I have received some great emails from photographers asking about suggestions on road trip destinations this summer. So great to see people out traveling again and enjoying the national parks and seashores. One photographer is car camping, and asked about how I power my camera gear on the road or in the backcountry. Great question!
Simply put, I use Goal Zero Sherpa and Yeti batteries and solar panels. Goal Zero has become the go-to name in portable solar power. I’ve been using the lightweight Sherpa for over a decade and it works terrific. This small battery can charge AC camera batteries, as well as a host of USB devices. You can carry the Sherpa in a backpack, and use small solar panels to charge the unit on extended backcountry trips.
But for car camping I use something else. I use a Yeti 400 power pack (the new version is 500). Check out the photo at top. This lithium battery is charged either from an AC outlet, or using larger solar panels that Goal Zero produces. This battery just goes on and on. When we are tent camping near our car, we just use this battery to charge our camera batteries, cell phones, laptops…A convenient display shows how much battery life is left. There are USB ports and normal AC plugs. When it gets low, or we just want to top it off while in camp, we hook it up to our large 100watt solar panels. About 4-6 hours on a sunny day and it is fully charged back up.