This mini tire inflator saved the day when I got a flat — and now it's on sale

A flat tire is never fun but mine had horrendous timing yesterday. I was driving my third-grader to her second day of school before work when I heard (and felt!) the dreaded thump-flap-thump-flap... (@#%&!) Car stuff isn't my strong suit, so in a wave of panic, I called my husband to help me change it. After a sweaty 20 minutes of figuratively spinning our wheels trying to get the spare out of the trunk — it would not budge — we gave up. My daughter and I hopped on our bikes and huffed and puffed three miles to her school. My husband biked to work, and the car sat on that sad, deflating tire, upping the chances of a ruined wheel rim. Then it dawned on us! We'd overlooked a tiny hero that had been sitting in the car: the trusty Oasser Air Compressor.

When we got home that evening we whipped out the portable tire inflator, punched the tire's proper psi (which is noted in the car's door frame) into the device, popped it on, and lo and behold the tire auto-inflated in just a few minutes. We were pumped too!

Thanks to this little pump, we were able to inflate the damaged tire long enough to drive the kid to school the next morning and drop the car at the shop for new tires. (For the record, the technicians at the shop couldn't get that blasted spare out either.)

We are really not sure how we blanked on using our Oasser pump in the first place. Over the past two years, we have used it dozens of times for pumping underinflated car tires, fixing bike flats and inflating soccer balls, basketballs and our kayak.

My husband, who's been known to get suckered into hopeful-sounding-but-ultimately-useless gadgets, was right on the money with this find. "I love it because it feels like one of the few things that has worked as advertised," he told me. The battery life is great— and when it eventually runs low, it can recharge quickly via the car's USB port or cigarette lighter. Plus, it has a bright flashlight.

Other Amazon shoppers are equally elated. In fact, the Oasser has earned over 1,800 five-star ratings.

"This is *the* best gadget I've purchased for my car," writes a megafan, "and after owning this for a while and using it numerous times—including on my fiance's car and my sister's car—I think this is a gadget every driver should own. I can't figure out how to use the air pumps at gas stations, but this device was super easy to use."

"Compact and accurate on PSI setting," added another pleased reviewer. "Stops automatically once it reaches the desired tire pressure. Great compact air compressor for car or bike tires or just about any tire you have that needs air."

Yes, it's great for two-wheelers, too. "Must have," wrote a fan. "Motorcyclists: this rocks."

Another gushed: "Whoever invented this, thank you. I'm an avid cyclist...This thing is quick, quicker than the gas station pump and the charge lasts forever. I've used it at least 5 times in two weeks and not only have I NOT charged it, but it's still at full charge."

Even truck drivers are sold! One raved: "Believe it! This little pump fills my truck tires to 51 psi. I don't know how something this small can be this powerful, but it is. Easy to store/hide in my truck. I like the auto shut-off when the pump reaches the tire pressure setting I have selected.

In fact, this gadget reaches up to 120 psi (pound-force per square inch). And it has a variety of adapters for pumping up little things such as basketballs and inflatable toys.

One happy shopper summed it up: "This has saved the day many times, and so worth the money!"

I can't agree enough!

If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.

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