Suggestions for phone charging

I'll be away for 10 days in August racing the pushbike across Wales.
As it's being run in the format of a rally we'll be camping every
night and it won't be in campsites.

One of the requirements for the race (and my own peace of mind) is to
have a fully charged mobile with you at all times.

Anyone got suggestions for keeping it charged with no access to
electrical outlets? I'll be keeping it switched off all the time but
I'd like to be able to call the wife most nights.

Solar chargers don't appear to get very good reviews and the ones that
get average reviews only appear to be available in America.

 

Take a spare battery?

 

I'm sure there's a gizmo which you fill with AA batteries, plug into
the phone and wallah!.

Or how about one of those windup phone chargers? eg
http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/search.do?productCode=WIN3MO

 

If it's a "requirement of the race", I'd ask the organisers how they expect
you to do it. If you need a phone for emergencies and not incoming, I'd keep
it turned off until needed and then turn off again. Or invest in a spare
battery or two and charge them before leaving. And take a car charger,
presumably there will be some sort of official vehicle around who can plug
it in for you if needed.

 

Yeah, that's probably the best bet. But obviously if I use both that
and the one in the phone I'm stuck, hence why I was after a charging
mechanism.

 

Now that's not a bad plan. I need to carry a lot of AA batteries with
me to run the GPS.

 

It's a requirement and if I didn't want to phone my wife most nights
it wouldn't be a problem keeping it off. But I do and it's talk time
won't do 10 days.

Yeah, and the other 299 riders will also want to do the same.

Midn you, they must have something in place to provide electrical
outlets to charge peoples lights for the night stages.

 

You're a hamster with TWO wheels.

 

Youngest son tried one of those things.
Without much success.
Be cautious and try it out before you have rely on it.

Dave

 

Cheers.

 

Even better option: Don't ring the wife.

 

You must have a selection of shite old phones littering the house.
Take more than one
..

 

I use one of these, does PDA and/or phone(see addon pack).
http://www.efx.co.uk/solarefx/panel.html

Works for me.

hth

 

What about fitting a dynamo wheel hub?

 

you can get winders for phone charging now
bit like the torch and radio wind up versions
(this ain't a wind up)

 

http://www.thegadgetstore.com/TemplatePages/Product/147/73/2.htm

HTH

Chris D

 

Nick. Have you /any/ idea just how dangerous that would be?

Dave

 

ISTM that the best thing you can do is ask the organisers the
reason(s) they want you to carry a fully-charged mobile at all times.

To have the mobile switched off except for when you want to make a
call is one thing; probably the easiest solution is a spare,
fully-charged battery.

But if they want you to have a mobile so they can contact you e.g.
road condition reports, etc, then that is a different kettle of fish,
unless they run a 'txts on the hour' service. But even that might
stress the spare-battery scenario, and having your mobile on 24/7
would involve a far more technically-complex solution.

 

What would happen?

Perhaps, if I were to marry, I would need a very low maintenance wife
who didn't require constant attention or speaking to more than once or
twice a week.

 

And he's got to keep hold of the handlebars.