Whats in the box?1 x Guide 10 Battery Pack
1 x Nomad 7 Solar Panel
1 x Ultra Charge Solar Cord
1 x 12V cigarette adapter
1 x AA rechargeable batteries (4 pack)
For the longest time I wanted a compact solar panel solution for taking on fishing and hiking trips and just something that provided power on the go in an emergency situation. I just never put it to the front of my list of items to research and buy because I always bagged up a second or third battery for my devices. Than it was back around October/November when Hurricane Sandy displaced thousands of people I read on one of the forums about this Goal Zero company. Goal Zero was running a "You buy one, We give one" campaign which donated free solar power recharging kits to those affected by Hurricane Sandy. I thought to myself, what a great company. So as I browsed their website looking at different kits (they offer alot) I came across the
Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus Adventure kit.
The
Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus Adventure Kit was exactly what I was looking for in a solar panel setup. It will charge my cell phone, tablet, flashlight batteries and much more. And most of all it was affordable unlike other kits on the market. As you can see by the picture above, it's very compact. Weighting about 1 pound and having the footprint of a typical hardback book it's very convenient to carry around. You can easily toss it in just about any size backpack, messenger bag or in a glove box in your vehicle.
I've used this kit now a handful of times. Last weekend my brother and I went on a all day fishing trip. I was able to easily mount the Nomad7 panel on my LAPG Operator Backpack with
D-Rings on the molle webbing. The Nomad7 panel has ten very nice mounting loops for attaching the panel to just about anything.
From my testing so far I found that it takes about 3-4 hours to fully charge with good sunny conditions. On the days were it was cloudy and overcast, the Nomad7 obviously took a little longer. One thing I wish they incorporated into this kit like they have on their other kits was the ability to plug into a wall for quicker charge or overnight boosts.
Taking a look at the back side of the
Goal Zero Nomad7 panel. This is where you plug in your devices for charging. As you can see there is a Guide10 Port, USB Port, and the 12v Port. The guide10 port is where you plug in the
guide10 battery pack for charging AA/AAA batteries. The USB port is pretty self explanatory You can charge just about any USB device from this port. Simply plug-in and let it do it's magic. And last but not least, the
12v car/cigarette port. This is one feature I really liked about this kit. This alone added a level of functionality and flexibility that other solar chargers just did not offer.
The charging times vary from device to device and how sunny out it is. I have a Galaxy smart phone and my brother has a iphone4. So far from our testing it takes about 2 to 2.5 hours to charge those. Not bad considering you can do this while setting a campfire, fishing, fixing up dinner etc.
Now on to the Guide10 power pack. It comes with a set of four rechargeable AA batteries and a charger cable which can be plugged directly into Nomad 7 Solar Panel (Guide10 Port). This is very handy for flashlights, radios, and other devices which use the AA battery size. Also with the
AAA adapter that I have shown you can charge AAA batteries as well. Leaving the batteries in the charger itself would double as a portable power bank for charging phones and other items via USB plug. The Guide10 has an LED light on its end so it acts as a flashlight. Tons of flexibility here, and I love it.
To finish off the review on this awesome solar panel kit.
Goal Zero didn't cheap out even on the simplest parts, the zipper pulls. The zipper pulls have a rubbery sleeve over the zipper pull with their logo. It's just small attention to details that really set a product apart from the rest. Goal Zero did a very good job at putting together this kit and it will definitely get a ton of use.
You can learn more about Goal Zero and purchase one of these kits by going to their
WEBSITE.
They offer a 30-day money back guarantee! So if you're unsatisfied send it back, no questions asked!
Check out my [Link Removed] for other cool reviews on gear.
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