Got Solar Panel Will Kayak

Joos solar panel strapped to my kayak deck.

Or, should I say: Got Joos?

Just because I love nature, the great outdoors and mother earth doesn’t mean I don’t have instant withdrawals if separated from my devices. I’m a modern nature lover. You need to know this about me.

As a modern girl, I like to have it all: low impact on the earth and access to email, social media, everything my iPhone provides. Joos was the answer to stay connected on my recent five-day kayak trip. A Joos Orange solar panel and a LifeProof case for my phone (newer phones are smartly waterproof from the get-go) were a great combo. What follows is a mini review of both.

Joos Orange
I bought my first Joos a few years ago for a week-long hiking trip. It struggled to power up as I hiked through the shady forests of the Pacific NW but still outperformed my friend’s lighter-weight solar panel and everyone on the trip ended up using it instead of what they had brought. It charges devices quickly.

At 11 x 2 x 8 inches, and 2.2 pounds it’s not ideal for hiking, but it is PERFECT for kayaking. First, it’s waterproof, and second, it’s bulletproof (well, not exactly, but it’s really tough). And, sitting on the kayak deck it happily soaks up the sun all day long – even on overcast days.

It’s super easy to use, just plug the correct adapter (iPhone, iPod, micro, mini and female USB are available) into the solar panel to charge your device. There is a system of blinks that tells you how full your solar panel is, but if you’ve had it in the sun for a few hours its ready to charge.

Lifeproof

The waterproof case allowed me to keep my phone in the front pocket of my life vest for spur-of-the moment photos. So important. Example: ferry just missing us by mere meters? I got that!

I captured our entire trip, even emailing my husband before treacherous crossings then posting lovely evening shots on social media. Bliss.

There are only two drawbacks to the case:

1. The ear bud port cover doesn’t have a tether so it’s easily lost. And, once its lost the case is no longer waterproof. It does come with a backup port cover, but that wouldn’t do much good if I lost the only one on hand.
2. I had to take the entire case off to power up each evening with Joos. Normally, the case doesn’t need to be removed (and the reason it’s better than the Survivor case by Catalyst for iPhone 4S ) it was just that the Joos adapter didn’t work well with case.

It’s so great to be a nature-loving tech-head in the modern world. I recommend both Joos Orange and Lifeproof if you’d like to get back to nature without leaving absolutely everything behind.