My truck is set up for drop-of-the-hat camping and overlanding trips, but I also use certain aspects of this setup, such as the Jackery Power Station, for daily relaxing and hanging out during my lunch breaks at work. Since my job is outdoors, we have insufficient break room areas and I’d much rather kick back in my own space.
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In this article: Jackery 300 Power Station and BamBeds Sleeping Platform
That’s where the Jackery portable power station comes in. I have my Softopper set up with a Bambeds bed platform system in the back of the truck with a small 3-inch mattress and a few basic amenities. One of those is my Vornado fan that uses a decent amount of power. I often plug that in directly to my Jackery 160 or 300 and relax for a bit.
I’ll either get a nap or catch up on some emails and internet browsing. My phone is also plugged in to the Jackery power station and gets a rapid charge boost during my 1-hour lunch break. If I’m browsing on my computer that might get plugged in as well.
How I keep my Jackery power station charged up with my vehicle
I’ve created a system for keeping my Jackery charged up. I usually charge it while I’m driving with the cigarette lighter plug that it came with or I set up my Jackery 60-watt solar panel, which looks to be discontinued. The Jackery 100-watt solar panel will do the job even better. I set the solar panel facing the sun on top of my Softopper and run the cord down into the bed of my truck and keep it plugged in to the Jackery.
My power level will stay just about where it started if I’m just running the fan and charging my phone. Full sun I usually draw about 36-watts in the California winter sun. Summertime I’ve seen closer to 50-watts.
When we’re camping I usually keep my fridge powered with the Jackery and if I’m nearby I’ll have the solar panel hooked up to keep the power station charged. Obviously if you’re overlanding you’ll be doing a lot of driving and that’s a good opportunity to keep the Jackery powered via the bed outlet in your truck or the 12-volt cigarette lighter plug.
Links: Jackery 300 Power Station and Jackery 100-watt solar panels
How do you keep your portable power station charged at your vehicle?