DIY Emergency Car Survival Kit! Updated 72 car emergency kit on a budget!

[@bobbidunn8512]

As an elderly woman, comfortable (official walking) shoes are required if I'm going farther than 1/4 mile. I wear mine all the time but if anyone wears dress shoes for work, having walking/hiking shoes in the car would make that hike to the gas station much more bearable.

[@laanierhae]

I agree. I have knee issues, and I keep a comfortable pair of walking shoes in the trunk. They are well broken in, so my feet are used to them. I recommend against putting new shoes aside for emergencies. Wear them well in different situations and lengths of time before storing.

[@wmluna381]

That flashlight looks close to a fantastic one I picked up at Walmart for $7 on clearance earlier in the year. It's 1000 lumens and has that nice rubbery grip. I got 4 and I wish I would have bought the rest they had on the shelf now. They are actually still selling it online. Depending on the band color, right now you can get one for $8 or $20. Cascade Mountain Tech is the brand.

[@jannah4288]

I got one of these flashlights myself, and also thought about getting more of them. But I had bought a 1500 lumen one a year or 2 ago, including the 9 AA (Duracell) batteries it takes, for $10 or $15 so it was a good price considering the cost of batteries. And it could also probably be used for self defense.

[@awol_molly]

You should add a poncho in your get home bag in case of snow or rain to help keep you and your bag dry.

[@johnbrowning7722]

very nice survival kit, I especially like how you include clothes and a towel, as those are things that people often overlook. one thing I would change is to replace the tools from dollar tree with irwin pliers and screwdrivers. dollar tree tools tend to fail under even light use, and have a good chance of failing when you need them most. you can get irwin pliers for about $10 dollars, and they hold up really well, I have a pair that I have had for 7 years and they still work great.

[@christopher_martin]

nice to see a good looking woman interested in this sort of thing!

[@chelseystout4381]

I started making a kit this weekend and I found some electrolyte packets at the dollar tree to include as well!

[@jiffywartbustle2348]

Sound is okay, no problem. Having a vehicle kit, by itself, is putting you far ahead of most folks. Better yet, you have a good kit - if you were to find yourself in the boonies, or went off-road without cell reception, your kit would keep you in very good stead. Comfortable even. Jumpers cables are great for helping other folks too! My suggestion, and you may very well already have this covered, but a tire iron and some additional basic tools, on top of the ones you already have, to cover possible vehicle issues (socket set, adjustable plier, zip ties, duct tape, etc). It's also easy to go overboard and just get *too much* stuff so use your best judgement as you seem to be doing well at this already!

[@reaganpruitt1578]

So I do have duct tape and pliers, I showed them in the toolbox! But zip ties are a great idea! I will definitely include those

[@gwenwithan.n]

Can you make more videos please?!! It’s hard to find videos made by women on prepping and edc that are knowledgeable. Thank you!

[@reaganpruitt1578]

Yes!!! I just finished school and cant wait to get back to prepping vids. If you have suggestions for videos let me know!

[@Flash1857]

Got DYI kits in my car and truck. A suggestion, keep a few insect spray or something and a no-seem net in your get home kit. ( sorry if I missed them in yours). I change things for warm / cold weather, no need to carry sand in the summer, I can just play in the mud. Thanks

[@Greatgadgetsgear]

Best advise try and keep your gear more hidden. You’ll be a target for theft having all that out in view. Side pockets can be covered with “rags” for camouflage.

[@laanierhae]

I agree. I can't have all of this visible in my car. I don't live in a bad area, but crimes of opportunity are increasing. There is nothing but an umbrella on my backseat visible from the outside. My trunk has my car bag, and my get home bag comes out of the trunk with me during hot/cold weather. She has given me some good ideas for more things to add.

[@wmluna381]

One thing I realized when I had my car in for a repair for a week was that my emergency car go/get home bag (along with all the car kit stuff, obviously), was inaccessible for that time in the trunk. I have started mini bags to keep at my job for me and my kids, just in case. A lot of it is low budget, but totally workable at this point. Even have small scale super shelter stuff in there. Dollar Tree has water resistant men's toiletry bags in cute camo and plaid designs that I am using along with some of their cheap school back packs. They are compact, but actually pretty roomy. If you're thinking about putting together gift emgx kits for others, or just want to have extras everywhere, these bags would be a great choice. I found that the mini stainless steel bowls in the kitchen area can be binder clipped to create a water heating / boiling / food prep unit. These fit at the bottom of the men's toiletry bag, nested. They have 2 sizes...a mini bowl that holds 1.25 cups and a small-medium bowl that fits 2 cups of water, etc. The metal pet bowls they sell now have color on the outside or rubber on the bottom. Walmart has the plain stainless steel ones in the pet section though. If you can find the metal hinged pencil cases they sell at DT as well you can fit up to 10 tealights in them. Or a little less and include a lighter and other fire kit stuff inside. It needs to be wrapped with a rubber band or ranger band to be secured shut and this item also fits nicely inside the aforementioned toiletry bag. You can actually place those metal bowls on that metal pencil case and use it as a mini emergency stove at home or in the car. They sit steady on it. I have totally tried and proven this out on my end recently. 2 tealights underneath the bowls can get water hot enough to make coffee, oatmeal, soup, dehydrated mashed potatoes, etc. at ~20 minutes time. My digital thermometer measured within the 135-155 degrees F range for that time period. Plenty hot. To sanitize/disinfect water, you can let it get to 40-50 mins time. I got to about 190-205 degrees F. Even at 60 mins. I really did not get past 205 with the tealights, so go figure. 🤷 However, according to information I reviewed from the WHO (World Health Organization), water doesn't necessarily need to get to a 212 degrees F rolling boil to be safe enough to drink. I would suggest to anyone to look that up yourself as I forget what degree range they mentioned. And to make sure you have the right information. In any case, the 2 binder clipped steel bowls do the job on a bargain basement budget level. Keeping the bowls binder clips helps the water heat up faster in case someone just starting wasn't aware. I also *baked* in these bowls over 2 tealights. Cupcakes! 😄 So you can pack little Jiffy cake or cornbread boxes in your emergency kit should the mood strike. It will just be one small serving at a time though. I have also practiced baking on my stove top when my oven was out in a 14" thin metal wok with a lid that someone gave me. The time and temperature thing I experienced with that also proves out with the bowls... Temps don't ever really get as stupid high as your oven does with either / or. Also, you just need to accept that the time on the recipe or food pkg needs to be doubled as well. Based on the oven thermometer I placed inside, the bowls maxed out at 250-260 degrees F with the 2 tealights. They say tealights are supposed to last 3-4 hours in average, but these DT tealights can be counted on to last a guaranteed minimum of 1.5-1.75 hrs each. Some lasted almost 2 hrs, but I would default to the former data to plan out how much to have on hand. And only buy the ones made in India in the 20 pk with the Luminessence label. Stay away from the ones they sell in the bigger 30-pk that are made in the USA (Lifescapes). They turned out to be garbage. Although they were slightly bigger, the wax seemed a bit softer and the heat factor was just not there. They are just basically good for lighting. Test out your tealights in this capacity ahead of time, for sure. With the India ones you can get at least 2-3 long uses out of them for cooking/heating/almost boiling before one or both of them peter out. They also sell a 3" round aluminum "dot hammered" style candle holder tin with a lid in 3 colors you could (almost) do the same with. I stuck with just the silver one as I just don't trust colored-up metals when heated. There is already a danger/chemical factor with DT stuff as it is. 😅 Anyway, if you make 3/4" x ~4" sturdy-ish cross bars from their foil aluminum pan section (cut a 4" x 6-7" piece) that set into each other (to make an X) and are notched to sit on the edge of the tin, you've got yourself another little heater stove that holds 8 tealights (6 stacked, 2 on the side, plus 2 flat white cotton face pads for additional outdoor firestarting, if needed). I wrapped the tealights in small pieces of Saran wrap and they still fit. I read in a comment somewhere on the Ranger Survival military guy's channel that he found one/some in really old survival kit that was wrapped in plastic and it was still quite usable. Also, I don't want to deal with a potential melted wax mess in my bags. This round candleholder tin sits right inside both size stainless steel bowls with room to tuck other small stuff or a bandana. I lay the cross bars flat on top and wrapped 3 rubber bands around everything for containment. If you haven't checked that channel out yet, you should. He's actually got survival stuff I've never seen on other channels and I watch a lot on this particular topic. Also, Scotty Kilmer's channel has been a WEALTH of easy to understand information on car maintenance and troubleshooting. Chris Fix as well.

[@wmluna381]

Oh, and if you bake stuff in bowls, pans, or woks, you have to prop them up on a riser of some kind. Be it metal, oven safe glass, or ceramic so the dry heat circulates more effectively.

[@wmluna381]

The best sized binder clips to use with the SS bowls are the 1-1/4" wide ones (for better safety handling). You can step it down a size to conserve on space, but you just have to be more careful. And the tealights are best lit with that type of 'long-nose' lighter you showed in your kit.

[@christopher_martin]

she is super cute and knows her stuff

[@darthblade2016]

Great kit and I like the approach u have here for putting together ur emergency kit. It sounds like u have most of the bases covered. The only suggestions I have would be to consider putting some Res-Q-Me glass punch/seat belt cutters on ur visors up front, some sort of fire extinguisher and a hands free light option (head lamp of some sort) to go with the flashlight. Just found ur videos, so will have to check out the back catalog, lol.

[@CreativeRedundancy]

Hello Reagan Many useful items to have with you and give you more to work with just in case. It's nice to see /hear you update this and rotate stuff every so often. Like many kits keeping tabs on them is important. Does the battery jumper or do you keep a battery bank with you too? To keep contact if you had to walk back and such. A spare charging cable for your smart phone? Something like a seat belt cutter and window breaker close by would be useful just in case. Take CaRe and all the best from CR.

[@drodown3025]

Nice progression. Keep adapting and moving forward

[@PatrickDickey52761]

A few suggestions... IF you have a water filter (Sawyer Mni or Squeeze, for example), you can use two smart water bottles with it. One for dirty water, and one for filtered water. They screw right onto the filter. Also, for winter clothing, remember "Cotton kills". Also, if you use the LifeStraw (or other filters), be careful that it doesn't freeze up afterward. It will damage the filter. I've also thrown some "WetOnes" into my hygiene kit, for times where I don't have running water for the bathroom. Finally, you could look into MountainHouse or Backpacker's Pantry freeze-dried foods. They won't have the issues that people commented on (due to heat/cold temperatures).

[@davidd5543]

Great video, not sure if you mentioned this on one of your other videos or not but if not, recommend a beanie/watch cap with your heavy sweat shirt. Working on similar kits for all of my vehicles especially my daughters cars. Love all your suggestions.

[@celbridgecorolla]

You’ve made serious progress on your gear well done 👏🏻👏🏻 you will upgrade change and replace so much stuff as you get further into being prepared

[@GzlzClaudia]

This was so helpful

[@jannah4288]

Hi Reagan. You have a good supply there for emergencies. I am wondering tho why you have those items bungeed to your roof rather than in a container in what looks like a pretty big sized trunk area. My concern is that if you were to be in an accident those bungees could possibly do some serious damage to you or others. Besides snapping you really bad, ouch! the hooks could cause some serious wounds too. Just something to think about dear. Safety first, right? :)

[@terarosen7909]

You have just greets ideas. Some I would have thought of

[@jenniferselespara1327]

Love your videos I need to up date my emergency car kit thanks for sharing😀😀

[@bonecrusher9745]

Great video you’re absolutely fabulous. How often do you stock up on water and how much do you usually get? Can you possibly do some in store grocery shopping videos? I think it would be awesome if you could show how you do your full shopping trip

[@reaganpruitt1578]

Hey! So it depends on how much is available! I usually buy the 3L bottles, just one every few times I go to the store I’d love to do one of those! Vlogging in stores is not common where I live but that might be a cool idea! I’ve been thinking about getting a costco membership 😂

[@Meatloafedup]

Hey just a small heads up! In that back pack, that is actually a stun gun, not a taser! You can use tasers at a distance and it looks like that one is not

[@reaganpruitt1578]

Hey! It’s basically the same thing, basically just a short distance taser. It’s the same type of probes, but meant for short distance. It completely disrupts muscle control. Most of the time though those terms are interchangeable anyways!

[@raidhooutdoors]

Awesome update! Keep it up!

[@paddybob2278]

Hi Reagan GREETINGS from Germany 🇩🇪hope your keeping well, another great video 👍 new subscriber 👍👍

[@Thereal111t]

Ok cool. Do you have any problems with that can leaking or fuming off in the texas heat?! I just recommend a different can on the last video.

[@MKEPTV]

Awesome keep up the great videos

[@velvetsky7009]

I loved this bungee idea to bad if I was to do it I would get a fine in my state. So we just use plastic totes now.

[@wapaa26]

You’d get a fine for having bungee cords hanging in your car? Never heard of that one. I wonder why. I really need to look for these state rule books

[@PatrickDickey52761]

@@wapaa26 It depends on the State. They will say that the items obstruct your view. Especially if you have them hanging on your rear-view mirror. I have my items strapped above the wheel wells since the little butterfly windows there are too small to even be useful.