The Freedom of Power on Demand

The possibilities are wide open when you have the ability to bring substantial power with you into the field.

I couldn’t even guess how many years ago I bought my first large standalone battery – but looking back I can’t say how I did without one for so long.

The market for portable power banks and stations has expanded tremendously in the last few years and a few names seem to have risen to the top, with a jostling crowd of thousands of hopefuls snapping at their coattails.

The first brand I personally took notice of was Goal Zero, which kept popping up in tiny house and van build videos as that movement started to crescendo. I’m pretty sure it was Elsa Rhae and Barron who finally convinced me that having a bit more power than a cell-phone battery bank would be handy when out camping and hunting.

I snagged our first Jackery on Amazon when the ebb and flow of pricing dipped just enough for me to pull the trigger and it’s been with me on nearly every hunting or camping trip since that didn’t involve an airplane.

The brand was one of the bigger names at the time with a good reputation, and they even landed in Harbor Freight for quite some time with a slightly upgraded version of my battery at an even better price.

Forget charging a phone or laptop – do you know how nice it is to be able to plug in a work light to allow you to butcher deer after the sun goes down? Power a vacuum sealer to package meat, even though you’re miles from a power outlet supplied from the grid? Not to mention a fridge.

Honestly, having power with me lets me do more with the time I get in the field, and with some stellar Black Friday pricing I couldn’t resist in finally upgrading to a bigger bank. I’ll put the Explorer 2000 V2 to the test for the next few years and hope to happily report back.