Field Tested: Weego JS12 Jump Starter

We’ve all been there, turn the key and a faint click click click is heard from the engine bay, the result of a flat battery. If you are fortunate enough to be parked at the mall or with friends, you are golden. But if it happens while traveling alone in the backcountry, you will pat yourself on the back for having added an alternate power source to your kit.

The Weego Portable Power JS12 is a one-stop source for not only jump-starting a vehicle (up to a 6.4-liter petrol or 3.2-liter diesel engine), but also charging the plethora of energy-hungry gadgets we have come to depend on. With a reserve capacity of 12,000 mAh, its lithium-polymer cell can be stored for months and still be up for most jobs. Topping it off takes about 3 hours and can be done via a 12-volt power port or 100-240VAC. Output options are 5V/2A, 12V/10A, and 19V/3.5A, and the unit includes eight standard charging adaptors, USB, micro USB, and Lightning Bolt. An LED flashlight/strobe is found at one end, and the entire ensemble fits in a handy storage bag that takes up less room than a couple of cans of soda. Weego also offers a professional-grade 18,000 mAh option for large diesel engines and 6,000 mAh unit for the power sports market.

$99, myweego.com

Chris spent his formative years riding dirt bikes with his dad in the deserts of Southern California and Baja, Mexico, which led to a lifelong quest for adventure. He is handy behind a viewfinder and at the keyboard, and brings four decades of international travel experience to Overland Journal as Editor-in-Chief. His career, which includes work for National Geographic Adventure, Four Wheeler, Hot Rod, and Autoweek, has taken him through 50-plus countries and to every continent. He has also served as correspondent to magazines in a dozen countries and in as many languages. In 2013 he was part of the Expeditions7 team that crossed Antarctica and he has recently been inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame as a pioneering journalist. When not behind the camera Chris can be found on The Office (his sailboat), or undertaking meticulous “research” for upcoming articles in locales such as Tequila, Mexico.