Said municipalities really need to pull their heads out of their butts.

.357 is too heavy for most ladies. Unless she's a trained shot. Recoil from the first round will rip the gun right out of her hands (from not holding it properly). Get her a .38 Ladysmith. Load it with MagSafe's or Glazer Safety Slugs. Much lighter recoil and one round anywhere in the center of mass is uniformly fatal.

Unless she's a trained shot, she shouldn't have a gun in her hands. Nobody should.

Everyone has issued gread advise on tools/equipment to add.

You mentioned that she is an "indoors" type of person, therefore, I would add some simple instructions with pictures. You could scan things from manuals, and drop these pictures into a document on the computer. Add your own text, and then take the pages to Kinko's or the local library to get laminated. Maybe add a ring to keep the pages together, and she'd have something to fall back on if TSHTF.

You can't mention equipping your girlfriend without mentioning shoes! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Depending on what she typically wears, like for work everyday, you could throw in a pair of old but well broken in flat shoes in case she needs to walk someplace. Even lugging the spare tire out of the trunk in heels could easily break something--either on the shoe or in her ankle.

A change of clothes could be added. But if it's just to keep dirt and grease off the clothes, I suppose the poncho could be used. But as a guy, even I'd feel rather dorkish changing a tire on a sunny day with a poncho thrown over my office outfit.

Cell phone charger that you can plug into the car. Even if there's no signal anyway, psychologically, I think it feels really lonely to have a dead cell phone in your hand when something goes wrong. And it makes you feel anxious seeing your cell battery charge getting lower after having multiple phone conversations during some long drawn out breakdown somewhere. And throw in some change to make a call in case there's a payphone nearby but no cell signal.

Dry chem extinguisher? But if all her emergency gear burns up, oh well, just another chance for you to put together a new one. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

List of emergency phone numbers stored in the glove box and programmed into the cell-phone. Emergency change for payphones (beyond the coins normally hanging around various pockets in the car).

What Malpaso said. You should ask her if she would be interested or at least willing to learn about firearms and get her one if so. Ditto on the .38.

A nice Veritas folding buck saw takes very little room, yet would give her the ability to cut tree branches or small trees. Good for shelter building or for firewood if she can find deadfall.

Get her a good survival manual - SAS Survival Guide or US Army Survival guide.

Take a couple weekend days and work with her to get familiar with all the stuff packed in there, and do some practice in using the stuff she's not used to dealing with.

Start some fires without matches, for instance.

The more she knows about her kit and how to use it, the better of she will be. If she's hesitant to get involved, mention to her that her knowledge of these skills could save not only her own life but the lives of others.

Are the match and tinder cases marked to seperate them? Its minor, but the devil is in the details.

I'd lose the mason twine. It's ok stuff- heck, I used it for my watch lanyard. But for a car kit, paracord for all of it. Mason twine snaps at something like 15, 20 pounds.

Tow strap? Even if she can't get someone else out, someone might get her out.

Ditto the good jumper cables. They are not the place to cheap on. You can actually buy units that plug into the lighter socket so you can attempt to jump yourself. They aren't worth a thing below 0, they have fairly low amps, but it might be worthwhile.

Someone mentioned an axe and a saw. Saw, yes, axe, for someone who's not skilled with it, no. DIY amputation attempts aren't funny at the best of times.

Shovel? A trowel will do, an entrenching tool is better, especially the Russian one. But you can't beat a real shove with a cut down handle.

Where is the lifehammer?

Delorme map book(s) for your area. Not the best topo maps, but they show pretty much everything important, and useful even in normal circumstances.

How much water? Can she lift it? What kind of packaging? What about winter- I know Tennesse can get unpleasent. Do you have a pot or cup, or is she just going to chug?

Oil and other fluids, does she know where they go?

Tire pressure gauge. I've seen (and had) several car problems that could have been avoided with regular use of one. How often is the spare checked for pressure? Is it a real tire, or a donut?

Break down signals? Did I miss them? If you can't start a fire with a highway flare you are either in space or underwater, so even if you have triangles, toss in a few flares.

An easy to understand survival manual.

A roll of quarters. Phone booths, vending machines, most toll booths, air fill stations, they all like quarters.

Spare wiper blades with replacement instructions. Replace them for her once a year as a set- you show with one, she shows you with the other.

Zip ties and a small spool of brass wire- it's not as good as stainless, but not as hard to work.

Somethign to put under the wheels for traction, like a couple of carpet remnants.

A real tire iron, not the little mini ones that come with the car.

The first thing I wonder is, does she actually know what to do with all this stuff in an emergency? We might just take it for granted that everyone would automatically know what to do with duct tape and mason twine and cotton balls. But not everyone is a MacGyver, I think most people would look at this stuff like it's an alien lifeform. I'd actually simplify and give her just the basics. Even with all the best survival gear in the car, if she's not interested in learning how to use it, it's worthless.

For example, do you think she'll know what to do with mason twine or PJ soaked cotton balls? I know my girlfriend wouldn't. Does she know how to use jumper cables? It's funny how many people don't know how to hook them up properly. I actually had to help a couple of people who were trying to jumpstart a car, they had the cables, but didn't know how to hook them up. Tool sets are useless if she doesn't know how use them to fix a car. Same with a huge first aid kit. Unless she knows what to do with all the stuff, anything more extensive than bandaids and bandages might just go to waste.

For a basic kit that won't overwhelm her, maybe start out with some simple things:

Bottled Water
Snacks
Warm Clothes
Gloves
Fix a flat
Portable Jumpstarter (Not the kind that plugs into a cigarette lighter, but the kind that hooks directly to the battery)
A good cell phone
A multitool
Lighter
Simple first Aid kit
Money, credit card, or phone card

And then slowly add to the items one by one as you teach her how to use these things.

Good ideas ironraven:

Label the tinder and matches.

Lose the mason twine, she'll have paracord anyway.

Will get her a heavy duty trowel or E tool.

Lifehammer, I need advice on how to mount it where it is reachable, say if she is upside down.

Delorme map book for this area -- will check

She already has lots of bottled water stored with energy bars.

Will have her a stainless wire rim mug to drink out of or warm water in on emergency stove along with a fold-a-cup.

Break down signals -- excellent idea! She's so paranoid about flares but will have to learn.

Brass wire -- got that one covered -- 2-3 ft. do it?

zip ties? enlighten me on uses, I never thought of it

Pressure gauge,fluids, tire tools,wipers--covered.

More than one good blanket in there, plenty of other stuff to use for traction besides blankets.

Quarters covered

Cell phone charger covered

Survival manual? Just have to have one custom-made by me -- Lofty and Ray are not her type of reading even if necessary.

Well, as far as the gun goes, its a long shot (no pun intended.) A piece of white maple is better than nothing. They are naturally twisted sticks caused by vines growing around the trees/branches. I carve them into canes and walking sticks and furniture legs or just for decorations and the like. They are collector's pieces seen as a novelty item and are not questioned by cops, just looks like something you picked up at a flea market. Maybe pepper spray is the answer.

A Ladysmith? No way. A full size K-frame S&W .38 is what ladies should really handle if their hands can wrap around it. 2 1/2 -3" barrels. A Ladysmith is only for a woman who is a well-seasoned shooter and can handle the recoil, not for this indoors type Lady. If a woman does use a J-frame Smith, I found .38 wadcutters work perfect. Just the thing they practice with too. Believe me, they do the job. .357 mag sounds cool, but ridiculous in this situation.