As some of you may know, there was a big accident on 95 the other day, causing motorists to be basically stranded for I believe it was 27 hours. During a snow storm.

This situation was the focus of a text chain between my friends and I. Two of the husbands are uber prepared Eagle scouts, and I’m going to give you an excerpt of what they think you should have in your car trunk at all times.

  1. jumper cables
  2. flare
  3. blanket
  4. small shovel
  5. phone charger
  6. first aid kit
  7. snacks/food for 24 hours
  8. water
  9. snow boots
  10. toilet paper
  11. flashlight
  12. large trash bag
  13. scissor

Of course, my friend added that she would need Tylenol just to deal with this list…and no, while their husbands have these things at the ready in their trunks, neither of the wives do…

So, what do you keep in your car for emergencies? Or what do you keep in your car just because you think it’s a good idea?

63 thoughts on “Anything Can Happen Friday: Car Supplies”

      1. The shovel has been more useful than any other emergency item I’ve had in the car. I have had to dig myself out after snowstorms, and I once got high-centered while driving home. Got out, grabbed the shovel, and got the car unstuck in a few minutes.

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  3. Living in Alaska- winter comes with a new level of preparedness for us. Shovels, kitty litter or sand, toe straps (for when you come across someone in a ditch), extra hats, gloves, blankets, small candle (heats the car), emergency radio, flash light, snacks, water, and a extra pack of smokes, and a large thermos of coffee. Oh and I always take a wind up power source so I can charge my phone and send sos signals if I need.

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  6. I have quite a few of those actually, although I don’t typically set out to drive far/anywhere if I know snow is coming. My blanket disappeared years ago, but I think I have a space blanket thing in my main kit. Food/water- that would be the biggest thing missing right now. Living in a multi-weather state that also floods and/or has the occasional earthquake we are sort of conditioned to have survival type stuff.

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  8. Interesting post. I think that list is a really good idea. In an emergency having those items will certainly be very helpful. When I was teaching I always had a change of clothing in my car in case of an emergency.

    But, because of the pandemic and my recent health limitations, I rarely drive much anymore and haven’t thought about what’s still in my car. I know I always have a few Jean jackets . (It’s always cold inside restaurants etc. and in Florida it’s steaming outside but it’s cold in the AC. SO Whatever jacket I am wearing or bring along, gets taken off in the car, and then I forget about it. So it gets left in the car

    That’s been a benefit to my grandchildren. Sometimes I’d meet up with my son and family on weekends and they’d be in shorts and sleeveless tops because it’s hot out. And wherever we meet for lunch it’s freezing inside the restaurant . The kids will say, “Grandma can we get one of your jackets? “
    And I take them out to the parking lot so they can select a denim jacket from my back seat. I usually have a change of clothes as well. When you work with children or play with grandchildren things get spilled on you. 😆😉

    I’m more used to packing before I go to my destination. When my own children were little I’d have sports bags set to go. (With water bottles, blanket to sit on, bags of snacks like pretzel, etc) and I’d also bring some fruit of whatever I had in the house. Growing boys and girls get hungry)! Jumper cables and a spare tire are always in the car and so is a Kleenex box, extra face masks etc..

    What I noticed is the way my younger son packs his car. It’s like he’s always prepared for anything. I think it is because of his job. ( he’s a director in films and television.) and he often starts his day before 5 am and will work in strange places for 12 hours. So his car is always set up as if he’s going to a camp site. The only problem is he has to be careful. His car has been broken into a few times. Once they were filming over night in a wooded area and when the day was done and everyone walked back to the parking area the crew discovered that someone bashed in several of the cars and stole items. Yes, Insurance paid for items lost but his car was actually trashed and his laptop stolen along with camping items etc. (fortunately my son backs up everything on his laptop and had brought his iPad on set with him and was wearing his Apple Watch. But, my point was that it’s great he has everything in his car and ready for any emergency, but he’s also at risk for theft. When he drives down to Fl to visit, it’s like he could live in his car indefinitely if he had to. He even has paper plates and plastic forks.

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  11. I gave up having a car a few years ago but for. Long time I kept sand bags in the rear to give weight in winter until someone mentioned – why put added weight in the rear when it is front wheel drive? Geez

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  12. Honestly, I don’t have anything extra in my car besides a blanket and a snow brush with an ice scraper which I take out for about 2 months in the summer. In Wisconsin, it needs to snow a lot for people to get worried. We can get snowstorms anytime between October and May. The best survival tool is a cell phone so I can call AAA.

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  14. In Florida, you always need water. I keep an umbrella, multi-tool and my Aaa card. Oh an an extra pair of flip flops so if a shoe breaks or some other footwear calamity, I have a backup. Yes, this has happened to me…more than once. That’s just mu usual putter around town. Road trips is a whole different story…

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  15. It sounds like in the scenario you describe the Boy Scout preparation would be so needed! I admit I don’t have all those things in my car all the time, but when we travel in a car or on a motorcycle I always carry some water and toilet paper. If we are going by motorcycle we carry extra gas because you never know when the next gas station will show up if you are in a rural area.

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  16. I do have a lot of those things in my car. Blanket, scissors, flashlight, jumper cables, reusable bags for grocery shopping, a towel, extra masks, gloves, phone charger, gum, first aid kit. I don’t keep any food or water. My husband was just talking about making an emergency kit to keep at home in case of an earthquake or something. Probably would be a good idea.

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  17. Why would you keep 24 hours of food or snacks in your vehicle? This is so ridiculous to me. The question I keep asking myself is Why are you driving in situations where you might need this? I only have a hat and gloves and tools in my vehicle. I probably should have a blanket. I’m assuming the scissors is to cut open the food and snacks and the garbage bag is for the garbage. I dont mean to be rude but I just cant wrap my head around this. Can you explain more?

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    1. None of the people stuck for 27 hours thought they would be stick for 27 hours. And it’s not always a snow situation. We were once in California driving from LA to San Diego. There was some sort of spill on the road and we were stuck for eight hours in one place. It’s being prepared for the worst.

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  18. I just sold my car, so I unloaded all that stuff that lived in the emergency space: cables, fire extinguisher, rubber boots, parka, coveralls, tools, blanket and bivvy sack, ice scraper, shovel. I also keep a flashlight, gallon of water, jacket, hat, gloves, and snacks. And of course, for the truly serious emergencies, a corkscrew.

    Some of that stuff I got rid of, but some will go into the new vehicle.

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  19. The list you give is a reasonable place to start and can be adapted to time of year and destination of travel.
    One aspect I would like to add, is, let people know your travel plans. Which route are you taking and approximate timings.
    For example, if we travel from here in Edmonton to Vancouver, there are several routes we can take through the mountains. There have been cases in the past, unfortunately one fatal, where a couple was traveling Edmonton to Vancouver and did not arrive. Authorities and family searched all along what was considered to be “the usual” route with no success. Their vehicle was discovered off the road some months later on a more scenic but much less traveled route. Would the outcome have been different if they had specified their route? Perhaps.
    Certainly something to keep in mind. There are also smartphone apps which alert others should something happen. I use one when traveling on my motorcycle.

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    1. My daughter has an Apple Watch and apparently it sends out an alert if she were to fall or something. But the route thing is important. When my daughter was in 4th grade and walked to school by herself for the first time I gave her a specific route to follow so in case I would know where to look

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  20. I carry a lot of those things plus a few others: a little rechargeable gizmo that will jumpstart my car if the battery decides to croak (I’ve already needed it twice and it works like a charm!), another rechargeable gizmo that will inflate my tires, if needed, extra face masks in my glove box, an actual “old school” paper road Atlas…in case GPS won’t work where I’m at, and disposable rubber gloves and a special mouth shield/breather device in case I come upon an accident and have to render CPR or other care.

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  21. Emergency blanket (the very thin shiny kind) along with darn near everything on the Eagle Scout list you provided. I don’t always carry the jumper cables. But, for a long time carried a can of instant fix a flat. I never want to be the chick on the side of the road who gets into trouble only to have creepy guy stop to offer his “help”. Better to be prepared!

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  24. Fortunately we don’t have that type of weather here! My emergency kit is basically my big coat in case I break down and have to wait for recovery. And a large bottle of water. Himself has an entire outdoor survival kit, including portable stove….

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