Don't Waste Money On Third-Party Ryobi Battery Jumper Cable Adapters – Use This Instead

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One of the emergency tools you should always keep in your car is a portable jump starter. Unlike the jumper cables your parents likely stored in the trunk while you were growing up, jump starters include a battery so that you won't need to rely on another vehicle and driver to get your engine running again. Instead, just connect your car battery with the jump starter, and you'll be back on the road in minutes.

Other options include jumper cable adapters, such as third-party options that work with proprietary Ryobi batteries. If you own any cordless Ryobi power tools, you likely have Ryobi batteries on hand. With a third-party adapter, you could connect jumper cables between your engine and one of these Ryobi batteries rather than a dedicated jump starter. However, this isn't necessarily the best option you have. Ryobi makes a dedicated jump starter that also works with its batteries, and while it includes a bit more equipment and may cost more money, you're likely better off using it than a third-party adapter.

For one thing, using first-party equipment made and sold by the manufacturer is usually the better bet because a brand like Ryobi is more well-known, reliable, and accountable than some random third-party company from Amazon that nobody's ever heard of. Ryobi's batteries are specifically built to work with Ryobi gear. On top of this, using third-party equipment with Ryobi products may void your warranty, so if there is a malfunction or damage from something like a jump starter adapter, you might be stuck with the bill. Finally, the Ryobi 18V One+ Jump Starter Kit comes with a fresh battery, which is likely holding more charge and in better shape than an older one that's been sitting around your garage for who-knows-how long.

The Ryobi 18V One+ Jump Starter Kit (model P7110) is currently available from Home Depot for $192.75. That's not exactly chump change, and it's significantly more than a typical pair of jumper cables or even a third-party adapter to use with Ryobi batteries, so you might be wondering if Ryobi's Portable Jump Starter is worth buying. You can save a bit of money by purchasing just the tool, but it's only $13 cheaper, and you wouldn't be getting the Ryobi 2 Ah battery and charger included with the kit. Considering buying these two items individually costs a lot more than $13, it's a good deal. Both items come with a 3-year manufacturer's warranty and a 90-day return window from Home Depot.

The device includes an on-board Quick Start guide with step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process, which is fairly simple and can take less than a minute to complete. There's even a QR code so you can read the instructions on your phone if you prefer. You're basically connecting your car battery to the starter with jumper cables instead of connecting them to another car's engine, and then priming and activating the device by simply pushing a couple of buttons. Unlike many third-party adapters, there are also included safety features, including anti-spark technology and reverse polarity protection in case you haven't connected the jumper cables to your car battery's terminals properly.

The Ryobi 18V One+ Jump Starter is compatible with 12V lead-acid batteries and is capable of starting up to a 6-liter V8 engine with 1,600 peak amps. That covers most passenger vehicles, including SUVs and trucks. The device is also built to handle cold batteries and work in climates with harsher winters. It can operate in temperatures that are well below freezing — down to -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees Celsius) — with 800 cold cranking amps.

There's even a handy turbo mode for especially dead batteries, a feature that isn't included with typical third-party adapters. Another convenient feature is the integrated LED work light, so you can better see what you're doing, even at night. With the included 2 Ah battery or any other Ryobi 18V One+ battery you may already own, you can power and use the jump starter. With a 2 Ah capacity, Ryobi says you can get up to 20 jumps per charge.

Since it uses the same batteries that can power any other 18V One+ cordless tools, you can also use the jump starter's battery with many other Ryobi products, including Ryobi tools that everyone should include in their trunk. The Ryobi Jump Starter is less than a foot long and only 7.75 inches wide and 4.25 inches tall, so it shouldn't be hard to find space in your vehicle for it. It weighs 4.15 pounds, so it won't be a hassle carrying it to your engine, either. The length of the jumping cables is one foot.