I've had it within my power to write this post for some time, and have been meaning to, however just never seemed to get around to it. Yesterday I read a post in my community, The Pew: Guns & more by @andrastia about her time as a park ranger and a life hack about keeping disposable batteries charged. It prompted me to stop being lazy and get this post written.
As a man who likes to be prepared I value equipment that helps me do so; I'm a shooter, hunter and love camping and off-roading in remote places so self-sufficiency is important too. I keep my skills sharp and my equipment up to date, relevant and in good working order, but things go wrong sometimes and so I have to be prepared for when that happens.
Jump starter power bank
This is my jump starter, a portable battery that can be used as auxiliary power if a vehicle's cranking battery has discharged; it also doubles as a power bank from which phones, laptops and other electrical appliances can be charged and as an emergency torch. As you can see above, it's compact which means it easily stores in my vehicle which is where mine lives at all times.
It'll not start my vehicle if the battery is dead flat, however should it be depleted and is insufficient to crank the engine this pack can augment the reduced power level with its own and I'm on my way again, easy as that.
What's included
Below is the contents of the carry case. You'll see the battery pack itself and the battery clamps that connect to it to the vehicle's battery. There's even a series of lights on the battery clamps that indicate if they have been clamped to the battery incorrectly. Clearly, they need to go negative-negative and positive-positive.
You'll also see an array of connection cables and jacks which allows the battery pack to be applied to a wide range of appliances for charging purposes plus the 240V charging adaptor to charge the unit from mains power.
The unit has a peak current of 600A and a dedicated port for vehicle-starting and various other output ports to suit various applications: USB 1A, USB 2A, 12V 10A, 19V 3.5A and finally a 14V 1A input. I don't use them all, this is an emergency vehicle-starting device only for me, but they're there if I need and all of the cables and jacks also. It's pretty nifty.
Below is an image showing how its applied in vehicle starting. It's all pretty simple: Plug in cable to unit, the clamps +/+ and -/- to the vehicle battery, check the indicator light is green on the cables then start the vehicle.
I've had to use this unit a couple times although never on my own vehicle. It's worked perfectly each time.
My vehicle has a big V8 engine so requires a battery capable of 780 CCA (cold cranking amps) to turn it over so trying to start it with this unit from flat won't work. Most vehicle batteries are rated to between 300 and 500 CCA so this jump starter has been suitable for them. It's really quite impressive.
I bought this unit when I had my last truck which it would have started easily from flat but am happy not to replace it with a larger unit as I have a second battery mounted in the engine bay of my LandCruiser so could jump off that if I needed to. This portable unit is a back-up or to apply additional power to the auxiliary battery in extreme situations.
I know that being prepared, a prepper, isn't something that most people like to do or think about. I guess because people assume there'll always be someone around to help. It's not always the case though so I put effort into being prepared. It leaves me feeling confident. I'm sometimes the person others come to for help due the lack of their own preparation but that's ok; I don't mind, even if my mind boggles at some people's ignorance and lack of self-reliance.
This community, The Pew : Guns & more is not just about firearms so take a look at the list of suggested topics including camping and equipment, survival, prepping, hiking and outdoor activities like off-roading and more. Feel free to aske me directly if your topic may be suitable.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
Any images in this post are my own
Would you say @andrastia jump started this post with her own?
I do definitely appreciate the photos with your hand in them for size. I definitely lean towards the more-prepared side of life, I do spend a fair amount of time thinking about how I'd navigate bad situations... I think for lots of people they're already at full capacity with their lives they just don't have the spare brain power to think about anything outside of the day to day. Just like everyone knows they should maintain a good Password Manager, but y'know, how many people actually do?
Lol 🤣 I suppose so. Galen's post has prompted me to get off my ass and save up for one of these to add into my emergency kit in the car.
I read a lot of posts on Hive and articles on the news that show just how shitty those bad situations can be and I'm not even close to how prepped I'd like but this kind of thing is a no-brainer with the way the world is going.
I'm a badgood influence. I own it.
You jump started Andrastia's jumpstart kit.
Well if you never venture out of the city I guess there always technically is someone around to help bar complete civilisation collapse.
Does this thing start your other cars or do you now just have it to rescue other people? :)
IT starts my vehicles, but have never had to use it on one of my own as I said, it's an emergency thing only. I'm not one who likes to be ill-prepared and neither do I like asking for help when I can do things myself.
While not this specific brand I have one of these in my truck and they are amazing. I'm still able to access the battery system of the car simply by plugging into the lighter attachment in the console inside the car but I believe these are a relic of the past for any vehicle made in the past 10 years since nobody really smokes anymore.
Very versatile and handy piece of gear, that is for sure.
I've been really pleased with how this unit has performed and whilst I've not had to use it on my own vehicle it gives me peace of mind that it's there. For the relatively small outlay it could provide a lot of value when things go south.
Thanks for your comment.
Ah, this is cool! I have a similar pack by a different company. I generally just use it for appliance charging when I need to buy it is nice to have the ability to do more if needed!
There's lithium versions now, lighter, great capacity, but more expensive. I'll be looking into it though, not that I'll buy one, I just like to know. Ok, maybe I'll buy one. 😊
These things come in so handy and considering they're reasonably cost effective they make good sense.
We cant really ever keep up with technology I guess, but as long a thing does what it's supposed to, one has a need for it, spending the money is valid I guess.
Hehe... cool gadgets are always cool and worthwhile! I've started to collect some power tools for the garden and house around here... so many to collect!
Ah yes, just one more is a perpetual phrase...We always want just one more right?
That looks like a useful little device. How much does it cost?
You had me hooked at the mention of keeping disposable batteries charged, I'll have to go check out her post! I have a ton of half used ones that don't quite do the job, but can work in lower powered things perfectly.
There's loads on the market from $100 to hundreds of dollars (AUD). Mine was a couple hundred dollars when I bought it several years ago and to be honest I probably need to upgrade it to a larger unit to account for the fact I changed my truck. I keep my vehicle batteries in good condition though so this one will do the job should the cranking battery become depleted. (I have the second battery also, as stated.)
There's a few ways to keep batteries inside the appliance but still charged. A little piece of plastic works a treat. Take a read of @andrastia's post.
Great product. Should be required when going to remote places. !hbit
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I agree. Most are woefully unprepared and rely on someone like me coming along. Typical human behaviour.
It's pretty good to always be prepared, anything can happen at anytime.
The jump starter power bank looks pretty solid and a great back up in times of urgent need..how do you charge the power bank if it gets low, does it require electricity or does it make use of solar?
You can never be too prepared. That's why I love this community, there are always things to think about from the posts in it.
As I said in the post, it charges by 240V mains. I also have the ability to change it from solar panels as I have a battery system and inverter on my camper trailer and solar panels to power it.
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Lol.