Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - LD Garmin/GPS users

I've got a Garmin Edge 305, and it's battery life is pretty consistent at 10 hours. How does the rando crowd and other distance riders keep GPS units powered? I've seen those power packs that take AA (AAA?) batteries, but not sure about actual runtime and other details.

Thought I'd save myself a lot of time and just ask you guys rather than the gadget forum.

Thanks
-Sean

I haven't used one but cheg (BF member) has used them on brevets and it kept his 705(?) going through the recent 600k brevet.

So I think you can get a full charge out of two AA's with the "minty boost" that can be built. Or you can just buy something pre-made from Radio Shack that does the trick.

I just use my Garmin eMap that I've had for 10 years now. Runs about 15 hours on a couple AA cells and if the ride is longer than that I carry another set or two of charged cells. Doesn't give me heartrate or cadence, but it does the usual cyclometer stuff (speed, dist., avg. speed) as well as showing me where I am on detailed maps and keeping track so I can download to my PC and get data on elevation profiles and also record exactly where my photos were taken. Handy on tours as well to find the nearest grocery/bike stores and motels, etc.

If my edge 305 ran on AA or any replaceable cell, I wouldn't have this concern. I'm almost competent with a soldering iron, so maybe I'll take a shot at the old Minty Boost.

If 2 full charges (20 hours) doesn't capture 1 day STP I don't want to see review the data anyway :)

I use the Gomadic unit, which takes 4xAA's. I keep it attached and charging all the time, which enables me to leave the back-light on all night if I'm so inclined to ride all night (and I have).

On the Shenandoah 1200, I kept it on all time -- that's 3.5 days -- and just kept replacing batteries in the external pack.

I have a 305 and on longer rides I've taken my charger with me. I usually need some real food around the 100 mile mark so I'll plug in while eating my lunch. The 30-50 minute top-up has been enough to keep it going on all day rides.

I was looking at an Edge but Murphy's law weighed heavily in my decision. I ended up with the eTrex Legend. The only thing I have to do is bring AA's, which I do anyways.

I use the Gomadic unit, which takes 4xAA's. I keep it attached and charging all the time, which enables me to leave the back-light on all night if I'm so inclined to ride all night (and I have).

On the Shenandoah 1200, I kept it on all time -- that's 3.5 days -- and just kept replacing batteries in the external pack.

You must have been the one my buddy was talking to on the Gainesville 600K this year thompsw. Based on that discussion I bought the Gomadic unit myself. What's nice about it is on a 200K it doesn't discharge the Garmin internal battery's at all and even better, it's compatible with my mp3 player. Great for those multi day tours.

Congratulations on completing the Shenandoah.

I for some reason get less than 8 hours of life out of my garmin edge 305 HR+. I use a UPC USB battery pack and a retractable USB cable to power my garmin on long rides. I store both in a large Bento Box and run the cord out a small home in the bottom of the the Bento box. This sytems works like charm and has tons of batter life.

I did a two day tour last summer and use a solar charging device to power my garmin and recharge my iPod Shuffle at the end of the day. I will use the solar set up this summer on a 3 day tour.

Minty Boost is in the mail. I just need to acquire an Altoids gum tin and dust off grandpa's 1960's soldering iron and I'll be ready to rock.