Are power banks allowed on flights?

For the most part the endless loop of My Sharona is over and the ruling class has deemed it fit to loosen travel restrictions. Thus, now allowing the "middle class" to go to designated vacation locations in a vain attempt to seem more cultured. What better way to spend your time taking in the sights, the lush scenery, or local culture than to be glued to one's mobile device? It is now considered appropriate to not just take in the sights but to share the sights with strangers on the internet. Cellphones of course, digital cameras, laptops, tablets, wireless earbuds, the list of portable electronic devices are endless. Well if that is the case I have the power bank solution for your travels.

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From the TSA Website

Airline Power Bank Rules

After spending endless hours, relatively six minutes or so researching on the internet which includes two bathroom breaks, and some time spent watching sugar gliders on youtube. I have come to the conclusion that the vast majority of power banks are allowed on most flights and furthermore almost all airlines require the power bank to be with you in the carry on and NOT in the checked in luggage. The unifying trend I spotted was that - the general cut off point was less than 100Wh. What are watt-hours? Well on its own, it is a statement that truly exemplifies the phonetic minefield that is the english language. Though denotatively it is a unit used to express power bank capacity, in relation to time.

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What hours? Watt are?

Watt hours are simply the product of watts, a measurement of power, and hours, a measurement of time. So say for instance you had a classic 60W light bulb that you left on all day for 24 hours.

60W x 24hr = 1440Wh

At this point in time you might be thinking, "I have rarely seen watt-hours advertised on power banks - just amp hours as an expression of capacity." You would be absolutely correct. The reason for this is because most modern electronics manufacturers are very well aware of the average consumer's capacity to conceptualize number systems as a whole, poorly. This is why you might often see a 10,000mAh power bank being advertised, but rarely see a 10Ah power bank. Even though quantitatively they are equivalent. The average consumer associates with the three extra digits of 0's a false sense of magnanimity.

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What about Milliamps

To check if your power bank that is most likely rated in mAh or milliamp hours, to watt hours is to take the product of your amp hours and multiply it by the rated voltage of the power bank that is usually printed on the back of your power bank or at the very least in the user manual.

Watt-hours = amp-hours x volts

So say for instance you had a 10,000mAh power bank that is running at 3.7V. You would do -

10,000mAh x 3.7V = 37Wh

Now it is 37 watt-hours instead of 37,000 because milli, in milliamps means in the thousands. I.e. 1000 milliamps is equal to 1 amp. Another instance in which electronic manufacturers try to stick bigger numbers, in the sense of taking up screen real estate, to consumers even though quantitatively they would be equivalent.

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