Car survival kits are specifically designed to provide survival supplies if you are trapped in or become disabled or lost in your vehicle. Automobile emergency kits are not the same as a Survival kit. An automobile kit generally contain flares, jumper cables, spare fuses, etc. They help the car, not you.
Most folks don’t understand why a car kit is important. However, those same people can vividly recall the news reports of a person pinned in their wrecked car for days.
A Truck is Not Always the Best Place for a Kit
Your supplies may be inaccessible in your trunk if you are actually trapped in your vehicle. This depends on you vehicle. For such a scenario, you’d want supplies within reach of the passenger compartment. This may not be a problem for a pickup truck, minivan or SUVs where there is access to the entire vehicle and you or your passengers can reach the supplies.
However, sedans with a separate trunk are trickier. You could be trapped in the driver’s seat and be unable to access your supplies. Although, such scenarios have a very low probability. Most victims are found before they needed life saving supplies.
Although, when it is just my wife and I, I move our kit to the backseat of our sedan. Keeping your car survival kit in the trunk would prove effective for the majority of your scenarios. However, an extended jam could have you wishing for water. Just think about the parking lot known as Interstate 45 from Galveston to Houston any time an evacuation order is given for a hurricane!
Hot Trunks Will Reduce Storage Life
Keep in mind, the storage of food supplies in a hot trunk will shorten the shelf-life of most food products. Refresh them annually. Similarly, certain first aid supplies can become unusable if exposed to long periods of intense heat. Consequently, check your supplies at the end of summer and refresh what is not useful.
While there may not be one right answer for where to keep your emergency kits. Any amount of forethought will do you well in locating your kits. Keep in mind that every area of the country has different hazard considerations. Your car survival kits and storage location should be based upon your higher probability disaster scenarios.
