With your car, you can bring tons of stuff with you every day in just about anywhere. People carry loads of things in the car but often fail to get the most important ones aboard.
There are a lot of situations that can happen while you travel on the road. You might run out of fuel, get your tires flat, or have your car broken. The worse thing is these situations don’t just happen on the oddest of occasions.
They can actually happen every time and again! It may probably not bother you so much if you’re just around the town, but when bad situations happen in the middle of nowhere, you’ll surely freak out.
That is the very reason why you should always be prepared. Here are the most essential things that you should have in your car every time you run on the road.
Basic Toolkit
The most common reason why people get stuck on a roadside is because of some mechanical auto problems. Thus, you should always bring a toolkit that you can use to temporarily repair your car, get it started, and move on to the next town, where you can stay the rest of the day while you wait for your car to be completely repaired.
Your car toolkit should contain screwdrivers, screw holders, wrenches, pliers, gauges, tire jack, and tire iron.
Spare Tire
It’s not unusual for your car to get flat, so always bring an extra tire with you. Make sure you have a tire jack and iron in your toolkit because you can do nothing with your spare tires without such tools.
Car’s Manual
Every driver should always bring along the car’s manual, especially for those who just bought their vehicles days ago. The truth is no matter how many years you’ve owned your car, there will always be something that you wouldn’t know about it. Unless you’ve read and memorized every single page of the manual, that is.
First Aid Kit
In case you get into a minor car accident, you can apply first aid for the wounded as you drive to the nearest hospital. Your first aid kit should include band-aids, antiseptic ointment, pain relievers, adhesive tape, and gauze.
Multipurpose Knife
A multipurpose knife is a pocket knife with multiple tools like a reamer, blade, screwdriver, can-opener, and grips. It’s usually fold-able, so it’s very handy.
Shovel
It’s winter. You’re driving on the road and you suddenly get stuck in the snow. This is where a shovel can save the day. Not just in snow, a shovel can also be useful when you’re stuck in the mud.
You don’t really have to bring a long shovel at the back of your car. A small, portable shovel will do.
Jumper Cables
With a jumper cable, you can save and be saved! When you’re in trouble with your dead car and you’re lucky enough to meet a Good Samaritan, you can use jumper cables to move on to your destination. Or you can do it the other way around for other people in need!
Flashlight and Batteries
A flashlight can be very useful, especially when you get stuck on the roadside at the night and you need to change a tire or repair something under your car.
You can actually get light from your cellular phone, but you might just be wasting your device’s energy which you could’ve used for contact purposes.
SEE MORE:
Emergency Cell Phone Charger
During an emergency, you would always want to contact people and inform them about your dilemma for help. An emergency call phone charger will give your phone some power in case it runs out of battery.
Battery-Powered Radio
One of the most common reasons why people pull over on the road is because of bad weather. With a radio in the car, you will be able to listen to important weather updates. Purchase a battery-powered one to still be able to listen to the radio even when power is not available.
Waterproof Matches
When you get stranded, you will need something to get warm. Include waterproof matches or other kinds of fire starters in your emergency kit to have something to use to build fire.
Bug Repellent
This isn’t just helpful during an emergency. You’ll need to use it every time you go out of your car. Of course, you don’t want to draw some weird insects near you.
Sunblock
Another scenario you’d never want to have while on the road is probably getting stuck in the middle of the 12-noon sun. Apply sunblock before going out to repair your poor car.
Water and Ready-to-Eat Food
What could be worse than getting stuck in the middle of nowhere? That would be getting stuck in the middle of nowhere for days without anything to eat or drink! It is, therefore, a necessity to stuck bottles of water and instant, high-energy food inside your car.
Sleeping Bag
When you’re stuck for days, you will, of course, spend the night either inside your car or out. With a sleeping bag or a blanket, you can warmly sleep amidst the cold night breeze.
Clothes
You’ll surely need to change clothes after you get soaked in the rain from changing your tires outside the car, so it’s a really good idea to bring along assorted clothes for different kinds of weather, especially clothes for cold seasons like sweaters, jackets, and so on. Also, include footwear in case the straps of your sandals tear out.
Gloves
You might think that gloves should be the last thing to include in this article, but gloves can actually be very useful. They can be handy in mechanic work. With gloves, you can have a better and cleaner hold on to the tools as you try to repair your car.
Car Repair Information
If you’re not so good at repairing your own car, you should have the business card of as many auto repair shops as possible, so that wherever you may get your car broken, you’d get help from the nearest repair shop easily.
Road Flares
In case you have nothing left to use for urgent contact, road flares will be of big help. This will, however, depend on your luck.
If nobody notices or worse, nobody cares about your call of help, then you won’t get immediate help. If a good Samaritan comes along, you’re saved.
Map
Sure thing, you won’t at all need a map from home to work. Still, always bring or better yet, permanently put into one place in your car the map of your town or of neighboring cities. Who knows you and your co-workers might unexpectedly decide to visit places for the sake of travel and fun.
If you think this is too conventional, then you better install an offline map application on your phone. You should especially install an offline map app, so you can still browse through it even without an internet connection.
Emergency Money
It’s probably very impossible for a driver to drive off in his car with nothing in his pocket, but there could be times like that. That’s practically the reason why you should have this so-called emergency money. This will surely be useful to pay for people who helped you in towing your truck or stuff like that.
Conclusion
It is never unnecessary to prepare for the unexpected. Follow Car Safety for more tips and facts that help keep your driving safe.
