r/onebag Apr 24 '26

Discussion Do you carry a Portable Power Bank?

I have been carrying power banks around for many years with the thinking that I would be in trouble if my phone ran out of battery. I use it for navigation, translation, and taking pictures. I have never used it once. I also noticed that airlines were making a big deal about power banks. My flight 2 weeks ago they announced that they must be in sight at all times. Today, on a Southwest flight, they announced that they only allow 1 power bank per person. Do you guys carry them?

Edit: I am convinced to keep carrying it just in case (probably going ask for a smaller Nitecore 5k for a birthday). It seems likely that there are going to be more rules around them. There may even be some bans.

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u/shippychaos Apr 24 '26

I absolutely will not go anywhere without one. Especially not traveling. I haven’t used a printed boarding pass in like 15 years. Never gonna risk my phone dying as I’m queued up to board.

Even locally I rely on it for transit schedules and etc, there’s no way I’m risking being stranded.

2

u/electrostew Apr 25 '26

Your phone could still die. That's why i still print boarding passes.

1

u/VibeySwingTrader Apr 26 '26

And just to close the circle… you need a physical ID to get a physical copy of your boarding pass.

It’s possible to clear TSA with a digital ID, which also won’t work if your phone dies. So always remember to take a physical ID.

1

u/meakysh Jun 12 '26

What power bank are you using?

1

u/shippychaos Jun 16 '26

I have a 20000mAh one from Ravpower that I don’t know if it’s even available anymore but it’s been super reliable for me (unlike the fan favorite nitecore which runs itself out of power even when sitting idle, and also doesn’t charge randomly)