Best Electronic Toys for Ultra Racing?

[taprider]

What I need/want are a Spot tracking device, head light, GPS, camera, and a device to access internet (more for my bike tour to the start of the race to keep me informed of race updates/communicating with home/finding food and accommodation along the way/entertainment while waiting for weather to change)

My limited knowledge indicates that a tablet might be able to do all the above (minus the 600 lumen NightRider and low-light lens quality and zoom of my cameras), but the drawback is limited battery life (maybe the tablet GPS app is limited too? do they use satellites or just cell phone towers?)

Most of my current gear is now ancient
(6 year old Garmin that was a top of line mapping/back country device at the time,
5 year old NightRider headlight with internal rechargeable battery but would need external battery/charger device to be useful for more than one night in a row
2 digital cameras, one with medium resolution and light weight and the other high resolution and medium weight)

What device(s) are now recommended?

[Lentamentalisk]

It seems like you are not actually asking about ultra racing. It seems like you are asking more about bike packing. As in all races, ultra racing is about racing, not about angry birds or selfies. Bikepacking on the other hand, is all about having fun in the wild outdoors.

I bring my phone for maps, internet, phone, camera, and any emergency needs.

Spot tracking, a working Garmin with path navigation, and a headlight you can ride by (under a new moon) seem like basic essentials for any bikepacking trip, race or no.

My cell phone has downloaded GPS maps, which is all well and good when I'm not too far from civilization, even in poor reception, but it can be flaky, so I wouldn't trust it for a high stakes back country exploration.

Battery life is miserable with modern entertainment devices. I can get a pretty full day of GPS out of my phone on super low power mode, but have to recharge it every day from a battery pack that I fill up during the ride with my hub generator.

[taprider]

Actually asking about two things
1 touring to the start of the race
2 racing (and mail the tablet/phone and camera home)

For touring I don't need an actual voice phone since I will communicate nearly 100% by email (and maybe send some postcards)
For racing my current limitation is battery life for my headlight (suppose its cheaper to buy a different headlight with replaceable batteries than to get solar charger or generator hub).  What about auxiliary battery pack to fit Night Rider light?
What about using the smaller track your stolen stuff Spot with a small dumb cell phone vs the larger Spot 3? maybe stolen stuff tracker/dumb phone is lighter than Spot 3?