Sam,<br><br>I delayed answering your post to ponder for a awhile its pertaince(sp?) to this forum. Your answer to Tom's question, and some of Tom's comments, got me to this....<br><br>Keep your vehicle maintained! The closest to a bad (as in, could have died) survival situation I ever found myself in was when I was 18. Fresh out of AIT and at my first duty assignment for Uncle Sam, I bought my first car. Used of course. I had a long weekend and decided to drive to Ogden, Utah to visit some friends. Did I check the oil in my "new" car? No. Did I check the tires? No. Did I check anything? No. Forty miles north of Green River, Utah, on US 6, I had a blow out. No problem, I thought, I'll change the tire and be on my way. Only problem was.....there was no spare. Much swearing followed. Most directed at the used car place, some at myself. Today that would be reversed; I should have checked. It was southern Utah (desert---no shade, no water), it was July (hot). It was 11:00AM (hot and getting hotter). I had no water. I was already dehydrated (I had drank a bit the night before). Two hours passed before I decided to try flagging down help. Another two hours and 26 cars passed before anyone would even slow down for me. ...the Utah state trooper was concerned. He took me straight to the hospital where I was treated for heat exhaustion. I spent the rest of my money getting the tire fixed and buying a spare. I didn't make it to Ogden. The moral of the story should be obvious.<br><br>Andy