Be prepared.

That’s the Boy Scouts motto, and even though I dropped out of scouting when I was a cub scout, I’ve always tried to be prepared.

Compiling a toolkit to keep in my vehicle is something I love to do. I’m not a master mechanic, so I don’t carry a huge toolbox, but I want to be prepared if there’s a situation that might leave me stranded.

I drive an SUV, which means there’s no trunk. I keep my emergency items in a soft-sided tool bag.

Two of my main preparedness items are a portable jump starter and an air compressor.

I’m old enough to remember jumper cables, and for decades I kept a set of jumper cables in my car. Jumper cables are super handy, but you do have to flag down another driver to ask them for a jump.

As batteries and technology have improved, portable jump starters became a thing, and the today we can keep a small battery pack in the car to jump start our own dead batteries.

I’ve been testing a portable jump starter from Wolfbox that can not only start my car, but it can also air up a low tire.

The Wolfbox MegaVolt16 Air Portable Two-in-One Jump Starter with Air Compressor retails for $159.99 on Wolfbox.com, but I found it for less on Amazon.

Specs

The MegaVolt16 is a 3,000-amp jump starter that can start gas engines up to 8-liter and diesel engines up to 6-liter.

Inside, there is a 16,000 milliamp-hour battery (59.2 watt-hours) with 600A of cranking power and a peak current of 3,000A. Besides powering the jump starter and air compressor, this unit has one USB-A port and one USB-C port on top so you can use the battery to charge up your phone.

The USB-C port is the input to charge the internal battery. The MegaVolt 16 comes with a USB-C cable, but it does not incude a wall charger. You’ll need to provide your own USB-C charger. Wolfbox recommends using a 65W charger and it should take about 1.5 hours to charge it up.

To jump start a vehicle, uncover the jumper cable port and plug in the battery clamps. You’ll see red or green lights to show you if you’ve put the clamps on the correct battery posts. You’ll also need to press a “boost” button on the cables before you try to start the car. The boost button charges a capacitor to help start the car.

Wolfbox estimates you can provide up to 30 jump starts on a charge.

To use the air compressor, attach the included air hose, which is long enough to set the unit on the ground when you’re airing up a tire.

The compressor is loud, and it’ll take five or six minutes to fill a tire from flat. Topping off a low tire only takes a minute or two.

When you turn on the power, you can select pressure presets to fill a car, motorcycle, bicycle, sports ball. There are plus and minus buttons to raise or lower the desired pressure.

When you connect the air hose to your tire, you’ll see the current pressure listed on top and the desired pressure on the bottom. The numbers are more than an inch tall and plenty bright.

Press the power button again and the compressor will start filling the tire and it will stop when it reaches the preset pressure.

The unit also has a nice wide LED light on top, which is very handy for using it at night.

The MegaVolt 16 measures 9.3 inches by 5.2 inches by 2 inches and it weighs just over three pounds. It comes in a nice zipper case to keep everything together.

Wolfbox Compressed Air Duster MF100

I’ve also been testing an air duster that uses a rechargeable battery to run a very powerful fan to blow dust and dirt out of the crevices around your dashboard. It is also great for keeping your computer keyboard free of dirt and debris.

The MF100 looks like a cross between an electric razor and a blow dryer. It has different nozzles that attach with a twist to concentrate the air or even help you inflate a mattress or pool toy.

The unit has a power button you press to cycle between three power settings. The trigger button on the front turns on the air. You can lock it on for the two lower settings, but you have to keep your finger on the trigger for the highest setting.

This thing really moves a lot of air, but be warned, it is quite loud at the highest setting. The fan can spin at an impressive 150,000 rpm. It charges with an included USB-C cable and can run for up to 100 minutes on a charge.

The MF100 retails for $108, but you can likely find it cheaper at Wofbox.com or Amazon.

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.