The battery, rather frustratingly, is both one of the most important and most obtuse components of your car. It’s thanks to its battery that your car can even start its engine, to say nothing of powering your lights, stereo, and every other feature in the cabin. However, while your battery may occasionally show warning signs of wear and tear, those signs aren’t always obvious to the uninitiated. This means that if and when your battery suddenly goes kaput, it’ll probably be at a completely random, extremely inopportune time. Without a functioning battery, your car’s going to be going precisely nowhere, and depending on your circumstances, that can be very dangerous.
While the first tool you should have on hand in the event of a busted battery is a pair of jumper cables, those things are reliant on a friendly motorist or on-call service to give you a jump, both of which may be unavailable. In such a case, you need to be able to give your car a reliable jump all by yourself. How are you supposed to jump your battery without another battery to provide the jolt? Simple: Get another battery, one specifically for jumping.
Craftsman’s portable jump starter
The Craftsman brand has a quality option available for those who are concerned about being stuck on the road with a dead battery and no good Samaritans: the 1500-Amp Car Battery Jump Starter. This compact device is only about the size of a lantern, but don’t be fooled — it’s got juice to spare.
The Craftsman Jump Starter contains a long-lasting lithium ion battery, similar to the batteries you’d find in most electric cars. This battery can deploy a powerful electric jolt strong enough to jump any traditional combustion engine up to 8.0L, as well as diesel engines up to 4.5L. It’s not just a one-and-done, either. Fully charged, the Jump Starter holds enough electricity to jump an engine 35 times before needing a recharge, which you can do at home via either the 12V DC or USB-C charging ports.
Speaking of charging ports, the Jump Starter also doubles as a portable survival battery pack thanks to its 2.4-amp USB port, which you can use to charge up most mobile devices. If you’re working in the dark, there’s also a built-in LED area light . You don’t even need your own jumper cables to hook it up, as it also comes with a pair of specialized 8-gauge, 24-inch cables to get connected.
