Feb242012
INSTANT SURVIVAL TIP: Car Survival Kit
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PDF By John A. Heatherly, Author of The Survival Template
photo by DaLee_pl
Years ago, I was fortunate to be able to attend an Arctic Survival Course in Alaska. I was surprised to hear the instructor say that many Alaskans drive to work wearing polo shirts, lightweight pants, and casual shoes WITHOUT bringing a heavy coat or a change of clothes with them. They venture from their heated homes to climate-controlled office space. Most follow this routine with no problems, but a traffic accident or basic car trouble could cause serious problems for unprepared travelers in frigid temperatures. The lesson motivated me to consider what I SHOULD be carrying in the car. Every situation and trip is somewhat different, so below are some broad categories and examples that I like to use as a guide (these are not in order of importance or priority.)
-Communication and Signaling – cell phones, flares, etc …
-Personal Protection and Multi-use items – pepper spray, firearms, knives, flashlights
-Shelter – perhaps a sleeping bag, blanket, tarp or tent, depending on the type of trip – appropriate clothing, such as coats or heavy boots or walking shoes
-Water – bottled water, iodine, and/or a handheld purifier
-Fire – matches, metal match strikers, articificial tinder (hexamine, trioxane – some even carry firelogs)
-Food – large quantities of food are not necessary on ordinary trips, but could be for longer drives
-Navigation – GPS, paper maps, compass, smart phone
-Family Specific items – diapers, bottles, medicines, etc…
-Medical – band-aids, gauze, alcohol swabs, CPR mask, etc …
What items are part of your Every Day Carry and your Long-term Carry?
© 2012, John A. Heatherly. All rights reserved.
(16) Readers Comments
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A Review of the Diva Cup: Not for the faint of heart. (Men, avert your eyes.)
I did the same thing! LOL
A Review of the Diva Cup: Not for the faint of heart. (Men, avert your eyes.)
Here, Here! Made the switch a few months ago and never looking back.
Advice for new Survival Moms from those who have been around a while
RE: TP storing enough toilet paper for a short term emergency makes s
Dustin
An emergency kit in the car important.
I also suggest a smaller (within arm's reach) kit – our kits include a glass breaker (I like the houdini escape tool – we have them on all our keychains!), a signal device, a flashlight, pocketknife, energy bars, hand sanitizer, and something to write with and on. These kits can easily fit into a small ditty bag in a center console, glove box, or under a seat. In my POV I also have my GHB, so there is added assurance of having the necessary items in the event of a breakdown or something.
We also keep smaller first aid kits in the glove boxes (in addition to larger ones stored elsewhere in the cars), and bottled water handy. As always, rotate your supplies. A small pencil case works very well to keep some basic pain killers, antacid, immodium, anti-bacterial ointment, tweezers, band aids, etc. This is especially handy when you have kids or other dependents.
To us, this is just common sense, but there seems to be a story every few months about someone who survived in their car by licking the condensation off the inside of their windshield or subsisted for a week on nothing but a couple sticks of chewing gum in the bottom of their bag or something.
Mike
For a window breaker I keep a spring loaded center punch in the glove box.
Chriss
I have a get me home bag in each of my daily drivers. They have, food for 8 days (for 1 person), extra clothes, tarps for tents, knives, fire starting supplies, wool blanket…. When the kids are with us we have a fully stocked diaper bag with extra clothes, diapers, wipes…. My daily carry includes personal knife x2 and my pistol.
RightWingMom
Great list John. I have almost everything you've listed, except the road flares. Need to put a set of those on my Wish List.
We always have our "Power Bar Bag" with us. It basically what it sounds like. I've taken a medium sized insulated bag and filled it with Power Bars, nuts, raisins, a jar of peanut butter (w/ extra plastic spoons), and a bottle of Survival Tablets. It's not gourmet, but if we're stuck, away from home, it should last us a few days.
My mom gave us (and her and my dad) a collapsible wagon for Christmas. It folds up very flat, has heavy duty tires, and can carry up to 150 lbs. That could make a HUGE difference if we ever have to walk home. We'll just toss the BOBs, and other supplies, in there and take turns pulling it.
Finally, I use to have a length of paracord in my vehicle, BUT my DSs decided to make wrist bands out of it. They wear them ALL the time, so at least it will still ACTUALLY in the vehicle when we need it! LOL
Dagny
For 14 years I owned Miatas – wasn't into prepping then and those cars severely limit options, though I did go camping with them. Now I drive a SUV and have in it 24/7 what most people outside of the prepping community would surely consider absurd. Some of the gear varies depending on the season. More water in summer, for instance, and a zero-degree sleeping bag, down booties in winter and a bunch of fleece (neck gaiters, hats, gloves).
Priority #1: shelter. I've done a lot of car camping, including sleeping in the SUV, so that has been instructive on what should be in the car year-around. That list includes warm gloves, fleece hat, neck gaiter, ski socks, long underwear, Gore-tex hiking boots, waterproof parka, waterproof hat, umbrella, fleece sleeping bag line, underwear. In winter, I add the sleeping bag, down booties and a lot more chemical hand and foot warmers.
Priority #2: water. Boiling purifies so that's where multiple FIRESTEELS, MATCHES, BIC lighters and some fatwood sticks come into play. I also carry a stainless backpacking cookpot, JetBoil backpacking stove and a Kelly Kettle. And, of course, I carry bottled water and MICROPUR tablets.
Priority #3: food. While we can survive for weeks without food, I function better if I'm not famished. So I have in the car always Lipton Cup o' Noodles, Luna Bars, a couple Mountain House meals and maybe some fruit wraps (this varies somewhat by season). I also have some food and water for my dog in the car since she's often with me.
Priority #4: Mobility. I keep much of this in a backpack – an LL Bean Bigelow day or weekend pack. Also, collapsible "hiking poles."
Misc: First Aid, flashlights and headlamps (+ extra batteries), knives (Becker BK7 & 9 and pocket knives), large pry bar and CRKT rescue tool, shovel. Notepads (Moleskine) and pens (including permanent ink Sharpies), large Leatherman, leather work gloves and other tools, jumper cables, tire air compressor, duct tape, fluorescent orange rescue tarp to drape over the car or use as shelter and some Heatsheets. And so much more I'd have to go through the car again to write it all down.
There could also be situations, such as an earthquake that destroys the house, where what is in your car sitting on the driveway could become priceless. Lots of reasons to have survival gear in vehicles.
Thanks for this discussion – most of us spend so much time away from home that it is really important to continually refine and refresh the vehicle survival kit.
Dagny
Another very important item: extremely loud WHISTLE.
I have one on my car key chain, dog walking lanyard and another in the driver door pocket. A survival whistle just costs a few bucks and is a far more effective and durable means of signaling for help than your voice is.
REI has a good selection.
RabidConservative
I think you have to look at what to carry in your car based first on your overall objective. Mine would be to either get home, or alternatively, get to our "country retreat". As a result, I'm interested, first and foremost, in what I would need to have on hand to make that trek the easiest, if I have to abandon my car.
Accordingly, I carry the following:
Clothing – Although we live in the South, we still get snow, and even worse, ice, occasionally. Accordingly, I carry acrylic or wool clothing (no cotton) that allows me to wear "layers", that I can add or remove to keep me comfortable. I also carry a Goretex rain suit, well broken-in walking boots and spare socks, as well as some slip-on ice grips that fit over my boots, if need be. For summer travel, my pants zip off at the knee to make shorts and I have a wide brim hat to cover my face and neck.
Communications – Besides my cellphone, I carry a spare "disposal" cellphone from TracFone I picked up for $10 from Dollar General. I also have a backup power source for both phones provided by my Energizer "Energy to Go" kit, that includes not only AC and DC charging capabilities for a variety of phones, but also a portable lithium-ion battery that can be used when no other power source is available. As a licensed Amateur Radio operator, I also carry a Kenwood TH-F6A handheld VHF/UHF transceiver, which can also receive NOAA weather radio stations. Even if phone communications are down, my transceiver should allow me to contact someone to get a message home.
Water – A Katadyn MyBottle Purifier will let me transform virtually any water source I come across into safe drinking water.
Personal protection – A Wilson Combat 9mm semi-auto pistol with holster, spare magazines, and extra ammo.
Misc. – Flashlight and headlamp with spare batteries, small first aid kit, several chemical light sticks. paracord to help me attach the chemical lights to my clothing, Leatherman multi-tool, chemical hand warmers, butane torch-style lighter and fire tabs that can start a fire even in the rain, waterproof city and state maps, Datrex emergency food bars (lifeboat rations), insect repellant, sunscreen, spare cash (approx $100), and a small backpack to carry anything in that I'd need to take with me.
I don't carry anything for sleeping or camping because a) I'm too old to carry a big load, and b) it would only slow down my efforts to either get home or get out of town. I also don't carry much for trying to repair my car, if that was required. I have jumper cables, a spare tire, and a jack, but that's it. Most modern cars, and mine is no exception, are very hard to work on because they cram so much in such a small space. Even if I carried every tool needed to make any necessary repairs, I'd still need the proper parts. Pretty impractical, if you ask me.
TheSurvivalMom
You have some great suggestions there! Thanks for giving us all the details.
Half Acre Heaven
Along the lines of something to write on/with: as part of my job we travel in remote areas out of radio and cell range, we work away from the road in the outdoors in the quick changing mountain climate. We carry bright colored flagging tape and sharpies, so that if one of us is hurt, the other can give approptiate aid, then if necessary go to the road and leave a note strung all the way across the road from tree to tree, or guard rail to guard rail. A passing driver would be compelled to stop and hopefully read what is written on the tape-" send help, nature of injury, location of injured party". Also when we work in a new area we are sure to make note of the nearest cell signal.
TheSurvivalMom
Excellent tip! I may have to steal that one for my next book!
)
John A. Heatherly
Thanks for all the informative comments. I will save these to add to my checklist and for reference later!
CouponCook
I do live in the south. We have an extremely humid climate as well as very hot temperatures. Are there any suggestions for shelf stable foods that will hold up in a car that can get over 100 degrees? Thanks these are great suggestions. I think I might try to find a foldable wagon. I had back surgery a few years ago and carrying a really heavy load isn’t possible for long.
sandy
CouponCook, I live in AZ, so I know heat is a big pain. I have 2 ice chests in my vehicle, one to keep things cold & the other to keep things from withering in the heat. I’m able to keep fruit, jerky, dried fruit& granola bars for long trips. I realize not everyone can keep 2 icechests in their vehicle, but if you get a couple of small ones, they’ll help.
Soren
Many years ago I was driving up the grapevine with my fiancee to find traffic stopped at 7,000 feet. It was snowing, hard. There was already several inches on the highway, and visibility was scary bad. We were trapped in a sea of peanut cars with skis atop, everyone going to the slope for the weekend. Lucky us, I had been smacked off my motorcycle the month before, not hurt, but scared. So we were driving in a beautiful, new (to me), 6 year old International Traveler. A 3 ton vehicle with 4 wheel drive built like a tank. I pulled off and put on my 4 wheel chains, engaged the 4 wheel drive, and got back on to chew my way up the pull over lane. When we got near Boreal, the Chippers had the road blocked. I chewed my way up to the officer in 2 foot deep snow; “Where do you think you’re going?”, “home officer”. He looked in the back and saw:
4 bags of groceries, our arctic coats, our arctic sleeping bags, our two tents, my golden Rahly, a 40 lb bag of dog food, skis, snow shoes, beer, 3 dozen eggs, my rifle, and tons of equipment including my chainsaw. The officer smiled, “Go on son”, “thank you sir”. And we drove the next ten miles to our cabin, happy and relieved.
Allways be prepared. We’re still married after 25 year on this Indiana farm.
thesurvivalmom
Love your story!
Lisa
half Acre Heaven…that’s a fantastic idea! I had reason recently to need to purchase some of that marking tape for work. It’s still in my car and now will stay there! I think I’ll add a “sharpie on a string” to the roll (bright pink tape!)