Car Emergency Kit Picks
Make sure you and your loved ones are prepared for the unexpected on the road.
ARTICLESTOOLSGIFT GUIDES
8/4/20254 min read
Over the years, I've had to learn the hard way that it's a good idea to have some emergency supplies in your car. From countless punctured tires to long waits in the cold for a jump start, I've slowly added items to my car kit to get myself out of a jam on the road. While many of these items get used rarely, they are all indispensable, and I won't drive without having them in the car with me. While there are many additional items that are good to have in an emergency car kit, here are those I consider necessities:
Portable Jump Starter
This is what I consider most important and the first thing I convince family and friends to get for their cars. There is truly no substitute when your car won't start and there's no one around to help jump start your car. I used to carry a long pair of jumper cables in the car, but too many times I was stranded with no cars stopping to help me. I found this was often because people were nervous about using jumper cables. They weren't sure the order to hook things up, didn't know where to connect the neutral clip, or were scared of getting shocked with electricity.
Modern portable jump starters use lithium ion batteries (similar to phones) to store enough power to jump start a car. They are compact and lightweight, and they can typically store a charge for months at a time. They are also so simple to use: plug in the included alligator clips using a single connector, connect the red clip to the positive battery terminal and black clip to the negative battery terminal, then go into your car and start it normally. Many jump starters are extremely safe with non-sparking clips and reverse polarity protections that ensure even improper use won't harm you or damage your vehicle. In addition, many of these jump starters have extra functions such as USB outputs to charge your phone, built in flashlights, or even air compressors! This actually leads me into my next most important item for an emergency car kit:
Portable Tire Inflator
It goes without saying why this is a must have for an emergency car kit but we will anyway; A portable tire inflator will be able to get a low or flat tire filled for long enough to get to a tire shop or at least a safer location. They are a quicker and easier option than trying to change to a spare tire (if your car even has a spare anymore!) on the side of the road. There are a couple of features to look for though. You'll want an inflator that can stay on without having to hold down a button, and you'll want that inflator to have an automatic shut-off function once it reaches a set pressure. Having these 2 features allows you to stay within your car while the inflator fills up your tire. Being able to stay in your vehicle while the tire gets inflated keeps you safer and more comfortable than having to be next to your car on the side of the road.
You can get portable tire inflators with either a built in rechargeable battery or a 12-volt power cable (usually to a cigarette lighter port, but some can also connect straight to car battery terminals). Either option is good, but which is best for you will depend on your preferences. The benefit to having an inflator with a built in battery is that they will typically be more compact, making it easier to find a place to keep it in the car. They're also easy to move around to inflate any tire going around your vehicle without getting wires tangled or having to figure out how to route the cable to reach each corner of the car. The reason you may want to stick with an inflator with a cable though is that you know it'll always work and you don't need to think about charging it up periodically. It also will ensure that it can run long enough to get any size tire filled, even large offroad truck tires.
Plier-based Multitool
I recommend carrying a multitool as part of your EDC, but I also find it important to have a multitool dedicated to your car emergency kit. There are 3 main tools to look for when deciding on a multitool for a car kit: pliers, a blade, and scissors. If you are mechanically inclined and familiar under the hood, having pliers can be incredibly helpful to remove and replace hose clamps, body panel clips, fuses, etc. Scissors are useful to safely cut blister pack packaging that auto shop parts may come in to do quick parking lot repairs. A blade can cut hoses to size and be used in an emergency situation to cut a jammed seatbelt. A multitool with these 3 built in tools can allow you to fix some basic vehicle problems that would require tools without having to haul your toolbox everywhere you go.
Tactical Flashlight
Having a flashlight in your vehicle ensures that you're never caught in the dark in an emergency. It can light up the area you're working in, signal to other motorists or emergency services, or light your way walking along the side of the road. I do specify having a tactical flashlight for a reason though; I find it important to have a strike bezel for my car flashlight. This feature makes the flashlight a life-saving tool that can break the car windows in a worst case scenario. There's no good replacement for a glass-breaker when you're in an emergency and need one, so it just makes sense that you have one that serves a dual purpose being useful in less dire situations.
This list is not all-encompassing, but hopefully gives you a good starting point to get your own emergency kit for your car started. I recommend the products I have linked below because of my personal experience with them, but as long as your kit includes these general categories you should be good to go!
My kit includes:
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