Long Distance Off Grid

Back in February I had a blast experience hiking (tramping they call it) in fairly remote parts of the New Zealand's southern island - the West Coast and Fiordland. Packing about 10-day's worth of food on my back let me enjoy the freedom of being entirely on my own for a long time. 

There have been several experiences related to what technologies / technology products do or don't work on such a trip. And interestingly - the off grid context turns the classic pyramid of needs upside down. Paper topographic maps and old school candles trump the technology achievements of the modern era.

But still there are some developments worth noting. This was my first hiking trip without a dedicated camera - I only took an iPhone and was super happy with that decision. West coast hikes go through quite challenging terrain - a lot of bush bashing, very steep ascends / descends, jumping on boulders along riverbeds. Carrying as little as possible with you significantly decreases the effort and - more importantly - reduces the injury risks. The photos I took are great, taken in variety of lighting conditions. And 2024 may just mean the end of the camera era for me. Probably with the exception of deep sky imaging sessions. iPhone just delivers good (or sometimes even better) results, is super handy, and most importantly - the lightest option available. It also serves as a journaling device and last but not least - a navigation device, thanks to the offline apps like Gaia and Fatmap. I was surprised with the battery life - in offline mode it was lasting 4-5 days between charges. So while a power bank is needed for a 10-day trip. it does not need to be a super large one. You need around 7000-8000mAh to fully charge the iPhone Pro once, so a 15000mAh power bank is sufficient for a 10-day trip. Such power bank is still lighter than a decent solar cell. 

The only other pieces of electronic equipment I had were the Garmin inReach mini satellite communicator and the Garmin smart watch. The satellite gadget is a super obvious emergency choice for remote hikes. Interestingly it also helps a bit with planning by offering a very useful weather forecast service. The watch helps with tracking and also serves as a backup navigation device by supporting topographic maps. Theoretically a phone can do both (new iPhones have the emergency satellite function), but the inRreach is much harder to break - a phone is still a fragile device - a simple screen crack may render it completely inoperative.