OH8STN's PowerFilm considered.

If you like ham radio, you will probably like Julian, OH8STN's various video reviews that frequently achieve tens of thousands of views in very short times.

I think I've only ever criticised Julian once for his review of a portable antenna that failed very quickly, but was nevertheless described as a worthwhile product.

Julain's latest offering is, as is relevant for a portable-focused channel, again about power provision in the field.  I did find myself throwing my eyes skywards a little today, because the video comes across really more as a promotion of the PowerFilm LightSaver Max, rollable PV panel.

 

PowerFilm rollable PV panel.  Nice, but expensive.

Now, the PowerFilm products look and probably are very well built devices.  But the price!  In the US, the LightSaver Max is about $359, whilst in the UK, it is much the same, but in Sterling.  That's a lot of money.

But we dedicated /P operators do need something like a easily-packable PV panel sometimes, so the obvious question to ask is: can we get something similar, for less money?

It turns out that we can.  For example, Amazon and various other online retailes have several, typically 80W foldable panels with various USB outlets, for about £130.  A 22Ah lithium 'powerpack' is typically about £25 at the moment, so for less than half the price of the PowerFilm unit, you can achieve much the same effect.  It may take slightly more room in your bacpack, but not so much as you might turn down the offer of significant cash savings.

A Choetech 80W foldable PV panel.  A lot cheaper.

 

Indeed, I suspect that the foldable panel might be preferable to the PowerFilm unit, for the fact that it has no integrated sockets that, inevitably, will become damaged over time.  I find that USB sockets, notably the central plastic contact support part, are very susceptible to breakage after not much use.  Whilst you may be able to replace them on the PowerFilm body, it will be a lot easier to do so on a separate battery pack, or simply replace that pack.