There are hundreds of "portable jump starters", lithium ion battery packs with crocodile clip attachments that can be used to jump start a car. Many can also charge laptops or USB devices, or having a built-in light. Here are a few random examples: 1 2 3 4.
My problem with these, and jump-starting in general, is that it's not much use if your car has some problem other than the battery being flat causing it to not start, and then the car battery goes flat while you're trying to diagnose that problem. I'd like something portable that can be used to recharge a 12 volt battery, as well as jump start if that's possible.
I recently had exactly this problem. I used a solar panel to recharge the battery, but that's quite slow and cumbersome.
There's one device I've seen which seems to have the feature I want:
Stanley P2G7S Simple Start Lithium Battery Booster
When your battery is dead, just plug the booster into the 12-volt DC outlet or clamp it to the battery and the booster will start charging immediately and get you back on the road quickly.
...but unfortunately it seems to be only available in the USA.
So to be clear about the features I'm looking for, in priority order:
- Essential: Be able to charge a 12v car battery from flat to capable of starting in something like 5-30 minutes, even if there's some other problem preventing the car from starting.
- Essential: Be a portable, small, lightweight item chargable from a normal power supply
- Essential: Be available in the UK
- Desirable: Be able to jump-start a car
- Desirable: Be able to charge other devices (USB, 12v, 15v, 19v laptops)
- Desirable: Be able to charge a car battery using both direct crocodile clips and accessory socket attachments
- Desirable: Cost less than £100 (about $150 USD)
- Desirable: Have a built-in bright torch
- Desirable: Waterproof or splash-proof
Note: I said lithium ion in the title to give a general indication of the broad type of battery pack. I'm not too fussy about the exact chemistry, something similar like li-po (lithium polymer) would be fine (basically, not something like a bulky, heavy 5kg lead-acid type).
