AMPware Crank Case

Our take For those of us who rely on our phones in the backcountry, we’re either slaves to power banks or solar chargers. With the new AMPware Crank Case, however, you need neither. The standard (if a little bulky) shockproof phone case has a hidden handle that pops out of the back. The harder you crank, the more power the motor generates for your phone; at the fastest, you can get on par with a wall charger. But it takes work. Instead of cranking when we really needed instant power, we learned to crank in our downtime at camp (or even while hiking). Five minutes of cranking gives you about one hour of normal phone use. Tip: Turn off your phone for max benefit. Bummer: It’s only available for the iPhone 6/6s right now (iPhone 7 version in the pipeline).

Trail cred “I liked that I didn’t have to go digging around my pack for all the cords and stuff for a power bank or solar charger,” says a tester who used the Crank Case on the Rae Lakes Loop in California. “Everything I needed was already attached to my phone.”