Car PSK : trunk or under passenger seat?

Hi! I've made a small PSK for my car that I keep under the passenger seat in a sealed container (flashlight, poncho, survival blanket, whistle, nylon thread, etc.).

I also have a very old military backpack with jumper cables, water, a first aid kit, extra clothing, but this one resides in the trunk.

I'm considering moving the passenger seat box into the trunk to have a centralized survival "station". Any thoughts on this?

Since i've started making my own PSKs, I have them spread out everywhere and i'm having a hard time remembering which gear is where!... loll

Maybe that's a good thing? <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I can think of at least 2 recent cases where the vehicle went off the road unoticed for several days. If your injured and immobile the kit in your trunk might as well be at home.

If you're injured and immobile, you might not be able to reach under the seat or into the glove compartment for that matter -- my bug out bag is in the trunk, but my Hyundai has a pass-through into the trunk by having the back seats fold down, so if you are mobile enough to reach under the seat you are probably mobile enough crawl into the back seat and get into the trunk, unless you are unconscious of course. If you're pinned in the vehicle, you're just up that proverbial creek, so to speak. Better have that cell phone handy!

I keep all my PSK stuff in the back of my SUV.

What you really need close at hand in your car is a spring-loaded center punch. If your car ends up in the water you need the punch to break the side window so you can get out. Mine is secured in my center console. Even if the car is upside down I can still get it and it will not fall out.

I have a PSK/BOB under the drivers seat, first aid kit under the passenger seat. More gear in the center console, drivers door pocket, and the center console. Then under the back seat are tools, gloves, tow chain, load straps, etc.

When I used to be in the State Emergency Service and attend vehicle rescue, we had a life hammer we could grab easily. I now keep one by my handbrake lever.
http://www.lifehammer.com/

I also have a ResQMe on my keyring because I quite often find myself in other vehicles.
http://www.resqme.com/

The ResQMe is a spring loaded centre punch, but the tip is protected by plastic and it has a seatbelt cutter, and the Life Hammer is used like any hammer, but if the seat belt jams, the extra cutter on both is a good idea.

If you go off the road and your lower leg is trapped under the dash, you're going to be severely limited in what you can reach. Mine is either on the floor in front of the passenger seat, or behind it.

What if the trunk latch is damaged? You would have to pull the back seat out -- tricky if you're injured.

Sue

If I'm not mistaken, if you have an accident and your leg is pinned under the dash, more than likely, the kit you have on the floor in front of the passenger seat will be up under the dash too, or somewhere else depending on the force of the impact. Plus your range of motion may not permit you to reach behind the seat. Just some random thoughts.

My primary vehicle survival kit/BOB is under the driver's seat. My first aid kit, water, folding shovel and simple tool kit are under the passenger's seat. In the storage compartments at the rear of my SUV are more survival items, a mini Coleman lantern, rope, flares, spare head light bulb, booster cables, dog stuff and an ABC fire extinguisher. In the driver's door storage is a 3 cell Mag light and a pair of FRS radios and 50' of para cord. The glove compartment has more small survival stuff including a lighter, matches, snack bars and another spare pair of glasses.

I'd stuff more in if I could, but every nook and cranny are pretty much full now.

That's very true. In fact, everything in the car may end up in the front, no matter where it started out!

Unless it was locked in the trunk...

Sue

I try and lessen this risk by making sure that nothing can slide out from under my seat, especially the drivers seat. That way nothing can side under my pedals as I'm trying to control the car or stop.
Behind me I use tie downs etc to hold things in place, and I have just purchased some cargo netting to install as a flexible cargo barrier. (not as good as a solid barrier, but is a compromise for my use)
My 4wd doesn't have a trunk (or boot as its called in Australia). It has a rear door. So I am more conscious of what I put behind me than I have to be if I had a trunk/boot.

Something else to consider is the read folding seat access to the trunk/boot of the car, because if they are not latched quite correctly, or are of poor design, objects can still come flying towards you in an accident. So this can be a false sense of security.

I carry a large plastic container (intended to put newspapers in for recycling!) that I got from our city council. It contains tarp, cordage, torch, candles, toilet roll, mess kit, wash kit, duct tape, folding shovel, Knife, survival kit, bottled water, hexi stove & fuel, 2 x British Army 24hr Ratpacks, Survival Kit, First Aid Kit, Fire Extinguisher, Power pack (can jumpstart car and/or power electrical items) Petrol Can, radio.

Bee I beg to differ you call it a PSK for the car. The P in PSK stands for pocket. Meaning the gear fits in your pocket. I doubt your gear will fit.

Sorry to be such a grouch but I hate mis-labeling. I see it all the time someone says a pocket kit then starts out with a backpack.

Here are some ideas on car kits and placement.

2 of 3 Car Kits

Car Kit 3

Oh? I felt the P in PSK usually stands for "personal", meaning that it's supplies are mostly for a single person in case of an emergency. Maybe i'm wrong though! Thanks for the links to your other threads, good read.

Ttyl!

Personally I carry my kits in the toolbox of the truck or in the back of the SUV. However, having been pinned in a vehicle, not under the dash but rather one foot in the back seat floorboard (no seatbelt) I have always at least kept a sharp knife to cut my shoes off. I don't know if that would help me but if I had a sharp knife at that time I might have tried to get loose somehow.As it was, they found me about 3 hours later and had to use the portapak to jack up the seat, so I don't know if I could have gotten loose.

I keep a medium PSK, rescue knife with window punch, first aid kit and a few more things close at hand.

The rest of the stuff (big tools like an axe, machete, extra clothes, bigger version of the first aid kit, spares, etc.) is in the trunk of the car.

I keep my huge kit in the covered bed of my quad cab truck. But going on the theory that it's bad to put all of ones eggs in one basket, I keep an NRA kit (Blastmatch, Starflash mirror, tinder, Jetscream) in the center console, to which I have added a Tru-nord compass and some MP1 tablets. The Becker Brute (with a few minor goodies in the handle), Brinkmann flashlight, FAK, watch cap, gloves, overcoat, and a few litres of water are all within easy reach under the rear seat. I figure I can use the butt-end of the Brute to bust a window if I have to.

Regards, Vince

Regarding storing gear under the front seats of your car, here's another random tidbit that may apply to some of you. My 2005 Honda Accord owner's manual warns you to not store any cargo or metal objects under the front seats. It even warns back seat passengers not to put their feet under the seat.

From the limited info in the the manual, the driver's seat has a seat position sensor (I'm guessing magnetic) that adjusts the inflation of the air bag depending on how far the driver is sitting from the steering wheel. The passenger seat has a weight sensor that turns off the air bag if it determines that an infant or child (or no one) is sitting in the passenger seat. Anyway, you definitely wouldn't want to risk interfering with such vital safety systems by storing stuff under the seats if your car is equipped with something similar.

Biggzie,

I like the ResQMe a lot. I'm going to see if I can find one. I like the way the web site shows it hooked to the seat belt guide. It would be nice to have a seat belt cutter too.

Thanks! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...Y_BIN_Stores_IT

8.79 buy it now price

I'm with Vince - have a couple of options. I have a PSK in my center console (in an old AOL CD tin), a Cody Lundin-style kit in a backpack in the back of my Jeep, and yet another PSK in the pouch of my Becker Bowie under the back seat.

Personal Support kit in my lingo.......others may call it what they want. Who cares what the user calls it, as long as they are happy with it.

Velcroed to the Hump in the rear seat. Reachable by both the driver and the passenger, and rear seat passengers.
I have a LED mini mag, AMK PSP, AMK Pocket Medic, gerber multi-tool and a window punch in a small bag in each door pocket. Under each side of the back seat in my Yukon, there is a mesh blaze orange biker vest and a 5 pound ABC fire ext.

Lighten up, Francis. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I too have always understood the "P" to stand for personal, not pocket.

Given the choice, the Life hammer is my first grab, but the ResQMe is graet because its in my pocket all the time.
I was going to say that I got mine from eBay, but gp_frk has bet me to it.
Another use for the Life Hammer over here is the companies that supply cargo barriers for wagons. They supply a Life Hammer attached to the barrier in the cargo area. That way if the back door is closed and if there is no inside handle, there is still a way out.
There was a child killed some years ago because his brother slammed the back shut and ran off leaving him trapped in the summer heat with no escape, and this was one of the responses to the prob.

Having been involved as a passenger in a rollover with the vehicle doing over 60mph, I hesitate to carry very much in the front of the vehicle. Almost everything that was in the front of the vehicle was scattered for a long ways along the road. Some of the things were never found. The things in the trunk was still there. The objects in the front become possible missles. Just something to consider.

About 10 years ago, there was an accident 60km from here and a girl sitting in the back seat of a car got hit through the back seat from something in the trunk and ended up in a wheel chair.
Its not just things in the front that become missiles.

I've noticed that if you pull back the lining of the trunk of most cars you see the back seat, there usually isn't anything solid between.
Even thous of us with trucks should still be careful as whatever is in the bed could still come over the top of the bed and through the rear window of the truck.
I'm going to make a junk yard trip one of these days and pick up some seat belts to make some cargo straps for under the seats. to help hold some of my gear in better. Figure if I find seat belts material in a matching color as my interior it will blend in nicely.

Biggzie,

I found the yellow ResQME at Brookstone for $12.50. I bought one for my wife and me. What a great tool! It is exactly what you need if you are trapped in a car. Cut the seatbelt, smash the side window, and you are out of there.

Wham! Bam! Thank you ma'am! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Thank you for the suggestion. Everyone should have one on their key chain or in their car. It is like a fire extinguisher; you may never need it, but if you do: it is the best tool for the job.

Well personal survival kit could be anything from a pocket knife to a fully loaded RV. A very, very broad catagory. That is why most think and refer to the P as pocket as a size designator. Most kits so refered to as PSKs are generally built around the ubiquitous Altoids tin or similarly sized container.

Actually if you do a search on PSK from the ETS home page, the first thing that comes up as "Personal / Pocket Size Survival Kit Reviews"
Then it continues on that theme, so you are correct in assuming that from the ETS site.
But it all depends how technical you want to get.
I guess if we all use PSK to mean a pocket sized kit or pocket survival kit, it would make things easier to understand in the long run.
But seeing that people talk different around my own country and different again to the US, and different again to the rest of the world, I'm not going to demand that there is only 1 way to describe something.