Prep Daddy's Awesome Emergency Car Kit Here at Emergency Essentials® we recommend purchasing or making an emergency kit as one of the first steps to preparedness. Following this recommendation, I put together an emergency kit to keep in the trunk of my car. This is in addition to the emergency kits we keep at home. I thought if my car breaks down or I have to evacuate while I’m away from home, I’d need some supplies. I also thought I could grab these extra supplies from my trunk if I had to evacuate home with my family. I kind of haphazardly threw my emergency car kit together one Saturday afternoon, so didn’t even remember what it contained until today. So, I pulled it all out of the trunk, laid it out on the ground, and took inventory (and pictures). Then I checked to see how it stacked up to the Emergency Kit Checklist on BePrepared.com. Here’s the list of contents currently in my trunk (and a few items I carry with me wherever I go): Water - 2 one-gallon jugs of drinking water (enough for 4-8 days depending on the conditions.) - 1 4-liter water bladder (empty) - 1 Emergency Essentials Inc. 32 oz. Blue Water Bottle - 6 KATADYN® Micropur™ Purification Tablets (Plus 4 more in my wallet. Enough to treat 10 quarts of water.) Food - 1 DATREX® 3600 Calorie Food Bar (Enough for three days at 1200 calories/day. And it’s great for cars because it can withstand extreme temperatures and last for up to 5 years.) - 1 can of SPAM (I’ll probably never eat this, but what the heck.) Warmth/Shelter - 1 full change of clothes (including a 100% wool sweater and extra pair of pants) - 1 wool hat (I knitted it myself and it’s super warm.) - 1 Mosquito head net - 1 plastic poncho - 1 SOL Emergency Bivvy - 1 Space® Brand All Weather Blanket - 1 reflective emergency blanket - 1 silnylon tarp - 1 sleeping bag - 1 sleeping pad - 1 blanket (I think it’s either a poly/wool blend or acrylic. It’s from Peru and the label doesn’t say what it’s made of, so I don’t know.) - About 80 feet of paracord (I have another 100 feet in a belt I wove and wear every day, but that’s a story for another blog post.) - 6 tent stakes Sanitation - 1 pack of disposable wipes - 1 bar of soap - 1 pocket-sized pack of tissues - 10 black garbage bags Lighting - 1 head lamp (Needs extra batteries.) - 3 tea light candles - 1 lighter Emergency Cooking - 1 small cooking pot with lid - 1 metal bowl - some plastic eating utensils (A few of each kind.) Protective and Other Equipment - 1 helmet - 1 pair of goggles (they’re for skiing, but I don’t ski. So, I’ll just use them for emergencies.) - 1 pair of gloves - 3 dust masks (they aren’t N95 Particulate Respirator Masks, so I plan to replace them.) - 1 backpack (To carry all this stuff in if I have to.) - 1 slingshot with ammo (what can I say? I’m a little boy at heart. Plus I might need to hunt squirrels or something.) - 1 set of tire chains - 1 pair of jumper cables - 1 multi-tool (Which I always carry on my belt.) - 1 3-inch folding knife (Which I always keep in my pocket.) Entertainment - 1 pack of playing cards Looking at this list, I realize I need: - first aid supplies - a tool set - extra batteries - some weatherproof matches - a shovel - a book to read. For now, I’m happy to have most of the stuff I need. And I had a lot of fun putting it together. Now I need to make one for my wife’s minivan. Feel free to leave suggestions of items you think I should add to my car kit in the comment section below. - Prep-Daddy
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