Gear Check

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Gear Check: Nitecore D4 Battery Charger

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Recently I was looking for a new battery charger that would handle all of the different types of rechargeable batteries I have, not including camera ones. I needed something that would handle my Ni-MH AA and AAA Eneloop batteries that I use in things like flashes and remote triggers, and also my Li-ion 18650 batteries that power my flashlights for light painting. As well as this versatility, I also wanted to be able to easily power the charger from a 12v outlet in my car or when plugged into the Goal Zero Yeti 1400 Lithium power station in my photography …

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Installing a Goal Zero Boulder Solar Panel on My Trailer Roof

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This post was made possible by my friends at B&H Photo, where you can buy the Boulder 100 solar panel that I installed on my Taxa TigerMoth photography adventure trailer. Of course this content is also relevant to any other van or trailer you might be considering for your own adventure vehicle! If you’ve been following the posts in the Overland section of my blog in recent months, you’ll have first seen me writing about how to connect a Goal Zero solar panel to a Zamp solar connection. This was my initial setup when I got this trailer, and it …

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Building a Solar Junction Box from a Pelican Case for Goal Zero Solar Panels

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Those of you following my Instagram stories recently will have seen my portable base camp, a Taxa TigerMoth adventure trailer. I’ve been documenting some of the modifications I’ve made to it on this blog, and today we’re going to solve a solar power problem. I have a lot of Goal Zero gear because I think their products represent good value for money, and their customer service has proven to be exceptional. They make a variety of great products, such as battery packs and solar panels, but they have a tendency to go their own route, instead of using industry standards when it comes …

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Building a Camera Tether

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Just a quick post today! Over on Shutter Muse I wrote a detailed post about constructing a camera safety tether. It’s a handy thing to have for climbing photography, and other adventure sports work. Also a necessity with some aerial photography work. If you think it might be something that’s relevant to your own photography, head on over and check it out!

How to Mount a GoPro onto an Aquatech Underwater Housing

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I thought it might be fun to put my GoPro on my Aquatech underwater housing to record some clips to share on social media, and probably here on the blog. Initially I figured I’d probably have to MacGyver something together to mount a clamp to the top of the housing, but it tuns out that Aquatech are one step ahead of me and they actually make a specific adapter that screws to the top of the housing. At $70 it’s kind of pricey for what it is, but I also value my time and it would save me a lot …

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How to Speed Up Your Drobo

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The vast majority of my data lives on a variety of Drobos. I currently have a Thunderbolt 3 enabled Drobo 5D3 as my primary storage device, stacked with 32TB of drives, and I also have the same set of data mirrored onto a Drobo 5N2 which I can access remotely from anywhere in the world. A further Drobo 5D is held offsite too.  In chatting with one of Drobo’s technical gurus recently I learnt something that I didn’t know. Whilst a Drobo can protect your data as long as it has at least two drives in it, the data read and …

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GoPower 300W Pure Sine Wave Inverter. WHY?!?

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Those of you following my Instagram stories recently will have seen my portable base camp, a Taxa TigerMoth adventure trailer. This rugged little trailer came pre-wired for 120v shore power for RV park usage, and solar power, but lacked an inverter to convert DC to AC. Normally you would simply buy one of those little cigarette lighter 12v adapters that gives you a regular 120v power outlet, like this one, but I found that when I used my laptop with this on the 12v DC circuit of the trailer, it drew too much power and continually blew the fuse in …

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How to Wire a Goal Zero Solar Panel to a Zamp Connector

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My Taxa TigerMoth adventure trailer has a so-called “Zamp” connection on the outside of it for wiring solar panels to charge the battery. I say “so-called” because actually the plug itself is a standard SAE connector, but the solar company Zamp wires the plug up with opposite polarity to the industry standard. Then they put a big sticker on the trailer or RV that says “Warning, only use Zamp solar panels with this plug!”. Well… that’s a load of crap if you have a soldering iron and ten minutes to spare! When I first got my trailer, the dealer (British …

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Shedding Pack Weight: Redundant Remotes

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These can be convenient accessories, but do you really need them? It’s possible that these days you don’t, and in my quest for a lighter kit I think they might have to go. Here’s why…