Emergency Kits (Part 2): Car Emergency Kit
Note: This is Part 2 of a five-part series about emergency kits and emergency planning.
Part 3: How do we organize all this stuff and where are we going to put it?
Part 5: What did all this cost? And The Emergency Planning Top 10 Checklist
By Melissa Spencer
Car emergency kit?
I’m going to start this blog post by making it perfectly clear: Keith and I are not very mechanically minded. Could we jump-start a car? Probably. Can we change or patch a flat tire? Again, probably. Would we need to look up a video on YouTube to make sure we’re doing it correctly? Up to this point, absolutely yes. (Keith edit: Melissa can probably do those things. I’d be completely lost.)
So when it came to creating our emergency car kits, educating ourselves has been just as important as gathering supplies. What are some of the most common car problems or on-the-go situations we might have to deal with? What could we have in our kits to help us address them? And then, do we know how to use what we have?
AAA is a wonderful thing. According to our AAA membership card, we’ve been valued members since 1967! (Which is surprising since that was almost 10 years before either of us were even born. I think we somehow got credit for Keith’s parents' account??? Who knows…*shrugs*) The point is, we see the value in having a AAA membership and have used ours many times over the years. It’s an important piece of our emergency planning.
However, if you’ve ever gone on a road trip, or if you live in a more remote location, you may know something that not everyone does: good cell service doesn’t exist everywhere. Believe it or not, there are areas where you might not have a single bar of cell service for – wait for it – an hour or even two of driving! What?!?
This can put a serious crimp in plans to stream music on the road, or settle a family debate on whether skunks are nocturnal animals, or start a Google map for directions, or even to try to look up when cell service might be available again because…there currently isn’t any cell service. (True story: I tried to do this very thing last month while we were driving through a rural part of Wyoming. *facepalm*)
But more importantly, it can mean that when car trouble happens, it might not be as easy as just calling AAA.
And whether we have cell service or not, having a car emergency kit helps us prepare for a wide variety of unexpected events that could happen on the road or away from home. We can’t know when we might be stuck somewhere for an extended period of time, or when our car might break down, or when another kind of emergency might delay our plans, but a good car emergency kit can help us stay safe while we get where we need to go. With the right tools and supplies, it could even save our lives (or maybe our sanity?).
So, we’re sold. We want to make a car emergency kit, but what should we include?
We had some ideas, and consulted the vast sea of information and knowledge called the internet, and then decided to focus on the following:
Common car problems (a flat tire or dead battery)
Safety (flashlight, headlamp, emergency escape tool, reflector triangles)
Survival basics (water, snacks, first aid kit, whistle)
Communication (cell phone charger, list of important numbers, notebook)
Seasonal considerations (sunscreen, towel, hand warming packets, blanket, gloves/hat)
Winter weather conditions (ice scraper, shovel, safety absorbent, chains)
Parenting must-haves (paper towels, wipes, Kleenex, sanitizer, etc.)
Other helpful stuff (tool kit, masks, duct tape, work gloves)
Directions (maps, compass)
There may be other stuff we should consider or add in the future but for now, we feel good about what we’ve compiled. Here is a full list of our car emergency kit supplies:
Here’s a downloadable PDF of the above picture: Car Emergency Kit List
Now what? How do we store all this stuff?
As you can see on the list, after we figured out everything we wanted to have in our kit, we organized them by where we wanted to keep the items: 1) in an easily accessible bin, 2) in a duffle bag stored in the trunk, and 3) other items (for frequently used and/or bulkier items).
1) Easy access items: Our solution to containing these in each car was a roughly 12”x12” plastic bin that can easily be reached from both front seats of the vehicles. Everything on this part of the list except for the cell phone charging cord (which we leave plugged into the auxiliary power outlet), bottles of water, and extra sunglasses are kept in this bin so we know exactly where to find them. A couple thoughts:
In our home emergency kit, we store the batteries for flashlights in an attached plastic bag instead of inside the flashlight, so they don’t corrode. But in the car, we want the flashlight ready to go when we need it, so we have the batteries inside the flashlight (as well as an attached plastic bag with an additional set). This does mean that we need to check every 6 months or so to make sure the batteries still work and haven’t corroded inside the flashlight (adding it to the list of things we do every time daylight savings time changes).
Maybe I’ve just watched too much TV but I wanted to have an emergency escape tool in our easily accessible bin. This tool can be used to break a window and/or cut a seatbelt if we got trapped in our vehicle. I hope, hope, hope we never need it. But it’s reassuring to have.
We’ve always tried to have some wet wipes and napkins or paper towels in our vehicles. As parents, it’s pretty much a necessity. But knowing exactly where they were located? Not always our strong suit. Having the wipes, paper towels, Kleenex, and sanitizer within reach has been amazing. It’s also easy for me to see when we need to replace any of those items.
Having a notebook and pen has been incredibly helpful to have on hand. I originally put it in there thinking if we got in an accident and needed to exchange info or something like that, it would come in handy. But I’ve used it multiple times (while parked – safety first!) to jot down a grocery list, an address, a phone number, or even hand to a restless kiddo to play tic-tac-toe or something. The main challenge is to remember to put it back in the easy access bin so it’s there for the next time I inevitably need it.
Probably everyone but me already knew this was a thing, but just in case you don’t, did you know Bath and Body Works has hand sanitizer lotion? It’s amazing. Smells awesome and doesn’t dry your hands out. We love it. And now my spoiled kiddos sigh in resignation when they have to use the “regular” kind.
2) Emergency Duffle Bag: A duffle bag seemed like a good way to contain the majority of the car emergency items that we didn’t need regular access to, but I was a little concerned it might mistakenly get taken out of the car because it looked like a regular duffle bag. Thankfully the bright yellow color I picked as well as the bold “EMERGENCY KIT” written in permanent marker on the side of the duffle bag negated that concern. 😊 Again, a lot of the items in here are self-explanatory but here are a few thoughts:
As mentioned before, some of the most common car problems are a dead battery and a flat tire. While AAA can help with both those issues, we felt like it was important to have supplies on hand to get us back on the road when help wasn’t available or timely. So we invested in Fix-a-flat tire sealant that can temporarily patch a hole and a portable air pump (that plugs into the auxiliary power outlet) to help reinflate the tire once patched or if running low.
We also made sure to have extra-long jumper cables because, oddly enough, a dead battery doesn’t always happen when you’re parked in a place where it’s easy for another car to drive right up to. Weird.
Even though we have a flashlight in the easily accessible bin, we also keep a headlamp and batteries in our duffle bag kit. Have you ever tried to change a flat tire in the dark by yourself while holding a flashlight? Me either. But it sounds like something I’d rather not have to try out.
Who likes free stuff? If you are a AAA member, you can order maps that they will send you for free! We ordered and received maps of our city, state, and surrounding states. In the age of Google maps, it may seem like an outdated notion, but you never know when they might come in handy.
I found a nifty whistle/compass/thermometer combination on Amazon that I thought could be helpful in certain emergencies. Even if we never need to use it, the kids are fascinated by it. Which is why it’s now attached to the duffle bag. In the trunk. Where they can’t scare me half to death by using the whistle as loudly as possible while we’re driving down the freeway.
3) Other items: A few items were bulky enough that it didn’t make sense to try to fit them into the duffle bag. And the towel and blanket(s) we keep in our cars get used all the time so it’s better to just keep them out. If you don’t live in a state with 7-8 months of possible winter weather like we do (was that warm-weather-loving, California kid Keith I just heard groaning down the hall? Probably. 😉), some of the items on this part of the list may not make a lot of sense…like an ice brush and scraper. Lucky you! You can just ignore the thoughts on those below (unless you have a morbid curiosity about the challenges us winter warrior drivers can face):
A foldable shovel (foldable so it takes up less space) and safety absorbent could be hugely helpful if you get stuck in a snowbank. The shovel can help move the ice and snow and safety absorbent placed in front and/or behind a tire can absorb enough moisture to give your tires the grip they need to get unstuck. (Cat litter is basically made of the same stuff as official safety absorbent so that’s a great way to save a few bucks.)
Make sure the chains for your car are the correct size and practice putting them on before you need them. The circumstances – aka, usually a snowstorm or other icky winter weather – that will cause you to need to use them also make it difficult to put them on!
Any time it appears that our family is heading out, well, anywhere, our dog gets very excited and hopeful. She loves to join us on our outings and adventures. And we love to have her join us whenever we can! So, about a year ago I put 2 small bowls and a plastic bag of dog food in our car for when she needs water or we end up staying somewhere longer than expected and she’s hungry. We’ve honestly used these items a lot – especially the bowl for water during the summer.
Here is a picture of our van emergency kit and items, organized as mentioned. We have a complete duplicate of these items in our second vehicle. The plastic storage container in the picture is stored in the garage and used to hold seasonal items that we swap out every time daylight savings time changes (or when it makes sense weather-wise).
Yes, we named our van “The Vandalorian” or Vando for short.
Two final thoughts
We try to always keep the gas tanks of our vehicles at least ½ full. If there is an emergency where we need to leave suddenly, we don’t want to have to stop for gas before we can leave the area. (This does mean that your vehicle will be heavier which may not give you as good of gas mileage but we feel it’s a worthwhile exchange. Also, a heavier vehicle when driving in snow gives a little better traction so that’s a win too!)
If/once you have a car emergency kit, always keep it in your vehicle. We foolishly almost took the emergency kit out of our van when we headed to the airport on vacation earlier this year. We thought we might need the extra space for luggage and, really, what are the chances we would need it in the 15-minute drive to and from the airport? But it just so happened that our van battery ran down while we were away on vacation, and the jumper cables were needed to get it started at the airport before we could drive home. We were SO glad we didn’t take the kit out and have to try to figure out other options at 11:30pm with 4 extremely tired kiddos in tow!
Blessings,
Melissa (and Keith)