It used to be that all it took to get packed for a vacation was a week’s worth of clothing and a good paperback book. Not anymore! Today I have a DSLR, a compact camera, my Kindle, an iPod and a smart phone all wedged into my travel bags. Add in my wife’s electronic doodads and we are carrying enough battery power to light up a small town. And that’s not the half of it; we also pack a charger for each device. It’s no wonder I keep paying overweight baggage fees at the ticket counter.
After our last trip I promised myself that I would either simplify the charger situation or we’d have to leave behind my wife’s electronics. (OK, I never really said that out loud)
After taking a look at our electronics I found that it was mainly a matter of different USB cords for each device. Further, the manufacturer’s chargers were all about the same output voltage. I should be able to consolidate the mess if I could find a compact, single charger solution.
Looking through Porter’s stock of charging devices I was able to cobble together a traveling charger kit that made a lot of sense. I purchased three items from the Promaster line: the Traveler + DSLR Charger, the USB Charging Kit, and the Traveler + Accessory Kit.
The Traveler+ Charger can top off my DSLR’s battery and it has a nice feature; a USB port that can be used to charge the Kindle, smart phone, iPod, or compact camera. The USB cords for all of these devices came in the USB Charger Kit. I had found the one charger solution that I had been looking for. But I was still going to have a mess without an organizer.
The Promaster Traveler+ Accessory Kit is a three-part outfit. Inside the box is a very useful zippered carrier that has loops to hold the Traveler+ Charger and pockets to stow the USB cords. Also in the box is a DC car power outlet converter so that the charger can be juicing up batteries while we drive. (The zippered carrier has a loop to hold the DC adapter too) The final piece in the accessory outfit is a European power adapter that I leave at home in our junk drawer.
So here are the benefits that I wound up with. 1) I don’t have to pack all of my various device chargers for a trip. 2) I don’t have to pay manufacturer prices to buy extra USB cords or chargers. 3) I can charge all of my devices with one charging unit and I can do it from an AC wall outlet or from the DC accessory power port on my car (it’s not PC to call them cigarette lighter sockets anymore?). 4) All of my new travel charger components fit nicely into a zippered organizer that is smaller than a paperback book.
The total cost of purchasing spare manufacturer brand USB cords and chargers is over $100.00. The cost of the Promaster components that I used in my kit was $74.97. Not only did I save $25.00 but my charger will work from my car’s accessory power port and I have a smaller total package that fits into a small organizer pouch. Basically a grab and go solution that’s always ready for a trip.
The Traveler+ Charger comes in several configurations for compact cameras too!