What to Keep In Your Car Emergency Kit
By Guest Author: Samuel Joyce
Drivers face a plethora of crisis every day. Traffic jams, rough weather, flat tires, dead batteries, stranded miles away from a gas station or eatery, in the middle of the night, overheated radiators and much more. Whether you are few hundred kilometers out of your hometown or on the other side of the country, your only immediate friend in crisis is an emergency kit. Always keep it stacked with all the necessary items that would help you come out of the difficult situations.Image via Flick User State Farm
Your car emergency kit should contain the following:
First Aid Kit
Must have of all is the first aid kit. Pack your first aid kit with all the essentials like latex gloves, anti-bacterial ointment, adhesive bandages- small and large, non-adhesive bandages, gauze, iodine, aspirin and medical tape.
Water bottles
Water-the elixir of life, is the most important item you should keep in your car. Never travel without it.
Basic tools
Keep emergency hammer like window breaker, seat belt cutter and fluorescent orange for signaling. Lug wrench, box cutter, screwdriver, are the basic tools that always need to be kept in the car. The kit should include jumper cables, a tire gauge, a fuel/fluid siphon and a couple of reflective triangles and flat road flares.
USB mobile device charger
The only connection between you and your family is a phone in crisis. A phone with a dead battery is useless. To avert such a situation, always keep a mobile device charger in your car.
Flashlight
Any emergency kit is incomplete without flashlights. In emergencies after dusk, if you are not able to search the things needed, then the entire stacking is pointless. Keep one flashlight with a strong beam. You can keep LED flashlights. They are cheap– two are enough. Always keep flashlight batteries in a jar outside the flashlight.
Road maps
With smart phones in almost every pocket, road maps seem obsolete. However, what if you are stuck at a place outside the range of your GPS signal or the phone battery is dead. The GPS may also not help. At such places, only a road map or an atlas can help.
Spare Tire
Carry a tire in a good condition assorted with a tire jack and tire iron. But, just keeping a tire is not sufficient. You must know how to change the tire as well.
Jumper cables
Jumper cables are perfect to deal with a sudden breakdown of batteries. It will not provide a full charge but would be enough to get back home or a service station nearby.
Remember, if the battery is in a bad shape, visit a mechanic or auto parts store with a certified battery charger. You can also exercise the option of mobile car battery replacement which is available everywhere these days, whether you are in Melbourne, Johannesburg or Colorado. They repair and replace your alternator or starter motor. By keeping jumper cables, you can assist a stranded fellow as well.
Roadside flares
If you are a victim of tire blowout stranded in the darkness or in low visibility conditions. Convey your distress to the passing vehicles by lighting roadside flares around the perimeter of the car or set-up reflective triangles.
Lighter or matches
It is wise to keep a pack of matches or a simple lighter in the emergency kit. With these, you can light a campfire or heat food or water or drive away the animals.
Food
Keep a good supply of healthy snacks like nuts, muesli bars, dried fruits, wrapped energy bars in the car. These are useful even if you are not facing any crisis.
Extra clothes
Keep spare clothes in the car. You might need them in sudden weather changes like rain or snow to layer up. Like clothes, keep extra blankets. They are the best means to keep you warm when the temperatures fall.
Pack your car emergency kit with all the above and have a safe drive!
Author’s Bio:
Samuel Joyce is an automobile expert with keen interest in car safety. Safety while driving on the road is important and wheels, car battery and other parts also form an integral part of it. He has also given reviews for cheap car batteries Melbourne that have helped many to make the best choice when buying a car battery.
