Just got back from my second camping trip after purchasing an Eton Rugged Rufus Bluetooth speaker.
I was always skeptical about solar-powered things because 10+ years ago, they weren't good at all to be honest... But things have changed
This thing was a waterproof rating IPX4, which means that while you can't dunk it underwater, it can still sit out in heavy rain and be fine. I tested this myself and it sat out in hard rain, and just kept playing.
Our typical day camping is getting up around 9-1030 AM depending on if we got into the Gin or not
And when we're at camp, we play music pretty much all day and all evening until quiet hours(11PM) and then we turn it waaay down lower than speaking volume until probably 1-2AM. The Rukus never got below 25% battery.
I play music from my cell phone, so usually by morning, my cell phone battery is at 30-50%. The Rukus sits outside on the picnic table all night and starts recharging as soon as the sun comes up. By the time we get up, I plug my cell phone into the Rukus' USB port. Yes, the Rukus has a USB port to charge other devices from its 5200 mAh battery! My cell phone gets charged full which leave the Rukus with about 50% battery. I unplug my phone and it only takes 2 hours for the Rukus to be fully charged again. The Rukus will go from dead battery to 100% in about 5 hours of direct sunlight. Music all day/evening, rinse and repeat. On a 6-day camping trip, it kept itself and my cell phone fully charged every day just from the solar panel!
This past weekend we had lots of rain and overcast, hardly any full sunlight, and we were in the woods. However, the Rukus still did the job. Now as for sound, it's definitely not a Bose system and has as much bass as a small Bluetooth speaker can muster, but the quality is very nice! And it can get pretty loud as well without any distortion. It's definitely as loud as you would need for camping to be able to hear it over a roaring fire and some talking. The speakers are very directional as well. So standing in front is much louder than standing beside or behind it. This lets you direct the sound towards you and not disturb other campers.
Cost me about $100 at MEC. Can get it on Amazon too.
I was always skeptical about solar-powered things because 10+ years ago, they weren't good at all to be honest... But things have changed
This thing was a waterproof rating IPX4, which means that while you can't dunk it underwater, it can still sit out in heavy rain and be fine. I tested this myself and it sat out in hard rain, and just kept playing.
Our typical day camping is getting up around 9-1030 AM depending on if we got into the Gin or not
And when we're at camp, we play music pretty much all day and all evening until quiet hours(11PM) and then we turn it waaay down lower than speaking volume until probably 1-2AM. The Rukus never got below 25% battery.I play music from my cell phone, so usually by morning, my cell phone battery is at 30-50%. The Rukus sits outside on the picnic table all night and starts recharging as soon as the sun comes up. By the time we get up, I plug my cell phone into the Rukus' USB port. Yes, the Rukus has a USB port to charge other devices from its 5200 mAh battery! My cell phone gets charged full which leave the Rukus with about 50% battery. I unplug my phone and it only takes 2 hours for the Rukus to be fully charged again. The Rukus will go from dead battery to 100% in about 5 hours of direct sunlight. Music all day/evening, rinse and repeat. On a 6-day camping trip, it kept itself and my cell phone fully charged every day just from the solar panel!
This past weekend we had lots of rain and overcast, hardly any full sunlight, and we were in the woods. However, the Rukus still did the job. Now as for sound, it's definitely not a Bose system and has as much bass as a small Bluetooth speaker can muster, but the quality is very nice! And it can get pretty loud as well without any distortion. It's definitely as loud as you would need for camping to be able to hear it over a roaring fire and some talking. The speakers are very directional as well. So standing in front is much louder than standing beside or behind it. This lets you direct the sound towards you and not disturb other campers.
Cost me about $100 at MEC. Can get it on Amazon too.
Weather changes fast here. To be honest, we don't "NEED" power for anything. Fridge is propane and doesn't require 12v (no circuit boards etc). So if I kill my battery, oh well. My portable speaker can still play for 10+ hours off of its battery and still charges a little under overcast skies, so if we can still have music, that's a bonus. If THAT dies, I can always play tunes from the truck 
