My Car Kit

[Woody girl]

I do understand what having children does to your perceptions of keeping them safe. They have to live though, so please remember to be a fun dad too. That means also letting them take their own risks now and then. If they never take risks they will not develop a sixth sense when things may start to go pear shaped and know that they need to do something else instead of blindly going forward in trust that they will be fine because dad will always be there to sort it.
Yes that's fine when they are little but you have to recognise that moment when they are ready to exercise their wings and let them.
It also totaly understand how panicked you feel about your kids getting hurt only too well. I had my worst fears confirmed when trying to steer my son away from a certain group of friends he rebelled and got in a car with others that he knew he shouldn't. He never came home. He was sixteen.
Things happen and you'll never totally mitigate for everything. Don't beat yourself up if it does. As long as you have done your best then there is nothing more you could do. Your friend needs to know that as long as he did that then it's fine.
My son made a bad choice despite being taught well , warnings, and pleadings, and even a physical fight. It took a long while to stop blaming myself, and understand it was his choice.
While this may not be your friends situation. My heart goes out to them.
It is rare for this sort of thing to happen so be at peace and give yourself a break from worrying all the time. Relax and enjoy the good times without worrying about what could happen . And enjoy what is happening right now. That way you have happy memories should the worst happen. Which is highly unlikely as far as statistics go. Whilst being prepared to cope with the worst.

 

[Janne]

Do you carry a spare wheel AND a canister of that puncture foam? We do. That is about the only emergency equipment I have ever used.

I started having both systems in the vehicles after I drove over a bunch of nails and punctured three tyres.
Of course, not used both since! Plenty of punctures, even an exploding tyre, but only one.

I find a Credit Card with plenty of credit useful when we do longer car based trips. We keep one CC unused for possible emergencies, the last time we needed that was when the header cracked and they had to DHL a new header to the mechanic.

Edit: No, I have used the ax ( kill reindeer and deer) and spare fuel canister several times too. I have also used a see through kind of Ducktape to stabilize badly cracked windscreens.

I was told by a fire fighter patient, that most commercial car fire extinguers are too small, hare not big enough to put a fire that reignites ( apparently very common).

 

[Robson Valley]

I have a junker Coleman cooler that lives in the very back of the Suburban. Couple of old blankets.
Because snowy winters are a fact of life here, I pack food and drink into shopping bags and into the Coleman to keep from freezing for the trips.
I can take a butane cartridge stove from in the house, it will run OK once the 'Burb is warmed up.
Typically 2.5 - 3.5 hours on 220 km of twisting up-and-down mountain highway. It suffices to say that nobody lives along this highway #16.
150km of 1" slick ice yesterday took all of my concentration. Still, just a 2WD day.

Also carry a big fat first aid kit, same as the one that I keep in the house.
Not so much for me but in case I can help somebody after a wildlife smash with a big moose.
There's a bunch of us that travel armed in some way. To dispatch wildlife crippled in a collision.
I've let that lapse, leave it for the younger tribes. Another feast for all the scavengers.

 

[Laurentius]

FWIW and based on bitter experience it is not wise to keep any more in the car than you can afford to lose or can be replaced quickly.

 

[Paul_B]

I remember bringing son and his mother home from hospital. Ice on path from door to car parked to the side of it. Angry the NHS hadn't gritted it.

Got him into the car seat, practised a lot before hand. Then drove off. Looking back I'm amazed at how angry I got with all other drivers. I mean they should have given me half a mile gap due to my precious cargo. Double the HC listed stopping distance looked like bumper to bumper to me! Very stressful!

Now I've calmed down. They're not as fragile as you first thought.

Right now we're of the opinion that you need to let things happen more as a parent. So they're 5 years old doing stunts in school cycling lessons. He does that at home. We warn him it is own potentially dangerous but it's still up to him.

Broke his elbow doing stupid things on his bike. He's carried on riding, even ate his dinner without complaining before he let on it was bad. We knew it was bad but no broken collarbone (we'd experience of that) and he was moving it too. Green stick fracture. Cast for 2 weeks and it never slowed him down. Plus all hits school mates wanted broken arms and casts too.

Sorry but despite family incidents with sudden deaths involved we're still not with the view you can plan for things like the OP. Basic, practical things like spare car tyre, tyre pump, FAK, etc. But multiple redundancies in kit, kit like window hammers, etc. Not our thing.

 

[Corso]

Blimey that's quite a list the Op has provided - I think I could probably out live Armageddon with only the zombies to worry about

I doubt her car would go up hill though

Since I was the original question asker what I ended up buys was

a triangle
poncho
blanket
head torch
hi-vis vest


The Misses always has funds on her, a phone, water bottle and snacks and has breakdown support.

With this being the UK I think that's pretty much all she will need

 

[TLM]

Now lets see, on top of legal requiremets I have some tire tools and more tools. A hatchet, a machete, a poncho, some working gloves and a crowbar. In the winter sometimes carry an extra blanket. In my pockets ...

 

[Tengu]

Ive got a bag in my car now, -cant recall what is in it.

I think I should write a list...

 

[Duggie Bravo]

I used to carry an overnight bag and sleeping bag in my car, in case I had to stop somewhere overnight.
The one time it could have been used, I didn’t as the young lady may have considered me presumptuous rather than as a Scout just being prepared.

When I had a Discovery I carried loads of stuff, two bin bags worth of important stuff, when I emptied it on selling.

Now I carry a few bits and pieces, normally stuff I needed the day before and that I now carry, just in case.


Sent using Tapatalk

 

[Nomad64]

Some further thoughts;

The OP has mentioned using a car jack, handle and 3 tonne tow rope as a vehicle recovery winch.

I’ve seen utube vids of the Mors K “flip flop” winch, regularly use a tirfor type winch in the woods and have used a hi-lift jack as a winch but I’m genuinely curious as to how a standard (scissor?) type car jack would be used in this way.

I assume the intention would be to attach one end of the fully extended jack to the car and the other via the towrope and retract the jack to shorten the length. Even if the OP has a strap or rope to attach one end to the car, IME there is so much stretch in standard towropes that the few inches of extension on a scissor jack would be used up long before anything started to move and even if it does move, you may need to have other ropes to hold the vehicle in place while you repeatedly reset the arrangement.

I’ve never used one and without wanting to further clutter the OP’s boot space, within their limitations, these hand winches look like a cheap and cheerful alternative to a tirfor fir shifting things short distances (nb- some of these still something to attach them at one end)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hand-Winch-Puller-Trailer-TD026/dp/B006B3OIAI/ref=sr_1_6?crid=30ZL6TWE13U82&keywords=hand+winch+heavy+duty&qid=1578557235&sprefix=Hand+winch,aps,252&sr=8-6

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boat-Heavy-1200LB-Winch-Cable/dp/B000V3MRGG/ref=sr_1_7?crid=30ZL6TWE13U82&keywords=hand+winch+heavy+duty&qid=1578557424&sprefix=Hand+winch,aps,252&sr=8-7

With ropes, cables and points of attachment under extreme tension and large, heavy and potentially unstable objects on the move, vehicle recovery is a frequent source of Darwin awards and best practised in a controlled environment under experienced supervision rather than in an emotional state in the cold and wet.

Warning triangles - can’t have too many of them. You can’t guarantee after a breakdown or RTA that your (or other vehicles involved) will be neatly on the correct side of the carriageway and pointing in the right direction. Depending on the conditions, one to alert drivers from either direction and ideally, additional warnings (a hi-viz jacket on an improvised stand will do) further 50-100 yds back.

The OP’s preoccupation with rescuing his family from a submerged vehicle is understandable given his personal experience even if a statistically unlikely scenario. Without training, rescuing anyone from water can be as dangerous to the would be rescuer - although the facts have yet to be determined it looks likely that the recent family tragedy in Spain was the result of the brother and father of the young girl getting into difficulties while trying to save her.

People who believe they are drowning have a tendency to grab hold of anything nearby and push themselves up out of the water - if that is their would be rescuer then that is potentially very bad news for both! Many years ago, I did a life saving/rescuing from water course and much of the training involved how to avoid that scenario - ideally by staying out if the water yourself.

The course also covered rescuing people trapped or unconscious underwater - that adds a whole level of complication and risk and any attempted rescue from a submerged car us unlikely to pan out like it does in the movies, particularly if the water is dark, murky, fast flowing and freezing.

Fortunately despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary, dieing trapped in a submerged car is a statistically unlikely way to meet your maker and as mentioned previously, the generally accepted approach to risk management is to identify and mitigate those hazards that are likely to occur, with the emphasis being in those with more serious consequences and which can easily be mitigated.

Below is a risk assessment matrix pulled at random from the web (I know that these words are usually used in conjunction with phrases such as “box ticking exercise” or “elf and saaafety gorn mad...” but we all do this stuff subconsciously a thousand times a day) which if you are serious about mitigating risks affecting you, your loved ones or anyone you are responsible for can help establish what you really need to worry about. Drowning in a car would rank as a 3 (moderate) on this matrix (personally, I’d put it at the low end of moderate), and there are plenty of things ranked as critical or serious which should be addressed first as part of a sensible risk assessment/management exercise?


Safe travels!

 

[Woody girl]

Very sensible words there. I think we can tend to get carried away trying to mitigate risk in our lives.
The world is in a very worrying state at present, and it can bleed into our thinking subconsciously. Especially with wall to wall news coverage bombarding us 24/7.
Relax a bit more and believe things are OK in your life.. even if it isn't for others around the world. Not that ignoring things are the answer either.
Take a rational approach to your own life. And you will be more able to cope with problems.
Stay calm and carry on!

 

[Paul_B]

We order use risk matrices as part of FMEA for processes at work. In some ways you're rating chances of it happening, seriousness of things if it did and perhaps the chances that you'd cope with it based on what you had with you.

Imho chances of a breakdown is middling at most if you maintain your vehicle so no need for many tools other than basic wheel and tyre maintenance plus lights and washer fluids. Anything more and breakdown cover.

Imho probability of occurrence and severity of consequences for most potential events seem to me to be low. It's only a very small number of eventualities I kit up for. Those are then mitigated by preventive measures such as vehicle preventative maintenance routines, recovery cover, etc.

 

[Woody girl]

One thing 5he recent flooding of the somerset levels a few years ago and the fires in the Americas and Australia have made me realise is that you can prep for everything to the nines but if nature decides to take it.. she will and nothing you can do will make a difference.
So I have just thought about what the probability is of things happening as against every possible scenario preparing what I might need for that and then let go of the worry and stay happy. Hence when I went shopping before Xmas knowing there was a probability of flooding in took the emergency blanket. I've been caught before with bus breakdown at night and froze on the bus while awaiting replacement transport.
Sometimes it's a simple thing that will change the ability to cope with a situation.
I looked at the probability of flooded roads.. and bus breakdown and prepared for both. The bus broke down on the way in. Others were worried but I just pulled out my flask of hot choc and relaxed. The bus had gone through a flood and got water in the electrics. We got going after 15 mins , but the bus going home was realy late as they had to make detours. That's where the space blanket came in handy while waiting.. along with a refill of my flask with tea from a take away.
Othere were not prepared at all and suffered!.
Must admit to feeling a bit smug.

 

[Paul_B]

There was the flooding case where the village was flooded out except for the builder who knew they lived in flood plain so he built a bund around his property just inside his boundary. It was high enough to keep the flood out apparently. He just drove away before it happened after closing the flood gate behind them. As soon as the floods had gone he moved straight home without any clean up or cost.

It's planning like that which needs doing for every property especially those in natural disaster areas.

 

[Woody girl]

Exactly. Know what the risks are and plan accordingly. The builder had the knowledge and ability to protect his property. I expect many locals thought they would just rely on insurance and rescue!
Nothing like helping yourself in a situation like that.
I still despair at the number of people who attempt to keep driving through flooded areas despite knowing that it's dangerous. Just turn round and find an alternative route. If that's not possible you should have planned an alternative place to stay or a safe way to wait it out in your car untill you can resume your journey.
Common sense is the best survival tool next to planning and training!

 

[Robson Valley]

Most of us in this village have to plan a little further ahead.
Despite being on the Fraser River flood plain that's never much of a worry.

A big rock slide buries the highway east of us. Impressive and very noisy, too.
A big avalanche buries the highway west of us. Likewise quite noisy and full of logs and rocks.
Maybe 1" freezing rain.

All too dangerous to rush out and fix it.

In any case, we are cut off. Light aircraft aren't much help.
The scheduled passenger trains aren't much help.
There are no possible detours. No groceries, no fuel.

We do have the electricals sorted now with a big biodiesel gen set and several run-of-the-river hydro plants.
We can trip breakers 10 km out from the village and stand alone if needed.
= = =
We expect several nights of -35C and days of -20C.
Most folks just sit tight and put off any travel plans.
Everybody understands.

I'll dig out some food scrap and feed the local Ravens.

 

[Paul_B]

Prepping for Canada and UK are different. If you're doing your prep here you're probably into overkill territory. I break down on the road I have up to one hour wait for RAC because I'm with partner and young child. Even winter it's not too bad. You don't have that luxury.

It's possibly hard to understand north american outlook on distance to UK outlook. As a guy who did 3 week spells helping a customer out in Texas told me. He joined a local to travel to the next town to swap his car for a new one. It was a 12 hour round trip. I could go most of the way of a JOGLE in that sort of time. That's part of the difference in planning needed.

 

[Native Nathan]

I still despair at the number of people who attempt to keep driving through flooded areas despite knowing that it's dangerous.

I watched a video a few years ago, a guy was telling us he and his mate were in landrover discoverys, the road in front was flooded, he explained it was usually a little stream about 9 foot below the road. They stopped and assessed the area and then decided to drive through the flood as it only looked about 2 foot deep. Long story short, the river had washed the little bridge away leaving a hole over 9 feet deep and over 10 feet long, however neither of them knew that at the time. he then went on to explain how the first vehicle drove through shlowly then the front just dissapeared. He said his mate was ok, cold and wet but ok, they got his lanny out when the water subsided but the repair costs were horrrendous. It's just not worth it


Thanks a great Matrix Nomad64, and i agree with your evaluation.

Just to be clear I let my chidren do things perhaps too much as in they do Judo, horseriding, sea cadets, Ballet trapolining and free running.
I'm just of the opinion that if I can look and see a potential situation that may cause my family a bit of a hassel, I'd rather do something about it to mitigate the effect before rather than after

 

[Robson Valley]

Where I live, we all find ourselves on the same highway. There are no alternatives.
Nobody lives there. Some collections of houses at service points along the railroad
which could be 5-30 miles from the highway.

Seasonal vehicle supplies then will vary quite a bit.
But like the po.sts above, if travel conditions are that bad, don't move.

The days are finally longer such that I notice, the better part of 3 weeks. HURRAY!!!!!!
The mountains still chop an hour of sunlight off the village at both ends of the day.
Somehow, the brutal cold is easier for me to tolerate in daylight.