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PHOTOS WILL BE COMING SOON as I need to clean it for shooting photos as I have been using this quite a bit outdoors.
When you are out camping with a few people and a couple tents, we tend to bring gear that needs charging. Many of us bring personal battery banks, and seem to spend time charging it with solar panels and charging our own gear. It’s great working that way, but in some cases, it’s not as straightforward as it has been in my own experience.
Many people would bring a large battery bank, and not have any way of charging the battery bank itself, and after a couple of days, they need to get it charged. I ended up bringing the Omnicharge Omni 20+ 120V camping to help my group. Why is this one of my favorite battery banks for group camping?
Here are the features of the Omni 20+ 120V:
- 20,000mAh battery bank
- 10 watt wireless charging
- 1 – 100 watt AC port (output)
- 2 – 18 watt USB A ports (output)
- 1 – 60 watt USB C port (input/output – same port can be used to charge the battery bank)
- 1 – 100 watt configurable DC output port (input/output – same port can be used to charge the battery bank)
- Passthrough battery bank charging and device charging
- TSA compliant
Sounds like there are other battery banks that can do that, right?! Yes, but I have yet to see a battery bank that has a DC output port that is configurable. I can configure it to power my HAM or GMRS mobile radio using a DC cable to Anderson PowerPole. Or charge my MacBook Pro with a magnetic charge cable. Or charge my HP laptop with a specialized power plug without brining a power brick. The configuration allows for output voltage and amps. For my QRP HAM radio, I set it for 12V/5A and it works really well. You can set it for a variety of voltages (5 to 25V, up to 5A, totaling 100W).
Passthrough charging allows me to connect a solar panel (I use a 60W solar panel which effectively produces about 45 watts at the most optimal sunlight), while charging other devices using the wireless or USB A ports. That is the only negative about this battery bank, the inability to charge using the USB C port while using the DC port for solar power input, or use the DC port for powering or charging other devices when using the USB C port for solar power input. The USB C port and the DC port share the same circuitry so only one of them can be used at the same time, even for charging or powering devices.
I bought the bundle which came with the battery bank, a case and cable, and have been happy for a couple of years. They do have the Omni 40+ Launch bundle, but I prefer the form factor of the 20+ at this time. If your friend’s battery bank needs a boost, this will help with that as well, though I tend to bring my 60W solar panel to boost their battery banks quickly.
I hope that helps you choose a battery bank for group camping or small group survival situation.