So what am I prepping for?
First and foremost, a breakdown. I mitigate the risk of a breakdown by keeping the car well maintained but the risk of breakdown is never zero.
Accidents are also a consideration. I drive defensively (I've taken classes for years in defensive driving) as a way of again mitigating this risk, but as with everything the risk is not zero that an accident will happen.
Bad weather is a larger risk especially in winter. We get a lot of snow here and so getting stuck in snow is a larger risk we face.
Then there are the much lower risk items like civil unrest, natural or man made disaster that may require us to leave the area we live either temporarily or permanently.
The key here is to think about your risks and plan accordingly.
Car Preps: The Basics
We keep fuel in the tank and try not to let the gas get below a quarter full, just in case we need to go somewhere unexpectedly and we need to move quickly. It's unlikely that will happen, but unlikely is never a zero risk.
We also keep the car maintained. I am not much for doing my own maintenance, but I have a good local dealer so I have them change the oil, take care of the tires, wiper blades, battery etc. all checked as per the manufacturers schedule. This keeps the car in good condition and gives me a degree of confidence that there are no lurking issues ready to derail us at a critical moment.
Whats in the car?
I keep a few things in the car. We have a vacuum packed wool blanket, a flashlight with a magnetic base and parachute bag with assorted goodies in. The parachute bag contents fall into three categories;
- Tools and roadside
- My backpack
- My wife's backpack
Tools and Roadside
I keep the following in the bag for any roadside issues, like breakdowns, accidents etc. The gear list is as follows:
- Jumper cables
- Emergency Triangle
- Tow Strap
- Shovel (The shovel has a chopping edge for chopping wood)
- Hi Viz Jacket
- Small Tarp
- Selection of glow sticks
- Bag of basic tools including
- Mechanics gloves
- para cord
- Folding saw
- Fuses
- Headlight
I also keep a small bag of cargo straps just in case I am moving something that needs to be strapped down.
Whats in the backpacks?
I also keep two backpacks in the big bag; one for me and one for my wife, although they are essentially the same and are interchangeable. Mine just has a few extra bits and pieces.
Common items in both backpacks consist of:
- Clothing: a hoody, pair socks, pair gloves, wooly hat, handkerchief
- Electronics: Headlight, Flashlight, spare batteries, USB charger and cables
- Additional in my backpack is:
- Pocket radio and batteries
- Folding knife
- webbing belt
- multitool
- pocket pistol, mags, holster and spare ammo
- pocket survival kit
What does my prep check consist of?
What I did today was drag all of this stuff out of the car, and unpack everything. I compare the items with my inventory list and make sure that everything is where it should be. I pay careful attention to batteries to ensure they have not started to rot or go bad, While the car is kept in a garage, it is still subject to temperature and humidity (or lack thereof in CO) and this can result in rot and mold and other issues. If everything looks ok, I repack and put it back into the car, but I also note changes that I may want to make.
Potential Changes
While everything looked good this time, there are some things I may change. For instance I want to add:
- a folding knife to my wife's backpack
- a pocket survival kit to my wife's backpack
- Bic lighters to both backpacks
I wrote this after having completed my checks but I think next time I do this, I will add photos just so that you can see what all this kit looks like. You can see that for the most part, this is roadside equipment and warm clothing. Given where we live, these are the items we are most likely to need.
So what do you keep in your car and why?
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