Jump Start Battery Packs Make Jumper Leads Obsolete

Jump-start battery packs are so convenient, I just love the things.

Ever since I owned my first motor car, I got in the habit of carrying a set of jumper leads with me, together with my car tool kit. I had to carry the jump leads because, back in those days when I was a student, the only vehicles I could afford to buy were really just heaps of junk.

Often their 12 volt car batteries would be old and worn out and, most times, it was starting the engine in cold weather that gave me the most trouble.

I would even park my old jalopy high up on a steep hill, way behind where I was living at that time. I even carried an aerosol spray of some petrol or alcohol mix which I could spray into the air intake of my carburetor to help the engine to start up the engine.

The old car had a manual transmission as well, which allowed me to roll it down the hill in gear, with the clutch depressed. I could then release the clutch once I had picked up speed. This would start the motor, and I would be off and driving my way to technical college.

You can even bump-start a manual car or truck by having a few friends or helpers give you a push. But you don't want to try this uphill. However, modern cars don't work that way. They can't be clutch-started.

Also the jumper cables I carried gave me another way to start my crappy vehicle if the car battery failed. All I had to do was find another motorist who was willing to help me. The Good Samaritan would stop his car facing mine and open the hood, and I'd run the thick jumper cables from his car's battery terminals to mine. And most time it worked.

Nowadays all that drama is quite unnecessary. And even if you drive a clunker, you can carry a jump-start battery pack in your vehicle with you. There are no long cables to mess with, just two short ones. And as long as the jump start battery pack is charged, it will get your car - or a friend's car - started up and running with no hassles at all.

Of course, you will need to charge your jump start battery pack before you expect to have to use it. But you don't want to be charging and recharging the battery day after day. That's not good and is likely to shorten the battery life. So just charge it every week or two or three, and your portable battery pack should serve you well.

The battery pack also doubles as a portable battery and 12 volt power supply that will run things like camping lights or a CB radio or low-powered ham radio transmitter. So you can use it when you are having fun, too.