It won't start
A battery that will not crank is the most common reason a car does not move. A jump pack fixes it in two minutes, with no second vehicle.
Jump starters · Tire inflators · Battery chargers
The trunk kit that gets you home.
Trusted picks for portable jump starters, tire inflators and battery chargers — sized by engine, climate, and how far from home you will be. Every spec on this site is read off the manufacturer’s own page and linked.
- Pages
- 176
- Products
- 48
- Sourced specs
- 256
- Units we claim to have lab-tested
- 0
Start here
Start with the problem
Three failures account for nearly every car that will not move. Pick the one you have.
A tire is low or flat
Tires lose a couple of PSI a month, plus a pound for every 10 °F the temperature drops. An inflator is the tool you use most often.
The battery keeps dying
If you have jumped the car twice this year, the pack is the symptom. A charger or maintainer is what actually fixes it.
Top picks
What won each category
The number-one pick from each of our buying guides, with the specs that decided it. The price in each button is read live from Amazon, and Amazon is where you check it before you buy. 47 prices verified November 10, 2026.
Best Portable Jump Starters
NOCO Boost Plus GB40
The default answer if your engine is under 6.0 L gas.
$99.95View on Amazon
#ad Affiliate link · Price as of November 10, 2026
Best Jump-and-Inflate Combo
DEWALT DXAEJ14 Power Station
Jumps, inflates and has an AC outlet — and it is heavy.
$129.00$169.00View on Amazon
#ad Affiliate link · Price as of November 10, 2026
Best for Diesel Trucks
NOCO Boost HD GB70
6.0 L diesel rating covers the common truck engines.
$199.95View on Amazon
#ad Affiliate link · Price as of November 10, 2026
Best for SUVs & Trucks
NOCO Boost Plus GB50
7.0 L gas rating clears a 6.2 L with margin.
$149.95View on Amazon
#ad Affiliate link · Price as of November 10, 2026
Best for Cold Weather
NOCO Boost HD GB70
The margin you want when it is below freezing.
$199.95View on Amazon
#ad Affiliate link · Price as of November 10, 2026
Best Jump Starter Power Banks
NOCO Boost X GBX155
99 Wh and USB-C PD both ways, and it still flies.
$369.95View on Amazon
#ad Affiliate link · Price as of November 10, 2026
Sections
The five sections of the site
Jump Starters
A jump pack is the one trunk tool that turns a tow truck into a five-minute inconvenience. This is how to size one, and which ones are worth the space.
Tire Inflators
The cheapest tool that prevents the second-most-common roadside stop. Here is which type fits your tires, and the two specs that actually matter.
Battery Chargers
A jump pack gets you moving. A charger is how you stop needing one. This is the home half of the problem.
Trunk Kit
What actually lives in the trunk, in the order it earns its space — and the pre-built kits that are a starting point rather than an answer.
Road Trip & Travel
What changes when the nearest parts store is four hours away, the pack has to survive a hot trunk, and the airline has an opinion about your lithium battery.
Built for away from home
What changes four hours from anywhere
At home a dead battery is an inconvenience with a workshop at the end of it. Away from home it is the difference between continuing your trip and not. The tools do not change — the margins do, and so do a couple of rules nobody publishes clearly.
- Flying with a jump starterThe FAA and TSA watt-hour thresholds, quoted from source, and where every mainstream pack sits against them.
- Storage and heatWhy a hot trunk permanently costs a lithium pack capacity, and where to keep it instead.
- The road-trip car kitWhat to size up, what to add for the terrain, and what to leave at home.
Sizing
Work out what size you need
Three tables that answer the only questions that actually matter before you buy anything.
What size jump starter do I need?
By engine displacement and fuel type, using ratings manufacturers publish.
What amp battery charger do I need?
The 10% rule, worked, with published capacity ranges to check it.
What PSI should my tires be?
The door-jamb placard, not the tire sidewall. They differ by 15-20 PSI.
Read these first
The pages that carry the argument
Guide
What Size Do I Need?
The sizing table by engine displacement and fuel type, using ratings manufacturers publish and warrant rather than peak-amp marketing.
Read it
Guide
Flying With a Jump Starter
The FAA and TSA thresholds quoted from source, where every mainstream pack sits against them, and the rules airlines add on top.
Read it
Guide
What PSI Should My Tires Be?
The single most common tire mistake, fixed in two minutes: placard versus sidewall, checking cold, and what cold weather does to the reading.
Read it
Head to head
Charger vs Maintainer
The difference in one table, why the amp rating is the giveaway, and which one solves the problem you actually have.
Read it
Latest
Recently published and updated
- GB70 AlternativesWhat the GB70 is known for, from NOCO's own specification sheet — then five alternatives that each beat it on one specific, stated thing.
- Best AGM BatteriesWhat AGM construction changes, which vehicles require it, and six AGM batteries ranked on the figures their makers actually publish.
- Battery Tender AlternativesWhat the Battery Tender Plus is known for, from the maker's own specifications — then six alternatives that each beat it on one specific, stated thing.
- Best Under $200The bracket that covers nearly every private vehicle — including diesel-rated packs — with the published ratings to size by and the two cases it still cannot cover.
- Best Under $100Smart chargers inside the $100 tier, sorted by published current and amp-hour ceiling, including the one with a 10-year warranty.
- Best Under $100Three inflators inside the $100 tier: one cordless, one with a published duty cycle and a 33-inch tire rating, and one that costs a fraction of either.
- Best Under $50Under $50 reaches real 4-gauge cables with published amp ratings. What the gauge number means, and why lower is thicker.
- Best Under $25Under $25 reaches gauges with published ANSI B40.1 calibration, a hose so the chuck seats square, and a bleed valve. Here are the three worth owning.
- Best Kit Under $100The ready-made kit worth starting from, and the four items that beat it inside the same bracket — ranked by how often each one actually gets used.
- Best Lithium PacksPicked on published watt-hours, engine ratings and weight — plus which ones clear the airline carry-on threshold without a conversation at the gate.
- Best Heavy Duty PacksFor big diesels, farm and construction equipment, and 24-volt systems — picked on published diesel ratings, reserve capacity and cable reach.
- Best for Small CarsSized to a four-cylinder rather than over it: published engine ratings, carry weight, and the packs small enough to live in a door pocket.
- Best for V6 EnginesSized against published gas-engine ratings for a 2.5 to 4.0-liter V6, with the cold-morning margin the ratings do not mention.
- GB40 AlternativesWhat the GB40 is known for, stated from NOCO's own specifications — then three alternatives that beat it on price, on air, or on claimed engine coverage.
- Best Auto-Shutoff InflatorsPreset-and-stop inflators chosen on the makers' own published specifications — plus the honest limit of the feature, which is that it stops at a pressure it measures itself.
- Best 12V InflatorsChosen on published amp draw, duty cycle and tire-size rating — including why the accessory socket, not the motor, is the real ceiling on a cheap unit.
- Best Portable CompressorsPicked on published CFM, duty cycle and amp draw — the three figures that decide whether a unit can run continuously instead of in bursts.
- VIAIR 88P AlternativesWhat the 88P is known for, from VIAIR's own specification sheet — then three alternatives that trade published duty cycle for convenience or a lower price.
- Best Smart ChargersMicroprocessor-controlled chargers chosen on published amperage, amp-hour range, chemistry support and whether they can safely stay connected.
- Best for Classic CarsFor a car that sits: published float current, 6-volt support for pre-1956 systems, cold ratings for an unheated garage, and the longest warranty in the category.
- Best 6V ChargersChargers with published 6-volt support, sorted by current and capacity ceiling — for tractors, pre-1956 classics and small 6-volt packs.
- GENIUS AlternativesWhat the GENIUS line is known for, from NOCO's own specifications — then four alternatives that each beat it on one specific, stated thing.
How this site works
What we do and do not claim
Every spec is sourced
Figures come from the manufacturer's own specification page or a regulator's publication, linked on the page. Where a figure is not published, we say so rather than estimate it.
We do not claim a test lab
We run no instrumented testing, so we publish no measured fill times, gauge deviations or star ratings. Our picks are reasoning from sourced specifications, and we say which is which.
Prices expire on their own
Prices come from a live Amazon feed, show inside the buy button with the date they were read, and vanish by themselves after 48 hours if the refresh stops. We never type a price into the text.
Commission never moves a ranking
We earn a commission on qualifying purchases through our links. It does not decide a verdict or a position, and every pick carries a plain statement of who it is wrong for.
About the publisher
Clamp & Crank is written by Ryder M., the hands-on owner behind Magoo Media Group. The site exists because the three tools that get a stranded driver moving are covered separately everywhere else, and nobody covers what changes when you are away from home.
We make no claim to credentials we do not have. What we do claim is that every number on this site can be traced to its source.