Like many backpackers, I’m a sicko. I have weighed all my gear in order to maintain a spreadsheet for pack weight on every trip I’m on. I’ve spent more money than I care to think about in order to drop pounds, or even ounces. This is why I’m the proud new owner of a power bank that looks like a toy.
It’s the Haribo-licensed gummy bear power bank. It’s the lightest-ever 20,000mAH power bank, it’s got a gummy-bear themed built-in USB-C cord, and it’s taking over the ultralight backpacking world. The specs say it weighs 9.9 ounces — and in a world where ounces count, that’s a big deal.
Ultralight culture seems a little nuts to the uninitiated. Probably most people do not measure every piece of equipment they carry for weekend backpacking trips. But when you are hiking more than 10 miles a day, especially if you are walking up mountains, you start looking for stuff to get rid of — because even being two pounds lighter is a tremendous relief. The “ideal” baseweight for ultralighters is below 10 pounds, though below 20 is considered respectable. If you’re hiking more than 100 miles, every ounce counts.
The ultralight movement is why a lot of backpackers wear trail runners instead of hiking boots, and why a lot of tents now incorporate hiking poles so users don’t have to carry separate poles for freestanding tents. Since 1991, when Ray Jardin published The PCT Hikers Handbook, lots of new companies specializing in the lightest possible equipment have sprung up — as have online communities like r/ultralight. In these communities, there’s a ritual called the “shakedown,” where users post their packs and other people tell them how to cut weight.
So of course this community was first to the exciting new world of gummy bear charging.
The previous preferred 20k powerbank was a Nitecore build. It’s a serious-looking black box built out of carbon fiber; it costs about $100 and tips the scale at 10.3 ounces. My goofy toy power bank costs $23; it weighed slightly more than the promised specs at 9.95 ounces. It has pass-through charging, just like the Nitecore and allows for fast charging, too. This is like discovering a Volkswagen Beetle can out-haul a Tesla Cybertruck.
And when I say it’s sweeping the backpacking world, I don’t just mean online. I got a text from my Appalachian-trail hiking buddy just last week — he’d weighed his new Haribo bank against his old Anker bank, and the Haribo won. He included photos and everything.
Unfortunately the power bank won’t charge through the built-in gummy bear cable, so you’ll have to carry a USB-C cable to get juice on a resupply stop. But still, from the people who brought you “bread bags on your feet to stay dry when it’s raining,” there’s a new ridiculous outdoor device winning hearts and minds. I haven’t done capacity testing yet, but if it does what the specs promise, the most hard-core battery pack an ultralighter can buy is decorated with gummy bears.
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