Auto Emergency Survival Kit

This is an emergency survival kit that I originally put together to keep in my wife's car.  She travels a great deal for her job and particularly a lot during the winter months.  This kit is designed to help 2 people to survive if stranded during cold weather.  However, most of the components are multipurpose and are useful in any season or geographic area.  Since the first kit was constructed, I have replicated it and keep one in all of our vehicles.  It would make a great base kit if it becomes necessary to quickly evacuate your home in a disaster situation.

Step 1 A lot of Gear in a Small Pack

All of the gear on the table is kept in the pack with a little room to spare for additional items if required.  This kit is organized in purpose groups and includes tools, survival aids, utensils, sheltering items, sanitation supplies, first aid supplies, food, and water. 

Comments

[legomaster92]

This is a very easy and understandable way of showing us what to bring and i love that you split them up into section. but you should use image notes.

[diyoutdoorsman]

Thanks for your comment. I had image notes on almost all of the photos. But, some of them seem to have randomly either disappeared or moved from their original position. I've posted a bug report in the forums. It looks like I will have to edit several if not all my instructables.

[legomaster92]

Oh ok but your instructables are great and very clean

[beefcrisps]

Great use for the coffee filters, would never have thought of that.

[trksh22]

I'm wondering how this can be changed to work with a family with children. I have a 3 and 6 year old and wonder what would be needed to accommodate them. I mean, I have some ideas, but I have no real clue. Really, this kit should include them, right? Why do I feel the need to throw a chapter book in there? Legos to keep them occupied? The mom in me wants to over do it! Any advice? As far as I know there aren't any surviving with kids guides.

[diyoutdoorsman]

I have seen a few survival guides for children, and I think you should definitely include items to protect them. I think I would make a kit for each of them and put it in their own pack. That way they can feel like they are part of the program. I would include the same type of clothing items that are in your kit, stocking cap, gloves or mittens, a rain poncho and maybe even a jacket. Think bright colors. After you have them warm I would include a few survival items at least for your 6 year old. If a child becomes separated from you they should know basic safety procedures, (find a policeman, fireman, adult, etc). They should have their name, parent’s name, and contact information in the pack, maybe on a waterproof card or even a dog tag. The children should know that they should stop, make themselves as comfortable as possible, don't panic, and wait for help. Their first job should be to help the searchers find them. That means they should stay in one place, have a loud whistle, a bright bandana or scarf, or something to wave. As far as food goes it may be a little harder to keep something for them, but the same items I have in my pack should work, at least for your older child. Maybe substitute Spaghetti-O's for the deviled ham. You might consider putting together a travel pack similar to this one that I use for backpacking. A few substitutions should give you a basic snack pack. For the first aid kit, you might add items related to children, but I would keep it in your pack. As far as items to keep them entertained, I would think about the things you would normally take with you on a car trip to keep them occupied.

[trksh22]

Thanks so much for the all the help! I am going to do that. They know how to react to an emergency at home, but I never thought about what to do outside of the home (like being separated - my instructions bank on other adults, easily identifiable, being around), besides the bare basics.

Again, thanks! One thing, they'd definitely go for the deviled ham over the Spaghetti-O's!

[Verga]

I have been intending to build one of these for both our vehicles, this is the incentive I needed. Thank you for writing a well thought out and executed Ible.

[sweenr]

Looks really good, but I had one question: how does your kit handle the heat? I live in an area where during the summer (which is most of the year) it can stay in excess of 100 degrees in my trunk. Is there anything in particular that you would need to keep an eye on in the extreme heat?

[diyoutdoorsman]

We live in Missouri and the summers get fairly hot. We had several days this summer in excess of 100 degrees. Everything in the kit is pretty stable. About the only thing that seems to react to the temperature is the chapstick in the first aid kit. It gets a little soft from time to time. Also, you need to keep an eye on the expiration dates on the food items and the medical supplies. The shelf life of some items will decrease in extreme temperatures but nothing will spoil. The items that are moist (i.e. wet naps, alcohol pads, etc) will tend to dry out over time. The baby wipes in this kit are about a year old and while still moist are not as wet as they were when new

[djzadjza]

very nice

[panzerfaust379]

Overall nice job, I'd add some things to keep your self at 98.6 degrees. Maybe a
wind breaker with hood, a extra pair of wool socks & perhaps a fleece pullover. How much does it weigh?

[diyoutdoorsman]

It weighs just over 18 lbs. It could be lightened up a bit by some substitutions and changes.

[davis65536]

Nicely organized. I didn't see if you've got a pair of disposable latex gloves. They're handy for unexpected mucky jobs to save getting your hands filthy. Don't take up much room, either.

[diyoutdoorsman]

Actually, they are in the first aid kit. I just didn't breakout the contents of that kit inthis instructable.

[johngriswold]

I would be inclined to suggest an amateur radio. Sometimes cell phones don't work. Amateur radio almost always does, and had far far better range than the FRS radios you can get at the local WalMart. www.arrl.org is a great starting place. It's an easy test to get a license.
John, KK1X (my amateur call :)

[dimtick]

WOW.....GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!
I've got a small kit in my cars but nothing like this.

here's my few thoughts:
water purifier. I don't think those tablets will get you very far. there are small water purifying water bottles that may work better.
i keep one of those small window hammers in the front of the car in case your stuck in the car and need to break a window to get out. make sure it's one with a knife to cut the seat belt if needed. I keep it under the seat with a small fire exenguisher.
I keep a small auto kit with tools, jumper cables, etc.
When I travel in winter I make sure that I have a small snow shovel & a bag of kitty litter. the kitty litter is invaluable if you find yourself stuck in a snow drift and have to dig yourself out and need traction on ice.
I also have some plastic wheel stops and a good lug wrench. the lug wrench that comes with the spare stinks and the lugs that are put on with a impact wrench are impossible to loosen. I got a flat once during winter, and had to stop on a small incline. when i jacked up the car, the car slid backwards on the ice and fell off the jack, even tho i had the parking break on. had to call a tow truck for that one.
I also keep some heavy duty rope that can be used as a tow rope if your stuck in a ditch.
i also have a small radio. I use one of those combo, radio-flashlights. it has a hand crank which can also be used to charge a cell phone. i've never had to use it (knock on wood) so i'm not sure how well it works.

some other things I do.
i keep up with vehicle maintenance and have our car checked out before doing traveling.
i make sure the our cell phones are charged before leaving.
all our cars have deer whistles that are supposed to scare away deer. I'm not sure if they work but I've never hit a deer even tho we travel thru heavy deer areas.
i'm a big believer in using Rainex on our windows. I've driven thru some major rainstorms and never had problems with visibility.

[diyoutdoorsman]

Thanks for the feedback. I considered a water filter, but decided against it. My thoughts were that first, we almost always have a few bottles of water in the car. Second, there are 50 purification tablets in each package. Each tablet is supposed to treat 1 liter of water, that 50 liters. Hopefully, we would be extracted before we ran out of tablets Third, we have the ability to melt snow or boil water if necessary. Upon further review though, I might add a couple of the filter straws that are available. I think I will also add a few coffee filters to at least strain out sediment.

In addition to this kit I also keep many of the tools you mentioned.. There is a 4-way lug wrench, a set of jumper cables, and a small automotive tool kit in the trunk. We each received a glass breaker & strap cutter as a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law a few years ago and it is kept in the center console of both vehicles. I keep a tow strap in my truck, but I don't think my wife has one. I should probably correct that. I also have a set of wheel chaulks in the truck but not the car, I should probably fix that too.

[dimtick]

your kit is much more thorough than mine is.
for us, we do a lot of cross country driving (can't afford to fly), but am never far from civilization and am never in a place without cell phone service. my kit is geared toward being able to call for help and be ok until help arrives.

[diyoutdoorsman]

My wife and I both do a lot of cross cuntry driving in rural areas. Often times cell phone coverage is spotty. She has OnStar, but I don't. The theroy behind the kit is that in the event we become stranded in some remote location, we would be able to wait out the storm, flood, mechanical failure, or other misfortune in the vehicle until help arrives. During the winter in say, South Dakota, that could be 2 or 3 days. In the event that help doesn't arrive within a couple of days, we would have sufficient equipment to split between us and allow on person to go for help. About

10 years ago, our car broke down on Interstate 70 between Salina and Hays, KS. We had AAA, but the cellphone coverage faded in an out. It took 5 calls to the auto club before we could relay out location and it took over 4 hours for a tow truck to arrive. Even though we were on a major highway, not one person stopped to check on us in all that time. Thankfully, we had plenty of water and snacks and it turned out to be just an inconvenience. Had we been in another area or gotten stranded during severe weather, we might have been there a lot longer. I've always gone by the therory that it is better to have it and not need it than it is to need it and not have it.

[Lorddrake]

fantastic job organizing and maximizing your emergency kit.