Car Emergency Gear!

[HighwayStar]

Oh this should be a fun one 

Basically what do you carry for emergency gear, what do you think would be good to carry for emergency gear, etc.

I'll kick things off with a starter list.

A spare tire, preferably full sized
A Lug Wrench
A Car jack
1ft square of OSB or Plywood (to support jack in soft ground)
3-4 1 Foot sections of 2x4 (for chocking wheels)
Tire Inflator

Jumper Cables
Spare fuses and fuse puller
Portable jump starter
Multimeter
Wrenches
Leatherman style multitool

Sand
Recovery straps
Hand winch
Traction aids
Tire Chains

Duct tape
Packing tape
Drop cloth
Garbage bags
Rope
Steel Utility Wire
Zip Ties

Strike anywhere matches
Pilar Candles
Fat Soup Can
Glow Sticks
Handwarmers
Road Flares
Road hazard light
Flashlights (with Lithium Batteries)

Blankets
Winter Coat
Winter Gloves
Work Gloves
Winter Hats

Adhesive Bandages, Wound Dressing, and Elastic Bandage
Medications (Asprin, Immodium)
Tweezers

[MATraveler128]

I have two emergency kits for my car. I've never had to use them and I hope I never have to.

[hotdogPi]

Duplicate, maybe? Can't tell. https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=16599

[Max Rockatansky]

^^^

We've done this a couple times over the years.

Two spare tires, one full size and one donut.

[HighwayStar]

Duplicate, maybe? Can't tell. https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=16599

.

I would say similar, but not really identical in purpose. I'm interested in creating a comprehensive list of emergency gear, but that list is equally reflective of things you bring on a trip that have no emergency function.
For example, I bring my Camera on every road trip, but its not emergency gear.

I did search for emergency kits before posting this, saw a few other threads, but they were not really what I was shooting for here.

[oscar]

Duplicate, maybe? Can't tell. https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=16599

I posted in that earlier thread, and won't repeat myself here.

[Rothman]

I don't go on trips with an emergency function.

[1995hoo]

Duplicate, maybe? Can't tell. https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=16599

I posted in that earlier thread, and won't repeat myself here.

Same here, except that the one change to my prior post is that I eventually got a car charger for my mobile phone (but only because a prior employer was giving away car chargers, so of course I took one).

[oscar]

Same here, except that the one change to my prior post is that I eventually got a car charger for my mobile phone (but only because a prior employer was giving away car chargers, so of course I took one).

I have a cellphone charger for each of my cars, which stay there full-time plugged into an auxiliary power outlet. But more often as not I'll use them during local travel, if my phone happens to run low on juice close to home, so I don't consider them "emergency gear".

Also a portable air compressor for each car. My larger car inherited the truck-size compressor scavenged from the pickup truck it replaced, before I consigned that truck to the junk heap.

[HighwayStar]

Same here, except that the one change to my prior post is that I eventually got a car charger for my mobile phone (but only because a prior employer was giving away car chargers, so of course I took one).

I have a cellphone charger for each of my cars, which stay there full-time plugged into an auxiliary power outlet. But more often as not I'll use them during local travel, if my phone happens to run low on juice close to home, so I don't consider them "emergency gear".

Also a portable air compressor for each car. My larger car inherited the truck-size compressor scavenged from the pickup truck it replaced, before I consigned that truck to the junk heap.

The cell chargers are so common these days I don't think most of us think of them as emergency gear, but on the other hand, unlike a Camera, they are an important piece of equipment, so worth including on the list more as a reminder that everyone should have one.

One word of caution however, is that some vehicles have outlets that are always hot. This can be an advantage in some circumstances, but can also drain batteries with devices left plugged in. (I am going to do a power draw assessment on some of this stuff at some point)

[Rothman]

Yeah, my 2020 Nissan Rogue's outlet is like that.  Have to remember to unplug the charger.

[1995hoo]

Same here, except that the one change to my prior post is that I eventually got a car charger for my mobile phone (but only because a prior employer was giving away car chargers, so of course I took one).

I have a cellphone charger for each of my cars, which stay there full-time plugged into an auxiliary power outlet. But more often as not I'll use them during local travel, if my phone happens to run low on juice close to home, so I don't consider them "emergency gear".

Also a portable air compressor for each car. My larger car inherited the truck-size compressor scavenged from the pickup truck it replaced, before I consigned that truck to the junk heap.

I don't really consider the charger "emergency gear" per se, but the absence of one was mentioned in my comment in the prior thread, so that's why I mentioned it here. The prior thread wasn't limited to "emergency gear," to be sure.

[abefroman329]

Oh this should be a fun one 

Basically what do you carry for emergency gear, what do you think would be good to carry for emergency gear, etc.

I'll kick things off with a starter list.

A spare tire, preferably full sized
A Lug Wrench
A Car jack
1ft square of OSB or Plywood (to support jack in soft ground)
3-4 1 Foot sections of 2x4 (for chocking wheels)
Tire Inflator

Jumper Cables
Spare fuses and fuse puller
Portable jump starter
Multimeter
Wrenches
Leatherman style multitool

Sand
Recovery straps
Hand winch
Traction aids
Tire Chains

Duct tape
Packing tape
Drop cloth
Garbage bags
Rope
Steel Utility Wire
Zip Ties

Strike anywhere matches
Pilar Candles
Fat Soup Can
Glow Sticks
Handwarmers
Road Flares
Road hazard light
Flashlights (with Lithium Batteries)

Blankets
Winter Coat
Winter Gloves
Work Gloves
Winter Hats

Adhesive Bandages, Wound Dressing, and Elastic Bandage
Medications (Asprin, Immodium)
Tweezers

If this is your car emergency kit, then a school bus really is the best vehicle for you.

[JayhawkCO]

And are there that many weather related emergencies in Philly? I could see that stuff if you lived in Alaska...

[Max Rockatansky]

I haven't ever had to replace fuses on the fly on the side of a road.  That seems like a really oddly specific choice and kind of unnecessary with how many more resources are out east.

[JayhawkCO]

I haven't ever had to replace fuses on the fly on the side of a road.  That seems like a really oddly specific choice and kind of unnecessary with how many more resources are out east.

And if your car is that unreliable, maybe take the thousands of dollars spent on a massive emergency kit and just put it towards a new car.

[Max Rockatansky]

I haven't ever had to replace fuses on the fly on the side of a road.  That seems like a really oddly specific choice and kind of unnecessary with how many more resources are out east.

And if your car is that unreliable, maybe take the thousands of dollars spent on a massive emergency kit and just put it towards a new car.

I didn't even carry spare fuses when I was into OHV trails in the desert states.  There has to be some sort of story to this fuse thing. 

[JayhawkCO]

I haven't ever had to replace fuses on the fly on the side of a road.  That seems like a really oddly specific choice and kind of unnecessary with how many more resources are out east.

And if your car is that unreliable, maybe take the thousands of dollars spent on a massive emergency kit and just put it towards a new car.

I didn't even carry spare fuses when I was into OHV trails in the desert states.  There has to be some sort of story to this fuse thing.

If I go on a 4WD road out here in the mountains, I just make sure I have warm clothes, water, snacks, and my Ryobi air compressor. Granted, I'm not taking trails with no one else around, otherwise I'd install a winch and have full recovery gear.

[abefroman329]

I haven't ever had to replace fuses on the fly on the side of a road.  That seems like a really oddly specific choice and kind of unnecessary with how many more resources are out east.

I can count the number of fuses I've had to replace in my lifetime on one hand.

[JayhawkCO]

I haven't ever had to replace fuses on the fly on the side of a road.  That seems like a really oddly specific choice and kind of unnecessary with how many more resources are out east.

I can count the number of fuses I've had to replace in my lifetime on one hand.

I can count them on a snail's hand.

[kphoger]

What drivability-critical things might be fixed by replacing a fuse?  I've only dealt with fuses related to climate control, radio, etc.

I suppose various parts of the ignition system?

[Max Rockatansky]

What drivability-critical things might be fixed by replacing a fuse?  I've only dealt with fuses related to climate control, radio, etc.

I suppose various parts of the ignition system?

One repair a lot via the fuse box was in my 2010 Camaro was the spark retarding when lower than 91 octane gas was detected.  Basically the 5 fuse and 10 fuse (I think, it's been years) had to be pulled to reset the spark for 91 octane since the ECU wouldn't do it automatically.

[nexus73]

^^^

We've done this a couple times over the years.

Two spare tires, one full size and one donut.

How about no spare tires and a bag of donuts?  LOL!

When I was dealing used cars, we had a 4WD pickup with canopy. It was filled up with gear to make sure after buying rigs at dealer-only auctions, that we could make sure to get them home.  Distance to Eugene: about 110 miles.  Distance to Salem: about 160 miles.  Distance to PDX: About 220 miles.  All the stuff we had in the pickup was sure handy to have when bringing vehicles of unknown quality back home.

Rick

[1995hoo]

The only times I've ever messed with fuses are (a) when we were tailgating and I wanted to keep the trunk lid open all day but I didn't want the trunk light staying on as a drain on the battery so I pulled the appropriate fuse and (b) two or three times when my Acura TL experienced a software bug related to the Bluetooth system not shutting off properly and the solution I found online involved pulling a particular fuse in order to avoid a dead battery.

[HighwayStar]

If this is your car emergency kit, then a school bus really is the best vehicle for you.

Its actually not that hard to fit that into even a compact sedan.