Would a generator be out of the question?

We have a small generator (2500w )...it is noisy and disruptive and difficult to run in bad weather. But we did use it a little last summer in a pinch. Then you have to go into the marina anyway to buy more GAS, for it. So solar seems like a better idea. It is just I would like a storage battery --but those take up to 8 hrs or more to recharge as well...and the batteries don't come with an AC adapter and you have to buy that extra...and it just becomes a bigger pain..if you get my drift?

We used mostly the car battery charger, but that is getting old and not working well anymore. (over 10 yrs old).

We go up there to get away from air pollution, fumes, and noise, so the generator, even though in a little enclosure, is still a return to "nasty" civilization.

Sometimes I get so discouraged. sigh... Maybe I will just take all 8 weeks off here and not use it on the net at all except for emergency purchases... today that seems like the best option.

Photo attachment included showing distance to mainland, and the scenic potential there.

Great pic!

One of my "Green" friends has this and loves it.

http://store.sunwarriorinc.com/?acc=...cc509a6f75849b

Im not sure how long you will be away from power (few hours/day vs weeks on end)

I frequently find myself away from power for 1-3 days at a time. For me a halo brand charger/battery works great. About the size of a fat lipstick, I charge it via wall socket or the laptop USB port. It holds its charge for weeks on end if not used. Charges my iphone 100% fairly quickly; for times I cant wait I just connect the halo device to my iphone and talk/email uninterrupted. Will charge tablet too. I get about 4-5 full phone charges on my device before I must recharge the device again (admit that I tend to re-charge it when it gets to about 1/3 capacity since I never know where I will be any given day)

They make different sizes/capacity. They aren't expensive. In the disaster sector I work in most of us use these type of compact devices. Some use one or two lipstick style, some go for the "deck of cards" size. We just throw them in our backpack/fanny pack or pockets. Also great for power outages during storms at home when the entire family calls to check in on us and ends up yapping lol

try QVC, radiochack, best buy or (my favorite) monoprice dot com
here is a quick link-
http://www.qvc.com/Electronics.categ...305_qvc%20halo

Perhaps 8 weeks, this year we will be up there. I have stayed as long as 3 mons in the past (with no phone back then). (no running water or electricity, and only a small generator for emergency power).

Before getting the smart phone, I ran our inexpensive Nokia brick type off an Energizer 2 AA travel batt, and also off the Car Charger, which we bought at WalMart.

But the smart phone iPhone 4S is 4G and eats the battery quickly if I come on here to read, answer posts or moderate anything. We did buy a couple of needed large things on Amazon last summer off the phone and had them delivered up there. That was very handy. (it is a full day travel to Sault Ste. Marie US...in order to get anything substantial. The local grocery is adequate but does not have a large selection of food...not even much cat food-- as it is mostly a dog town).
This is only our 2nd summer with the smart phone.

We like the idea of a solar charger. Last year we planned on getting a solar thing and maybe a backup battery, but after reading the reviews on Amazon...I am horrified at how many failures and poor manufacturing quality I am seeing there.
There are even engineers claiming to have tested these items and found the wattages are misrepresented etc.

I was hoping someone here has used solar recharging for electronics, and has a recommendation for us.
So far we are leaning towards this:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FABKX7E/...I1WWLCD5PSHUAZ

Perhaps a storage battery will be done later if at all?
Or nothing at this time, and we will charge in our cars like last year (which is not everyday)? Endure the stinky generator (if it works that is), for some charging at night if we turn on lights instead of our LED lanterns. We both have iPhones 4S...but only I have the higher featured internet gigabytes in my plan.

So last season was only 4 wk stay...since hubby was still working. He is now retired, so we can stay longer, and that makes solar look more helpful.

Well, this is an update on our solar charger...

We bought the ReVive folding 14w charger from Amazon that is on the link in the post above this.

We have charged an iPhone 4S twice ... the last charge went from 35% to 100% in an hour and 10 minutes. That is just wonderful IMO. LOL

Putting a pad over the phone with air circulation enabled of the phone, the temp reached 100 F in that time. Next charge we will try a cold flat rock...(from the freezer) with a towel over it, and see if that helps to protect the phone. I've read that 113 F is the upper tolerable limit for this phone.

We did not get a storage battery yet. If this continues to work so easily we may not need one.

I had to charge my phone every 2-3 days, using 4G to get on the internet, last summer. This solar charger is working well so far and is about as fast as the car battery jump battery we used to use.

This charger folds up and is quite small, but a bit heavy IMO. We won't be hiking with it though.

Thanks to everyone here on this thread for their ideas and input!

Here is a little bit of "knowledge" that I gained from a recent trip to Miami. This post is spurred by the one above on the amperage outputs.

I had to drive from South Florida to Virginia stopping at dozens of Publix grocery stores for business. I had all the addresses, and was relying on my phones GPS for the directions.

Well, the 12V car charger I had bought at Walmart would NOT keep up the charge on my Samsung S3 if I was using it for GPS, email, texting and talking. Drove me nuts till I did a little research.

Turns out that 12V car chargers come in two flavours. The 1A and 2.1A.

1A is NOT enough to maintain the battery while in use (under load) but the 2.1A is more then capable.

Moral of the story: Check the specs on the car charger to see what the output is and buy one with a 2.1A output in at least one of the ports

http://mnvcollections.com/new-soundl...attery-back-up

her dad gave her one beats me why we will use have car chargers home

dont go far or hiking hmm just have to play with it