Public power outlets

[bcla]

I wish I knew where all these charging stations are. I never see any.

When touring on a bicycle, electronics charging is one of the harder things you have to do. I have front light, rear lights, flashlight and headlamp taking AA or AAA rechargeables, 3 battery packs, camera, and phone. Very few campgrounds have electric where they put you in tents. We stealth charge. As soon as it's dark we start roaming around hunting down electrical outlets. My battery packs are cheap at Walmart so I don't have a problem with plugging one in if I'm trying to stealth charge and leave it overnight. Others I ride with have $100+ batteries so they won't leave them.

Occasionally we stop somewhere where there are electrical outlets at the table, but then it's only 2 plugs and there's 5 or 6 of us with 3 or 4 devices each we want to get some charge into.

When I went car camping it was kind of limited how much I could charge using a lighter plug power adapter. There was an outlet in the campground bathroom, but often there was already an electric razor being charged and there was no way I was going to leave my phone there.

I remember once I just took my emergency car jump starter with a lighter outlet and used that to charge my phone with the lighter plug adapter. I guess now there are battery packs, but back then I forgot to bring it.

When we've been camping in Yosemite we brought a lot of stuff including a laptop computer. Nobody kicked us out when we hung around the lobby, although it was at a time when I paid for internet access so theoretically I was a paying customer. And all the outlets were being used. When we needed to charge there was no stealth per se. Nobody seemed to care. And once when we had breakfast we asked where we might be able to charge my wife's phone. Our server took it to an outlet across the room and tried to cover it up to reduce temptation to steal it. We were watching it pretty closely though.

But these days there are solar powered battery packs or at least solar power adapters that can charge battery packs.

 

[NotUrsula]

I wish I knew where all these charging stations are. I never see any.

When touring on a bicycle, electronics charging is one of the harder things you have to do. I have front light, rear lights, flashlight and headlamp taking AA or AAA rechargeables, 3 battery packs, camera, and phone. Very few campgrounds have electric where they put you in tents. We stealth charge. As soon as it's dark we start roaming around hunting down electrical outlets. My battery packs are cheap at Walmart so I don't have a problem with plugging one in if I'm trying to stealth charge and leave it overnight. Others I ride with have $100+ batteries so they won't leave them.

Occasionally we stop somewhere where there are electrical outlets at the table, but then it's only 2 plugs and there's 5 or 6 of us with 3 or 4 devices each we want to get some charge into.

Trust me, a high-amperage mini-surge protector is one of the best travel purchases you will ever make. If each of you carried one, you could daisy-chain your chargers. (Not to leave them unattended, though; fire hazard.)

The batteries are the most important as everything else can be charged from them, but it may be several days and you can have everything depleted. Bicycle lights are 2nd priority. The phones are the least priority as I only use it to map the trip with GPS.

I'd look into getting a solar battery; you can have that charging all day strapped to your cargo rack. There are also dynamo chargers that will work off the energy of the bike itself: https://www.cyclingabout.com/best-dynamo-usb-chargers-bicycle-touring-bikepacking/

In re: the trip hazard of charging cords: that is why libraries are mostly going with power poles that have mini-shelves on them for the devices, or even little lockers so that devices can be left to charge unattended. It's amazing how much goodwill you can buy with a really small investment in a power pole.

Also, BTW, there are little USB data-blocker dongles that you can buy to interline with your charger so as to prevent a USB charging port from accessing data. They cost <$10.

 

[Squirlz]

 

[RangerPooh]

I'm guilty of plugging into outlets at restaurants if placed next to one. I will not and do not think that it's appropriate to plug into one not next to your table. It frustrated me this summer when a young 20 something came in and squeezed behind my family to use a power outlet behind one of our seats, then continued to check it throughout our meal. They were seated a couple tables away. Stringing your charging cord is a safety hazard. I've received nasty looks because I've had to step over a students cord in our office.

 

[bcla]

In re: the trip hazard of charging cords: that is why libraries are mostly going with power poles that have mini-shelves on them for the devices, or even little lockers so that devices can be left to charge unattended. It's amazing how much goodwill you can buy with a really small investment in a power pole.

I've been to an outlet mall where there's a similar power pole without shelves. People are just using them with cables going in all directions or sometimes even standing up if the cable is short.

The other thing about various power setups is the possibility of spilling some sort of liquid on them. I hope they all have GFCI circuits somewhere just in case. But I've seen some built in to table setups in malls where it's flush on the surface of the table. If someone places coffee there and knocks it over, that could go right into the outlets.

 

[NotUrsula]

I've been to an outlet mall where there's a similar power pole without shelves. People are just using them with cables going in all directions or sometimes even standing up if the cable is short.

The other thing about various power setups is the possibility of spilling some sort of liquid on them. I hope they all have GFCI circuits somewhere just in case. But I've seen some built in to table setups in malls where it's flush on the surface of the table. If someone places coffee there and knocks it over, that could go right into the outlets.

This little Bobino shelf comes in very handy. I've got 2 that I bought for $3/ea at Marshalls; they fold down flat, and are nothing to carry if you have a bag of any kind. (They probably are too big to keep in a pocket unless you're a cargo-pants kind of guy, though.)
https://www.amazon.com/Bobino-Phone...words=bobino&qid=1567112709&s=gateway&sr=8-16

 

[BLAZEY]

I would NEVER plug into a public USB outlet no matter the type.

https://www.techlicious.com/tip/never-use-airport-public-usb-charging-ports/

What about the USB outlets that are in the AC outlets like these https://www.primecables.ca/en/p-358...5AIVYh6tBh0rTg2gEAQYAiABEgK1vPD_BwE#sku367402

When I plug into a USB port that could access data, a message pops up on my iPhone "Do you trust this computer?" If I'm not at home it's NO and data will not be accessed.
I also carry a surge protected power bar for use at the airport. Turn one outlet into 6 when we all want to charge during a layover or while waiting to board.

 

[kdonnel]

When I plug into a USB port that could access data, a message pops up on my iPhone "Do you trust this computer?" If I'm not at home it's NO and data will not be accessed.

As a software developer I would NEVER trust a software only data block to protect me from hackers.

Just this week Apple had to release an iOS 12 update to fix a bug that allowed people to jailbreak their phone.

iOS 12 is a year old.

We don’t know for sure if there are bugs that could be exploited via USB.

And no I would not use any public USB outlet, no matter the form.

 

[mrodgers]

I'd look into getting a solar battery; you can have that charging all day strapped to your cargo rack. There are also dynamo chargers that will work off the energy of the bike itself: https://www.cyclingabout.com/best-dynamo-usb-chargers-bicycle-touring-bikepacking/

Few folks I ride with have solar chargers. The phone plugged in for use (GPS) the solar chargers can't keep up. Having the charger just out for 10-12 hours of riding nets them about 1/4 of a phone charge. They just aren't big enough.

As for the Dynamo hub, a bit out of my pay grade. I have higher priorities. That's why I have two cheap $9 5000 mAh batteries from Walmart rather than the $100 Mophie 20,000 mAh my buddy and his wife use.

 

[sam_gordon]

I certainly get the move to USB-C when the previous standard was Micro-USB. Micro-USB is horrible. The connectors break easily and look like they were designed by someone incompetent. Apple's Lightning connector is actually pretty robust. I've never seen a connector or port fail. I've had Lightning cables fail for various reasons, but never because the connector fell apart.

You must not have kids. We've probably have gone through about a dozen lightning cables in the last two years because of problems in the cord (usually at the connector). I think I might have replaced 1-2 micro-usb cables in last 4-5 years.

 

[DisneyOma]

I imagine a world where people go out in public to be with each other, not stay glued to their devices...

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I imagine a world where people go out in public to be with each other, not stay glued to their devices...

I am already there when i go out with friends and family i only bring my cell till we actually meet up and to take pictures and to kerp in touch with dh if its just friends that way if plans change he knows where i am