30 Days to Better Preparedness. Day 15. Your vehicle.
Today we are going to take a look at our cars. Your preparedness in this area will vary a little depending on where you live. We don't have snow or ice here so I don't have to be prepared in this way. We have some very rough roads, water and mud instead.
I like to keep the car pretty well stocked . When we head off anywhere we hope to arrive without incident but there are flat types and we don't know what we will come across on a trip. Also when we did evacuate there were already a lot of things in the car that we didn't need to worry about.
Some of the basics I keep are:
Usual tools to change a tyre,
A tyre pump,
Bottles of water,
A first aid kit,
First aid manual,
A large pure wool blanket,
Flash light and spare batteries,
Cash,
A small kit of over the counter meds.
In winter I keep a coat and umbrella.
A phone charger.
I keep a cup, knife, scissors, gloves and bags/baskets. (You never know what you might find!)
If you often wear high heels then it is a good idea to keep comfortable shoes. I live in boots on the farm so I can always walk a few miles if I need to.
Think over who is usually travelling with you and what might be wise to keep on hand. If you are stuck somewhere, have to leave home in a hurry, break down or are delayed you will be glad you have handy things in your vehicle. If you have little kids then you might want to keep nappies, a change mat, drinks, small activities etc. Spare clothes for children and a jacket.
If you live in freezing conditions please chime in how you would survive if your car broke down or you were in some long delay in your vehicle?
Finally.... strive to keep your car as full of fuel as you can. It is so easy to let the fuel level go down. We also keep spare fuel stored. A can of spare fuel and a fuel funnel... very good to have.
Keeping our vehicle in good order and not letting things like services and repairs get overdue if we can. A lot of problems can be avoided with good upkeep.
My opportunities over the weekend were quiet ones. Mum gave me three huge jars of honey! So I added to the pantry. I planned the week and set the gaol to stock my new shelves. I have a trip to town tomorrow so will be on the look out for any deals that will help me achieve this. We are burning all our bonfires before the weather warms up. Thanks to the tractor some of them are gigantic!
See you tomorrow for an important one that might involve a bit more work! xxx
Great list. We need a blanket in the car. At some point I think we brought it in to wash it and it did not go back to the car. We also keep a cooler for cold food and a large laundry basket to coral bags of groceries. My husband has a small box with fluids for the vehicle and if we are going on even a day trip we bring the jump starter.
ReplyDeleteWhen a hurricane comes up through the Gulf of Mexico the petroleum industry shuts down and all of our gas comes from there. So, we have to mindful of that and fill up with gas so that we can make it through if the pipeline that supplies us is damaged and shut down for several weeks.
Thank you Annabel for your great list :) may I add a fold up shovel to your list in case you get bogged so you can dig soil out.
ReplyDeleteI do agree to have spare fuel at home and keeping our cars full of fuel. May I add it is good also to have a fuel preservative added to your fuels such as Fuel Doctor or Stabil which makes your fuel last longer.
Your list is something I have been thinking about but not yet enacted but will shortly. As we live out of town and in the country and travel long distances we also carry a 10 lt container of water and cups in the car as well. We do keep medications in the car regularly too.
Thanks for this wonderful series I am following along and commenting when I can whilst restoring our antique extendable table and getting ready to paint another larger table we got for free for my sewing room.
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Our list is similar to yours. In winter, switch over to snow or all-season tires. Carry chains if you don't have 4WD or AWD. Carry extra window washer fluid--make sure it has antifreeze in it. It is a good idea to have a small shovel and sand or kitty litter in the car during the winter. If you get stuck in snow, you can use the shovel to dig out the wheel a bit and spread sand/ashes under the wheels to gain traction. We have also put the blanket or pieces of cardboard under the wheels for traction.
ReplyDeleteI think a red flag (and a way to securely attach it) is a good idea. You'll need it anytime you are hauling stuff that sticks outside the car, but if you were ever caught in a snowbank, you could run it up the aerial to mark your location. Of course, lots of cars don't have aerials, so take the time (now) to determine where and how you could attach the flag if necessary.
Here is a great hack--keep a spray bottle of 50/50 mix of water and vinegar handy. If you spray it on your windshield and other glass and it freezes overnight, you can just brush off the snow in the morning. I have no idea why this works, but it does!
We live in Canada so in the summer we have very hot summers and brutally cold winters so always have to be prepared with a spare tire and jack,water,blankets,hats,gloves and candles for heat.I remember a few years ago when we were coming home from a camping trip there was a very bad car accident on the high way so they detoured everyone to some country roads and we had to wait for 4 hours before we could get through.Even though we had already dumped and cleaned the toilet in our camper it came in very handy for our granddaughter and a couple of other cars with children who needed to use a toilet.We also had extra water and granola bars to hand out.Another time we were detoured and had to wait for hours because of a very bad fire that was jumping the highway and we were so glad to have extra water and a home made lunch in our car.Our sons and their girlfriends were in another car and got detoured down a different road from us and had no food or water with them because they were too lazy to pack a lunch and thought they'd just stop at a restaurant down the road,a good lesson learned for them and I was so grateful that we had our granddaughter with us instead of them.Even the best laid plans can go awry though.My sister in laws parents were in the bad Ft.MacMurray fire a few years ago and had packed their van with as much stuff as they could but there is only 1 highway out of Ft. Mac that goes north or south and the fire came up the the highway going south so the R.C.M.P. ordered everyone to leave their vehicles and get quickly onto a couple of school buses and they were taken to a northern town for 3 days.They were only allowed to take their purses or back packs ,no suitcases or bags until it was safe to take them to Edmonton.They barely got out alive and lost their vehicle and house in the fire and had no toiletries or change of clothes until The Red Cross met them in Edmonton.It's amazing that only 2 people died thanks to the well organized fire chief and police.
ReplyDeleteOur car is always well stocked. My husband just purchased a folding shovel last week. We met and married in Colorado Springs, CO. The weather changes quickly there esp. in the Spring. We always kept an emergency foil blanket in the car. We always carried windbreakers under our seats. We never went anywhere without water bottles plus a large one in the car. It was good training for us to live in high altitude because cars and people got over-heated easily. And the temperature could drop by as much as 20 degrees when the sun set behind the mountains.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to all!
Annabel, I have loved this series of posts you are sharing with us. Thank you for simple, but important, ideas. I have been working on personal preparedness skills for almost 50 years, yet I am still learning from you and others who post here.
ReplyDeleteI keep a map atlas in my car. On occasion over the years I have had to take an unfamiliar alternate route for various reasons. Although I have GPS capability on my phone, rural areas don't always have coverage. I have been thankful for a good atlas in my car more than once.
Hi Annabel
ReplyDeleteOn a slightly different tack we keep fire extinguishers in all our cars and have had cause to use one at the scene of an accident. They need checking to see they are still in date.We also keep bright florescent waistcoats and surprisingly often have used them when we have been first on the scene of an accident. Last time it happened my daughter, a nurse, ran forward to help the driver and I put on the waistcoat and ran backwards flagging down the traffic to prevent a multi car pile up. A different type of preparedness.
Thank you for this series, it's prompting me to revisit lots of plans.