Are Battery Jump Starter Packs Worth It?
It used to be standard to have a set of jumper cables in your vehicle, but today drivers are moving more and more toward battery jump starter packs. These handy devices allow you to jump yourself should you end up with a dead car or truck battery.
But the question remains? Are they worth it, or are you better sticking with the tried and true jumper cables?
Why You Need A Jump Starter Pack In Your Vehicle
A jumper pack is an excellent addition to your car or truck’s emergency kit. aside from just giving you the peace of mind to get back on the road quickly they also offer you power on the go for all your electronics. These are just a few reasons you should have a battery jump starter.
- Easy to use, just clip on, wait a bit, and then start your engine.
- No need to find a good samaritan or wait for hours for AAA to help jump your car.
- Comes in a small size that will fit in any vehicle.
- Many models of car jump starter packs also have USB plugs to charge your phones and tablets.
- Easy to share with others without potentially risking your own vehicle’s electrical system.
- Most units offer extra safety features such as flashlights, beacons, and more.
A Warning About Jumper Packs
Truck and car jump starters are a great tool, and we do recommend one in every vehicle, however they are not the magic light saber some may claim. In fact, they do come with several significant drawbacks that you need to be aware of before you dive in to the 21st century way of jumping a dead battery.
- Not all jumper packs are equal, in fact there is a lot of junk out there that may give you the peace of mind but not be able to deliver on the promise. Stay away from the $50 jumper packs on Amazon or local big box store. Oftentimes these will not have enough power to turn your engine, lose power in storage, and have poorly made components that can fail.
- One size battery jumpers do not fit all. The starter on your Honda Civic does not need nearly as much power as your Ford F350. While a pocket charger that easily fits in your glove box is convenient, make sure you are buying one that is up for the job.
- Jump starters lose a charge over time, that means you need to be diligent to check the charge every 3 months. There’s nothing worse than being stuck on the side of the road with a dead battery… and a dead battery jumper!
- Jumper packs do have a learning curve. Sure, they’re pretty simple, but we have found packs have the same color cables for both the positive and negative terminals and bad things (very bad things) happen if you connect a jumper incorrectly. We recommend if you do go the jumper pack route you take it out of the package, read the directions, and test it out in advance.
In Conclusion. Yes, You Should Have a Jumper Pack In Your Vehicle.
Our recommendation is dive in and get a vehicle battery jump starter. However the saying, “two is one and one is none” does apply here and it’s an even better idea to have both traditional jumper cables and a jumper pack.
Keep in mind though, if you actually have to use your jump pack you should have your battery inspected and tested. In today’s modern cars it is actually pretty difficult to run your battery dead so you may have a battery or electrical issue that needs to be addressed.
Still have questions? We’re here to help. Give us a call at 843-293-6793 or Contact Us if you need help understanding if a jumper pack is right for you.