What items do you deem essential to carry in your car?

[leigh1050]

L555BAT said:

This is what I have. With mobile phones and men in vans who will rescue you however pathetic your predicament, I'd say none of it is essential.

For me/people:
1st aid kit
Hand wipes
Sunglasses
Toilet roll
Tissues
Umbrella
Water bottle
Hand alcohol gel
Emergency snacks

For use/convenience:
Collapsible plastic box
Twin cigarette lighter adapter
Phone charger
Road atlas
Parking change
Pen and paper
Compass

For maintenance:
Tyre pressure gauge
Tyre tread depth gauge
12v Compressor
Windscreen cleaning spray
Cloth for windscreen/body
Rag for oil dipstick
Haynes Manual

For emergencies:
High visibility jacket
Small cargo straps
Pliers
Fuses
Jump leads
Fire extinguisher
Screwdrivers, flat and Phillips
Head torch
LED torch, magnetic
Hammer
Flex gloves
Adjustable wrench, small
Spare bulbs
Tow rope
Warning triangle
Wheel brace
Telescopic wheel wrench
OEM jack
Multi tool/knife
Old rain coat
Spare trousers and t-shirt
Latex gloves
Gaffa tape
Emergency cash

Extras for winter:
Ice scraper
De icer
Proper metal digging spade

What do you drive? A fookin lorry? You cant have much room for people!

[TimJMS]

EVSE tether
2 extension leads
Commando 3 -way adapter
Portable charge unit
Computer screen wipes.

[turboteeth]

sunnydude959 said:

I used to keep condoms in the little stowage compartment under the drivers' seat of my Mercedes. I stopped doing it when I realised that;

1) Built-up heat in a car on a warm day accelerates the gradual degradation of condoms,
2) I realised that I didn't need them because I wasn't getting any. The "AMG" badge didn't pull the honeys like I initially thought. I was lying about my size either way; the badge on the side of my car said "6.3" when it was actually just a tiny bit over 6.2...

No it was because the chicks saw the single pea shooter and knew it was a C200 CDI!

[anonymous-user]

Extending wheel wrench
Sunglasses
McDonalds napkins as they are free
Foot pump
Tyre pressure gauge
CD's and ipod
USB charger
Anti-slip mats in the boot, very useful
Large towel for covering stuff up
Lead foot.
Home made screen scraper, blade is formica and absolutely brilliant.
Service book and manual.

[poing]

jamieduff1981 said:

1) Me.
2) Means of contacting someone should I need it.
3) Either enough fuel or a debit card.
4) The car keys.

All this crap mentioned about sounds like a total waste of space unless you're setting off on the Camel Trophy or an expedition to the North Pole.

Similar to above, but I carry me and not him.
I do carry sun glasses, a cable for charging my phone and a little fold up shovel thing if I get stuck in the snow/ice but that's because winters can be interesting here.

L555BAT said:

This is what I have. With mobile phones and men in vans who will rescue you however pathetic your predicament, I'd say none of it is essential.

The entire contents of Halford/B&Q/Tesco and a few other stores.

Do you drive a rescue vehicle for moon missions or are you just ultra paranoid that something bad might happen to you? If the latter then can I suggest staying in bed where it's safe? I seriously doubt I'd even be able to fit all that in my car, not that I even own half of it in the first place. On the plus side it's a good excuse to buy a car with a huge engine!

[mike-r]

Part of the 'just cash for fuel' club, having any other clutter in the car would probably put me into an OCD seizure. Could possibly cope with sunglasses but they live in the house in case I take the bike instead and need to look cool.

[TurboHatchback]

I'm with the minimalist camp here:

• Me
• Wallet + Phone (Always carried whether in the car or not, RAC card always in wallet)
• Oil for occasional topups

Anything else is just extra weight to lug around, though I did used to carry jump leads in some of my older more dodgy cars and they were used many times.

[MagneticMeerkat]

I've got:

Ray-Ban mirrored aviators - for the seventies detective look
Metro sunglasses - for the eighties detective look
2x pairs of fashion sunglasses - one wraparound and one circular
One pair of old sunglasses - for if I need to wear sunglasses that I don't care about.

So that's five separate pairs in total.

Additionally there's an Essex map book, a national road atlas, breath freshener spray, spare cigarette lighters, cigarettes, pens, a notebook, business cards, a lacquered Chinese box containing more pens and random rubbish, a Vanillaroma Magic Tree, other books including a repair manual for a car I don't own, floor mats, an electronic cigarette, possibly a Depeche Mode album on cassette, the general sense of malaise that attaches itself to a very used car.

Oh, and the spare wheel.

[Antony Moxey]

Nothing's 'essential' to take on every journey. I have stuff in the car that came with it - jack, toolkit, etc - but nothing that I make sure I have with me for every trip.

[sparks_E39]

A coat, some gloves and a litre of oil. Usually have a bottle of water with me too. I never go anywhere without my phone or wallet, in the car or not.

[Prawo Jazdy]

A waterproof jacket, because Volvo put a little hook thingy on the passenger headrest, and I therefore deemed it necessary to make use of it. Plus, a decent raincoat and a Swedish car makes me feel like I'm in The Killing.

(Yes, I know that's Danish, and I know they only drove Fords in the show)

[StuntmanMike]

Essential items.
Ipod classic plugged in.
Phone.
Wallet.

Non essentials.
First aid kit.
Torch.
Jack.
Wheel brace.
Warning triangle.
But all that crap comes with the car, it's not what I put in.

[djglover]

String back driving gloves
Toblerone
Net bag of Babybel

[Snollygoster]

To add to your list:

Need to get a little 12v vacum cleaner for those pesky passengers.
Paracetamol
iPod Classic full of weeks worth of music

[Who me ?]

Couple of Hi viz jackets , sometimes Fleeces as well . Cheapo torque wrench ( alloys all round), with 120NM equivalent in LB/FT marked in pen. Deep tyre nut sized socket to make getting wheel nuts off a bit easier with the torque wrench ,and a wooden mallet ,as alloys can sometimes be a PITA to get off. Thats for dire puncture cases, for others I carry a mini compressor and a tin og tyre gunk. OH, and of course Swimbo( to get disabled scooter out of boot ,to get to spare ). Last ,but not least, my Flux Rescue card.

[L555BAT]

poing said:

Do you drive a rescue vehicle for moon missions or are you just ultra paranoid that something bad might happen to you? If the latter then can I suggest staying in bed where it's safe? I seriously doubt I'd even be able to fit all that in my car, not that I even own half of it in the first place. On the plus side it's a good excuse to buy a car with a huge engine!

Drive a normal car, 11 years old and reliable, but used to drive older up to 15 years so the stuff was more necessary. It all fits in a medium sports bag in the boot. I think I've had use from most of the items I listed.

The only non-small things that probably aren't worth the space they take are the compressor, wheel brace, spare clothes, and possibly the spade.

[RizzoTheRat]

L555BAT said:

With mobile phones and men in vans who will rescue you however pathetic your predicament, I'd say none of it is essential.

Given that last time I had to call the RAC it took over 15 minutes to get through to them on the phone and then another hour and half for someone to arrive, I'm amazed at how many people on here don't claim to carry a jack/wrench/wheel or even a can of tyre weld. I'd much rather be on my way in 10 minutes than sat waiting for a recovery truck for 2 hours.

leigh1050 said:

What do you drive? A fookin lorry? You cant have much room for people!

Amazing what you can fit in a small space, on my motorbike I carry this lot under the seat, and have used all but one of them:

Puncture repair kit (plugs and CO2 cylinders)
Tool kit (the cheap one that came with the bike plus a front spindle key means I can do most routine maintenance jobs)
Clutch cable (never needed one but have a spare and it seems like the best place to keep it
Latex gloves
Chain oil
Pipe to siphon fuel (camping stove runs on petrol)
Phone charger
Gaffer tape
Cable ties
Electrical tape
Multitool
Spare headlight bulb

[Mound Dawg]

Phone and wallet that are with me in my pockets anyway.

Microfibre cloth to clean the inside of the windscreen or my glasses while I'm otherwise just sat at traffic lights.

USB memory stick with a load of decent music on it for when Chris Evans is being tiresome.

I only commute 45 miles each way though, I'm sure I'd take a few more things if I was off to Morocco as some people here appear to be.

[The Moose]

Shaoxter said:

When I get in other people's cars I'm surprised at how many don't carry any water. Could be a lifesaver if you were to get stuck somewhere.

[ging84]

a couple of very dirty cloths
several drinks cups with dregs still in
some plastic bags containing nothing but a receipt
a large collection of used pay and display tickets

I'm not sure how essential any of these things are, but I bet most people have them.