For living off the grid, overlanding, family camping, RVing, and the wicked hip “van life” craze, portable power is a necessity.

From being able to charge your cellphone, to lighting up your campsite at night, or blending margaritas, love it or hate it, portable power is no longer relegated to glamping. It’s now a full-spectrum living in the outdoors accessory.

That said, bringing power to the outdoors can be an investment. And just like every other consumable good out there today, there are different product levels to choose from. You can easily spend a little or a lot depending on what you expect that product to do. Keeping that in mind, quality and dependability should be your main focus. And, ease of use and adaptability should be up there in your decision-making process as well.

Dakota Lithium was cool enough to send me a Powerbox+ 60 as well as its 180W Folding Solar Panel. With the addition of a solar charge controller, there was no doubt in my mind that I had one of the most innovative, well-thought-out, and reliable portable power solutions on the planet. The one thing I was left to find out was if it was worth the $1,600 investment.

In short: Dakota Lithium’s Powerbox+ 60 is a field-maintainable, upgradable, portable power solution that is optimized for solar. Its products, as well as its advanced lithium battery technology, bridge the gap between some of the mainstream portable power solutions we’ve come to know and enjoy in the outdoor world, and the true-grit living of someone who’s decided to go completely off-the-grid full-time.