I got the inspiration for this when I was searching around looking for portable power for my mono-bloc strobes. I ran across this blog post and thought I would give it a try. I’m collecting up the costs associated to see how closely I can get to the cost to what Jacob describes.
Vagabond II Carry Case
$19.95 + $7.80 shipping = $27.75 from Paul Buff online store
PowerSonic 12v 18ah AGM Sealed battery
$49.98 local retailer
Samlex PST Series 150W Pure Sine Wave Inverter, 12VDC 120VAC
$94 + $11.86 = $105.86 online
GFCI plug
$12.95 local Home Depot
Battery Tender adapter
(2) $6.99 = $13.98 local Batteries Plus retailer
Grand damage
$210.52
I did make a design change that actually reduced the cost by a bit. I went with the two Battery Tender connections for simplicity, instead of the wire/connector that he indicated, as that will easily hook up to my Battery Tender that I already own.
This is enough more than Jacob’s $170 ($40.52) that I have to mention it, but in the grand scheme its still $90 less than the retail price of the Vagabond II, and $110.57 less including shipping (which they quote as $21.14 to my area)
FWIW YMMV
I have not had a chance to hook this all up and test yet, I will make another post with my results shortly.