing red to slow then fast flashing green then finally solid green when fully charged. When discharged under load the led goes from green to sorta yellowish to red. When not under load it can be green yet still have not enough juice to charge.





The 5mm white LED will work even if there isn't enough power to charge a device. Not sure how long the 5mm white LED runs using 4XAA but it's probably a long to time.





I have two sets of AAs within the kit. Regular LSD Eneloops which are the gold standard for reliability and durability. They can be charged for over 2000 cycles holding a charge for years. One down side is a lower capacity of around 2000 mAh. The green holder has 4X 2500 mAh Duracell Icon Core. I think they're basically Eneloop pros. I trust the standard Eneloops more but like the extra capacity of the Duracell. 2500 mAh at 4.8 volts has 12Wh of energy. The Guide 10 Plus using 4X 2500 mAh NiMH charged my Ipad Air 2 an average of 23.5% increase. Compared to a Nitecore F1 using a naked 3500 mAh 18650 red did the same 23.5% on average for 12.95Wh. A 3000 mAh MyCharge All Terrain increased the Ipad 2 by 22% for 11.1 Wh. I used the Ipad Air 2 on airplane mode for testing at various levels of initial charge to compile an average percentage increase as it's battery is larger than many smaller powerbanks.


Remember determining powerbank capacity can be difficult as moving energy around isn't free and stated capacities can be misleading. For example a person might think a 3000 mAh powerbank should charge a 6000 mAh battery twice but it doesn't work that way. I find direct comparison of real world results rather than stated numbers alone to be effective enough for my general field uses. The bottom line is the Guide 10 plus seems to be transferring the energy from 4XAA efficient enough compared to other similar capacity options. I don't store batteries inside the Guide 10 Plus as can't determine the remaining charge. It's possible for me to leave on the LED lights etc etc so just store the batteries inside the two holders until needed. The Duracells are inside Guide 10. I should replace the green holder with a brighter color.





Some Mini/Micro/Lightning cables. I use heavier duty ones whenever possible. The chartreuse cable is a combo Mini and Micro. Not heavy duty but fills the redundancy and visibility roll.





Multiple use cable/adapters.





I can plug them into here.





An adapter which plugs into an adapter.





They work!











Vehicle, wall and AA to AAA adapter.





14 watt high efficiency 22-25% panel. When I do carry a panel (rarely) it's this one. A good balance of weight, bulk and actual usefulness.





That's about it. As stated I don't often pack all of this stuff. For example during a shorter outing I might just take the Guide 10 with a lightning cable. I carry 4XAA extra batteries when packing AA gear so that would add just 3.5 ounces to my pack. Other times I take more. Thanks for looking! Here is a video.

 

KeyGrip

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 18, 2006
Messages
2,536
Location
Back in Santa Cruz
Nice rundown, thanks for posting everything together. I have the basic Guide 10 kit with the solar panel and 4 cell charger, got it used out of curiosity and it's proved a handy addition to my charging inventory.
 
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