An emergency kit is the sort of thing everyone should have in their car, but many don’t think about packing until it’s too late. Even if you only get stuck a few miles from home, it may be too far from help to get to you quickly and leaving you stranded on the roadside for a time. With winter on the way, getting stuck can be an even bigger hassle, or even dangerous. Especially if you’ll be traveling a long distance or through an isolated area, having a well-stocked emergency kit in the car can really save the day.

Safety

These items are particularly helpful if you travel through wooded or secluded areas.

• Pepper spray (one designed for bears or wildlife is particularly helpful)
• Whistle
• Flares

Food and Drink

If you do a lot of driving through populated areas or near stores, this part of your kit may not be as important. However, you never know when your car will break down. Even being stuck for a short time with hungry kids is a bad idea! Pack a few essential non-perishables and rotate the out each season so they don’t go bad.

• Water, sport drinks, 100% vegetable juice
• Energy/protein bars
• Nuts, seeds, and dried fruits
• Peanut (or other nut) butters
• Jerky
• Dry cereal
• Fruit cups
• Tuna

Equipment

If you’ll be travelling far or through a very isolated area, these items become much more important. If you’re generally driving around town, you may opt to skip some. If you have the means to gather these supplies, however, it’s better to stock them when you think you won’t need them, just in case you do.

• Water filter in case you run out of clean drinking water
• Extra bottles for water (or refill the others you’ve already used)
• Flashlights and headlamps
• Tarp and heavy-duty trash bags
• Emergency solar- or battery- powered radio
• Batteries (for the radio and the lights, as well as anything else)
• Multi-purpose knife
• Work gloves
• Small shovel
• Fire starters
• Blankets (fleece is a good option)
• Maps
• Walking shoes (particularly important if you tend to travel in heels or dress shoes)
• Sun block and bug repellant
• Face masks
• Quality first aid kit
• Fire-starting equipment

Miscellaneous

These items are good to have, especially the cash, and can easily be stored year-round.

• Cash (paper money and an assortment of coins)
• Medications, but only if it can survive the elements of your area
• Pen and paper
• A book (you don’t want to drain that phone battery!)
• A deck of cards
• Change of clothes for all family members (swapped out seasonally)

Depending on where you live, where you drive, and who travels in your car with you, you may want to add more things to your emergency kit. Your warm weather supplies may differ from your winter supplies if your area has a more dramatic change in seasons. Also bear in mind that the temperature of your car can get much warmer than the air outside, so pack accordingly.

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