I spend a lot of time living out of my truck, traveling to far-flung places to fish. The farther I go the more power becomes a necessity, keeping action cameras, my laptop and DSLRs alive. Using Goal Zero’s Yeti 150, $229.99, I can stay out longer than ever before and be free from civilization’s hold; and isn’t that the point of getting out there?
The Yeti 150 power pack is capable of charging all of your devices silently and fume-free, unlike big noisy gas-powered generators. You can charge up the Yeti 150 from the wall of your house as you’re packing, from your car on the way to the water or even via solar power when you’re completely off the grid.
At 12 pounds, the power pack is ideal for staying in your car and turning any rig into a high-powered base camp. It can charge devices by using USB, 12V or AC outputs. Since I have so many devices that need to charge via USB, a simple hack you can do us put a dual USB car charger into the 12V power output in the Yeti, and that gives me four USB plug-in points. The AC wall charger I save for my DSLR chargers.
Keeping Kayak Angler’s website alive takes some serious time behind the keyboard on my laptop and that doesn’t stop just because I’m in the backcountry. The Yeti 150 can charge my laptop twice on a full charge, but with solar capabilities, I can keep it going as long as I can last. Or longer.
I recommend buying the full Yeti 150 kit, $429.98, which means you also get Goal Zero’s Nomad 20 solar panel. Not only can the Nomad keep the Yeti 150 charged, but it can also plug straight into many of your devices and charge those at the same time and save the power pack for camp later that night.
I’ve heard people complain that the 17-hour charge time on solar power for the Yeti 150 to be impractical for a trip. But after one trip with the solar kit I knew they hadn’t given it a fair shot. I don’t know about other people, but by the time I’ve launched, fished all day and come back to camp, that’s pretty close to 17 hours. Leaving the Yeti 150 in my car and the Nomad 20 panel on the roof of my truck, leaned against a roof rack and aimed at the sun, I can have a full battery ready to go by the time the sun goes down. There’s nothing impractical about that.
When you can have unlimited, sustainable, self sufficient power on every trip that you take with your rig, whether it’s a backcountry exploration, a weekend jaunt or a quick backyard daytrip, I don’t see why more people haven’t put a Yeti 150 solar kit in their cars already. If you want to have the freedom to stay out as long as you want, there’s no better solution.
