I love tech smile I'm purchasing a solar charger (about $30 from amazon.com) so that I can recharge my smart phone (functions as GPS, camera, video camera, video game player, MP3 player, note pad/journal, e-mail/SMS texting, web surfing, weather forecaster/radar viewer, watch, alarm clock, instruction booklets, google map viewer, restaurant & lodging reviewer... oh and as a bonus it also makes phone calls!) while away from civilization. Of course most of the time these devices will be turned off, but when needed and when desired they are nice to have.

In keeping with the mind set of traveling light I do think a good smart phone & solar charger is very "economical" weight wise and function wise to bring along. The solar charger is about the same size and lighter than a regular iPhone.