Sunny Bag: The power of the sun on your back
I found this really cool idea of a solar powered backpack you can hook up to any battery device with a USB, so for me it was my phone or my power bank whilst hiking. Here is my honest review of it after owning one for over a year.
If you didn’t already know, I like to travel and be outdoors exploring, so I was looking to get myself some phone chargers for camping and travelling. But most of these require charging using the grid. It got me thinking: What if I didn’t have access to this or wanted to use free and clean energy? So I started looking for a solar powered backpack.
After looking online I found this company SunnyBag, who offer a couple of options for these bags, one with an integrated solar panel and the one I went for, which allows you to unclip the panel and be more mobile with it.
Let me highlight the good and bad points of the bag and how I used it to see if you want to get one for yourself or look elsewhere.
I have the SunnyBag EXPLORER+ and a power bank, with the intention of using it for hiking etc. Judging by the name it should be adequate for day hikes etc.
My use of it…
My main use for the bag has been for hiking and The Three Peaks Challenge. It’s been my camping companion since the summer of 2020. This is a good use of the product as I was able to keep my camera and phone charged in higher altitude,
The biggest adventure I’ve had with this bag so far is using it for the Three Peaks. Head over to the youtube video linked to see our attempt:
Good size for a day bag (15 Litres), I can fit a couple of things in it, no chest or waist clips though which would be a great addition to future models of the bag. It was able to fit some snacks, water and waterproofs if needed. Also it came in handy for holding my drone when walking.
Solar panel performance…
The solar panel worked really well, I was able to have it in use all day filling up power banks for my friends and me whilst we hiked so in the evening we could recharge our cameras etc in the evenings.
Here are the numbers for the more technical minded of you:
6 Watt Solar panel with a 22.4% efficiency with the relevant charging times below
However, I find this obviously depends on where you live and the time of year; I found if I kept charging the power banks I was always able to charge my devices off that.
Build quality
My initial thoughts of the bag were that it was of good build quality, the stitching seemed strong and no obvious defaults.
Unfortunately this was short lived, about 3 months into using the bag on a number of hikes, the strap was starting to rip away. This was not something I was happy with considering the cost of the bag, and the age.
I then emailed the company telling them the issue, to which they did not offer much help, or intent to repair the bag or replace it. Instead, they only offered me a small discount on a new product. (This was not enough in my eyes)
A company trying to offer greener solutions to alternatives should also have a repair service and a longer durability than a couple of months/uses.
I took the bag to my local shoe repair shop (yes that’s right they do more than just shoes). For the cost of a posh coffee or pint of beer the bag was repaired. Yes the stitching is a bit obvious, however, it works! I am now able to use it and it has not failed since.
Final review:
I was really excited to use the bag and the first few months of owning it I was really happy with it. The bag was able to charge phones, batteries and my osmo pocket. Whilst being comfortable and big enough to have snacks etc.
I would however, love to see some chest and waist clips added to make hiking more comfortable!
The negatives for me are the company’s customer service, hopefully this will improve over time. I would recommend the product for people who are interested in it. I loved being able to have it repaired.
All in all I’d give this a 3 out of 5
Idea is a huge Tall man tick ✅
Execution needs refinement 😋
