Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank • Hacker News Board

Re: Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

#311

Post by voidmain0001 » Mon, Sep 22, 2025, 8:10 PM UTC

ics wrote: post #304

voidmain0001 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sleep on a hard surface? That is really difficult for me as a side sleeper. I have slept on hard surfaces out of necessity and my hips and knees are hurting by morning. Do you use a pillow or is your head on the hard surface too?

I started doing it as a kid in order to break my reliance on side sleeping and help general posture. These days I'm less strict but benefit from being able to find a comfortable position anywhere. I'd recommend not resting your head on a pillow but using firm cushioning under your neck; that will very slightly lift and relieve pressure from your head and keep head/neck/shoulders adequately separated. A straw cushion…

Sleeping on a hard surface to avoid side sleeping - noted. Sleeping on my back will lead to snoring which is not appreciated by those around me. I will try the pillow replacement suggestion, though.

Re: Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

#312

Post by askvictor » Mon, Sep 22, 2025, 9:34 PM UTC

Xylakant wrote: post #280

askvictor wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it gives you charging parallelism (shortening down your recharging time How do two independent power banks achieve this?

I believe the parent means you can charge the powerbanks in parallel.

OK; I had never considered hikes where there's a charging point along the way. I guess that's becoming a thing now.

Re: Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

#313

Post by nicbou » Mon, Sep 22, 2025, 10:50 PM UTC

averagewagon wrote: post #301

nicbou wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fully committing to USB C was a wonderful move. It's much easier to pack for the day, but also for hiking, cycling and motorcycle trips. I wired my motorcycle panniers to have USB C chargers inside them. Retractable C to C cables are also worth it.

Which brands of retractable USB C to C cables do you prefer?

The random ones I got from Amazon a few years ago have been just fine. I have a longer one for my MacBook on longer trips.

Re: Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

#314

Post by B-Con » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 12:49 AM UTC

askvictor wrote: post #312

Xylakant wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the parent means you can charge the powerbanks in parallel.

OK; I had never considered hikes where there's a charging point along the way. I guess that's becoming a thing now.

Airplane mode + 10k battery lasts ~6-12 days, depending on the person and the phone.

There are roughly 1 or 2 thousand attempted "thru" hikes per year, who hike from southern to northern border of the USA over the course of 3-5 months. Far more "section" hikers, who will do a 1-4 week segment of a larger trail.

Such folks often resupply food and recharge their battery banks every few days.

To be fair, we'd generally call it backpacking rather than hiking. But the premise of the article was backpackers, so I didn't bother distinguishing.

Re: Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

#315

Post by lightedman » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 1:07 AM UTC

zparky wrote: post #299

lightedman wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pain equals gain. Most ultralight hikers optimize for low weight, I optimize for low weight and maximum leftover space to haul a ton of weight back. https://imgur.com/a/ezPqNG1 Cuz trust me, you don't wanna leave that behind when you find it.

yours will be an unpopular view, for good reason. however it is funny imagining you hiking back with a backpack full of stolen rocks.

Stolen? I have mining claims. What's stolen? To boot, these are in areas nobody hikes because it's too dangerous for hikers. These are in actual mining districts.

Re: Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

#316

Post by itsmek » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 7:27 AM UTC

jauntywundrkind wrote: post #46

Nitecore is somewhat accepted as the best lightweight battery, but they aren't cheap. 10Ah battery is $60, 5.9oz. the 20Ah is 10.2oz and $100. Unlike the Hasbro, it comes close to its rated specification. My backpacking trips have definitely not needed 20Ah. For two or three nights I can usually get by with a 5000mah, if I shutdown at night and frequently use airplane mode. And my phones are usually getting on, don't…

What is your source for the nitecore being higher capacity than the equivalently rated haribo? All primary sources I've seen so far indicate they are comparable at 70-75%

Re: Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

#317

Post by bigmadshoe » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 12:50 PM UTC

askvictor wrote: post #312

Xylakant wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the parent means you can charge the powerbanks in parallel.

OK; I had never considered hikes where there's a charging point along the way. I guess that's becoming a thing now.

That has always been a thing. If you’re hiking for several months you have to stop somewhere to buy food tens of times. Most places that sell food (e.g. towns with supermarkets) have electricity.

Re: Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

#318

Post by askvictor » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 9:33 PM UTC

bigmadshoe wrote: post #317

askvictor wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK; I had never considered hikes where there's a charging point along the way. I guess that's becoming a thing now.

That has always been a thing. If you’re hiking for several months you have to stop somewhere to buy food tens of times. Most places that sell food (e.g. towns with supermarkets) have electricity.

I'm in Australia, where most hikes top out at a week (there are a few longer ones now). I have also noticed that on the more popular/developed hikes that have shelters sometimes now provide USB charging ports.

Re: Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

#319

Post by wkat4242 » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 10:56 PM UTC

ics wrote: post #304

voidmain0001 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sleep on a hard surface? That is really difficult for me as a side sleeper. I have slept on hard surfaces out of necessity and my hips and knees are hurting by morning. Do you use a pillow or is your head on the hard surface too?

I started doing it as a kid in order to break my reliance on side sleeping and help general posture. These days I'm less strict but benefit from being able to find a comfortable position anywhere. I'd recommend not resting your head on a pillow but using firm cushioning under your neck; that will very slightly lift and relieve pressure from your head and keep head/neck/shoulders adequately separated. A straw cushion…

What's bad about side sleeping? Just wondering.

Re: Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

#320

Post by OkayPhysicist » Tue, Sep 23, 2025, 11:20 PM UTC

zparky wrote: post #299

lightedman wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pain equals gain. Most ultralight hikers optimize for low weight, I optimize for low weight and maximum leftover space to haul a ton of weight back. https://imgur.com/a/ezPqNG1 Cuz trust me, you don't wanna leave that behind when you find it.

yours will be an unpopular view, for good reason. however it is funny imagining you hiking back with a backpack full of stolen rocks.

To clarify, it depends on where you are. In the US, federal land comes in different tiers of protection. National Parks are tourist destinations, generally requiring you to stay on trail, take nothing, leave nothing, etc. National Wilderness Areas allow you off trail, but no motor vehicles. National Forests allow a pretty varied level of recreational usage, often including non-commercial rockhounding, and may allow off-road vehicles (depends on the forest), and then Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land is basically a free-for-all, allowing pretty much any recreational activity and even commercial activity with the appropriate permits.

Out here in the west, you'll find a LOT of land in all 4 categories, not to mention state-level parks, which at least here in California allow some rockhounding near streams and beaches.