Do you really need a tyre inflator ?
Whether you are travelling in the city or on a highway. Out on a short trip or a long journey. Just like passion is important for traveller, similarly a tyre inflator is recommended for your vehicle. No matter, whether it is motorcyle you ride or drive a car, a inflator for the tyre is a must.
A puncture is like an un-invited guest, which always comes when least expected and under prepared. Therefore, it is always travel prepared. In my last 3 years travel, I witnessed a few situations where this tool helped us when it was most required.
It is not only puncture which might need you to have an inflator, at times we travel off-road or on snow and we are forced reduce tyre pressure and once we are out of such situation, we desperately need correct tyre pressure.
In hot weather or in extreme cold season. Travelling early during the day or late in the night, I bet you might come across situation when travel was un-avoidable and for God sake, if you loose air pressure in such situation, you won’t be manage to find a puncture shop. Not only this will spoil your mood but also spoil your tour.
Therefore, a tyre inflator is a must in your travel kit.
Which inflator to choose ?
We cannot recommend a brand as that would be brand biased, with experience one must consider following points before chossing a specific brand or type : –
- Brand and support – This is important with respect to reliability. At times we buy products from local or international brands which lack support, and with a electronic product it is very important to buy product from brands which have wider and superior support. May be the product is good and you never need the support but believe me, when you do, you will definetely value it. It is ok to spend little more on products from brands with superior support.
- Wired or wireless – Well, this is something which is subjective and a personal choice. However, I would recommend to have a wired tyre inflator against a wireless one. It’s not that wireless inflators are not good but, while travelling it is better to focus more on travel than maintainance of your tools. A wireless inflator has some limitations like it needs to be charged, it has limited capability in terms of pressure, at times batteries are not realiable speacially in cold weather. But a wired inflator overcomes all these limitations. Yes, you need a 12V plug but that can be easily installed in your motorcycle and if you are travelling with car then most cars have a 12V port.
- Warranty and reliability – Whether wireless or wired, both have 6 months to 1 year warranty depending on brand. However, a wireless inflator has limited warranty on battery and most of the brands do not provide battery support after warranty. Which means, if there is something wrong with your inflator battery, the brand neither can replace or repair after warranty expire. Whereas, a wired inflator has no such condition. Therefore, a wired inflator has more lifeline and is more reliable than a wireless.
- Portability – Both wired as well as wireless are available in small sizes. Yes, wired takes little more space but there are inflators which are designed to be portable. Wireless inflator is more portable but it has it own cons.
- Usability and quality – Both wired and wireless are equally good in terms of usability and quality. Wireless is easy to carry whereas wired is more reliable. Therefore, go for a better brand with superior support. Most of such products are imported from East Asia and hardly any brand manufacturing them in India, therefore support is always a question when product is out of warranty.
Conclusion
When it comes to inflators, there is no one product which is more reliable than other. Therefore, wired or wireless choice depends on individual choices, somebody like the portability and others peace of mind. There is no thumb rule, but one basic rule which I follow is “Peace of mind”, go for something which is effortless to manage and reliable, as when we travel we do not want to carry our burdens along rather we leave them behind.
With this, I hope this information is helpful for you. I will continue my efforts to make your travel blissful. See you some day at some place. Till then enjoy your life as we all have only one.
If you need a recommendation then please, drop me a question in “contact us” section and I will definetely help you.
