Hokkaido trip preparation 9: Testing under actual use

As the actual day comes closer, and with electronics ready, how would it be like under actual use?

In this case, it would also mean how convent (or troublesome) it would be to bring all the cables and chargers with me.

Looking through the things I have, which were either bought for earlier trips or not originally planned for it at time of purchase, I could make multiple use of some to save up on additional chargers and cables. The only new thing bought for this trip was a 32GB microSD card with full-sized SD adaptor for my camera (and the unrelated iPhone 6 Plus).

If my camera and the laptop I plan to bring uses a full sized SD card, why did I buy the microSD version instead, you may ask? Simple: using it on a camera phone.

I know I mentioned iPhone earlier, but it is for my Android phone that serves as a (second) backup camera. It served me well during my Bangkok and the Paris section of Europe trip. Even if I did not end up bringing that phone around, at least I could that 32GB card with that adaptor, and swap with other microSD cards I have without the need for other adapters.

Then comes the charger. Bringing multiple different chargers with different ends is a nightmare. I have this cable with USB A on one end that splits off into USB micro-B, and both the old and new connectors of iPhones. I could use that to save that one additional cable to charge both the phone and the power bank (uses USB micro-B as input), and reverse that when I need to charge the iPhone (lightning) without the need of a separate cable. I am testing charging both as I'm typing this post, as a matter of fact.

But there is a problem: the cable is so short that the length of my hand could easily fit the whole cable. The solution? That extender I bought for the solar panels. The panels would be kept at home away from sunlight anyway as it is impractical to bring it along.

Next up is, what would I plug the other end to? With the USB volt+amp reader (bought together with solar panel), the readings showed 0.97A (1.1A on latest tests) when both phone and harder are plugged in to the Apple phone charger, but 1.24A (1.7A at some point) when I used a bulkier third party charger.

This is a tricky one. While Apple phone chargers are compact, the other charger could, in theory, charge faster. Charging times matters while travelling, but the only time I could imagine using it is at the hotel where I would leave using the power bank to charge overnight as I sleep. That doesn't mean it will not be a factor while travelling long distance between cities: makes a difference when there are just so much stuff in the bag.

This can be done in advance, but as the day gets closer, there may be things that were overlooked, or may had been taken out, or find that something just became unsuitable.