Are those pocket sized solar charger worth a damn?

Looking for something to go with a GHB or BOB.

TIA

I have a couple goal zero nomad 7 folding panels. Good for charging smaller electronics. IE: phone, batteries for lights and radios.

They are not "pocket" sized though. More like a yellow notepad size that doubles when you open it. 9x7 closed.

this is the newer version than what I have. Nomad 7

I wasn't impressed with anything smaller available when I bought them.

The pocket size are nearly useless.  The foldable goal zero are bare minimum.

This one is, although it may not be what you’re asking about.  This is a Powerfilm AA solar charger and it works great but it just recharges AA/AAA batteries.

I have this three panel unit
It's about the size of my phone when folded. It works great.

The anker 21w folding work well. The instapark 10 worked better then my nomad 7. The instapark was slightly bigger then the nomad, smaller then the anker. But last I looked it cost the same as the anker. Whatever panel you get needs to be teamed with a usb batter pack
Charging direct off the panel for your phone should be only for emergency. The fluctuations in current from cloud passage, movement and other variables can damage the device. So charge off a bank, charge the bank off the panel. I say get the anker. I have about 4 anker 21w, I own about 4 other brands of panels as well including GZ. When you get yours play with it so you know what to expect. Most people think they will work faster then they do. But get a bank of atleast 10kmah. It would take most the day on the 21w to charge it full

I read a few reviews, and I think a few noted that for most people a portable battery bank makes more sense.  And I think that is especially true if you're going to be on the move.

You should be able to find a pretty small battery bank that can charge a phone a few times, and you just need to remember to charge it every so often.

I've got one if the phone sized single panel jobs with the light on the back. It works. Think it's 12k mha.. Fully charge it before you leave and try to maintain it. I was looking at the 3 panel units last night. Might get one.

Are there any of the solar charger/power banks worth their weight to carry?  An all in one unit would be preferable.

Burton made a power film with.  Built in smaller capacity battery. Anker banks and panels are top end product. Very high quality and 18mo no BS warranty.

Depends on what you're going to be charging, as others have said and how much sun light and time you have to charge them?

2-4 depleted Panasonic Eneloop AAs, forget the pocket sized chargers and go with a powerbank if things are mission critical.

Topping off some predominately full AAs in a couple of hours, sure.

I've got a 14w SunKingdom folding USB solar panel and it'll output 2x~1.5A, so I can get a good charge into most batteries under ideal Miami sun, but it's the size of a 1" notebook binder.

The Anker PowerPort 21w folder as mentioned, is well regarded, but some panels won't reset to full output when a cloud passes by and the charger needs to be unplugged and restarted, which may be a pain for some applications, so be aware.

Chris

IDK about solar chargers, but Anker power banks are generally well-regarded.  For a GHB I would think one with a capacity of 8,000-10,000 mAh would be the right compromise, enough to charge your phone twice.

I tend to think solar chargers are best when you're staying in one place, as opposed to a BOB or GHB, and are best for end of the world type scenarios.  If the power goes out for a few weeks, I'll be recharging phones using my generator.  If power goes out longer than that, I think charging phones and the like will be low priority.

Recharging small devices like phones can be a high priority if you have little kids and you have loaded a phone with kid movies and shows (off connection files. No signal or wifi needed)

Here in FL we have to deal with hurricanes every year that can take power away for the better part of the week. So as we all know 1 in none, 2 is one and when it comes to small scale solar a few panels and double that amount in banks is basic. The I have a few panels and easily 10 banks of 10k mah on up in size. Most panels and bricks are anker. I've played some other brands but anker does make a great product. But like I said one panel will take most the sun light in a day to charge a bank. So if your gonna lay a panel and brick outside most the day then you need to Have one to get you through that day while the one charges. So start with getting 1 panel and 2 bricks. Next time your budget allows do it again. A 3 panel, 6 brick set will keep you rolling in small device power 24/7 until you have product failure.

An adjustable voltage regulator really helps out with this sort of thing. Look on Amazon or wherever for one. A bit of soldering and you can have an adjustable output 5A, 6-32v converter. This is the one I used. Just add appropriate charging connectors.

For anything up to a week, a battery bank charger is the way to go.  I have a larger 20k mAh Anker and it's kept its charge for the past six months here in Afghanistan; I'm assuming it's likely degraded to about 90%.  My lightest Anker is a 10k mAh battery that will last me almost 4-6 days on the trail depending on how much I use my phone as a camera or GPS.

For a backpacking solar charger, the best I've found and use at times is Suntactics.

Their S5-Charger is the smallest, but under ideal conditions charged a iPhone almost as fast as a wall charger.  The benefit is that you can actually get the charge flowing into a dead phone and in a few minutes you can use while it's still charging.  These are the most robust chargers I've found.  They are hardbacked and fold to protect the cells, so they're not really compact but okay on the weight penalty...

Suntactics sCharger 5

I do agree, they're okay if used often to top off some NiMH batteries, but I wouldn't rely on them for large capacity electronics...

ROCK6

Thanks for the link.