If you are thinking of going on a long journey in your automobile, van or RV, then you should be aware of one of the essential car accessories which I have discovered in a long time - the 12v air compressor.

Whether you are planning to take the Great Ocean Route, make your way to the Snowy Mountains or cross the Nullabor Plains, it just takes one flat tyre to end your journey, generally miles away from the nearest city.

While you may have an extra tyre, depending on your age and fitness level, it could be tough to remove the extra tyre and the jack out of the boot, jack the car up properly, loosen the wheel nuts and replace the tyre. It's dirty work at the best of times and can be made much harder trying to do this in the dark.

Wouldn't it be less difficult to merely re inflate the tyre and continue your journey? This enables you to be able to take the car to a garage to have the tyre replaced by a mechanic, or at least enable you to continue your traveling instead of waiting until day light to halt and change it.

There are other methods to re fill the tyre with air, for example canned air, however these methods are generally not that useful. The most effective solution is actually to have an air compressor on board so that you can plug it in tyre and simply re inflate it. But where would you plug it in?

Now there is also a 12v air compressor which is solar powered, making certain that it is always ready when it's needed. The solar powered 8 in 1 power unit has an integrated air compressor which operates at 260 PSI and has a reading gauge to aid you to see what the air pressure is.

Even better, if for whatever reason the machine loses charge, the unit also comes with a built in power inverter. This power inverter will actually connect to your automobiles cigarette lighter or similar port, and will draw current from your vehicles battery and power the 12v Air Compressor, always guaranteeing that in the case of a flat or leaking tyre, you can be back traveling again quickly and without fuss.