The Camping Files-Jackery Vs Bluetti Review

Jackery VS Bluetti Battery pack show down

We do a lot of camping from our car, whether it’s driving the ALCAN from Alaska or camping in the Mojave desert of California, we spend a lot of time on the road. Adding a battery pack to our equipment list has helped with a lot of creature comforts while camping. We use it to inflate air pads, charge my camera equipment, charge laptops, and run an electric cooler so we can keep fresh food and our leftovers. It also helps power our starlink so we can stay connected on the road. A battery pack made sense as it can even out our power needs to moments when our car isn't on, and we don't need a pesky generator and the complications associated with that. 

The Jackery Experience: Why Our Jackery 300 Fell Short

I’ll try to keep my bias at bay here, but while I really wanted to love our Jackery Explorer 300, I just can’t recommend it to fellow campers. To be fair, the Jackery 300 belongs to a smaller capacity class than our new setup, and I suspect we simply received a defective unit. However, our user experience was incredibly frustrating.

The biggest issue we faced was significant passive power drain. Even when completely turned off and charging absolutely nothing, the unit would regularly lose 20% or more of its battery life overnight. There were multiple times we woke up to find it completely at 0%, forcing us to constantly charge it from our vehicle’s alternator while driving.

After sitting unused for a few winter months, the battery dropped to a hard 0% and refused to accept a charge entirely. We sent it back to Jackery under warranty, but they simply shipped the exact same faulty unit back to us. On top of that, keeping the built-in Bluetooth turned on caused a massive, noticeable drain on the battery. Because of this poor customer service experience, the Jackery has sat on our shelf ever since.

The Upgrade: Bluetti AC70 Solar Generator Review

With another multi-week camping trip around the American Southwest on the horizon, we decided it was time to upgrade. Costco was running a sale on an electric car cooler, and Bluetti simultaneously launched a sale on their portable solar generators.

We pulled the trigger on the Bluetti AC70. It features a 1,000-watt pure sine wave inverter paired with a 768Wh LiFePO4 battery pack. To keep it topped off, we bought the accompanying 200W folding solar panels, which pack down incredibly flat and slide perfectly into our car's packing layout.

After several weeks of constant field use, I am incredibly impressed. The AC70 features an excellent selection of ports, including two AC plugs, two USB-A ports, and two 100W USB-C Power Delivery ports. Those 100W ports are an absolute game-changer for content creators, charging my MacBook Pro at full speed without needing to turn on the power-hungry AC inverter.

My other favorite feature of this Bluetti is Pass-Through charging - meaning it will charge the battery unit while also powering your devices. 

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Charging the Bluetti AC70: Real-World Testing

The AC70 offers versatile charging profiles depending on whether you have access to shore power (AC) or are living strictly off the grid (DC).

1. AC Grid Charging (Wall Outlets & Car Inverters)

When plugged into a standard AC wall outlet, the Bluetti app lets you toggle between three distinct charging modes:

• Silent Mode (~140 Watts): Slow but steady. The unit is completely whisper-quiet.

• Standard Mode (~400 Watts): Fast, efficient everyday charging.

• Turbo Mode (~900+ Watts): Mind-blowingly fast. This mode fires up the internal cooling fans, but compared to our old, noisy Jackery, the Bluetti remains remarkably quiet overall.

If you have a strong enough custom inverter installed in your vehicle (I recommend a 1,000-watt pure sine wave inverter or greater), you can easily utilize these fast AC speeds right from your dashboard while driving.

The Bluetti app handles these mode switches seamlessly. While we initially ran into server errors trying to register a brand-new cloud account in the field, Bluetti’s Offline Bluetooth Mode works flawlessly without cell service, allowing us to monitor our metrics deep in the desert. Unlike the Jackery, the Bluetti's Bluetooth module uses a completely negligible amount of power.

I tried to do testing in the field of charging times but I’m typically the driver on our trips. But I will say they were pretty similar to Bluetti’s numbers. Here are rough estimate of charge times (these are based on 0% charge to full, rarely were we charging from a true 0%):

2. DC Charging (Car Cigarette Lighter & Solar Power)

When charging via our vehicle's 12V cigarette lighter port, the unit pulls a steady 110W. It’s a slower charge, but if you are driving between camp spots for more than an hour, it easily tops the battery off.

For solar charging with the Bluetti 200W panels, the highest real-world intake I’ve seen in the field is 150 Watts, with a daily average hovering around 140W. This is completely normal given atmospheric conditions and solar angle inefficiencies.

📌 Pro-Tip for Solar Camping: Do yourself a huge favor and buy a pair of 30-foot solar extension cables on Amazon. Bluetti uses standard, universal MC4 connectors, making it incredibly cheap to extend your line. A 30-foot run allows you to park your vehicle in the shade while chasing peak sunlight with your panels.

If we are heading out on a midday hike and our battery needs a top-off, we simply lock the folding panels safely to our roof rack and let them bake in the desert sun while we're gone.

Real world App scenarios: 

This is an example of our starling and Igloo cooler pulling from the Bluetti while being charged via our car. The top left is the car input (DC) and the bottom left is the cooler draw, bottom right is the starlink draw. We have a starlink mini which on average draws 20-40 W but it has had times where it pulls 80-100W when it struggles to find signal or upon startup. 

My favorite scenario, in turbo mode it was drawing 926W from the grid. I think in this one I had the cooler plus my camera batteries charging, hence the high draw from the battery pack. 

Here's an example of AC charging in standard mode. 

Here's the Bluetti on silent charging mode. It all comes down to numbers. Obviously more wattage will charge your unit more however I didn't find that the charge times were prohibitive for our lifestyle on the road. 

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The Verdict: Why the Bluetti AC70 Wins for Car Campers

For our specific style of nomadic car camping, the Bluetti AC70 is the absolute sweet spot for size, footprint, and power. After leaving our Igloo cooler plugged into the battery overnight for over 12 hours without any charging input, we consistently wake up to find the Bluetti still sitting comfortably at 72% to 77% capacity. (Stay tuned for my upcoming, full standalone review of the Igloo ICF40 cooler!). To give you some number the Igloo ICF40 will intermittently draw 50-60W however it will do it for maybe ten minutes at a time (depending on ambient temperature). It's not a constant draw of 50 W, which is what I was worried about. In real world testing while we were driving from Utah to Las Vegas the cooler will draw 56W for a few minutes, then keep its temperature for at least 30-40 minutes before requiring power. We did find the cooler kinda sucks as a cooler (without plugged in power), but for some unexplainable reason it's incredibly efficient while plugged in. 

If you camp in high-sun environments like the desert Southwest, a 200W solar panel setup is more than enough to stay completely self-sufficient. However, if your travels take you to northern latitudes like the Pacific Northwest or the ALCAN, you may want to look into over-specifying with 400W or 500W of panels to compensate for the lower sun angles and cloud cover.

If you don't drive long distances frequently to recharge via your alternator, pairing a larger capacity Bluetti unit with dedicated solar is going to be your best off-grid strategy. The small, rugged footprint of the AC70 fits perfectly right on top of our cooler, saving us precious cargo space inside our rig.

Feel free to reach out with any questions! 

The Wild Files: Great Horned Owls in an Unlikely Place

 The Wild Files: Great Horned Owls in an Unlikely Place

Great Horned Owls [Bubo virginianus] are one of the more common owls in the USA, however, this being an owl, are still very reclusive and difficult to observe in the wild. What's even more difficult to observe is their nest. Owls don't build their own nests, they typically hijack a raven or a hawk nest, something big enough to fit their large babies. Great Horned Owls are a very heavy owl, they're capable of taking down large prey, making them very capable hunters. 

I have always love owls, but could never find them (and still can't a lot of the time) so whenever I see an owl I always photograph it like it's the last owl I'll ever see. When this year hands you a huge gift such as an owl nest, then you go every second you can. I had admittedly been enviously watching other photographers find nests in other states and I had come up short. This was until one day when I was at the Desert Gardens in St. George and the worker there casually mentioned an owl nest not far from the trail in the rocks...I almost needed a new change of underwear. Photographically speaking this would be difficult as the mother tended to fly after sunset (fast bird in flight in low light creates a very difficult situation). 

Photography Gear

Since I am nomadic and photography is expensive, I was using my EF 200-400 f/4 lens with built in teleconverter. The majority of the time I was shooting at 560 mm and when the light would allow, I'd use my 2x teleconverter for the chicks or non flight shots. My shutter speeds dropped as low as 0.5" and my iso sometimes jumped to 32,000. This was one of the few times I actually wanted to shoot with a 600 f/4 (in retrospect I should've rented one and used it all week). The f/4 at that focal length allowed for really excellent shots from other photographers. 

This was some of the more difficult photography I had to do especially with the low light situations. I still shoot with the Canon R5. I found my gimbal head on my tripod was a huge help (although I need to practice more with it).  I also found setting my front shutter button to area focus and metering and then my back button focus to eye/face detection, gave me the best results for this stuff. I will try it again when I photograph foxes in California later in May.

Used: 

-Canon R5

-EF 200-400 f/4 w/ TC

-Gimbal head

-Small rig carbon fiber tripod

Wish I had:

-RF 600mm f/4 or 400 mm 2.8 w/ 2x TC 

-more time with the roost

Above: A tender moment between mother owl and fledgling. She would often do this behavior prior to flying.

Above: When the nest is in one hole only facing one direction with a bunch of photographers trying to shoot the same thing, getting a different angle is essential, especially when this shows more of a story than the head on shots. 

Above: This one I may actually frame someday. My favorite flight shot of the owl leaving her nest. I'd never gotten an owl in flight before so this was exciting. 

Above: I used a 2x Extender on my 400 mm lens with a tripod to frame this fledgling against the rocks. They still sleep a lot at this stage so getting the eyes open was a huge accomplishment.

Above: I had to drop my shutter speed to 0.5" for this. It was after sunset and all three fledglings came into the opening of the hole (very rare). I shot about 200 photos and had to pick the sharpest one. 

Above: I'm a sucker for landscape shots, I tried to capture the roost with the nice blue sky in the background. 

Above: with the help of photopills- We were able to figure out in the morning that the roost was partially lit by sun. There was more owl action in the evening however. The baby owls did show us some activity before it got too hot for them, the nice part about front lighting is that you can keep your ISO very low for these. 

Final thoughts

As always, when you see precious wildlife like this, it's always a treat to observe their behaviors and learn more about an animal in an intimate way. It was great to see families and the general public enjoy not only beautiful gardens but a sneak peek in to the secretive lives of owls. From a photography perspective, its was a new set of challenges for me, especially coming off of a few months where I did mainly underwater photography. Thanks for stopping by! 

The Underwater Photography files-Gear Review - The Kraken KRL-09s

  The Underwater Photography files-Gear Review - The Kraken KRL-09s

Diving with Dragons

 Diving with Dragons- In Search for the Weedy Sea Dragon

Mele Kalikimaka and Happy New year

A few months ago Mollie and I were presented with a unique situation. With my contract ending and her fancy tech job ending, we found ourselves with an opportunity to…travel (as if we don’t get to do that enough right). It took a bit of planning but we put the proverbial ball in motion. I wrapped up my job in Oak Harbor Washington, threw our car in storage, and headed for our first stop in Hawaii. We spent Christmas with my in-laws an my nephews on big island. Lucky we lived on the big island a few years ago so from a photographic perspective I had a few things I wanted to capture but I really could focus on just relaxing and enjoying holiday. After a few days there we hopped on down to the South Pacific to the Cook Islands, a series of islands little known to Americans but very popular with Aussies and Kiwis. 

We are staying on Rarotonga. I write this on New Years Eve. We get to celebrate our wedding anniversary here in paradise. I’m going to try and keep up with the blog on our travels as Mollie and I discussed how we never keep track of our travels .

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The ALCAN, Still one of the last great adventures? 

For travelers who crave wide-open roads, rugged scenery, and the thrill of spotting wild animals in their natural habitat, few road trips compare to the legendary ALCAN Highway. Officially known as the Alaska Highway, this iconic route winds through some of North America’s most breathtaking wilderness. Whether you’re planning your first epic drive or returning for a second adventure, here’s everything you need to know to make the most of your journey. For years I heard about

Where the ALCAN Highway Begins and Ends

The ALCAN Highway begins in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, a small town that proudly marks Mile 0 with a famous signpost that’s become a must-stop photo op. From there, the highway stretches 1,390 miles (2,237 km) northwest through Yukon Territory and ends in Delta Junction, Alaska, about 98 miles southeast of Fairbanks.

Originally built during World War II to connect the Lower 48 to Alaska for military purposes, the highway is now fully paved and maintained year-round, though travelers should always prepare for changing weather and road conditions.

The best advice I can give is to buy the Milepost (yes the book), it breaks down the ALCAN mile by mile (almost literally) and is spot on, it evens gives advice on where to see wildlife:https://themilepost.com/

Don't expect a lot of cell signal on your trip. We used a StarLink Mini and it worked very well: https://www.starlink.com/us?srsltid=AfmBOooXYWbo-hUkwQhxrFUiwndd1DlLd38I3O81Hzm2NjaHUiNi_P-g

Alternate Routes to Explore

While the ALCAN is the main artery, there are a few alternate routes that add variety, scenic detours, or new experiences:

-The Cassiar Highway (BC-37):  Starting near Kitwanga, British Columbia, this quieter route rejoins the ALCAN near Watson Lake, Yukon. It offers spectacular mountain scenery and fewer travelers—ideal for those who prefer a more off-the-beaten-path drive. There are fewer services on this route however it is well traveled.

-The Top of the World Highway: If you want a truly unique experience, consider detouring north at Tok, Alaska, and heading toward Dawson City, Yukon, via this high-ridge road. Open seasonally, it offers jaw-dropping panoramic views and a taste of the Klondike Gold Rush history.

-The Klondike Highway: Linking Skagway, Alaska, to Dawson City, Yukon, this route is a great addition for travelers who want to pair road tripping with a coastal ferry journey or explore historic towns.

Wildlife You Might See Along the Way

One of the greatest thrills of the ALCAN Highway is the abundant wildlife you can encounter right from your vehicle. Keep your camera ready and drive cautiously—you never know what might be around the next bend. Common sightings include:

-Bears: Both black bears and grizzlies are often spotted along the roadside, especially in spring and early summer. We didn't see Grizzlies on our trip however on one road outside of Fort Nelson we saw over 12 black bears on one road. 

-Moose and Caribou: These massive animals can appear suddenly, particularly near wetlands and forested stretches. 

-Wood Bison: Large herds roam freely in parts of northern British Columbia and the Yukon—one of the highway’s most memorable sights.

-Dall sheep, foxes, and eagles: From mountain slopes to river valleys, the diversity of wildlife is staggering. Bring some binoculars and scope the mountainsides.

Always observe animals from a safe distance and follow local guidelines to keep both you and the wildlife safe.

Planning Your ALCAN Adventure

Most travelers take 7 to 10 days to drive the ALCAN Highway, allowing time for sightseeing, hiking, and relaxing at scenic campgrounds or lodges. Services like gas, food, and lodging are available regularly along the route, but it’s wise to keep your tank topped off and carry basic supplies—especially in more remote stretches. We did our trip in 10 days and honestly we could've done this in a month there was so much to do and see. We tried to average about 3 hours of driving a day so that way we didn't spend it all in the car. I have heard of people driving it in four days. 

Don't forget the ALCAN doesn't end a the border of the USA and Canada like I originally thought. It still ends quite a distance away from the border, so plan accordingly. 

Summer (June–August) is the most popular time to go, offering long daylight hours and the best road conditions. Shoulder seasons (May and September) bring fewer crowds and excellent wildlife viewing, though weather can be more unpredictable.

The Canadian portion is a little frustrating because they don't really allow Boondocking like we do in the USA (on the appropriate land of course). But the Provincial parks are frequent and affordable (about 17$ CAN) Bring cash though, you're in the middle of nowhere a lot of the trip.

Again, buy the Milepost, it was worth it's weight in gold at the very least (are we still using that saying?). 

Wildlife and views: 

No surprise here but I was very fixated on what animals I would see. Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip: 

Mallard Duck

Spruce Grouse

Elk, Canada

Late season Milkyway

Beautiful sunset in the Yukon

The famous signpost forest, Watson Lake

Woodland Caribou near Summit Lake, Canada

So, is the ALCAN one of the last great adventures? Yes and no. The highway is actually pretty well taken care of, there were a few sections where frost heaves were evident or were windy as F**** (looking at you Destruction bay). And of course we didn't drive this in the winter, expect the usual, snow/ice, changing conditions. But the road is not nearly as rough as I imagined it to be. I can't wait to drive this again as there's so much more to see. 

How did I start planning my trip? Well, my wife is very focused and a badass. So that's the start. But if you look at Google Maps and look at the roads along the way, you can easily plan each stop. There were more services than I expected but don't expect a five star dinner every town. I still topped off my car every few hours. We like to camp so we always had a camping stove and additional food, that helped with snacks along the way. 

DxO PhotoLab 8: Why Its DeepPRIME XD2s Denoise Is a Game-Changer for High-ISO RAWs, Don't be afraid to switch from Lightroom!

 DxO PhotoLab 8 Review: The Best Noise-Reduction I’ve Used for Real-World RAWs

Here's the Down-Low

If you shoot wildlife at dusk (isn't that when most of us are shooting?), handheld street at ISO 12,800, or indoor events where flash kills the mood, noise is your constant companion. I shoot with a 45 MP Canon R5, so at high iso I really start seeing noise. Cue-DxO PhotoLab 8. It doesn’t just reduce that noise—it rebuilds detail you thought was gone. After testing it on high-ISO files from shots shot at high as 25,600 iso, I’m convinced PhotoLab 8’s denoise engine is the standout reason to try (or switch to) DxO. Another piece of software from DXO that I've used for years is DXO PureRaw which doubles as an incredible de-noise machine. 

What’s New in PhotoLab 8

PhotoLab 8 isn’t a “.5” update. DxO added a new generation of its AI denoising along with genuinely useful editing and masking upgrades. It features

-DeepPRIME XD2s: The latest evolution of DxO’s denoise + demosaic engine for cleaner files and crisper micro-detail at very high ISOs.

-Live denoising previews: A large loupe you can drag over the image to see denoise (and other edits) at 100% before exporting.

-Hue Range Masks for precise local color edits, plus a revamped Tone Curve with on-image controls and a Luma channel so you can change brightness without shifting saturation.

Those quality-of-life tweaks matter, but the headline is still noise reduction. DxO literally markets 8 around its “unbelievable noise reduction and detail extraction,” and this time the pitch holds up. I rarely worry about what iso I shoot at anymore, I know I have DxO on my side.

 Why DxO’s Denoise Looks So Clean

Most editors denoise *after* demosaicing (the step that turns the color filter array on your sensor into full-color pixels). DxO’s DeepPRIME family denoises *during* demosaicing using a neural network trained on billions of samples, which helps retain fine texture while scrubbing chroma noise and wormy artifacts.

DxO says the newest model can deliver the equivalent of up to three extra stops of usable ISO compared to conventional pipelines—exactly what you feel when a 12,800 ISO file suddenly behaves like 1600–3200.

That “inside the RAW pipeline” approach is also why DeepPRIME works on RAW files, not JPEG/TIFF; it’s tied to demosaicing. If you try it on a non-RAW, the options are disabled.

DeepPRIME 3 vs. DeepPRIME XD vs. DeepPRIME XD2s (I know the names are kinda nuts)

PhotoLab 8 gives you three AI denoise modes:

1) PRIME– The fastest of the trio; great default when you don’t need surgical cleanup.

2) DeepPRIME 3 – “Extra detail,” stronger noise removal and texture recovery with a modest hit to export time.

3) DeepPRIME XD/XD2s– The latest and most aggressive model for extreme ISO, underexposed shadows, and heavy crops. Pair it with the live preview magnifier to check edges and skin before you commit.

*Note for Fujifilm shooters: XD2s isn’t available for X-Trans RAWs; PhotoLab falls back to DeepPRIME/XD for those sensors.

Here's a sample: 

Above: Here is the edited photo I envisioned while taking this shot. 

Above: here is a screen shot of the RAW file/uncropped or edited.

Above: Here's an extreme crop of the raw file. This was shot at shutter 1/2,000" f/5 and ISO: 25,600! What the heck was I thinking? (It was evening and getting darker and puffins are f******* fast that's what). 

With the DeepPRIME XD/XD2s and some slight adjustments to contrast and teasing out some highlights of the bird the extreme crop looks like the photo below:

Holy cow that's impressive. 

Here's another example of my favorite shot from that day.

Here's the RAW sample, honestly it looks pretty clean right out of the camera. 

Here is the de-noised and slightly edited photo. It looks very clean. This was shot at 1/5,000 to freeze the feathers. Similar to the other photo it was shot at 256000 iso.

 Where PhotoLab 8 Shines

-High-ISO wildlife and action: Backlit fur, feather detail, and distant subjects hold together better, so you can crop without the “waxy” look.

-Low-light events and concerts: XD2s cleans blotchy color noise in shadows while preserving stage textures and metallic highlights.

-Older or smaller sensors: You’ll feel the “extra stops” the most when dynamic range and pixel pitch aren’t as forgiving.

 How It Compares to Adobe’s AI Denoise

Lightroom’s AI Denoise has improved, but many tests still give DxO an edge in fine-detail retention and color integrity—especially on difficult files. If you live in the Adobe ecosystem, you can preprocess tough RAWs in PhotoLab (or PureRAW) and continue editing in Lightroom/Photoshop with a denoised DNG. I used to use Lightroom for years, and yes I can't deny Adobe has a great set of products. I was nervous to get rid of Adobe once and for all, but with DxO photolab I left and haven't turned back. My photos can go head to head with those edited in the Adobe ecosystem.

Bottom Line

If you care about squeezing every last bit of quality out of high-ISO RAWs, DxO PhotoLab 8 is the most compelling denoiser you can buy right now—and the rest of the editor has matured too.

For adventure, wildlife, and travel photographers, the practical benefit is simple: more keeper files in bad light. You’ll shoot at higher ISOs without fear, recover shadow detail that used to look mushy, and spend less time wrestling with color noise. That’s not just cleaner pixels; it’s more photos you’re proud to share.

Other Tips for shooting in low light...

A game changer I learned a while back was to "expose to the right." It's hard with puffins because they're black and white which are the complete opposites when it comes to exposing. I took a few test shots and made sure the highlights weren't clipped and unrecoverable. Sometimes it doesn't take much, even just overexposing by 2/3 of a stop will help when editing a high iso photo. The other tip is more obvious and that's to open up your aperture. 

Thanks for stopping by!