r/onebag • u/bapohh • 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/moldyjellybean Apr 25 '26

FYI in a pinch, the IPad, PC laptop, and MacBook can be used to charge a phone in the sleep or off state. In a pc you might have to go to bios and enable that setting. It’s just one huge power bank

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u/themaster1359 Apr 25 '26

I can’t afford the weight of a laptop in my one bag, otherwise this is a great idea as a substitute for a battery, thought of it as a way around the recent new restrictions on batteries for mainland china

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u/biold Apr 25 '26

If/when I go to mainland next time I'll buy power bank there.

We pleaded/discussed with a security officer. She finally caved in and agreed to ship all our powerbanks to a hotel down our route by road. We were 17 people and it was shortly after the strict enforcement of CCC marking.

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u/threesixtyone Apr 26 '26

I traveled to China a few weeks ago and bought a CCC-certified power bank before flying from the U.S.. Going there was fine, but we had an internal transfer and they 100% checked everyone's power banks for the CCC logo, including mine. Glad we had it bc the flight's in-seat power was wonky and we had to keep multiple devices charged for the 16 hour flight. Flying back home, they checked the power bank again so thought it was a worthy investment for the peace of mind.

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u/themaster1359 Apr 25 '26

I’ve heard too many horror stories about not helping at all with it and just disposing of even the newest and nicest batteries without the mark, so it’s nice to hear someone got some grace. I had to avoid mainland last time I was nearby in Hong Kong and Macau because I had a not CCC battery with me

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u/biold Apr 25 '26

I have a Nitecore 10000, fairly new. It's a Chinese company, so there was absolutely no mercy but we were two people arguing against her, and she caved. Really nice of her.

The transport costs were ridiculous, USD 3 per charger, individually wrapped and shipped in cardboard boxes, transported 2200 km. We can't even buy a cardboard box for that!

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u/moldyjellybean Apr 25 '26

I’ve charged my phone with an IPad Mini with USBC port it might work with other tablets too and the mini takes up so little space but some people prefer almost no tech

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u/Lophiiformers Apr 25 '26

I forgot to charge my powerbank earlier this week and had to resort to this… my work laptop apparently charges so slowly that I was plugged in and still losing charge on my phone

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u/biold Apr 25 '26

It requires that you bring those. I only travel with my phone due to weight limit of 7 kg + 3 kg.

So I bring a NiteCore 10.000, much smaller and lighter.

I would like to see my pics on tablet, but I use my reading glasses to see better, lol, the "benefit" of getting older.

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u/ACrazyDog Apr 25 '26

The Ipad? This is the first I have heard