emergency tools

Damn good pointers. I'm thinking of replacing my spare with a full size spare as well. Also, I don't even have jumper cables but I think it's time I go buy an emergency kit just in case.

Never thought to test the jack but that's not a bad idea as well.

Thanks for the great advice.

and another piece of advice that I'll take myself. Get yourself a sturdy tow rope. My wife and I decided to beat the heat today by going to the beach, and drove to the beaches south of Carlsbad and north of Del Mar, in southern California. It was great (and relatively cool)until I tried pulling out of a sand parking lot next to the highway. One large Chevy SUV was already stuck, and a bunch of us pushed him back onto solid asphalt, and then two very nice guys (ex-Marines as it turned out) kindly offered to tow my deeply embedded Toyota out of the deep sand. Luckily they had a nylon tow line and a large truck, and we got 'er done on the first try. Thanks Marines! But without a tow rope, we would have been helpless.

So get one! And keep some flares (at least 6 but preferably more) in the trunk. Flashlights and such won't grab the attention of folks going by at

I have AAA assistance, so now my only emergency tool is an umbrella = ) thanks for the reminder, by the way, some trunks wont fit a full size spare right?

To take this bit of good advice a bit further, if you are going to get jumper cables, get good quality ones with a thick conductor and a sturdy clamp. Thin jumper cables can overheat and not do the job in cold weather.

If you are going to put some tools in the car, include a 10 and 12 mm wrench (preferably sockets and combination wrenches, a flat and Phillips screwdriver, spare fuses (besides the spares that Toyota puts in the fuse box), and bailing wire. Duct tape would also be handy. The tools should be decent quality like Craftsman and not cheapo tools because you don't want them to fail or strip a bolt when you are miles away from home.

I'll second that one, ray. Through trial by fire I now carry the following items in the trunk of my daily driver:

-Spare tire stuff

-flares, reflective triangles

-Jump box ($50 from harbor freight, charge it up every two months)

-Jump cables (incase the jump box is dead)

-42 piece craftsman tool set (about $30.00 via ebay)

-tow straps

I add another piece every time I get stuck. At this rate in 20 years I'll probably just be trailering my Snap-On box behind whatever it is I'm driving.

That's not a good sign 'every time you get stuck..' -- Things do happen but how often do you get stuck? Thankfully, my Tempo left me stuck a couple times. The last time is when it caught fire when I got off the freeway.

So far, my Corolla has been very well behaved... uh, knock on wood...

My wife prefers the emergency credit card. It seem she is frequently having emergencies at Macys. :(

Henny Youngman used to have a joke about that. He said that his wife's credit card was stolen....but that he hadn't reported it. He said the thief bought less stuff than she did!

I get stuck more often than the average bear because of this idiotic propensity of mine for rebuilding classic cars and bikes and then driving them farther than I should. I also own a BMW for my daily driver, so you do the math.

I've been thinking about getting one of the jump boxes/air compressors, in which case I'd bring tire plugs if I'm really in a blind.

I tend to fix other people's cars and got tired of losing Snap-On tools so now I only keep Craftsman in the cars.

I've got a little 12 volt air pump in each vehicle. Lots easier to air up a flat or low tire up when the need is apparent and later deal with the flat on my own time. Also an old cell phone with the 12V cord, they don't have to be activated to call 911 for an emergency or 611 and you can use a credit card to make a call that way with an unactivated wireless phone. A first aid kit, pliers, screwdriver, flashlight, rags, gloves, shoes, beer, gun, breath mints.

I think that was my wife's first husband!

And KY Jelly, tissues, condoms and a dental dam, for good measure?

We know you also have Bob's Emergency Animal Rental and the Nervous Sheep Ranch on speed dial.