Basically they are a high amp battery attached to two heavy duty jumper cables. The same principles apply as when you need to jump start your car, but the advantage is that you do not need another vehicle.

You can keep your jump starter plugged in at home to ensure that it stays fully charged, or in your trunk for emergencies.

Jump starters come in all shapes and sizes, but a general rule is the bigger your car, the bigger your jump starter needs to be. You don’t want to be stuck out in nasty weather with a jump starter that doesn’t have the juice to boost your car.

The power of each jump starter is measured in amps. This number will vary but for a V8 car you should be looking for at least 500 amps.

Some of the jump starters on the market come with built in lights. These are handy when you’re stuck with a dead battery at night and allow you to easily see what you’re doing as you hook up the power source (we also recommend always having a flashlight in your car).

We’ve come up with the Top 3 jump starters on the market for you to check out. By no means are these the ONLY good jump starters out there, but they are the most reliable and easy to use.

You can check out a full list of what Amazon.com has to offer here.

Clore Automotive JNC660 1700 Peak amp 12-Volt Jump Starter

• 1700 Peak Amps
• 425 Cranking Amps
• Clore PROFORMER battery technology
• 46″ #4 AWG welding cable leads
• Industrial-grade clamps
• Built-in charger
• Automatic charging
• Voltmeter provides charge status of onboard battery
• 12VDC outlet to power accessories
• 1 year limited warranty

Automatic charging eliminates the need to unplug or replug. Plus it ensures that you’ll never be stuck with an uncharged jump starter.

Cartips.com Rating: 9.8/10
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Jump-N-Carry JNC300XL 900 Peak Amp Ultraportable 12-Volt Jump Starter

• 900 Peak Amps
• 225 Cranking Amps
• 27″ #4 AWG welding cable leads
• Full-size clamps to penetrate battery corrosion
• LED battery status indicator
• High intensity work light
• Grip-Lock clamp storage
• DC outlet to power 12 Volt accessories
• Includes wall charger and Male-Male 12V extension cord
• 1 year limited warranty

A smaller profile and the built in light are a definite plus. Not as much juice as the JNC660 so it may not jump cars in more extreme situations. If you have a V8 vehicle I’d recommend the JNC660.

Cartips.com Rating: 9.6/10
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Schumacher XP400 Instant Portable Power Source

• On/Off switch activates the jump starting mode
• Built-in charger for automatic charging of internal battery
• Battery status LEDs tells when battery is charged or needs to be charged
• Sure-Grip clamps fit both top and side-mount batteries
• A maintenance-free, sealed lead acid battery allow for storage in any position

Low cost and small size make for a perfect jump starter for small cars. If you live in a cold location or have a medium to full sized car I would recommend something with more power. If you have a smaller 4 cylinder vehicle this is a perfect emergency solution.

Cartips.com Rating: 8.7/10
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Had an experience with a jump starter? Let us know in the comments below.

The two biggest causes of car batteries failing is either leaving your lights on or alternator failure. One of these will probably happen to you at some point in your life.

So you have to know how to jump start a car safely and properly, so that when/if you ever do run into a dead battery in your car you can get back on the road quickly. You don’t always want to have to call out your car breakdown cover, particularly when it is something you can do yourself. Continue reading to find out how!

Preparing your vehicle to jump start a car:

First, you’re going to need a set of jumper cables. They are pretty common, so even if you don’t have a set you should be able to find someone who does. They aren’t expensive, so it’s actually a good idea to pick some up just in case anyways.

Move both cars so that the batteries are close to each other. If you don’t know where your battery is then pop the hood. Make sure that both vehicles are off, and have the parking brake on… you don’t want any accidents.

Make sure that both cars don’t have any accessories running. This means headlights, A/C, heaters, fans, cell phone chargers, radios etc. When you jump start the car it may cause damage to these accessories by pushing too much current through the car’s electrical system… so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Take a look at the batteries before jump starting. Make sure you know which side is positive (+) and which side is negative (-) before going further. The positive terminal is usually marked red and the the negative is usually black, but check the markings on the battery to make sure.

If your battery is damaged or is leaking… don’t jump start your car. You will need a new battery first, and if you try to jump start it anyways you may cause a lot more unwanted problems. Besides, a damaged battery is not going to hold a charge anyways.

Make sure there isn’t any corrosion on the battery terminals. The terminals themselves won’t hurt you, so you can clean them off with a rag or a brush if you have one.

Time to learn how to jump start a car

Step 1: Connect one of the positive (+) ends of the jumper cables to the positive (+) terminal of the DEAD battery.

Step 2: Connect the other positive (+) end of the jumper cables to the positive (+) terminal of the GOOD battery.

Step 3: Connect one of the negative (-) ends of the jumper cables to the negative (-) terminal of the GOOD battery.

Step 4: Connect the other end of the negative (-) jumper cable to any non-painted metal part of the engine block on the DEAD battery’s car. Why not put it on the negative terminal of the dead battery? Because this could cause an explosion… and explosions are bad.

If you jump start your car by connecting the jumper cables in this order you minimize the chance of the cables sparking and is the safest way to jump start your car.

How do you know if you’ve connected everything right? The dome light in the car with the dead battery should come on when the circuit is complete (all the cables are attached). If the dome light doesn’t come on then you probably either have something connected incorrectly, or your jumper cables are toast.

OK now to jump start the car

Run the car with the good battery for a few minutes and then turn it off. That’s right, turn it off.

Why? Because if you jump start a car with the good battery’s car running, you may actually burn out the alternator on the good car because of too much current being drawn from the electrical system.

So turn off the good car’s engine, and try to crank the car with the dead battery. Most times this will be enough and your car should start.

If that doesn’t work, then you have to start up the good car’s engine. Bring the RPMs just above idle (push the gas pedal just a little bit) to increase the current flow from the alternator. Then try to crank over the bad battery’s car once again.

It can take a few minutes to jump start a car sometimes, so be patient. If you’ve done the previous steps correctly you should have your car running quickly. If you still can’t get enough juice to start the car, try moving the negative (-) cable that is attached to your engine block to the negative (-) terminal on the battery. This should be your last resort, but it may just give you the extra boost you need.

Now to take off the jumper cables

After you’ve jump started your car you need to safely remove the jumper cables off of the batteries.

Disconnect the negative (-) cable from the exposed metal on the engine block first.

Then disconnect the other negative cable from the good car.

Then both of the positive cables.

So you’ve just learned how to jump start a car. As I mentioned above, it’s always a good idea to have a good set of jumper cables in your car/truck in case you have to jump start it. They aren’t expensive and they can really save your butt from time to time.

What if you don’t have jumper cables or can’t find another vehicle to help you?

This one can be tricky. After all, what happens when your battery is dead and you’re not near any other vehicles to help you out? Even worse, what if you’re stuck this way in the winter?

If you have a standard transmission (aka stick shift) then you’re in luck because you can jump start your car without jumper cables using your clutch.

Jumper cables in your trunk are pretty standard emergency equipment, but you may also want to consider investing in a jump starter for your car.

A jump starter will be able to successfully jump start your car without jumper cables. Essentially it’s a battery pack attached to one half set of jumper cables. You hook up your jump starter, flip a switch and hopefully there is enough juice to jump your car.

Be sure to read our reviews of jump starters however, as you don’t want to get stuck with a jump starter that doesn’t have the umph to jump your car. You can check out reviews and get a pretty damn good deal on jump starters over at amazon.com here.

Leave us a comment below about jump starting a car, or even a horror story… I’ve sure got a few, but that’s a different post.

You can only perform these steps if you have a STANDARD transmission car or truck. You need a clutch otherwise this will not work.

Hopefully your car or truck is near a hill of some sort, or you have some really strong friends to help you out.

Here are the steps to jump start the car

Step 1: Point the car down the hill and turn the ignition key to the on position (if you’re not near a hill then just motivate your friends with promises of beer or something).

Step 2: Push your clutch in all the way and release your parking brake. Make sure the car is in 2nd gear. 2nd gear should give you a bit more oomph when you jump the car, but first will also work.

Step 3: Once you’ve reached about 5 miles an hour you need to let the clutch out quickly… if you have friends pushing the car let them know before you do this because the car will slow down suddenly.

Step 4: The car should turn over and start. Once you hear the engine fire, push the clutch back in so you don’t go flying down the hill.

Step 5: If the car didn’t start, try it all over again. If you’ve tried a few times and the car still won’t start there may be another problem.

It’s important to remember that you won’t have power brakes when the car is not running. This means that when you’re jump starting your car, if the car doesn’t start you will have to press quite hard on the brake to get the car to stop rolling down the hill.

Remember, jump starting your car like this can only be done on a standard transmission car or truck… automatics simply will not work because of their torque converter.

Other options if you do not have jumper cables

If you don’t have jumper cables and you can’t manage to get your car started by dropping your clutch you may be out of luck. You may want to invest in a “jump starter” which would allow you to jump your car without cables or the above method. Basically, a jump starter is a battery pack with a set of cables that you hook up to your car battery.

You can check out reviews and grab a deal over at amazon.com on jump starters here.

See also our article on How to Jump Start a car with jumper cables.