Car Camping Is A Lot More Comfortable With This Simple And Affordable Dashboard Gadget

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If you pay even cursory attention to gadget and quirky tech news, then you'll be well attuned to seeing the latest dashboard must-haves pop up on your social feeds, each one promising to streamline your automobile experience. There are high-tech mirror cameras that every young parent needs and dashcam-sat nav combos of every size and description. Some people love a simple phone mount – Rick Steves suggests bringing one on every European road trip – others pimp out their night drives with multicolored LED lights.

One gadget that might lack sleekness and style but certainly delivers with substance is the TriPole Portable Car Fan, which makes those sultry summer slogs along the highway so much more bearable. Modern cars have built-in air-cooling functionality, so it's reasonable to wonder why you'd need a portable fan. Well, the gadget is a set of two fans on a platform, which can be mounted to the dashboard, meaning both driver and passenger can directly control the level and direction of airflow on their side of the car. 

The unit requires at least 12V delivered through your vehicle's 12V/24V port. Each fan has 300 degrees of horizontal rotation, 270 degrees of vertical rotation, and three wind speeds, so you can have an arctic blast on the driver's seat, while the passenger is getting a gentle spring breeze. In theory, this should bring an end to the too-hot-too-cold driver-passenger argument. 

The TriPole Portable Car Fan currently has a 4.1 rating on Amazon across more than 900 reviews. Appraisals mention the good air flow and ability to independently control the speed, and many customers think it's well-made considering the relatively low price point. Some, however, question its durability, while the volume might also annoy drivers sensitive to intrusive noise.

Only 11% of reviews achieved a 1-star rating — and sometimes disgruntled customer reviews should be taken with a pinch of salt — but a common theme is that the fan stopped working after only a handful of uses. At the other end of the spectrum, about two-thirds gave the product a 5-star rating, with happy customers complimenting the agreeable temperatures blown out by the fan, which they often deem much better than their vehicle's native A/C. Add to that the 14% of 4-star reviews, and it's clear the product is overwhelmingly enjoyed by those who have bought it. Given its affordability, it's worth the gamble if you want your American summer road trips to be breezy as can be.