These Are The Items You Don't Drive Without

Oh boy is this a can of worms. My car is my mobile lifeline and its got just about everything in it. I’ll cover some of the big stuff.

1. Fridge with cutting board, Buck 119 knife, washbasin

2. My box of many uses. highlights include a full med kit, a full backpacking cooking kit with fuel, folding rain jacket, folding backpack, sunscreen, bug spray, backpacking down blanket, backpacking pad, spare food, spare water, toilet paper, ziplock bags, garbage bags, a hammock, rags, etc etc. Basically I can grab this box and have anything I would need for an overnight stay or a day trip with the family. It’s been great to have and I dig into it almost everyday.

3. My tools which include pretty much anything I could need to work on my or others cars including an impact gun, breaker bar, 3lb mallet, a full metric socket set in impact 1/2, 3/8 and 1/4 as well as 3/8 deep. Also electrical tools like connectors, fuses, relays, pin tools, multi-meter, solder pen and so on.

4. Power - All the kinds of power. 400 watt/hr solar “generator” with USB-A/C, 110V, etc. folding 100 watts solar panel with separate MPPT controller for charging 12v batteries. Plus outlets I added in the car for anderson power pole in battery hot and ignition hot flavors as well as 5 USB A and 1 USB-C 60 watt PD. Also a jump start lithium power pack (80 watt/hr)

That covers the back of the car. In the front I have

5. Hygiene stuff (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, gold bond powder, hand sanitizer, etc)

6. Flashlight, gerber raptor trauma shears (with window breaker), work gloves, warm hat, warm gloves, IR temp gun, laser rangefinder, basic meds (pain relievers, rescue inhaler, bacitracin, etc), napkins (always have napkins handy) among a few other smaller items like heat shrink wire connectors and trim clips.

7. Last is all the stuff that either stays attached to the car or accessories for it. My center bin has up to 3 different radio mics (GMRS, CB, HAM), plus a few radios (GMRS x 2, HAM) and few things things like battery chargers and adapters. pens, cables, little items like chapstick or a color chip card for camera calibration. In there is also a battery lantern, a backpacking GPS unit.

8. Oh, and maps. I like to keep my map book in the car. It has a US atlas, and a detailed state atlas as well as about 2 dozen folding detailed maps

If Im with my car chances are I have what I need in any given moment. I hate traveling without my car.

From the always prepared HammerheadFistpunch

Being a parent of a 5 and 1 yr old, the following:

- Diapers and wipes

- Puke bags (equally suitable for either child)

- Dog poop bags (doubles as temporary dirty diaper container)

- A small rural library’s worth of children’s books

- Week old water bottles

- Old socks

- Soccer balls

- 17,285 stale Goldfish crackers

- Stale french fries

- Empty apple sauce pouches

- Artwork from school

- Pacifiers

- A Toys R’ Us’s worth of Hot Wheels cars

- A brown, turning black, turning blue banana peel

- Oh and some chap stick and sunglasses up front.

and

Having a one year old myself I’ve definitely lessened my fucks given when I see a chubby hand holding a french fry stick out from the side of the giant car seat and lets it fall into the LATCH tether opening. A car’s rear seat is an absolute abyss of crevices and places for food crumbs to disappear forever.

From jbssfelix and savethemanualsbmw335ix who both seem to have lost control of their lives.

For me its a wagon. I like gardening and outdoor activities like paddle boarding and windsurfing. I need the length and cargo space of a wagon, but i want the lightness, handling, and low seating position of a sedan. I also want roof rails so i can carry long paddleboards on the roof. My ideal car would be a GTI wagon (if they made it) or a Golf R wagon if they sold it. Since we cant get these im just making one. I have an alltrack with modifications and GTI plaid interior. Coilovers and is38 turbo from the Golf R are the coming soon

Oh and as for items i must have in my car not features, I always keep a change of clothes and a swimsuit in case of a fun emergency

From boneheadotto, a true peach for including photos!

It’s best if I go by compartment:
- Front doors: flashlight, hand sanitizer, keys, tissues, tire gauge
- Center console, top front: Phone charger, box cutter, various cords, God only knows what else it’s like a junk drawer.
- Center console, top rear: Pens, pencils, cards, change, lens wipes, notepad, inhaler, gum, more random junk
- Center console, bottom front: snacks, spare glasses, hat, multi-use screwdriver, bottle of Tums, not sure what else
- Center console, bottom rear: wet wipes, sun screen, first aid kit, another flashlight, batteries, various medicines and personal hygiene products
- Top glovebox: So. Many. Napkins. Also forks, straws, etc.
- Bottom glovebox: registration, manual, notepad, etc.
- Middle storage bin, driver’s side: Full tool kit. Like, seriously, I could almost tear down the engine on the side of the road. Jump starter, tow rope, safety gear, extension cords and power strips, 450w inverter, 300W battery power station, flares, etc.
- Middle storage bin, passenger side: Picnic blanket, change of clothes, bottled water, tent, folding chairs, another tool kit but with household-type tools (hammer, drill, bits, screws, tape measure, etc.)
- Back of front passenger seat: Various forms of entertainment for the little one.
- Between middle seats: Bin with pillow, blanket, toys, books, etc. Also a square-bottom bucket that I use as a trash can.
- Rear cargo area: A big collapsing cargo crate with tarps, tie-downs, water, gas jug, shovel, tripod, fishing gear, extra backpack, and all of it topped by a 44L Kelty bag that’s my BOB (that deserves another article). A big pink 5-gallon bucket full of cleaning supplies that’s also for, well, road-poopin’. A soft-side cooler with some reusable grocery and Ikea bags in it. Folding stool to reach the roof (I’m short). Folding cargo bag. There’s also another flashlight, gloves, ratchet straps & tiedowns in a pocket on the side of the cargo area, and there’s the jack, air compressor and tire iron under that in a hidden compartment.

This is the dangerous thing about letting a prepper/hoarder drive a minivan.

From dbeach84, who is always one step ahead of the zombie apocalypse.

My truck’s extended cab: Gear bags, throw bag, pfd, dry paddling boots/gloves, map books marked up with decades of kayak/raft put ins, and hiking trailheads, first aid kit, backpack with food (start of the day) or food containers (end of the day), a layer of grime on the mats, plastic-backed blanket protecting the rear bench seat from summer paddling detritus.

My truck’s bed (under a cap): deflated pack raft, pump, roadside emergency kit, grippy-track things to get unstuck, lots of silt, bike fork mounts screwed to the floor, spare kayak paddle, spare canoe paddle, paddling rescue gear.

My wife’s Crosstrek: Nothing. It’s spotless. There’s a first aid kit and a roadside emergency kit in the hatch. It’s washed and vacuumed weekly.

From the outdoorsy JohnnyWasASchoolBoy 

Jumper cables, power bank, several USB-C cables, several flashlights, at least one knife, work gloves, shop rags, a quart of oil, a windproof butane lighter, a stack of CDs and, most importantly, battery operated road flares.

Do yourself a favor and invest $30 in a set of these. They can act a road flares or flash lights, have plastic hooks and strong magnets so you can stick them anywhere, and the rechargeable ones will last 2-3 hours fully charged.

All of my loved ones got a set of these last Christmas.

From the straight-forward Earthbound Misfit I

CDs I never listen to, three or four umbrellas, gum, a hair pick, carmex, ChapStick, mascara, a compact, all of my maintenance receipts (in a folder), anti bacterial hand sanitizer, masks (4, three disposable and one cotton jersey), a spare house key, two car manuals, print resumes as well as a jump drive (hey, I’m prepared to be hired), a portable tire inflator as well as a battery jump starter thingy, old timey jumper cables, a flashlight, hard candies, a plastic bin - if I do have to transport stuff (into mom’s house usually), charging cords, a small stuffed Guernsey, a socket wrench set, locking pliers, insurance cards, registration, sand, gravel, cat hair, a spider or two - and how the hell are the mosquitoes getting inside this year? In the car, in the house - I killed one while in the damn bath! It had eaten. I’m sure in a day or two I’ll discover where.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something, perhaps not.

From s-s-s (*bangs on CD player*) sybann.

Let me just get a garbage bag and I’ll get back to you. Look I’ve spent the last week driving from Boston to Indiana and back, it is a little cluttered back there.

From the migratory skeffles

I thought I’d be able to keep my car much cleaner after going from underground condo parking to a house with an attached garage, but nothing has changed, so my car is full of:

Diapers (new, not dirty), old meds from previous illnesses, snack wrappers and empty drink bottles/cups that I’ve eaten or drank since I last filled up with gas, various snacks-turned-projectile from my 1 year old, service records, about 100 pens (they always fall out of my pockets and I just end up grabbing a handful from the seat-side abyss and stick it in the door pocket), tire inflator, winter coat I haven’t taken out of the trunk since March, an emergency tie, and brochures/receipts from basically everywhere we’ve stopped in the last couple of years.

The comment collector savethemanualsbmw335ix

Depends on the time of year, but some of my year ‘round kit includes:

• phone charger
• jumper cables
• flash light
• tire pressure gauge
• glass cleaner
• blue paper shop towels (these sometimes double as tissues)
• miscellaneous gift cards, mostly for food places
• reusable bags (a must in NY)
• a hoodie
• umbrella
• milk crate, used to store most of the above items, but also useful to hold things you don’t want rolling around (like propane tanks, certain groceries)
• vehicle registration, duh
• sunglasses
• spare tire (worth mentioning since so many cars don’t have them anymore)

It’s not my everyday car anymore, but when I used to daily drive my MazdaSpeed3, I always kept extra motor oil on hand as well.

Much like their comments, shanepj13 is ready for anything

I am an intense minimalist when it comes to what I keep in my car’s cabin: I don’t want anything to flutter or rattle, and I don’t want things to go flying out of the car when I roll down the windows on the highway.

In the trunk are a few items, though:

• a couple litres of oil
• basic toolkit
• jumper cables
• first aid kit
• mechanic gloves
• high-vis vest
• flares and chemlights
• handwarmers
• spare bulbs

And with more than enough room to spare for transporting items.

My motorcycles, in comparison, tend to be a little less minimalistic as I keep spare spark plugs, the full tool roll that came with it, spare cables, thermal liners, wet weather gear, jump starters, etc.

From the ever-vigilant TheSchrat

I wish I could say mine was prepared like a fallout shelter, but it’s really not. I live in the Chicago area so weather in the winter can be brutal. I keep:

Jumper cables, tire slime kit (car has no spare), reflective triangles, an extra layer of clothes (chamois shirt, gloves, thick socks), a flashlight, duct tape, and zip ties. Glove box has small first aid kit (built myself with quality bandages), wheel key, tire pressure gauge, multi-bit screwdriver, 10mm wrench, and spare fuses.

But NONE of this has ever been used so part of me is like....

From the lucky in cars junkyardninja

$5 or so in mixed change in the tiny and otherwise useless storage cubby next to the steering wheel. I’m not sure why, because I know deep down I’ll never use it, and it usually grows by about $0.25/year. But like the plastic bag collection under the kitchen sink and the closet full of unused hangers, it gives me some strange piece of mind to know it’s there “in case I ever need it”.

I probably just need to go to the dollar store and spend it on more clothes hangers.

A penny saved is a penny that will never ever leave paradsecar’s car.

Da List:

Inside:
* Two mint cases, one half full, one empty
* Tweezers
* Umbrellas (2, one big and one small)
* Unknown amount of change
* 8-10 CDs I never remember to unload from.
* Manual, receipts, etc.
* Trim clips that keep breaking, keep stash in glove compartment

Trunk
* Two coats I’m too lazy to offload
* Crappy tire inflator
* Jumpers
* Quart of ATF from days it was drinking power steering fluid
* Roll of Paper towels

And of course, random empty soda bottles hiding under the seats.

Comment found rolling around hoser68's back seat.

Don’t forget to bring a towel!

In all seriousness, an old towel can come in handy in all sorts of situations. from drying yourself off after sprinting through a rainstorm to cleaning up any sort of mess or spill, to protecting your upholstery or carpet if you need to move something messy. Throw an old towel you don’t care about in your car and then toss it in the trash if it gets messed up.

From FloridaMan with a fresh pan galactic gargle blaster.

Pens and 3x5 cards

Shit comes to mind…I’m getting old…I don’t want to interrupt whatever is on my phone to leave a memo.

From VBinNV