Gear Review

What I Carry to Stay Charged Thru-Hiking (Hint: It’s Not Nitecore or a Solar Panel)

  • Updated: May 22, 2025
  • Post By: Matthew Hengst


As someone who liked to do thru hikes that are more on the remote end and who uses my phone heavily for shooting / editing / posting videos on trail I am well versed in the ins and outs of how to keep electronics powered on trail.

What I carry

If your just looking for a quick answer to what batteries I currently carry here you go. See below for the why.
 
The other two items shown above are
 
 
Disclaimer: These are all things I've bought myself and I'm actually using. Amazon links are affiliate links meaning we get some financial benefit if you click through and buy. To avoid that feel free to just throw the product name into Google instead.

Main Battery - Anker 24k PowerCore

Anker 24k mAh Powerbank on Amazon

This is my main workhorse battery. I charge my phone and AirPods off it daily and usually never touch my secondary battery unless I'm out for 4+ days. The only reason I don't carry as my single battery is I was tired of rushing into town with an empty battery and limited options.

Assuming a proper wall charger it gets back to full charge from empty in about 3 hours. These days you can pay a bigger weight penalty and get that closer to 1 hour but at least so far I haven't found anything I really want to try. Maybe next time a battery is getting old.
 
For comparison my first real thru hike I had a 20k battery that would charge in 7-8 hours. And it was painful having to sit around town for hours just waiting to leave.

Anker product lines are quite frankly a nonsensical mess. So if the link above isn't working this is a 24k Anker PowerCore with 2x USB C and 1x USB A that is capable of charging at up to 65W. If they discontinue this one I just look for 2 USB C ports and what the highest input it will take is since that dictates charging time.

Backup Battery - Anker 10k PowerCore 

Anker 10k mAh Powerbank on Amazon

I bought this as a replacement for a 10k Walmart brand battery I lived with after yet another Nitecore failure on trail.

It's small, light, and I really like the screen display that shows a percentage. I haven't lived with it long enough to really get all the ins and outs of that vs the 4 dot power meters on my other batteries but so far I have really liked this thing. I'd replace the 24k with an equivalent if they release one.
 
I would recommend avoiding the model with an integrated cable. As convenient as that is the cable is prone to breaking. Better to use a standalone you can replace.
 

Wall Charger - Mokin Dual Port 40W

 
The main thing people sometimes miss about charging time is it's dependent on the wall charger up to the input limit of the battery. Meaning if you're still using one of those old school USB A squares you got with an iPhone ten years ago you're probably going to be sitting around waiting quite a while.
 
I decided on this one because I wanted something folding with two USB C ports. The big issue with multi port wall adapters is they don't delivery the full amount with more than one thing plugged in so more than 2 was generally just a space and weight penalty.
 
This version I linked to for example is newer than the one I have. It delivers 40W to a single source and 20W + 20W when you have two things plugged in.
 
Generally a current iPhone Pro Max doesn't benefit much from going above 20W but it can charge up to 27W or so. So if I'm in a hurry I just plug it in alone. My 24k battery can similarly charge at 30W. If I'm in a hotel and leaving it on overnight I use both ports but if I'm waiting around trying to leave town I plug it in alone.

The one issue I have with this charger has to do with my AirPods Pro 2's. It seems like they don't always play well with PD fast charging. It's annoying, I'd buy another adapter to work around it, but I manage by just charging them off the battery since they don't actually need much power. Also from my research it's an AirPod issue not a wall plug issue.

Cables & Adapters - 2x USB C to USB C, one USB C to USB A adapter (sometimes)

I carry two cables both for double charging and because I've had a single cable + a bunch of small adapters be a failure point in the past.
 
I have so many many cables lying around I generally use a mix but be aware very cheap cables may not actually delivery higher power amounts or work for data. When in doubt I find the Anker brand is a solid choice and I've had less eventual failures on those than anything else.

A note on the multi ended cables meaning USB C on one end and the other end has USB C + lightning + mini + whatever else. While these exist the USB C standard for PD fast charging doesn't support anything more than single end to single end. This means these are technically a hackjob. Most of the time they just won't fast charge so you're stuck at the speed of a standard USB C but they are anecdotally also very prone to failure and I wouldn't trust something that isn't following the standard. YMMV but if you need more ports I'd personally but a bunch of standalone USB C to x and carry them in a small bag. That's what I used to do.
 

Why I like a 20-24k + a 10k

If you've looked around online you might notice I carry a lot more battery than most people.

It's not uncommon to find people claiming a single 10k is perfect, 2 10ks should be more than enough for anyone, etc. So why do I carry two and why is one a 20+k?

Anecdotally I feel like when I've had 2 10ks I just don't get as much power out of them as a single 20k. While I understand the redundancy argument I feel like the single 20k worked better for me and I've had remarkably solid luck with Anker quality wise.

Also when I hike my preference is not to spend more time in town than I have to. I enjoy my town stops, luxuriate in the occasional hotel overnight, and spend days fantasizing about my next town Mexican food stop. But even when I did the Appalachain Trail where you have constant access to affordable ish town stays I just enjoy camping too much to do it more than I have to. The idea of being in a crowded hostel bunk room instead of out in my tent listening to the sounds of nature isn't even a close competition.
 
Also towns are the most expensive part of any thru hike. Because willpower when you've been hiking for 3 months is a funny thing.

Also as I've branched out most trails don't have the easy town access of the AT. When i did the CDT I avoided a lot of the shortcut alternates people take because if I was going to do the trail I wanted to do the trail. This meant some 7 day hauls. Going through the Sierra on the PCT we went straight from Kennedy Meadows South to VVR and I absolutely loved getting to stay back there and not having to slum out to Kearsarge and the east side.

Having the spare 10k means I can basically relax and use as much power as I need until my 24K gets down to a single dot. Then I start really watching my usage.
 

Power needs depend on your usage and devices

Similar to hiking shoes there is not any one answer that will work for everyone. Specifically when it comes to power banks your needs are going to come down to your usage and gear. So I'm going to describe mine and let you compare it to yourself.

As of today I have long ago switched completely away from disposable batteries for environmental reasons and because I hated seeing the big bin of old castoffs waiting to be taken to hazardous waste. Everything is rechargeable and these are the things I'm generally trying to keep powered on an ongoing basis.
  • Latest iPhone Pro Max - Needs charged daily
  • Apple AirPod Pro 2's - Need charged every other day
  • Nitecore NU20 Classic Rechargeable Headlamp - needs charged every few days
  • Garmin InReach Mini 2 - needs charged once a blue moon
Note that I specifically swapped out gear until I had a headlamp and Inrech that had a usb C port because I was annoyed at having to carry another cable or adapter that is USB c to USB mini. Not a big deal, my partner made fun of me for it, but I'm an old IT geek and I'm sick to my soul of having a large drawer full of old proprietary or outdated adapters. All hail USB C.


As I mentioned above these days my common stretch between towns is often 5 days and sometimes longer. And during that time I'm shooting about an hours worth of video footage a day in small 15 second increments throughout the entire day. I'm spending maybe an hour and a half in my tent each morning editing said clips into an episode in iMovie and exporting. Though I will skip this if I'm low on power or really trying to stretch things I find they come out better done in the moment.

So I design my power needs around these longer stretches taking into account my normal usage. So YMMV and it's quite possible you can manage with just the 24k. Or maybe a 10k.
 
Of these the items above the highest power usage is of course the phone. It has a massive battery relative to anything else and I do use it heavily as it's replaced multiple devices for me. However...

Your usage might be different than you think on trail

The #1 thing that kills my battery isn't listening to music or audio books or having to pull FarOut out every 5 minutes because the trail isn't marked well. It's when I come off airplane mode to either get some sort of an update or text someone.

It's usually texting someone back i civilization that gets me. And if you haven't done a long thru hike before you might be surprised how much you want to do this after a few months of being out there.

When I used to do trips that were a few days to a week long it really didn't bother me going out of contact. Works / friends / etc could wait after all and why bother trying to check in short of something like a family member with a health crisis.

It's a different game at least for me when I'm gone for months at time and often solo. I get all the time I could want away from things like text messages that I see them more as a treat than a chore. 

Also in the course of any long hike things will go wrong. Plans will have to change and if your anything like me it's a lit easier to minimize these disruptions by communicating with folks off trail who have easier access to a computer.

So you probably won't know how much power you'll use for a while. But I would argue it's worth carrying more than you think you need for added flexibility. It's often a lot easier to send home a second battery then it is to get a replacement on short notice.


Setting up your phone to minimize power usage

This is iPhone specific but Android is similar.

iOS Control Center

There are two major settings you need to have on at all times to save battery and one that really helps. The above is from the control center on my iPhone which I have modified for quick access but you should be able to find all three pretty easily in settings.

Airplane Mode (Most of the time)

This turns off the cellular, wifi, and bluetooth radios in your phone. (Well, not completely but that's a more involved topic) By default this is always on when I'm on trail and it's a conscious decision to turn it off. 

When I do want to check messages I make sure I'm someplace where I think I might have reception like a mountain with a long view towards a town, switch it on do my business, and switch it off. I can tell you from experience the phone uses a relatively high amount of power when it's looking for a cell connection to the point I often see it go down multiple percentages each time I try.

Low Battery Mode (Always)

This mode has a number of effects including making the screen go off sooner, keeping the brightness down, and notifying apps that they can't just pop up and use up battery whenever they want. This is generally on for the entirety of my hike unless I'm in a hotel with access to a plug overnight.

Note this does put limitations on the processor so if you try and do something graphically or processor intensive it's going to run slower. Probably the most intensive thing I'm doing on an average day is exporting a finished episode from iMovie and I haven't noticed enough of a difference there to make me change my ways

Screen Brightness (Only when desperate)

I only resort to this when I really need to scrimp but I am always surprised by just how much longer my battery lasts when I keep the brightness down to absolute minimum. 
 
Now I hate doing this normally because it makes the screen pretty impossible to read when the sun is out but there you go. It's also why watching TV shows at night in my tent doesn't drain nearly as much as you think it might.

Don't charge to 100%

This isn't a setting exactly but more of a behavior. It's a lot harder to charge the last 20% of the battery than it is the lower end. So I never charge above 80% unless I'm plugged into a wall or maybe a temporary battery from a trail angel. And when I'm really trying to conserve I tend to only charge to 65% or so which is usually plenty to get me through the day if I'm not being sloppy.

I also don't know if this is anything to do with the phone or just physiological but I feel like the 80% to 60% goes away a lot faster than below 60%. It's quite possible this is just my thinking "Hey I have all this power it won't hurt to go off airplane mode and send Jen a picture of this turtle..." but there you go.

Rechargeable batteries like love don't last forever

Anyone who has ever had an iPhone for a few years and then upgraded to a new models knows this but I point it out because at least in this context people often seem to forget.

Rechargeable batteries are only rated for so many cycles by their nature. They degrade with use meaning the exact same battery that gave you 4 charges initially will eventually give you 3 or less.

Example from my currently fairly lightly used iPhone

I use my batteries for hundreds of days a year on trail and also constantly off trail. As a result I've replaced my power banks every few years as the degradation becomes noticeable to me. It's something to at least consider if you are still rocking a battery from 5+ years ago.

Also consider that an upgrade will likely get you noticeably faster charging thanks to technology improvements.
 
 

Why I no longer use Nitecore (and maybe you shouldn't either)

Looking online particularly around the Facebook hiking groups one would be excused for thinking that the de facto answer to what battery should one should carry on a hike is always a Nitecore 10k. Or else 2 Nitecore 10ks. Or maybe a 20k if your really just power hungry.


On paper they do seem pretty great.  They are compact and the lightest on the market. They cost a little more but not an unreasonable amount. And I have owned about 5 of them at this point.
 

So why don't I like them to the point I feel compelled to warn people about other options? They have serious quality issues.

I have owned multiple generations of the 10k and 20k varieties. Last time it took two brand new 20ks that wouldn't work normally straight out of the box before I got one that worked. They kept getting stuck when charging at two solid lights and wouldn't finish. And that one that did work at first had the port fail on me after a few months.

I have also had a non trivial number of encounters on trail with someone who had a 10k battery they bought because people online recommended them. And they were complaining about it not even charging their phone fully once. My last 10k failed like that with what I assume was a cell going bad.

There is also an issue with certain generations where if a button was inadvertently pressed while it was in your bag it would throw it into storage mode meaning it wouldn't function again until it was plugged into a wall and allowed to charge fully. As you can imagine this has caught some people in a bad circumstance on remote sections of trail and there were Etsy sellers offering custom printed protectors to avoid this.

After this last round which included interactions with their US support operation and sending in batteries to try and prove the issue I had enough and swore them off. I stick to Anker and I'm skeptical of any no name brands. Anecdotally I have heard reasonable things about UGreen but I've yet to try one for any extended time.


Solar: The Ultimate Dream Just Out of Practical Reach

Another pet peeve of mine about online recommendations is people recommending solar panels. Sometimes I suspect these might be shill accounts doing gorilla marketing.

Solar is an amazing concept. Who doesn't love the idea of free power from the sun! And I love the idea so much I have wasted far too much time and money playing with things. Hell, I even fell for the upgraded Fenix watch with the tiny solar panel.


I also lived out of a van for 3 ish years that we mostly powered with a 100W panel and a few power stations. I've also successfully done a 75 day canoe trip powered almost completely off solar and played with a number of supposedly top of the line hiking solutions. So I've eaten a bit of the dog food here. I also live out west which is theoretically better when it comes to solar panels.


In the field I have made solar work for well me exactly once so far and that was in '23 on the Mississippi River. I wrote up that solution with a parts list under Powering Our Paddle With a $250 Voltaic Solar Box | Mississippi Source to Sea 2023.

However I see a constant stream of questions on online Facebook groups asking about it. In some cases some suspiciously thorough responses recommend something like this and say it works great:


These are sometimes followed by less well written comments expressing confusion about how they tried something like this and it just ran down and never charged their phone

You can look up endless explainer videos on YouTube going over the math but the output from a panel that small would take days at ideal conditions to even give a partial charge. And conditions are rarely optimal and panels rarely deliver their full specs.
 


Charging a phone directly off a solar panel has never worked well

This is because the power coming off the panel can change quite a bit based on how bright the sun is and whether part of the panel gets blocked by shade. In general even a small corner of a panel getting blocked will drop the power output so low it's not even worth bothering. So trying to charge a phone directly often leads to the same behavior as if you plugged and unplugged your phone from the wall repeatedly without the benefit of a fast charge in between. You'll actually loose power instead of gain.

So the common solution is to attach a battery pack to the solar panel, charge that, and then charge your phone off the battery.

This works assuming you can get your panel in direct sunlight for an extended period of time. We're talking hours at a time. Mixed cloud cover? Nope. Hanging it off your pack and going in and out of trees? Also nope. Have a few hours at the end of the day in camp where you can leave the panel out? Sorry, you really needed that 11 am to 3 pm time window for the best sun.

And generally for the weight cost of the panel you can get a second light 10k battery and extend your time away from town for days. Also modern batteries even of the 20k variety can charge fully in 1-3 hours when plugged into a proper wall charger.
 

A few do make it work (and I'd love to hear from them)

As I mentioned under Nitecore I'm suspicious of a certain type of Facebook post that seems to paint specific products in an unduly positive light because I think in the modern era of LLMs it's easy to run marketing campaigns with fake comments or reviews. And realistically even before that companies paid real people to shill for them. See the marketing history of Sprite for example.

So ignoring anything I've com across online have people I've met made it work? Yes. And in one or two cases they actually seemed to have a reasonable amount of experience and I plopped down next to them and started peppering them with questions because this is honestly something I have a high amount of interest in and motivation to play with further. 

The one I give the most credence to used a Voltaic panel (same brand I used on the Mississippi) and was primarily hiking places with constant exposure to the sun. He did hang the panel off the back of his pack and charged a small battery. He also had very low power usage in general and when I met him he was supplementing by charging his battery off a wall plug.

When I dug into specifics he did admit that he had actually gone through 3 different panels that seemed to fail despite his best to take care of them. He also had an older phone and didn't use much power at all. So in the end it was interesting information but not what I'd call a general solution much less something that would work for me.

When I think solar is currently worth it

  • When you have an extended time in some sort of a base camp where you can leave a panel out in open sunshine for hours at a time in the middle of the day. The bigger the panel the better but don't bother below 9W and don't trust company marketing materials.
  • Doing something like a canoe trip where you can set the panel out flat and again have unbroken sunshine in the middle of the day.
  • When your power needs are incredibly low. We're talking a flip phone you leave off for days at a time. Even then that battery alone will probably be a better solution.
  • When the technology improves significantly from it's current state.
Outside of that at least for now solar is like <censored due to Jen>: an unreachable dream

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