Have a look for GaN chargers.

I've got a couple, both of them small enough to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand. Both self contained (no powerleads) one of them and a a set of suitable cables and you'll be able to charge anything as fast as physics will allow.

One has three USB-C PD and the other has two USB-C PD and two USB-A.

Also powerful enough to charge my work laptop, unless i'm running a full modelling task!

Something like this is what i have in front of me now, the other is at my partners place.

charger

Find a UK version of that and you'll be set.

Cheers @mert

I hadn't heard of GaN chargers and they look just the job.

Anker GaN chargers are ostensibly the best 'travel' chargers, because as mert said they're physically smaller for a given power output.

Assuming you're not double recording on the epix and edge then charging the epix is fairly unnecessary as it'll last days / weeks in normal watch mode or broadcasting HR so the edge can do all the clever health stuff with Garmin connect (or even longer if you take a HR chest strap), and it'll generally charge several days worth in the time it takes to shower.

The Edge, again I'd struggle to use the battery life of my 1040 in ~3 days outside of a silly audax, it's good for at least 350miles at a leisurely pace, not sure how much smaller the 1030 battery is?

You probably won't be riding much at night?

The phone will probably do 2+ days on the basis you won't be looking at it more than the occasional glance?

What I'm concluding is, you're likely overthinking it and even a single port charger and a couple of cables will be enough, 2 ports would cover 99% of eventualities, and 3 would be overkill unless you weren't organized with charging the night before and/or camped outside for several days.  Charge your phone overnight, and leave the garmin or the light in the room while you eat dinner.

The other (heavy) option is to take a big powerbank, charge that overnight and use that to power the phone/light/garmin during the day.  It won't matter how much you use them then.

Yes, was a gamechanger compared to the stock phone chargers i was using before, or the "brick" type chargers with the long lead and 4 USB ports. Still have those dotted around the house, but the GaN chargers are smaller and more powerful.

My previous favourite was the three port IKEA USB-A charger. Which is a cheaper option, but bigger and less powerful.

n.b. it took me a while to figure out but the edge and epix will give all the same health data on the epix you just need to 

a) record HR data on the edge, either via a chest strap or broadcast form the epix.

b) let them sync together.  By default they should do this once a day, but IIRC if you have everything on at once and syncing to your phone it should do it straight away. How it does this depends which device is registered as primary in Connect (i.e. the secondary device needs to sync first, then the primary one takes the data) but that's only an issue if they're not syncing regularly.  

It's not all that useful. I did 178 miles last Saturday at 14mph and Garmin told me I needed 8 hours to fully recover 😂 I could barely walk.  I then did 50 this Sunday at 16.8mph and it's saying 64 hours.  It's massively dependent on how much time is spent around and above threshold. On a tour you'll be a better judge of recovery than Garmin.

My solution has been to use a fast charging usb-pd powerbank - it'll charge at 100W with an appropriate charger, most phones only charge at 20ish W max, a lot of other usb things only around 5W. Can rapidly charge the powerbank in cafes and stuff, and then use it to charge everything else on the move. Means I'm not tied to overnight stops with charging facilities, too.

I have a UGREEN charger which will run a laptop and it's compact with 4 ports

UGREEN USB C Charger 65W Fast Chargering Plug Nexode 4 Ports 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Charger-Foldable-Compatible-Macbook-dp-B0CYSQ79VZ/dp/B0CYSQ79VZ/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Link possibly isn't working, but the CAPS sentence will find it on google.

Posted by: Aidy

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My solution has been to use a fast charging usb-pd powerbank - it'll charge at 100W with an appropriate charger, most phones only charge at 20ish W max, a lot of other usb things only around 5W. Can rapidly charge the powerbank in cafes and stuff, and then use it to charge everything else on the move. Means I'm not tied to overnight stops with charging facilities, too.

Lives in my workbag along with the Anker GaN charger on a day to day basis.

I was bouncing a few ideas around as I wasn't sure why I should take the Epix. As pointed out if I want heart rate, which would only really be for what's left in the tank/recovery I could use a HR strap. As noted above the Garmin would say rest for a day or two! So the Epix is going to miss C2C & Lejog.

The Garmin 1030 is just over 7yrs old and I reckon it's good for a 1.75 days. When I bike packed from Newport (SWales) to Delamere in 2.5 days, the guys running the campsites were really helpful in charging my phone/1030 up.

Still think the Anker GaN looks good. Just noticed the UGreen 100W GaN charger is currently on offer at £13 + P&P at UGreen! Nope, misled by Google.

I'll need to check my cables can take 65 or 100W (how?) or replace.

Fast charging usb-pd powerbank (mine is an old cheapy Goodmans) looks perfect for next bike packing trip (maybe the Shropshire castles route) and charging in cafes.

Cheers

I'll need to check my cables can take 65 or 100W (how?) or replace.

TBH, you could get decent braided cables in short lengths (you don't need long cables really!) to cover all your devices for maybe 15 quid. Just add them to your camping box.

Posted by: nickingsley

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I was bouncing a few ideas around as I wasn't sure why I should take the Epix. As pointed out if I want heart rate, which would only really be for what's left in the tank/recovery I could use a HR strap. As noted above the Garmin would say rest for a day or two! So the Epix is going to miss C2C & Lejog.

One of the reasons I bought a Fenix was so that it could function as a backup GPS device for bikepacking stuff. I know someone's going to say that you could use a phone as a backup, and you could - but then you have to also carry some way of mounting a phone usefully, and you really have problems with keeping things charged.

I have a through charging powerbank.

Charges and charges two usb items charge the critical ones overnight charge everything else with the powerbank.

I also have a little usb led tab thing, you slot it into a isb port on the powerbank and you have a light. Quite handy.

Hmmm, Epix as back up .gpx,  I’ve not used mine like that.. .. yet. The main reason I have a 1030 is so I can see it, might try the Epix as the .gpx on tomorrow’s ride

little usb led tab thing

any different to a phone light?

I carry a powerbank, all the cables I need and a 3-pin plug with dual-USB slots.

Charge the powerbank whenever it's convenient but know I can +2 days from it if required. 

Never had an issue.

1. A Garmin 1030 will last upto 10 days on battery saver,  a phone will last c4 days on airplane mode. So you prob don't need as much power as you think you might. I've just done a 9 day trip with a 5000 mAh powerbank which turned out to be a bit borked and only gave half a phone charge and no mains power. Of course your experience may vary, but still prob less than you think, and if you've power every night I can't see it being a problem 
2.  

Posted by: nealc

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A Garmin 1030 will last upto 10 days on battery saver

That's presumably only riding a few hours a day, though?

They reckon on 48 hours use, with (virtually) no functionality or interaction.

No that's following a route. About 7 hrs riding a day. 1 day takes about 10 percent charge.

Posted by: nealc

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No that's following a route. About 7 hrs riding a day. 1 day takes about 10 percent charge.

Yeah. Only a few hours a day. Original post did specify long days. Still, I'm impressed by the battery life claims of the 1030, maybe I'll consider upgrading from my 530.

No that's following a route.

That's what i said. Garmins website shows that you have to switch most of the functionality off (or not use it) to get 48 hours use.

So yesterday went on a ~100mile ride and thought I’d try a mates newish Varia RCT715 (a silly close pass a couple of weeks ago prompted me to try) and use both the Garmin Epix Gen 2 (trial as back up) and Garmin 1030 for routing throughout.

Arrived at Mersey Ferry terminal to find the ferries cancelled as they were under mtce🤷‍♂️ so we carried on up the coast to Southport. At Southport I used OS Maps to generate a .gpx for a different route back which I imported into Garmin Connect.

Garmin 1030 (7yrs old) went from 96% to 30% including a sync with my phone to load the new route. I do ‘power down’ the 1030 when stopping for lunch/coffee. Note when loading a new route/course on the Garmin 1030 you have to exit the current ride and save that ride separately.

I looked in to battery save mode on the Garmin 1030 and it said the screen is blank until you touch it to wake it up. Since I miss enough turns as it is, I don’t think that will work for me.

Garmin Epix Gen 2 started off with ‘8 days’ battery life (approx half the 18 day maximum) and took a good while to sync to the phone for the new return route. The Epix ran out of batteries at 87 miles (TBF I am a pootler). Though the ride details were retained to that point, I was surprised to find that ‘8 days’ battery means lounging around with a beer and doing nowt useful!

Varia RCT715 handy having a warning of what’s behind you on the Garmin 1030. The Garmin 1030 buzzed a lot with a combination of turn warnings and cars approaching from behind from the Varia. It was set on camera record only on radar detect, even so, it only retained 1/2 the ride on the MicroSD card and what a pain to look through. The only close’ish pass, older grey BMW sporty thing, was early on and not saved. I did switch off the Varia when on cycle routes and lunch/coffee stops, as I had forgotten to take a back up rear light so actual Varia battery life I am not sure about. With the hassle of another piece of kit for nightly charging I won’t be using the Varia for multi day trips. As for day trips 🤔

So for me, a GaN charger, a plethora of cables and (maybe) a rapid charge through battery is the way forwards for multi day credit card trips. For bike packing a rapid charge through battery would work.

Thanks for the advice above.

I'm really surprised battery life isn't better for you - might be worth having a look through your settings.

On a 530, I've managed to navigate a 400km route on a single charge - I don't think it'd do that now, but I'm pretty confident I'd still get 14-15h out of it. A Fenix 7 Solar probably lasts me about 2 weeks, tracking an hour/day (but not following a route).

1030 has a large screen, hence why I have one and why battery saver is all about switching the screen off. As I happily pootle along at, say 13mph, including hills, for ~100miles so 7.5hrs add on to that shorter stops and faff, say 9hrs then that's not wildly out with your 530.

Only setting I think which is on, is Bluetooth, WiFi and collision stuff are off.

Epix was set up all day to follow routes. Only route recording definitely gives a longer life.

I bought a compact GaN charger with folding prongs. It's probably worth it if you want to ram in as much charge as you can during a 45 minute cafe stop before heading for the hills, but if you are stopping for the night two normal fast chargers would take up the same room and be lighter, plus the advantage of having a spare.

The GaN chargers incrementally slow down as you use more ports so it's better to give full power to the phone or battery bank rather than throttle it by charging slower GPS and lights etc at the same time as the phone. Better to charge them on the fly with the battery bank if you are short on charging time.

Not sure about Garmin but I know that if I have the wahoo connected to my phone for message notifications etc, both Wahoo and phone still run out of battery sooner. So for longer rides I will ensure the phone app is closed and not chatting away to the head unit all day 

the £55 one from decathlon appears to be a well-regarded solar panel (420g).

Sling it across your panniers, and you could plug all of your devices into it, along with a pukka power bank.

Purchase it along with the tick tweezers, inflatable pillows, etc and you’ll get at least 15% off.

I went slightly alternative for bikepacking trips that are mainly daylight alternative and use my exposure light as my light and battery.

Typically the light is hardly used as a light on those trips. As said above my garmin 830 will last over 2 days following a gpx.

A big saving on garmin power usage is whether you have the screen on all the time or not. I don't 

What spooky_b329 said. 

Fast GaN charger into a power bank that will also charge quickly if you are relying on powering up at short cafe/pub stops

My favourite charger is also a foldy prong Ugreen one. Soz about the bezos link

https://amzn.eu/d/7gtkB67

Yeh that's almost identical, mine has one USB A and 2 USB C. Mainly gets used at home when I get caught out with a flat phone shortly before leaving, however it will also charge my laptop 🙂

Remember some stuff will need USB A, such a Exposure lights.  Also one mistake I made was taking mainly USB C leads, and then realising that I had 9 hours on the train with two USB A ports at my seat and I couldn't charge anything 😭

So for me, a GaN charger, a plethora of cables and (maybe) a rapid charge through battery is the way forwards for multi day credit card trips. For bike packing a rapid charge through battery would work.

I've an old Garmin, an 810, that will only manage 7-8 hours of riding a route with the screen on (and this is with OS Maps showing).

So when I do Audax's and the like I just put a smaller powerbank in my top-tube bag and leave it connected to the Garmin.

Been wanting a decent charger and powerbank, so placed an order with Anker off the back of this thread. Already have one of their big 1000Wh powerbanks in my truck 

27,650mAh and 660g, that’s a monster and hefty for bike packing!

Interestingly my ancient Goldmans 10,000mAh weighs 220g, so the technology hasn’t changed much. I am unsure what the charge/discharge rates of the Goodmans is and it’s suitability for bike packing.

^ just checked the Goodmans powerbank and it is 10W (5Vx2A) power in and out. The Garmin 1030 only charges at 5W so the powerbank is useful for on the go charging but rubbish for a quick charge up in cafes.

Posted by: nickingsley

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27,650mAh and 660g, that’s a monster and hefty for bike packing!

Should have stated, mine aren't for bikepacking

Garmin 1030 (7yrs old)

That battery may well be approaching end of life if it's been well used, charging once or twice a week and you're into the 500 cycles range. Most batteries will noticeably start to lose capacity and power after around 500.

My ancient 605 will now only run for about 4-5 hours, down from 10-12 when new. The 810 i have is still good though, that'll do two 4-5 hour rides with power and heartrate and a decent recording rate.

I've got the previous version of that Anker power bank. Slightly smaller, but it is a bit of a beast for bikepacking. It's nice for always having charge available, but if I was stopping reliably every night (I sometimes go 3 or 4 days without really stopping) somewhere with power, I'd opt for something a bit smaller.