SunSoaker 10W Kit

OUR TAKE Flexible solar panels are easier to position to harness UV rays, more packable, and way more durable. That’s why our testers liked the SunSoaker, a thin-film solar panel that spreads out to 36 by 10 inches and rolls up like a treasure map. When we ditched the carrying tube, we had no issue stuffing it into the tiniest crevices of our packs (“if you can fit your spork, you can fit the SunSoaker,” one tester says), and four ’biners let us configure it to our packs when hiking. At 10 watts, it can juice a phone in about an hour in direct sun—the fastest we’ve seen for a flexible solar panel. (The SunSoaker is also available in a 5-watt kit for $59.) 

TRAIL CRED “I left this solar panel outside for two months at 5,400 feet without any cracking or bubbling,” one Colorado-based editor says. “Rain, snow, being hooked up to the outrigger of my bike— nothing damaged it.”     

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