Your car serves as a home away from home and it has ample space to store survival items if there is ever an emergency. Below are 5 of the best items to keep in your car for emergency situations.
- Safety hammer
Icy roads in winter and roads slick with rainwater in the summer make for extremely dangerous driving conditions. Depending on where you are, sliding off the road can trap you in an overturned or possibly even sinking car. That’s where safety hammers come in. These multi-tools can truly be a lifesaver in an emergency. They are capable of both cutting a seatbelt and breaking a car window so you can escape a life or death situation. They are lightweight and easy to store within arm’s reach of the driver’s seat for quick use in a sticky situation
- Lighter or Matches
The discovery of fire thousands of years ago has helped humans survive in a dangerous and unforgiving world and they can help you too. Having an easy way to make a fire, via lighters or matches, can very well be the difference between life and death. The heat from the fire can warm you, cook your food, scare off animals, and be your signal beacon for help. The importance of heat and safety cannot be understated, and fire provides you with both. Having a lighter that can survive the elements along with you is key. You do not want something that will be unusable as soon as it gets wet, so make sure you either get a waterproof lighter or a watertight container to protect your most valuable emergency asset.
- Extra clothes
Keeping an extra set of warm clothes and possibly even a blanket (if you have the space) in the trunk of your car can be the difference-maker in an emergency. The number one danger in cold weather is hypothermia, and if you are not prepared for it there is not much you can do. Hypothermia can set in with just 30 minutes of exposure time if you are not properly clothed. A heavy coat and lined pants, as well as a hat and gloves, can help you preserve precious body heat. This allows your extremities to keep their function so you can react to whatever else comes your way. Also, make sure that the clothes you choose can keep you dry. Being wet only speeds up hypothermia and can cause illness that will be just as dangerous. Staying warm and dry will give you the best chance of surviving a dangerous situation.
- Non-perishable food and water
Even if you are warm and dry, without food and water you’re toast. They are the building blocks of life that you need to function every day. Most people are unfamiliar with foraging and hunting for food and water in the wild. Keeping canned or other non-perishable food items with significant nutritional value (were not talking twinkies here) will give you the energy you need to get yourself out. Also, keeping bottled water or a water purification system (like tablets or a lifestraw) is one of the easiest and smartest ways that you can ensure access to a precious resource like this. You can only go about three days without water and every second counts in a survival situation so make sure you have water on hand.
- First-Aid supplies
Any situation can be made worse with an injury. Even a small cut or scrape can lead to a life-threatening infection So make sure you are prepared by stocking a First-Aid kit and keeping it in your car. Bandages and antiseptics along with aspirin will help you deal with minor injuries that could turn serious. On-the-go antibiotics like Neosporin will make it that much easier to keep cuts clean and free of possible infections. Include your personal medications in your kit and make sure that your health is not jeopardized by an oversight. Even if you have pain or open wounds survival still rests in your hands, so you must be able to deal with them enough to ensure you can get help. Make sure your kit is updated regularly and that you have ample supplies so that you can be prepared for anything thrown your way.
These 5 items are the essentials you need to survive in an inhospitable place while waiting for help. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.” So make sure you are prepared by having these items handy for whenever an emergency strikes.