Everyone Should Have a Big Battery Like the Jackery 1000 (and It's 50% Off for Black Friday)

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Credit: Stephen Johnson

I'm a fatalist, averse to the concept of offending destiny by planning for anything, but I still love my Jackery 1000 portable power station. It's partly because I'm vaguely concerned about the power grid going down if there's a disaster, but it's mostly because I like to be comfortable when I'm camping.

Put simply, The Jackery 1000 is a honkin' huge battery that's half of on Amazon for Black Friday. It boasts an output of 1,500W—enough to keep your refrigerator or air conditioner running while you wait for the civil authorities—and it weighs less than 24 pounds. You can even charge it with the freakin' sun (if you have a ton of spare time).

While the advantages of having working lights and appliances during a blackout are obvious, it's not like it's gonna sit there gathering dust until the big one hits. You can bring it to a beach party to keep everyone's phones topped off, or you can pair it with an electric throw like this Sunbeam Royal Ultra Fleece and take it camping.

Camping is where I fell in deep, deep love with big battery. I like camping, especially in the autumn, but I hate being cold. I've tried all kinds of sleeping bag and blanket configurations over the years, and I always either wake up shivering in the middle of the night, or have nightmares because I'm cocooned in a little bag like a frozen burrito waiting to be microwaved. But a couple weeks ago, I brought this battery and an electric blanket to the campground, and it changed camping entirely. Totally warm, all night, even though the outside temperature was California-freezing at like 40 degrees. It has enough power to keep a reasonable blanket on all night and charge your cell at the same time, and it doesn't even take up much space in the tent. In short: you need one.