Emergency Prep 3/2023 : UPDATE
Emergency Tools, Prep , Items, Med Kit, and more
Emergency Prep is a necessity now I feel. Its very easy to find basic med kits and emergency survival tool kits online. Add in military style MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) and a blanket and you’ll be in good shape if things go south. The thing with emergency items its better to have and not need than to need and not have. Some things should include.
- Flashlight with extra batteries
- First Aid Kit
- Non Perishable foods/ I prefer MRE or Protein bars
- Air Pump
- Road Flares/Electronic Flares Multi Use
- Water Proof Matches/Electronic Lighter
- Blanket
- A couple bottles of water
- Battery Jumper Pack or Jumper Cables
Keep all items in a bug out bag. If the need arises you can easily take all items with you in extreme emergencies. Most should fit in a small bag or container that can easily be moved to different cars.
Below the links is a quick 3 minute read on Batteries and TPMS Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems
Batteries and warning signs. Don’t get caught out in the cold.
I always talk about prep for winter months for paint protection. Be sure you have the necessities like emergency tools. Cold temps in winter bring could bring along trouble and annoyances. The cold reduces a batteries strength. It will give you signs its at end of life with hard starts or no starts especially with cold days. Most local auto stores do free battery health checks and if you buy a replacement they will install for free and offer decent warranties.
Battery jumper pack
⚠️(Murphy’s law will dictate that the least opportune time is when a battery will decide to crap out like one of the coldest days of the year, before important appointments or like me… being forgetful and leaving a dome light on and coming back to a dead car…. Keep a jump pack like one of these. They are very easy to use and are multi purpose in nature. This model has led lights that can act as a flashlight, wigwag pattern for emergencies a cellphone charger via USB port and charge via USB by a standard car charger. This has enough kick to start most cars. Diesel trucks owners you may want a larger model due to massive draw with initial ignition with glow and intake heaters.)⚠️
TPMS Sensors
TPMS lights may start showing as well with winter weather coming. Drops in temperature causes air in the tire to become more dense. Denser air causes drops in pressure most which systems with wheel mounted sensors will detect a drop in air pressure. A threshold is set for minimum recommended safe tire pressure, if all tires drop below or one tire has a massive difference between the other mounted tires and the TPMS light pictured below or similar depending on car manufacturer will illuminate. (Some vehicles have PSI readings on dash or display screen to take guess work out which tire is problematic.) The only issue that can come up is tires can be programmed to location common with Chevy’s say Drivers side front. If a technician forgets to set tire location post tire rotation you may get wrong readings on display. Driver side front could be at passenger rear, so keep a tire pressure gauge. A pressure gauge is very cheap and in the impulse buy section at auto stores or on Amazon. They will give you definite pressure readings and take the guess work out which tire(s) is the culprit. Periodically check tires to stay on top of dipping pressure.