The Jackery 1000 is now down to $399 (from $799), meaning it is a whopping 50% off, and I’m going to give you three reasons you should grab it before the Black Friday sale is over. I have looked at a lot of power banks, and I have tested eleven of them. Most of them are great, and the Jackery is no different. What I like about it as a brand is that it’s bright, colorful, there’s an emphasis on making it easy to lug around, and it's user friendly.
The first reason is the most important: You shouldn’t get caught without some form of backup power. Generally speaking, we all rely on a local power company to provide continuous power to our homes. But the power grid experiences instabilities all the time, and due to a growing trend of extreme weather events, it seems like we’re going without power for longer stretches of time during heatwaves or ice storms. This past winter, I had friends who went 10 to 12 days before power was restored in the middle of a cold snap, and if you know anyone in areas of North Carolina affected by the summer hurricanes, they’re going on months without power in some cases. The 1000 isn’t going to power your whole house, but it’s a nice balance of size and power. You can easily carry it and move it around your home, and it can recharge your devices, and power an A/C, fridge, TV, or coffeemaker.
I have never really understood the allure of camping, but I have to say that if you’ve been avoiding it, a little power goes a long way. During the day, I commune with my friends while we pretend to be pioneers; at night, I tuck away into my teardrop and catch up on shows I missed. My power bank ensures the portable speaker and lantern everyone uses are always powered up, and it can even power a CPAP, which is essential, even when camping. On a recent trip, my friend’s kid needed an asthma treatment while we were there, and the 1000 meant she didn’t have to sit in the car with it on while receiving it. She could relax in her tent, instead. A little backup isn’t just a luxury, it’s security, too.
The car is actually my third reason. I love a road trip, and while you're on the road, your car is your power source, so you don’t think too hard about what would happen if the engine punked out. But it happened while I was on the way to Utah, and it was freezing. My dog and I huddled together in a three-hour wait for AAA, freezing, until I remembered the 1000 was in my trunk, just in case. I unplugged the heated blanket from the car port and plugged it into the power bank, and didn’t have to worry about my phone power anymore, so we watched The Christmas Shepherd from under a blanket and waited it out.
A power bank is only going to last so long, so I also advise picking up a solar panel or two, so you can recharge, even in the snow. They’re on sale, too: You can pick up the Jackery 1000 and two solar panels for $699, down from $1,299.
