One thing I try to be careful about is making sure my car kit remains accessible.

When packing for a trip, be it camping or otherwise, I always take out my car kit, load up the truck and lastly put the kit back in so that its easily accessible. I figure it's silly to have it buried if and when I actually needed it.

This summer I proved this is not the best plan with my current vehicle. I was out camping with the family for a few days and when packing up I followed this same routine. Packed up all the gear making sure the kit was right at the back near the hatch and closed everything up.

Keep in mind that with my family a fully packed cargo area is literally floor to roof & packed tight .

We all hopped in, ready to go, but the truck wouldn't start. Turns out the wonderful new feature of lighting the interior every time the vehicle was accessed drained the battery so I wasn't going anywhere.

My wife & son went over to a neighbouring camp site to ask for help while I went to get my jumper cables.

This is when I found out that my rear hatch can only be accessed when the vehicle has power. My trying to start the engine had drained the last of the juice so the electronic latch would not open.

My kit, jumper cables and all, were effectively inaccessible.

Our neighbouring camper was able to help & had cables of his own so this was really a no harm, no foul type of situation. However I did learn something useful which will help ensure my car kit is kept somewhere where it can be accessed even in the case of a dead battery.

I've added a 12 volt jumpstarter to both cars. Imagine your chagrin if you had one of those but it was inaccessible due to power loss.

That would not have been fun ... I likely could have got at it but not without some serious effort. I definitely would have been looking for help before trying to unpack/dig through to it.

Actually, this situation has me thinking about picking up one of those portable jump starters for this vehicle; a couple days earlier we were the only people in this campground.

My favorite one is Costco's. 18Ah battery, jumpstarter, area light, compressor, charges from house current and won't overcharge from that source (the manual says, though, to be careful not to overcharge it from 12V sources). I've used it several times instead of dragging out my jumper cables. And I can run my amateur HT or my cellphone off of it for at least a week continuously.

No affiliation other than a Costco membership.

A flat tire will induce them same stress when it's buried in the bottom of the trunk.

Sometimes there is too much electronic gadgetry. I would love to have a manual alternative for windows, but I am sure it would add too much to the price. Nothing like a nice simple, key operated lock.

One of the many reasons i love my 1989 Honda Civic. Manual windows, doors, et ... Older, cheaper, better?

One of my cars suffers from the no power no trunk release malady. But I can pull the divider out from between the passenger compartment and the trunk. But it is also the car that I won't jump start because of all of the electronic gadgetry on it, I'm way to chicken. So I don't even carry cables with it. Just hope that if it has a dead battery that my cell phone is getting a signal.

But as a warning some new cars advise against jump staring because you can damage expensive parts of the electronic gadgetry. Some cars also have unique jump starting instructions that need to be followed to keep from damaging the electronics. So read the owners manual before you jump start your car.

On a Mythbusters episode we learned that electric windows can stay working for a minute or more after a car hits the water. This isn't something I'm willing to test with my car, or with my body in the absence of SCUBA gear and a safety diver.

Read the manual, of course, before jump starting a car. With that said, I've been told that the headlights serve as a redneck surge suppressor during jump starts. I've jumped dozens of cars and never had a problem using this technique.

What are these doors and windows (and roof) things you speak of? I drive a Jeep Wrangler, and on good days I leave these items at home.

The reality is that EVERYTHING in my 2010 Wrangler is computer-controlled. Push the window-down button and it sends a signal to the computer, which looks to see if the door is connected, (because they can and frequently do come off), whether or not the window is already fully down, then starts the motor to lower the window. I've had situations where, due to dirt in the door connector, the windows were stubborn to operate because of poor computer communications.

What's really funny is watching me try to open the rear hatch when driving without doors. All the locks automatically engage when the Jeep hits 15MPH and then are supposed to disengage when a front door is opened. Of course, when doorless, the locks are never signaled to disengage. Not a problem for getting in or out, but the rear hatch stays locked. Of course I forget this until I'm trying to open the hatch, and then my first reaction is to go and hit the door unlock button, but of course that button is on the doors which are back at home. When doorless, the only way to unlock the hatch is with the key fob. Always good for a chuckle.

As for gear, I try to have the most critical items within easy reach at all times. Fortunately, there's enough room under the Jeep's front and rear seats to stash a great deal of stuff, and with a little creative use of velcro wraps and webbing, make it secure against becoming a deadly projectile in an accident.

Jumper cables, siphon, reflective vest, gloves, disposable ponchos and flares are in a soft case under the driver's seat, and a fire extinguisher in a quick-release bracket is attached to the driver's seat mount.

Emergency food ration bar and water packets, mylar blankets and chempak hand warmers are in another soft pouch under the passenger seat, along with a box of baby wipes.

Driver's door pocket has an LED flashlight and a multi-tool, which move to the center console when the doors are off. Passenger door has another flashlight and a first aid kit, both go in the glove box when doorless.

My GHB is strapped to the back of the driver's seat (used to be on the passenger seat, but I got tired of moving it to accommodate passengers). A second GHB with basics for passengers is under the rear seat, along with an umbrella, tarp and air compressor. I attach a collapsible snow shovel to the back of the rear seat, accessible from the rear seating area, during winter.

More stuff is in the back cargo area. Most of it is in bags attached to molle webbing that's mounted inside the rear hatch, so once I swing the hatch open, that stuff is easy to get at. Other items are in the under-floor compartment, and would take some unpacking if I was loaded-up for a trip.

I just bought a new Toyota Camry 2011. I have asked for the model with LEAST e-gadgets, and only added a pair of fog lights. That's it.

Th trunk has three ways of opening, remote control, latch inside the car (beside the driver seat), or using the KEY.

I believe that a prepper should NOT hand-cuff himself by buying electronically loaded vehicle, unless there are manual alternatives.

Since the OP main question is about the kit, I think he can either put it nearer to him as he drive, or add another smaller kit on his person as he drives.

Newer cars have bigger space for personal stuff ( e.g. bigger glove compartment ) . It can easily accomodate a Maxped pocket organizer or two.

Edited to add :

Forgot to say that the new car came with a nice emergency kit ( compressor, FAK, gloves, emergency light, reflective triangle, & fire extinguisher ) .. but no jumper cable

Why would they die immediately? They're still connected, the battery still has juice, water usually isn't an impediment to electricity, and there's usually a timer on the windows.

Personally, I think the electronics on vehicles are getting out of hand. If you're too stupid to operate a car, you're too stupid to operate a car.

My work Suburban had the light go out behind the speedometer: the part was about $650, a whole cemented-LED module. Now the third brake light is out: about $265.

I wonder if you can special-order a car that isn't built to outsmart the driver and boost the manufacturer's income?

Sue

Such a car did exist. However, Volkswagen stopped making the Beetle when the sales dropped.

Jeanette Isabelle

Regulation has big part in the complexity of modern autos. You can't sell a car in the US that doesn't have on board diagnostics. That plus other emissions regulations and fuel economy standards essentially mandate computer controlled cars.

If there were demand for a car that could be maintained in a garage without electronic tools, it wouldn't be legal to sell it here.

Folks just need to accept that a laptop and appropriate software are now tools for fixing cars just like a wrench.

I bought a super cheap laptop and software from http://www.obd-2.com/ and it helped me get my car through 3 state inspections.

And follow the money. It wouldn't be regulated if someone wasn't making some big bucks off it.

Sue

My Jeep doesn't have power doors or windows. DS (7) @ the time asked what the handle was for. When I told him it was to roll down the window, he couldn't do it. Too Funny.

I looked for a very stripped down model. I obviously didn't get it in a 2003 vehicle but there was a trade off. I was looking for a 1970, early 80's International Scout 2 as a 3rd POV but ended up getting the Jeep as my POV. Its just heck finding parts for a Scout now and I ain't that mechanical.

Of course I drive about 330 days a year w/o the top on my jeep so not really a problem for me to get out.

I keep my kit in the bed of my pickup. Typically it has either a truck box (manual lock) or a tonneau cover (soft, ie, not secure). The tail gate doesn't have a lock. Makes it easy to take things out, but it also makes things easy to take out. I typically try to back up to a wall or light pole or something to act as an impediment to sticky fingers. The camera in the tailgate really helps.

My wife's car has it in her trunk, not accessible from the backseat, but works with a key fob.

My truck has a hard tonneau cover with locks at each rear corner. It's really a two seat car with a strong suspension and a really big trunk. I keep a large Rubber Maid container and a cooler there along with my GHB. In a month I'll add my winter kit which adds additional cold weather clothing.

All that and plenty of room to haul "stuff".

I'm on the oposite scale: My car kit is burried in the wheel well under the cargo compartment (classic estate car configuration, with a mini sized spare tire). And yes, I've had to dig EVERYTHING out to get to my skid plates (once, stuck in the mud) and to my towing rope (once, stuck in the snow). That's TWO times in, I don't know, 9 years that I've had cars with this particular configuraton.

Yes, it's a hassle to take everything out when I need my car kit. But I have the convenience of not bothering about someone else removing my kit and forget to put it back in. I also have a "clean" cargo compartment into which I can cram stuff.

I should add that I have crammed stuff elsewhere into smaller compartments as well - easy accessible even with a fully crammed car. Such as my 1st aid kit, reflex vest, some basic tools, flaslights, toilet paper, cell phone charger.