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Why your outdoorsy friend suddenly has a gummy bear power bank

https://www.theverge.com/tech/781387/backpacking-ultralight-haribo-power-bank
48•arnon•1h ago

Comments

Zanni•1h ago
Why your [ultra-light hiker] friend suddenly has [the world's lightest] power bank.

I remember Colin Fletcher, years ago, writing in The Complete Walker about trimming the borders off his paper maps to save weight, which seemed like an insane over-optimization to me. But then, I'm not an ultralight hiker.

I am impressed folks are getting their loads down to 10 pounds though.

JohnFen•48m ago
That insane over-optimization is how folks are getting down to (and below) 10 pounds.

I'm not even remotely an ultralight backpacker, but I do count ounces (no matter what your weight limit is, you can't escape making tradeoffs to stay within it). Your hiking load is a great example of how quickly apparently insignificant quantities can add up. Saving fractions of an ounce multiple times gets you large savings far more quickly than you'd think.

2OEH8eoCRo0•42m ago
Ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain.
heelix•2m ago
The trick to lighter packs for many was weighing everything. Not uncommon to break everything down by grams - which tells you what could be improved. No point in spending $50 on a .5oz spoon, if your pack is coming in at 4lbs. Does help optimize where things could be cut and where the faf is. Lets you focus on what you really want to bring in when you have a breakdown of everything you bring. I really like lighterpack.com for my trip planning.

Very easy to bring crap you don't need as well. Always surprised me how much an extra hoodie or something would add to what was on my back. Also there is a 'stupid' light, where shaving grams is silly. Was shrinking down my hammock tarp and discovered my setup was not great when the wind shifted direction.

When it comes to power bricks, smaller things like this is great for the normal laptop bag or purse. This is cheap enough that I'd send it off to be black holed with all the other bricks I lend my kid.

dole•1h ago
https://archive.is/1G2Ut
pvsukale3•12m ago
Thanks!
NoiseBert69•1h ago
You can learn a lot from the ultra light dudes.

I replaced all my travel electronics to be powerable from USB-C. This saved me from a lot cables and adapters.

Even re-soldered the cable of my electric shaver to use a USB-C PD adapter PCB. As long it's somehow close to the standardized voltages (5/9/12/18/etc.) there will be no problems.

JohnFen•1h ago
If you're taking a shaving device of any sort on your backpacking trip, you've missed a core lesson of the ultra light dudes.
wpm•35m ago
They never said they were packing for a backpacking trip.
JohnFen•28m ago
Ah, true. I made an assumption.
giantg2•29m ago
Should be one safety razor - just the blade. Just need a steady hand...
Ekaros•24m ago
Wouldn't it be logical that ultra light people have no body hair left? And want to keep it so? After all that is lot of grams...
usrusr•15m ago
And if soldering is beyond your optimization ambition, there's aliexpress where you can find small USB-PD adapters for most electric shavers. It's little niche innovations like this that drive my ordering flow, not saving a few cents.
cenamus•1h ago
20Ah for 23 bucks? Seems like it's almost too good to be true. Wouldn't surprise me if it was just half that, would explain the price and weight.
heelix•53m ago
I'll find out if this is true. Hiking buddy of mine pointed it out on Friday, so got one on the way. Was $18 when he called it out, $23 by the time I ordered. Apparently they have a bunch of random stuff like this. They must have some outdoorsy folks in marketing.
etempleton•35m ago
Thru hikers just kind of find this stuff. They are obsessed with weight and recommendations spread quickly through word of mouth on the trail and on forums.
slipperybeluga•40m ago
The picture on Amazon says 10Ah. Not interested until there is independent verification. The Haribo licensing lends some legitimacy, but way too many fly by night companies selling a fraction of what they advertise.
Kwpolska•19m ago
Haribo specializes in making candy, not electronics. Branded swag tends to be bottom-of-the-barrel.
Ekaros•21m ago
It is there somewhat for no-name brand. For product that is actually supposed to pay something for a brand it feels low. Unless these are promotional items that fall from back of the truck...
Retr0id•55m ago
Has anyone actually measured the true capacity?
Mistletoe•39m ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1li5rxw/20000ma...

Looks like a guy there measured it and it is 14.7 which is more than I thought it would be.

> So at a nominal 3.7 volts that’s around 14700mAh, which is around 73-74% efficiency. That’s fairly standard. If you perform the same tests with other batteries rated at 20k mAh, you’ll generally see a similar usable capacity.

madaxe_again•38m ago
This is great and all, but for me it feels like much more of an achievement when I reach the summit with 30kg+ of mixed gear and child on my back - and there’s nothing quite like the feeling of putting it all down and feeling like you might just float away.

Then again I am the kind of masochist who used to run ultramarathons with a backpack full of rocks just for the jollies.

rattlesnakedave•37m ago
Is the manufacturer of these things trustworthy? I am especially skeptical of any battery pack manufacturers because of the inherent risk of these things.
codedokode•37m ago
Sorry for being off-topic, but why with all the advanced technology today I have to manually copy ounces and pounds into Google to learn how much it is? Instead of adding dark themes and material design, it would be better to add a unit converter.

Also do you really need a power bank for a 2-day trip? In airplane mode a phone can live like 2 weeks.

happytoexplain•30m ago
Under normal usage, even in airplane mode, some phones last only 12-48 hours after just three to five years.
jdblair•24m ago
1 oz =~ 28 grams is a really useful conversion to remember

(signed, an American living in Europe)

dylan604•4m ago
28.4 grams. The rounding adds up quickly, and there’s comments here about people trimming borders off of paper maps. That .4 matters. Also, 16oz to 1lb.

Also matters when your buying things for recreational purposes. Especially when only buying points.

tedggh•33m ago
I traveled ultralight until I got into landscape photography. Those tele zooms are heavy AF. I got bigger quads and biceps.
AdmiralAsshat•26m ago
Are these actually designed by Haribo? Or is it just a branding on top of a Chinese generic?
nickthegreek•21m ago
I feel comfortable in stating that they are not designed by Haribo, a candy company.
AdmiralAsshat•14m ago
Well, yes, that was my thought. I mean my own employer had some company branded power banks that they gave out to employees. They're crap! But they were requested by the Sales team to hand out as swag at trade shows and whatnot, so they probably didn't put much more thought into it than "Find supplier that can create small power banks, slap company logo on them. Do it cheaply."

I have to think the Haribo power banks were on the same lines, although it's a bit strange that they're actually being sold on the company's Amazon storefront.

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