I carry a miniature entrenching tool, it's about half the size of a normal one, a kit of metric and SAE sockets up to 19mm. Also a glass breaker/seatbelt cutter and a Gerber MP600 in the cabin center console velcro'd down with a flashlight so if I roll over it will still be there. In the trunk I keep a few pairs of Tillman TrueFit leather gloves, the bigger FireMaxx axe that works well for chopping/prying pretty much anything including A-pillars in a pinch, and a pair of Klein 63050 cable cutters for cutting battery cables in an emergency, a Stanley FatMax 1000watt jump start pack with compressor, 2 cans of fix-a-flat, OEM jack/spare and a 1/2" drive short breaker bar with the 21mm socket for the wheel lugs, a 12 pack of flares and pop up reflective triangles, 10 or so little mylar emergency blankets tucked or taped to other stuff, and a small duffel med kit with plenty of quick-clot, 200' of 10mm rope with 2 hand ascenders. No harnesses, if needs be I can always just tie off on the ascender and makeshift one. Random flashlights and Bic lighters taped to stuff or stuffed in pockets.

I've been to some nasty wrecks over the years, I drive an incredibly busy and dangerous highway 5 times a week and I usually make 5-10 stops per year for emergencies. Last year there were two fatalities, one was a no-seatbelt and the other was a heart attack and that one was about 70' off a very steep embankment which was exciting... tied a bunch of stuff together and tossed it down, tied off on the guardrail, climbed down, extracted him from the vehicle which wasn't bad because he was small, CPR for about 30 minutes with my foot because my arms were shot from a big workout the day before but he never showed any signs of life, the fire parameds didn't even try when they showed up.

Probably 6 rolls or so of Super33+ electrical tape, a hook knife, and a pair of class 2 gloves, those are mostly for work but if I have a wreck with a hybrid or full electric car I'll put them on so I'm not eating 400+ volts in case it's shorted out.

All that previous stuff, a pair of muck boots in case I'm working in a trench with standing water, a .2mm rain jacket/pants combo, insulated bibs, 2nd pair of boots, and a spare light insulated jacket BARELY leaves room for my daily backpack that holds my lunchpail and such. I removed the plastic divider that would normally hold the jack/tools and the one on the other side that covers up the RAS controller and some other electrical component so I can use those pockets on the side for gear. It's tight but it works and leaves the cabin completely free of clutter. Ohh and 2 quarts of oil because I have a rev-up

Total payload is probably about 50lbs or so added to the trunk, it's a hell of a lot easier driving the truck but not nearly as comfortable as the G.

 

Tl;dr


Pulled the first leaf off the paint. It's fall bois!

 

I also have roadside with a nice tow distance, but have had the misfortune of breaking down (in a car with less than 10k miles) in the middle of nowhere/night when a wind advisory was in effect (I think it was +25mph which is a summer storm here), meaning no dispatch of tow trucks. Dispatch said "good luck, ma'am". Since then, I like to have some tools to see if I can attempt to limp home or at least make it to a safer spot than a dark and lonesome hwy. In the case of my breakdown (which required replacement of the ecu), I probably couldn't have done anything about it except to walk to safety or phone a friend/taxi/uber and hope someone could help me out (I ended up hiking along the treeline to civilization). I also have a pair of socks/trail sneakers, a bottle or two of water, an energy bar, a spare leash, and a jacket in case all of the above fail.

Will it ever happen again? Probably not. Maybe over-prepared, but I honestly don't think so reading Cleric's list, which is impressive - I need to add some safety reflectors/flares to my kit. I'd just rather be prepared than stranded or some statistic for keyboard warriors to tear apart with their morning coffee.

 

That's basically it, I've been extraordinarily unlucky with accidents and plenty of times I didn't have anything other than what was in my pockets which really sucked.

 

The old saying...
Better to have it and not need it versus need it and not have it.

 

Sounds like it, man. Am glad that you are prepared to help yourself and others in the worst cases. Cheers.

True that Urbanengineer.

so, tell me about this thing called fall. I only know this as the brief season where I do all the outside things before sweatshirt weather. Lol.

 

Just have a store bought emergency bag with jumper cables, and a few hand tools (pliers, screwdriver, 10/12/14mm wrench), fix a flat, etc. Anything more is just extra weight, rattles, and space taken up in a tiny trunk.
I actually maintain my car to avoid any surprises. If your car breaks down so often that you need to lug around an entire tool kit, just admit you suck as a mechanic and buy a newer car. I'll fix my car in my garage, not on the side of the road getting rained on or sideswiped by a teenager texting her boyfriend.

 

Most tools are for fixing OTHER people's cars that are broken down on the highway. I think I've only broken down maybe... 4 times my whole life? Seized water pump, blew a radiator hose, spun a bearing, broke a v-belt. None of those were repairable on the side of the road because I was missing things like ANOTHER radiator hose, didn't carry spare belts (I do now, forgot to put that on the list).

 

New thermostat installed and bled took a long spirited drive to the coast for coffee and temps were normal. Got some packages of goodies for the g and my drift truck project, and it is a lovely day for wrenching.
Happy weekend y'all.

 

Great..just great...

 

 

 

 

That would be quite a test drive from Florida 😊