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I was recently asked to show my Car survival kit.
This gave me the chance to go through everything I keep there and sort a few things out.
Its amazing how in what it seems to be no time food and meds expire, batteries go bad, water bottles get used up and the spare clothes no longer fit the kids!
I even managed to misplace and lose some of the stuff along the way. No doubt brought out to be used at some point only to be left God knows where.
Your Car survival/emergency Kit works as a system, of which your actual vehicle is the foundation. I believe that your daily driver is your “first responder” when there’s an emergency so it’s much more important to have that vehicle ready than to have a loaded up off-road truck at home while driving a compact sedan with just a spare tyre and little else for emergencies.
The car must be very reliable, well serviced, large enough yet practical enough. Have 4x4 or AWD. Not necessarily an off road truck, but capable of dealing with some snow, mud or doing some light off roading if the situation requires it.
In my case I believe the Honda CRV balances these very well. Being diesel it also means I get considerably more miles per gallon of fuel. It’s also safer in case of an accident, diesel stores better than gas and diesel cars have roughly twice as much torque compared to similar cylinder engines.
I would also like to point out that both the vehicle and kit depend on the specific location, climatic conditions and family group. Living in the middle of nowhere in Alaska probably means your daily driver needs to be a 4x4 truck, in cold climates the spare clothes would be more winter oriented or if you have a baby in the family you’ll need a baby bag.
I used the list from my book “Bugging Out and Relocating” as a guide to make sure I was covering the important points.
Here’s the list:
- First Aid Kit
- Food (I'll be including some of the long term rations)
- Clothes and footwear
- Water
- Flashlight and spare batteries
- AM/FM radio
- Tool Kit
- Fire extinguisher
- Duct Tape
- Spare Tire, Lug Wrench and Jack
- Jumper Cables
- 50 Feet of 550 Paracord
- Tow Strap
- Lighter
- Work Gloves
- Map
- Compass
- Hand Sanitizer
- Wet Wipes
- Sunblock
- Bug Repellent
- Toilet Paper
- Cell phone with charger
- Shovel (managed to lose my shovel, so I bought a folding E-tool to replace it)
- Ice Scrapper
- Tire inflator
- Emergency Flat Tire Repair
- Blankets or sleeping bags
- Reflective vest
- Reflective triangle or road flares
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”
3 comments:
Add a pipe and breaker bar for extra tight lugnuts from the gas station's impact gun!
I learned that the hard way...
Mitsubishi Outlander Hybrid.... Not only silent electric drive (80km), but powerful electric generator and bidirectional charging via Chademo fast charge.
Perfect für hunting...
If it's a real SHTF kit, the breaker bar can be useful as weapon. (Remember to take the socket off the end before swinging!).
Your really should have a socket and ratchet set to help keep the car or truck running.
A 12v bilge pump powered from the car, will lift gasoline or diesel from a station tank, when system power is off. One of these:
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/jabsco--il200-plus-pump-12v--10738474?recordNum=71 at $60, or this
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/rule-industries--500-gph-plus-in-line-submersible-bilge-pump-12v--8719056?recordNum=40 with the strainer removed (or not) at $75 or even this at $25
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/trac-outdoor-products--600-gph-electric-thru-hull-bilge-pump--17104654?recordNum=75
Whale make submersible bilge pumps too, the strainer can be removed and a hose extension added. All of these are submersible and spark proof. The Jabsco is sold for and used for diesel transfer, tank to tank. I have seen it used for gasoline too.
One thing missing is some serious rope. 550 paracord is weak, stretchy nylon. The alleged 550# is optimistic. If you tie a know and stress the line, you may never get that knot out. A 60 or 75 foot length of 1/2 inch nylon dock line will cover a multitude of situations where you want a large strong rope, such as extending a tow strap.
For real strength you may need a small diameter high strength high tech rope such as Dyneema. Rope which you would think is too small for your shoe-laces is twice as strong as paracord: 2mm Dyneema 78 is rated a 1000 pounds. 6mm will pick a car or a truck including Chevy Suburban. (Note: when properly terminated or tied: astounding strength 6mm: 8,600 pounds. 5mm 5,400 pounds, 4mm 4000 pounds 2.5mm 1,600 pounds. (Sorry for the mixed units: kg ratings not available). And effectively zero stretch and it floats. For some uses the lack of stretch is a problem: although strong this is not the rope to use for water-skiiing or wake-boarding!
Sailors have been using it for years. It is as strong as stainless steel Dyform wire of the same thickness and 15% stronger than 1x19 wire. Available at West Marine, but check it out at Annapolis Sailing (apsltd.com) or layline.com where more technical info is provided.
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