We tend to think of car preparedness in the cold weather but it is just as dangerous to be stranded unprepared in the heat. A few preps could mean the difference between comfort and misery, even life and death.
Of course, all of the basic car stuff still applies. Make sure you keep your vehicle in good repair, fill the tank at 1/2 or even 3/4 full and take good care of your tires. Know your route and stick to it. Carry a cell phone and a GPS as well as a hand crank radio that will charge both. Let someone know your itinerary. Have a clue how to change a flat and make sure you have some emergency flares and a couple of flashlights. This is preparedness light for your vehicle.
A few other things are good ideas when the weather gets hot. Water, of course. A case of bottled water will last indefinitely as long as your kids don’t pilfer it. Check it from time to time. I also carry an umbrella (for protection from the sun, not the rain) a rain poncho, bug repellant and sun screen. I let go of my organic dreams for the bug repellent. I need something I know will work and I won’t be breaking into it unless there is a real emergency. I always have my leatherman in my purse and my regular emergency kit in the back so I am covered for everything else.
This is a short post so I can fill in with an observation. A lot of the words that come up as misspellings on my computer are funny to me. Canner always pops up as does blog. Prepper is no surprise but canner? It is a real thing. I just think it’s funny.
June 22, 2009 at 11:42 am
This is a wonderful post! I live where we get snow and obviously I think of the car/travel preparedness in the winter. But I neglect it in the summer. I really needed this to remind me and get me going on it!
I have a love-hate relationship with spellcheck!! I totally can relate!
A silly question though. What is a leatherman?
June 22, 2009 at 11:49 am
A leatherman is like Swiss Army Knife. It has a ton of tools in a very small package. You can fix a surprising number of things with a leatherman and some duct tape.
June 22, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I’ve been taking relatively long car trips with the kids lately and have been thinking about this, but also just everyday preparedness. We always have a toy, small pillow, a drink, a healthy snack, and a special junkfood snack for when they get really fussy. I realized I needed to be prepared for the last item when I caved and bought (expensive) chip snacks from the gas station last time. Also, knock-knock jokes, “I Spy,” and the like really come in handy when everyone is tired and bored.
I joke that I need to pack a suitcase whenever I go anywhere!
If the speel checker is driving you crazy, you can right click on the word and click “add to dictionary” and it won’t underline those words anymore.
July 3, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Hi Kathy,
I just found your blog and I’m loving it!
You got me thinking again about car preparedness. I used to be so good, but the last couple years I’ve lapsed. Thank-you! I used to always keep a case of bottled water in my car in the summer, but then I read that the plastic leeches into the water and has been attributed to cancer. Instead of a case of water, I now bring the water with me each trip in a Nalgene or the like, but as far as preparedness, my parents used to keep a large glass bottle full of water in the trunk – this was years ago, and I haven’t seen these bottle since, but larger juice bottles would work just as well, though you’d need couple more. And you’d have to pack them well so they don’t bang into each other.
Thanks again,
Josianna