>>Clarke 4000 jobbie, which must be 10 years old now and still does the job when

>>reqd, and i can buy a new battery for it when the present one dies.

Made a mistake there. I had one of that sort that I chucked a year or so back, without thinking about replacing the battery. I think you can get them from Farnell's, or whatever they are called now.

I was wrong above, mine was also a Clarke 4000 looking at the photos. It was great until about ten years old then the battery wouldn't hold any charge. The price of a new battery was not far off what I paid for the whole unit so I recycled it. I see the difference is much greater now - new unit approx £200 and a replacement battery about a third so worth doing.

I don't see the point - I can understand the need for jump leads to get a start from another vehicle on the rare occasion when the battery goes flat unexpectedly - but if they're needed more ofter surely a better solution is to fix the problem, replace the battery or whatever is causing the issue.

Each to his own.

Obviously at my age I've had jump leads and various mains battery chargers. Old and new. Good and bad.

A couple of years ago something must have drawn my attention to these alternatives to jump leads and I researched hither and thither and settled on a thing called MSC Overland by a company called Mobile Solar Chargers. A small British business run by a cracking fella called Tim ... who, amazingly in this day and age, answers the phone and speaks to you!!

I paid around £90 for the little box of tricks with a couple of handy accessories and stuck it in the boot of the car. Having seen how impressive it was I bought another one for the other car. Since buying them they've been used on neighbours cars and motor bikes twice - and recently I was sat in a car park for a couple of hours and left my lights on and the car wouldn't start. Two minutes later I was up and running. No breakdown company, no having to find someone kind enough to let me jump from their battery, no fuss or bother. I was completely independant of anyone else and was chuffed to bits. It was my own fault for leaving the lights on. And two days ago I parked the other car outside the house and didn't turn the SATNAV off and over several days it drained the battery completely flat ... and I do mean COMPLETELY flat. Two minutes later, back in action, no fuss no need to sort a donor vehicle out. Again it was my fault and again it got me out of trouble with no drama or problems and no help from some other means.

So, to summarize, why NOT have one of these in the boot? I can afford it and there's no downside to having one.

Sorted!

I've carried jump leads for as long as I can remember, and updated them to heavy duty when I switched to automatic transmission (which can't be push started) - but it's about 30 years since I've used them - so I've saved the cost and weight for 3 decades and counting by not using a power pack.

I do carry more useful things in my car like basic tool kit, fire extinguisher, first-aid kit, tow strap, tyre compressor.

I've carried jump leads for as long as I can remember, and updated them to heavy duty when I switched to automatic transmission (which can't be push started) - but it's about 30 years since I've used them - so I've saved the cost and weight for 3 decades and counting by not using a power pack.

I do carry more useful things in my car like basic tool kit, fire extinguisher, first-aid kit, tow strap, tyre compressor.

I did say ... 'Each to his own' and your reply underlines how we all see things differently.

I agree that carrying the accessories you list are useful - I carry much the same, but I don't, necessarily regard them as "more useful, they all serve a purpose and if my battery pack gets me or my Mrs out of a deserted, dark car park then I rate that quite highly on the scale of "useful".

I would take issue with your assertion that you've saved weight though - my jump leads weigh 2kg and my battery pack weighs 1 kg.and I still reckon it's easier to take the battery pack from the boot, connect it to the flat battery and immediately start the car, as opposed to securing the services of some kind person willing to allow their car to be used as the donor, especially when there's always the chance of their car suffering electrical trauma if the procedure didn't go according to plan - we both know it's happened. Would YOU be happy to let some stranger connect your car to theirs hoping that they knew the right way to connect the leads?

I agree with "each to their own" - in my case I try damned hard to ensure that this sort of thing doesn't happen in the first place - I'd rather put the time and money into replacing a failing battery rather than invest in a battery pack

I've just replaced the original battery on my 8+ year old VW Touareg, long overdue according to VW's recommendation of 5 years but prematurely as subsequent testing showed State of Health (SoH) at 80% given that 50% is normal replacement level - helped that during Covid lockdowns I put it on a smart charger once a month to keep it in good condition.

To answer your final point - I'd connect the two cars, not rely on a stranger!

I hope the moderators agree with me, but let's just keep responses to recommendations of battery jump-start packs.

Your experiences, bazza, mirror my own entirely.

The great thing about that particular company is the fella who runs it and to whom you usually speak when ringing. He's a real enthusiast himself and uses his devices for all sorts of things other than starting cars. He does a lot of outdoor adventure type stuff and uses the battery packs for all manner of purposes and is happy to spend time talking about them. There's never any pressure, he just seems to enjoy getting involved and sharing his experience. But I expect you've found all that out for yourself.

Up until recently I, like yourself, had only used the device on other peoples vehicles but, as mentioned above, I have now had to use them for my own cars ... and on both occasions entirely due to my own errors in flattening the battery. As mentioned, on one occasion outside my own house but on the other occasion in a carpark 5 miles from home ... where there was no access to my other car which was at home so there would only have been the generosity of strangers to call upon. Or call the breakdown service. The batteries on my cars are both in good order and not particularly ancient so I can't see that having a new or highly specced battery would have helped me on either occasion. But, as they say .... hey ho.