Vehicle Emergency Bag

[88sport]

So, I was thinking that we need to make a sticky about what stuff to put into a vehicle emergency bag. This isn't a GHB necessarily, but a bag that has tools and such in it that will help you in an emergency. I am trying to develop 3 bags right now for 3 different vehicles and need some ideas because I have been having brain farts as to what needs to go in the bags. I know that I need to have the following:

Extra Belts
Heater Hose
Brake Fluid
Duct Tape
Quart of Oil
Coolant

Tools:
Adjustable Wrench
Small Socket Set
Socket Driver
Small Multitool (can't decide on what Leatherman I want for these kits, even the Micra seems to be expensive)
Flashlight/headlamp
Tire Pressure Gauge
Screwdriver w/interchangeable bits

Survival Stuffs:
Granola Bars/Clif Bars x2
Space Blanket x2
Whistle x1
Matches in Stormproof Container
Small Bits of Tinder
Water Container x1
Bandana x1

Help me with this list Almighty ZS!

[Tater Raider]

Depends on what you are using the vehicle for, local climate, likely bug-out routes, and local terrain as to what goes in the V-BOB. Someone that may have to do some hard off-roading (Mojave Desert & LA come to mind) you'd want one of every hose, every belt, enough to replace all fluids completely, stop leak of all assortments, water for passengers, a shovel, and all this on top of a small group going with because off-road in the desert isn't something you do lightly even if you aren't fleeing for your life.

Kinda stuff I'm likely to face? 1-2 qts of oil, a bit of each fluid my vehicle uses, spare windshield wiper, spare belt, a small amount of water, stop leak of all assortments, and a winch/come-along/hi-lift jack to get me out of mud.

Gulf Coast swampland I'd want a boat, but would settle for a fording kit and really tall rubber on top of the stuff mentioned just above.

Not going off-road? Take the winch off my list and you will be more than covered on basics.

[88sport]

I was more aiming at the people who would come onto the transportation section looking for information about just what they need for a decent vehicle kit, so i wouldn't say that there would be some serious offroaders there because they already know what they need and regularly carry it with them. the kit would need to be able to deal with offroad situations because in case of road blockage, people would be going offroad to get around the blockage. So, forest service type roads preparedness would be the kind of kit that would be a good guess as to what the average person needs to have.

[Tater Raider]

I was more aiming at the people who would come onto the transportation section looking for information about just what they need for a decent vehicle kit, so i wouldn't say that there would be some serious offroaders there because they already know what they need and regularly carry it with them. the kit would need to be able to deal with offroad situations because in case of road blockage, people would be going offroad to get around the blockage. So, forest service type roads preparedness would be the kind of kit that would be a good guess as to what the average person needs to have.

Then this just about covers it: 1-2 qts of oil, a bit of each fluid my vehicle uses, spare windshield wiper, spare belt, a small amount of water, and stop leak of all assortments.

Poorly maintained roads: a full-sized spare.

Everything else should be in a BOB.

Tire-guage: No use for it unless you have some means of inflating a tire. If so, a bicycle pump beats nothing at all. It's slow but will get the job done.
Heater Hose: No need if you are maintaining the vehicle properly and are not going to do the off-road thing. Part of maintaining is checking the hoses.

Just my 2 cents.

[KJ4VOV]

And I'll chip in that before something goes in the bag you should have actual experience using it. Spare belts and hoses are nice when you need 'em, but useless if you have no clue how to install them. This is even more true for parts like a spare cap, rotor and plug wires, spare filters, etc. And I'll disagree with Tater on the amount of fluids you need to carry. If you only need a quart or so of oil, well, then it's probably because you've not been maintaining the vehicle. Anything that fails, oil cooler hose; filter; pan getting gashed on a rock; is probably going to empty the system, and that quart or two of oil you have isn't going to be enough to get you going again. Ditto for all the other fluids. If you need 'em, it's going to be because something failed and you need to refill an empty system.

I'd also include several packages of JB Weld (the real stuff, not some dollar store brand), baling wire, tiger tape (muffler bandage), a roll of tin or aluminum flashing (and tools to cut it - great for temporary patches to oil pans, etc), duct tape, WD-40, a spray degreaser (because stuff does not stick well to grease and oil), electrical wire, electrical tape, bulbs and fuses, test light, emery cloth (the actual cloth type, not the paper stuff), a set of funnels (or a roll up type funnel), fix-a-flat (sometimes it's just too dangerous to try and change a tire where it went flat - this will get you going to a better place), lengths of fuel and vacuum hoses (useful for a host of things from siphoning fuel to emergency tourniquet) and at least two LED flashlights with lithium batteries.

Your BOV isn't just a set of wheels to get you to your BOL, it's your lifeboat, stock it accordingly. Your vehicle emergency kit isn't there to let you tinker, or top off shit that should have been taken care of as part of routine maintenance. It's there to get you back on the road again without outside assistance because you're in the PAW, and AAA ain't fucking coming. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

[DJH]

http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=95473

[88sport]

thank you for the link. I forgot about that thread. We should sticky this one or that one for what the contents of a VERK should be.

[v3rs3]

No one mentioned that jumper cables weren't on your list. I'd guess that I've used my jumper cables almost more than anything else in my emergency kit. Not just for myself, but mostly for other people and it raises the good karma in my life. After my hockey game on Monday my goalie's car wouldn't start, throw the cables on and still wouldn't start. Pulled out my Streamlight and checked all his engine bay fuses, all good. Told him he either has a bad starter or something in the signal wire. Push started the car and it started right up. It amazes me how many people don't know how to simply push start a car.

My other most useful piece is my 72-piece tool set. I've had a couple occasions just in the last couple months where I've been broke down somewhere b/c of little things. I had my clutch slave cylinder and alternator go out on me, pulled them off in the parking lot and threw the new pieces on.

[Tater Raider]

I have a stick shift. Push start.

[KJ4VOV]

I have a stick shift. Push start.

It is also possible to push start some of the older automatics also.

[williaty]

Aight, I am a professional mechanic, so I'm going to be pretty nitpicky about this. Don't take it personally, I actually think it's great you did this.

Extra Belts - Not a bad idea. They honestly don't fail that often anymore without some sort of attack. So if you've got a broken belt, it's likely you've got something coming through the front end of the car, so that's not a good thing. However, these are easy to swap by the roadside, so why not.

Heater Hose - Somewhere between great idea and not a great idea IF you have the tools to release and reset the hose clamps, the pick to get the hose to come loose form the hardline, fluid to refill the system, and the exact replacement part, this is something that's likely to be realistic to do alongside the road. Here's the big complication, though: Most newer cars are so tightly packaged that you can't just carry a bit of 2" ID hose, 3/4" ID hose, etc and expect to fab things up on the spot. Most hoses now are so tightly bent that, without the forming in the OEM part, generic hose kinks and collapses as soon as it gets hot. So, OEM parts+tools+water on hand? GTG. Anything else, probably not.

Brake Fluid - I'm going to go with no on this one. There's really nothing that you can make safe to drive if it needs brake fluid. If the fluid came out, you have a problem beyond needing more fluid. If you got to the point where you started to lose braking efficacy due to low fluid level, you've also introduced air into the master cylinder, and you're not getting that back out alongside the road.

Duct Tape - Honestly, only really useful for taping bits of bumper and whatnot back on. Not a bad idea on general principles though. Adding some of that self-fusing tape might be a good idea to wrap hoses that are leaking.

Quart of Oil - Depends on the specific car. If your car doesn't ever consume oil between oil changes, then anything that makes it suddenly need a quart of oil is going to make it need a LOT more than just one quart of oil. If your car consumes oil, you should absolutely have oil in it at all times.

Coolant - Again, if the coolant is coming out, you have a bigger problem than lack of coolant. Unless you have the stuff to keep the coolant in, it's pointless to be able to refill the system unless it's a VERY slow leak.


Adjustable Wrench - FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NO! You wouldn't believe how big the bills I issue get when some shadetree starts using an adjustable wrench. You're massively more likely to make the problem unfixable using an adjustable than you are to actually help the situation.

Small Socket Set - make sure it's the right stuff for your car. If you have a "foreign" car (regardless of Country of Origin) a small metric set is all you need. If you own a domestic car less than 10 years old, you're going to need both metric and SAE.

Small Multitool - honestly, a $30 pair of pliers is going to help you more than a $30 multitool

Tire Pressure Gauge - only useful if you also have some way to pump air into the tires, which you should!

Screwdriver w/interchangeable bits - depends on car. For instance, in a modern Subaru, there's nearly 0 things to work on with a screwdriver unless you want to take apart the Jesus Handles for some weird reason.

Things to add:
A pair of pliers that can pull the size of fuses in your car. You'll need to look to see what kind of fuses you actually have. Make sure you have a handful of each ampacity of fuse your car takes INCLUDING the massive slow-blow fuses that sit early in the current path. You also might want to have some of the relays your car takes.

Headlight bulbs. On some cars (not all!), the headlights are easy to replace. Makes going around corners much nicer if you have both bulbs!

Set of HIGH QUALITY combination wrenches. By high quality, I mean you're looking at $20 or more per wrench. One of the worst things that can happen while you're trying to fix your own car in the middle of the night in a rainstorm is for the wrench to slip, rounding over the fastener and bashing the crap out of your hand. Yes, there really is a difference in the way a top-quality wrench loads the fastener head vs a set of Craftsman/Pittsburgh Pro/Kobalt/Husky wrenches do it. You don't need to pay the tool-truck-tax, though. Something like a Wright Tool Co, Proto, etc works just fine for about half the money.

Breaker bar for your socket set. At least here in the rustbelt, shit gets stuck.

Lots of zipties. The entire rally racing scene is based on zipties

Safety wire and safety wire pliers, if you know all the fun uses for it.

[Kutter_0311]

While I've never been more than a shadetree mechanic, the years I've spent as a machinist(running and fixing) say Williaty is dead on. Half-assed repairs with half-assed parts and tools lead to a wholely dead-ass vehicle.

[KJ4VOV]

Brake Fluid - I'm going to go with no on this one. There's really nothing that you can make safe to drive if it needs brake fluid. If the fluid came out, you have a problem beyond needing more fluid. If you got to the point where you started to lose braking efficacy due to low fluid level, you've also introduced air into the master cylinder, and you're not getting that back out alongside the road.

I'm gonna take issue with this one Will... I've bled brakes and masters sitting on the side of the road. It ain't fun, but it's possible. As for fixing whatever broke, depends on what broke. Busted brake line? Bend, crimp, bend, crimp and then slip some hose and a couple of clamps over the end to help slow the inevitable slow leak and you're good to go, but with reduced braking capability (and probably a hellacious pull to one side if it was a front line). Not ideal by a long shot, but in the PAW where a dead vehicle might mean a dead you? Acceptable.

[congochris]

Brake Fluid - I'm going to go with no on this one. There's really nothing that you can make safe to drive if it needs brake fluid. If the fluid came out, you have a problem beyond needing more fluid. If you got to the point where you started to lose braking efficacy due to low fluid level, you've also introduced air into the master cylinder, and you're not getting that back out alongside the road.

I'm gonna take issue with this one Will... I've bled brakes and masters sitting on the side of the road. It ain't fun, but it's possible. As for fixing whatever broke, depends on what broke. Busted brake line? Bend, crimp, bend, crimp and then slip some hose and a couple of clamps over the end to help slow the inevitable slow leak and you're good to go, but with reduced braking capability (and probably a hellacious pull to one side if it was a front line). Not ideal by a long shot, but in the PAW where a dead vehicle might mean a dead you? Acceptable.

Was going to respond to this one as well. My Ranger has a leaky slave cylinder. Slow leak, and generally only when it's really cold (sub freezing). Found this out this past winter. It takes brake fluid. Only have to top it off once every month or so, more often in the cold. Relatively easy to replace, but not something I can do right now.

Also coolant. I always carry some. It's saved my ass a few times. Last time was a cracked temp gauge housing on my wife's Focus. I was able to refill the coolant and limp it home in "run" mode, stopping preiodically to put more coolant in instead of having it actually in limp mode going 30 on a high traffic 50 MPH road where people like to race each other.

[cbr900]

id research senors that will not allow your vehicle to run....my CPS died while offroading it was a long hot walk that day

[Tater Raider]

Maybe define what level of prepping we are talking about?

Maybe something like this:

Daily Driver
Bug-Out (short-term, mild off road/trail driving)
Off-Roading (short term again, but far away from assistance and all off road)
ZPAW

[shadows on the trees]

So for the daily driver who doesn't know much about working on cars, and whose car is in good running order (knock on wood), y'all would say that the following should have him/her/me covered? I live in North Central Texas, so extreme cold is rarely a factor.

jack
full-size spare
bicycle pump
2 cans Fix a Flat (I once had two flat tires at once)
tire gauge
jumper cables

an "oh shit twenty"
fully charged cell phone to call husband or tow truck

the ususal BOB
BOB for the little girl

I'll keep a stroller in my car till said little girl is too big to fit in it- and maybe after that for toting stuff if we ever have to walk a long distance due to break downs or whatever.

I also carry duct tape, a quart of oil, some coolant and an air rifle which just never seems to make it out of the trunk after our trips to the country. And of course a towel or two.

[KJ4VOV]

So for the daily driver who doesn't know much about working on cars, and whose car is in good running order (knock on wood), y'all would say that the following should have him/her/me covered? I live in North Central Texas, so extreme cold is rarely a factor.

jack
full-size spare
bicycle pump
2 cans Fix a Flat (I once had two flat tires at once)
tire gauge
jumper cables

an "oh shit twenty"
fully charged cell phone to call husband or tow truck

the ususal BOB
BOB for the little girl

I'll keep a stroller in my car till said little girl is too big to fit in it- and maybe after that for toting stuff if we ever have to walk a long distance due to break downs or whatever.

I also carry duct tape, a quart of oil, some coolant and an air rifle which just never seems to make it out of the trunk after our trips to the country. And of course a towel or two.

Gloves, and maybe a cheap pair of coveralls. Also, have you ever actually changed a tire on your vehicle? If not, practice it once or twice to make sure everything works and that you're familiar with how it's done. Much better to find out you can't get the lugs off, or that the jack is no good, in your own driveway on a sunny day than at night, in the rain, on a busy highway.

[congochris]

Small bottle of windshield washer fluid, perhaps? A lot of cars these days have no way to tell how much fluid is in there. My wife's Focus has it jammed between the inner and outter fenders, so after the first two times you spray it's a flippin mystery when it's going to go empty. So we keep a partial jug in the back. Luckily it's a wagon, so a decent amount of room for stuff in the back.

Might seem like a small thing, but if you get a sudden short rain while your car is dirty and all of a sudden have mud all over your windshield you'll appreciate not having to stick your head out of the window to drive.

[BullOnParade]

The kit in my car is less about fixing the problem, more of a comfort kit in the event I had to stay in the car overnight. I keep my vehicle in good order, so short of a collision or something that takes the vehicle out of commission quickly, I don't see me stranded at the side of the road for mechanical issues. However winter before last, a section of highway was closed down during a blizzard with a lot of cars still on the road. http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=82858

I keep a full change of clothes, winter hat and gloves in the vehicle. 4800 calories of mainstay (that's 4 days rationed at 1200/day or 2 days for 2 people), water and gatorade. Toiletries, road flares, glow sticks, flashlight, and a basic tool kit all in a medium sized duffle bag. I also keep a rechargeable battery booster (would like to replace this for a model with a compressor), which is a useful piece of kit for anytime you need power away from the grid/car.

Tips for winter specific driving/kits: http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=82858

[Calzonewdippingsauce]

Here is mine. Its a quick down and dirty photo I just took a few seconds ago:

Inside the small bag I carry the following:

-Wool cap
-Wool Gloves
-ANSI vest (for high visibility on roadways)
-Tow Rope
-Flares
-Emergency blanket
-Battery powered tire pump
-Jumper cables

The larger bag just carries some documents, books, and a heavy lined ANSI rain coat from work.

This is in addition to my EDC which is also behind my driver seat for quick access.

[Tater Raider]

2 cans Fix a Flat (I once had two flat tires at once)

If you have a tire pressure monitoring system, no, hell no, and thousand times no - TPMS has sensors in the valve and you will replace it at the same time you get the tire properly fixed. If you don't have TPMS then you still have better options. Either case, I'd strongly urge a pair of needlenose pliers and a tire plug kit over a can of fix-a-flat. I'd also go with a full-sized spare whenever practical (sometimes it isn't).

[KJ4VOV]

2 cans Fix a Flat (I once had two flat tires at once)

If you have a tire pressure monitoring system, no, hell no, and thousand times no - TPMS has sensors in the valve and you will replace it at the same time you get the tire properly fixed. If you don't have TPMS then you still have better options. Either case, I'd strongly urge a pair of needlenose pliers and a tire plug kit over a can of fix-a-flat. I'd also go with a full-sized spare whenever practical (sometimes it isn't).

I'm going to partially disagree with you on this Tater. String type tire plugs are not recommended by any tire manufacturer as a proper repair. Such plugs can actually cause more harm to the tire than the initial injury, by wicking moisture into the steel belts, which then corrode over time and may catastrophically fail at highway speed. This happens because the compound the string is impregnated with eventually gets squeezed out, leaving just the string, which then acts as a wick. I've seen such things firsthand, back when I ran my own shop.

As an emergency, "we're in the PAW" type repair, yes, it's good enough to get you going again, but so's the can of fix-a-flat, and it's a lot easier. Also, fix-a-flat doesn't (at least the genuine Fix-A-Flat brand) damage sensors.

Link to proper tire repair procedures: http://www.rma.org/tire_safety/tire_maintenance_and_safety/tire_repair/
Link to tire repair info on tirerack.com: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=77

[shadows on the trees]

2 cans Fix a Flat (I once had two flat tires at once)

If you have a tire pressure monitoring system, no, hell no, and thousand times no - TPMS has sensors in the valve and you will replace it at the same time you get the tire properly fixed. If you don't have TPMS then you still have better options. Either case, I'd strongly urge a pair of needlenose pliers and a tire plug kit over a can of fix-a-flat. I'd also go with a full-sized spare whenever practical (sometimes it isn't).

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I do have a full-size spare, but I haven't actually changed a tire by myself in a long time. I see tire-changing practice in my weekend plans now.

The fix a flat was purchased in response to 6 flats in two months. I was fed up!

I'd change a hundred tires in the rain if it meant we could get some rain here.