Preps to keep in your vehicle

Having just returned from an overnight trip to Arlington, VA, I am prompted to discuss things that should be kept in a vehicle to help deal with emergencies on the road. The possibility always exists that you’ll run into a mechanical failure which requires dealing with, or outside emergencies. Keeping a bag or box in your trunk or behind the seat of a pickup can make life a lot easier in the event of an inconvenience, or save a life in an emergency.

For dealing with mechanical issues I keep several items in my truck:

• Some basic hand tools

• A spare quart of motor oil

• A jug of antifreeze

• A jug of windshield wiper fluid

• A D-cell flashlight

• The factory jack

• A can of WD-40

• A few shop rags, a roll of paper shop towels, and waterless hand cleaner wipes

• Jumper cables

• A few magnesium road flares

• 12VDC air compressor/flashlight

• A can of Fix-A-Flat
• Four-way tire iron


To deal with other issues I add:

• A Kershaw lock blade knife

• A Gerber Multiplier Scout multitool

• CB radio (also handy for real-time traffic reports)

• My everyday carry cell phone

• First aid kit

• Rain poncho

• Space blanket

A lot more stuff could be added, and this list would be expanded if I didn't live in a large metro area.

Out trip remained within heavily-travelled areas so I wasn’t worried about taking anything for an overnight stay in the boonies, like the BOB shown in this post.

I normally also carry a get-home bag with additional supplies including an MRE, water, another poncho, compass, etc. but had to take it out for this trip since we were short on space. I need to change some of the contents and downsize it into a smaller bag. That will be a project for a future post.