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When we pack our families up for a relaxing weekend at the lake or to travel those long distances to grandma's house for Christmas dinner, an emergency is the last thing on our minds. As unpleasant as this may be, thinking about a crisis before it happens and being prepared for an emergency is necessary especially when taking a long road trip.

A few essential items that should be included in any emergency kit are the following:

- A flashlight with extra batteries

- A headlamp. These come in small compact able sizes and are especially handy when there is no one to hold the flashlight at 2 am when you are trying to replace a broken belt 10 miles from the nearest gas station

- A working pair of jumper cables, if possible a portable battery jumper is the best to have.

- A flannel blanket, especially if traveling in cold climates.

- Spare water. Ideally two gallons is best for spare water for the car and at least one or two bottles of water for drinking, especially in hot climates. Make sure to check the dates on the water for usability at least every three months and certainly before embarking on any long trip.

- 1 quart of extra oil for your specific engine. If you run out of oil, 1 quart will get you at least to the next interstate exit or gas station without blowing up your car

- A pack of extra fuses. These can be found at auto stores for about .99 cents a fuse. These are handy to replace any that blow out for electrical reasons which can cause huge annoyances like lights not working, horn not working, windows not working etc.

- A few extra bulbs for lights that might go out. Bulbs are usually easy to replace with a screwdriver, most just pop right in.

- One spare belt for each major part of your engine, ie: serpentine belt, fan belt

- A reflector for marking road side repairs.

- A small fire extinguisher, good for one use.

- Atire repair/patch kit and some fix a flat.

- A handheld battery operated radio with spare batteries.

- 1 Philip's head and 1 flat head screw drivers number 2 as this will fit most things you need to fix on the road.

- A roll of duct tape. You can use this to patch leaks temporarily, temporarily hold wires into place, replace lost nuts and bolts on small parts and tape up rusted battery connections or splits in a jumper cable.

- A flare for long trips that can you leave you in uninhabited patches for miles at a time

- A general use first aid kit.

- An all purpose knife, preferably swiss army style.

- A box of paper clips, you can use one to fix your windshield

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