with winter coming up. i’am thinking about buying a jump pack. what should I be looking for in ( AMP)I drive a Nissan pickup 2.4 liter and a 4.0 liter jeep Cherokee do I buy the most expensive or the inexpensive.
I think I paid about $50 for one I bought for my son years ago. It had the little compressor in it that I thought would be possibly useful for him at school. It was never used a lot which is a good thing. I don’t know that I have ever needed one. The most important thing is to make sure you have good batteries in the vehicles and replace them rather than relying on a battery pack. With a good battery, you should never need one unless the lights are left on or someone wants to use your car for jump start.
My dad had to use his Jump pack after he ignored the dealer’s warning that the battery was going to need to be replaced and had to call mom to bring the jump pack from the house. A good battery shouldn’t need one but people leave the lights on by accident all the time.
If possible, avoid the ones with all the bells and whistles like compressors, lights and AC outlets unless you feel you want these features, and go for the ones with the most starting power. The middle road pack need not be any less powerful then the more expensive variation offered in some parts store. Like regular batteries, they have different ratings but unlike batteries, price is not always the indicator. Regardless, they are worthwhile having…and safer then jumper cables. Even a good battery can fail if a charging component malfunctions or a driver leaves components and accessories on while tailgating and partying. It happens all the time. 
Funny, I have used mine to loan out to start everyone else’s car and boats who wanted to jump off my car ( which I think is a no no for me to do) and used mine for camping and “trolling” ( the fishing kind) and running my boat accessories when in storage instead of reconnecting the regular battery. Have never used it on my cars in the many years we have had one. I have given my two sets of jumper cables away…will never use any again ! Like them so much for alternative uses, I always have two of them laying around in the work shop to keep charged and take on extended trips and camping and summer boating.
I’ve owned 2 different jump starter packs and I wore both of them out helping other people start their vehicles. I rarely have battery problems because I don’t squeeze the last life out of any battery. If my car or truck ever turns over slower than usual…it’s gone. I’m also the same way with tires…if they get down to about half-tread…they are history. I have a local tire store that sells used tires and I sell them to them to offset the cost of the new tires.
@dagosa; hit it on the head. If possible, avoid the ones with all the bells and whistles like compressors, lights and AC outlets unless you feel you want these features, and go for the ones with the most starting power. The middle road pack need not be any less powerful then the more expensive variation offered in some parts store. Like regular batteries, they have different ratings but unlike batteries, price is not always the indicator.
What good is the light unless someone is there to hold the whole unit for you.
Compressor;In the time it would take to fill a flat tire, you could change it.
What would you ever plug into the AC outlet.
Just worry about the power to start your car and you won’t vneed all the bells and whistles.
Yosemite
I have a compressor in my jump pack and have used it frequently. It’s saved me changing tires several times, so to me it’s worth having. Get at least 500 amps.
I was just reading reviews of jump packs on Amazon, and on anything with a large engine, like a Jeep Cherokee, I’d get something with 600 amps.
500 or 600 amps is good. Remember to jumper pack changed. Must at least charge it monthly if it not used.