Are you big on the everyday carry life? EDC enthusiasts seem to be prepared for any eventuality, with just a few items carried in their pockets. But while they’re limited to phones, keys, knives, and watches, we car enthusiasts have more room to spare — we can go bigger and better, prepare for even more situations.
I’m not talking about putting a whole survival kit full of distilled water and peanut butter behind your back seats. But the little car-specific things, like jumper cables or spare oil (for all your leaky projects and/or oil-burning turbo Subarus) are often worth keeping on hand. So, in your own car, what do you keep at the ready?
My motorcycle just carried a lock and chain in its tail bag, but that’s a boring answer. Instead, I’ll go with my old FR-S as an example. That car always carried a set of jumper cables coiled up inside the spare tire, as well as a set of spare winter gloves next to the tire iron. I’ve changed tires in the Connecticut cold without gloves before, and let me tell you — the spares are worth keeping in your trunk.
By the time I sold the car, I also kept a bluetooth OBD-II reader under the dash, plugged in and ready to connect to my phone. The glove box also held a battery backup jumpstart pack, that could jolt my car awake three times before dying (if I remembered to charge it).
Those are the necessities I keep in my cars, but what lives in yours? Do you have some spare bulbs in your glove compartment, or a single quart of Rotella T6 in the trunk? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll collect the best answers tomorrow.