There are times you get something and hope you never have to use it. Other items you know will get used often. Today I’m going to write about one of each that have been essential to me in the last week. Both have been written about before, but they are worth covering again based on their usefulness. Yes, I’ll give you links to get them on Amazon. You’ll get the best price available on Amazon and I get a few pennies for referring a sale. No, I didn’t get anything for free.

Let’s start with dead batteries. If you’ve owned a vehicle, no doubt you’ve had one. Recently I was away during the holidays and that meant my truck wasn’t driven for three weeks. No problem, I thought, since I replaced the battery just three months earlier. Yet when I got back, it didn’t have enough juice to start the engine. Due to where it was parked, it would have been difficult to jump start from another vehicle or plug in a trickle charger to juice it back up.

Just in case I might be in this situation, I bought the NOCO Boost Plus GB40 1000 Amp 12-Volt UltraSafe Portable Lithium Jump Starter Box. When you look at it, you just don’t think it can possibly start a truck with such a big battery or power needs. So now that I had a need to use it, I was worried that maybe the money I spent was wasted. Just to give it the best chance, I took the NOCO Power Boost home and charged it all the way up. The good news is that it worked perfectly and I got it started.

The first drive was fairly short and the next day the battery was dead again. Yes, the NOCO Power Boost got it going once again. Then I drove it more and all is well again. Should you invest in one, just remember to plug it in at least once a month so it will be ready if you need it.

Next up is keeping various devices charged. I had a guest in town and so I had to charge my own devices as well as his. I’ve got plenty of USB ports in the house and charger cables. But sometimes the best places to charge a device aren’t nearby when needed. That’s where having a power bank is really helpful. Plus you can take it with you!

I got the Anker Portable Charger PowerCore Essential 20000mAh Power Bank a couple of years ago and use it regularly. It has enough juice stored to power up multiple devices before it needs another charge. While it is fairly big for a pocket, it isn’t that hard to carry with me for those times when I won’t be near an outlet for more charging.

When you are making a list of essential devices to have, these are two that you should seriously consider. They’ve worked great for me!

Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash