RE: Road trip preperation?
 

Hehehe...He'll have plenty of room. Most of the smaller items fit into the sparetire well...even with a fullsize spare. I carry these items and then some, yet you'd never know most of them were in the car until I pulled them out.The cellphone, atlas, powerbars, blanket, some drinking water, and the flashlight should all secure easily within reach...in case he becomes immobilized in the driver's seat.That also brings to mind some kind of tool to cut through a seatbelt, if necessary. I usually carry a Leatherman multi-tool.This stuff doesn't take up much interior room either, if he has a seatback pouch, a center console, and a glovebox. Nowheredid I mention an alternator...hehehe. Carrying a spare alternator BELT takes up minimal space though. He also didn't say what areas he's travelling through, so I covered a lot of possibilities. There areplaces on this continentwhere that list would be bare essentials for someone unskilled insurviving adverse conditions. He could basically just make the trip with nothing but the clothes he's wearing and a pocket of cash, but that isn't exactly being prudent unless he's MacGyver.I didn't mention a first-aid kit because most people with sense would know they could use the blanket or clothing to make bandages in an emergency. A bee-sting and snakebite kit could behandy in an emergencyat a remote rest area though. I also didn't mention a fire extinguisher because most people couldn't use one effectively enough versus just getting the heck away from a burning vehicle.

Anyway...Being prepared couldmean the difference between waiting several hours forsomeone responsibleto find you, or being able to get underway in a few minutes on your own ('Tumbleweed blows under your car at 75MPH and takes out a perfectly good hose or belt. It can be a 10min fix or a several hour wait with a towing/repair bill to pay.). You'd be surprised at how many people I've pulled back onto the road over the yearswho didn't even have a cellphone or water handy after they slid into a ditch on someBFE highway. They were lucky they didn't get pinned behind the wheel or something. I possibly wouldn't have known to stop if they hadn't been flailing their arms by the roadside. There have been people trapped in cars for days at a time after they flew off the road. I think it's better to be prepared than to be a statistic, especially in the summer desert, the winter mountains, or even the banditoareas of Latin America.