Mountaineer Solar Backpack - Rugged 40L Outdoor Backpack with Flexible and Detachable 6.5W Solar Panel for Charging

For the right situation this backpack is pretty good. While I don't know if I'd say this is really "rugged" enough for heavy duty outdoor situation (thick canvas usually holds up better), this is an nice backpack for a day out like at the state fair, for a day at an amusement park, etc. Also perfect for a day out fishing. It's handy for those day-out type scenarios. The times you'll likely be out for many hours, you'll be on your phone taking photos, using GPS, looking up locations to go eat, etc, that your phone will eventually need a charge. Now do you need a special backpack to handle this situation, not really. Battery packs will work just as well, even faster in some instances. However once a battery pack has been drained, you're out of luck until you can recharge it. With this solar panel on the pack, in theory you have unlimited access to power, but you are actually limited to charging only when you're out in sunshine. The lighter weight of the bag does make it easier to wear all day, and a place to carry and keep everything when you'll be spending the whole day out. The solar panel is a good option if you think you'll be in a situation where you may need to charge more than one device, and would instead have to carry the weight of many battery packs if you didn't have the panel. Also the panel is like anything that uses light to charge, it needs direct sunlight or else it's not getting much charge. There's probably a few time during the day that if you happen to be walking in the direction away from the setting sun where the light will hit the panel just right for you to wear it on the pack and charge things. Otherwise it works best having it sitting out laying flat for charging. The bag does look nice and doesn't feel cheap or anything like that. The matching solar panel is a nice touch. I does look like it's meant to go with the bag rather than just something you have randomly hanging from it. I think how useful this will be for you will just have a lot to do with what you plan to be out doing and how much direct light the panel will be able to have access to.

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I have a lot of bags in my house. I have been in search of the perfect bag for years. I finally realized that there isn’t a perfect bag because different bags work for different things. With that said, I still really wanted to find a good all around backpack that wasn’t a laptop bag first. Finally I found what I was looking for. Whoever designed this backpack must use backpacks. I say that because I feel like this is the backpack I would design. Probably easier to bullet point my likes and dislikes: Likes: - This is not a laptop bog. Meaning, the focus isn’t on some huge padding to protect a laptop. - There is a pocket on the bottom of the bag. This is perfect for camera gear that I want to access easily. And it is a deep pocket. It is the width of the backpack and covers 3/4 of the depth of the bag. - There are three other compartments with dividers and pockets. - Two side mesh pockets for water bottles that are deep enough so your water bottles don’t fall out. - This bag is incredibly lightweight. It doesn’t look like it but it is. This is so important because I tend to weigh my bags down. I feel like I need to talk about the unique feature on its own - the solar panel. I thought the solar panel was more of a gimmick but it is not. It actually works. I spent a day at an amusement park with this bag and used it to charge my phone - which I drain quickly due to the number of photos I take. Is this a fast charger? No. Hey, It’s solar power so it won’t be fast. But it got my phone charged up by 10% in about 35 minutes. If you don’t want the solar pane to be exposed or if you want to put it away at night, just remove it and store it in the main compartment of this bag. Now for what I don’t like……… Well, there isn’t anything right now. I’ve been using this backpack for over a month and there isn’t anything I don’t like. For what I carry - typically small first aid kit, iPhone accessories to take photos with including a small tripod or gimbal, snacks, water bottle, hand sanitizer, and anything else I think I can’t live without - this is the perfect bag for me. Oh yeah, my partner loves all things Bigfoot. So the little Bigfoot patch is just perfect.

It’s a decent bag, the solar panel is basic and needs direct sunlight to use, will definitely charge slowly. But does not come with a lightning charging cord. So not exactly as advertised.