Outfit your vehicle for emergencies on your first overland adventure

Let’s talk about how to make your vehicle ready for emergencies on your first overland adventure. When new to overlanding, you should plan on doing either day trips or short camping trips to get started. I’ll write a separate article soon which covers how to find and choose your first overland route. For this article, let’s say you will likely be driving on the interstate for an hour or more and then driving on a gravel and/or dirt road to your destination. 

Use what you have already

What supplies should you bring in your vehicle for this trip? If you have seen photos of built up overland vehicles, it would be reasonable to think you might need to go out and buy a ton of gear like mud terrain tires, traction boards, fuel canisters, farm jack, light bars, the list goes on. While that gear can certainly help for certain situations, they are not required for every adventure and may not even make sense for your particular situation. Instead, I would advise you to try and see what you already own and use that until you have some experience and have a better understanding of what you need and can prioritize upgrades to your needs. 

I'll provide a list of my recommendations with example links, but feel free to substitute with whatever you already have on hand. When I ventured out on my first overlanding day trip, I grabbed a shovel and spade from my garden shed and I ended up using both. Eventually I replaced them with more compact versions that were better suited for the task, but my point is that even though I didn't have the perfect gear, I had enough to safely venture out into the outdoors.

Bring the 10+ essentials

Since you will be traveling into the backcountry, you should be bring your ten essentials pack along with you. I covered the ten essentials in my previous two articles, part 1 and part 2. Beyond those, you can think about adding some redundancy to your vehicle. Perhaps you have heard the phrase "Two is one and one is none". When planning for emergency situations, having some planned redundancy can help ensure you have the supplies when you need them. Since you will be storing the redundant items in your vehicle and not carrying them on your back, you can pack larger versions such as a more expansive first aid kit. Having multiples of items like your emergency blankets, water storage, and food reserves are useful in case you have passengers as well.

Refer to the manual

There are hundreds of car manufacturers and thousands of car models that have been manufactured. Each model is unique in its own way and can also be differentiated by trim levels and owner modifications. I cannot possibly advise you on how best to maintain and diagnose issues specific to your rig. That's where the owner's manual comes into play. Make sure this is always available in your vehicle so that you're prepared to handle any error messages that may arise. If you want to be extra careful, you might be able to find a PDF version of it online and download that to your phone or tablet as a backup. The manual is likely larger than you have time to read the entire document, but I recommend at least flipping through it to get an idea of what topics are covered. You might be surprised what's in there, such as tips on how to get unstuck by airing down the tires and using the floor mats under the tires to gain traction.

Jump that dead battery

There are several possible issues that could cause your vehicle to become immobilized. One of the most common is a dead battery. The electric starter needs to draw power from the main battery in order to crank the engine. If you have a vehicle with a manual transmission, you might be able to start the engine if you are on an incline by bump-starting the engine with the clutch. However, that's not a reliable solution, but rather just one option to keep in mind. I have always carried jumper cables with me. These can be a life saver if there is another vehicle around to "jump" you. 

The obvious downside to jumper cables is that it requires another vehicle to recover you. For this reason, I believe a portable jump box is best because it contains a lithium battery which allows you to jump yourself. If you have room, I think it's still a good idea to carry cables with you as well though in case your portable jump box is not charged or fails. Carrying backup cables also gives you the capability to jump others without drawing power from your jumper box charge.

Fix that flat tire

Another common failure you might run into is a flat tire. Ideally you have a full size spare in case you run into an issue where a tire cannot be repaired. Generally the manufacturer will include all of the tools necessary for switching out the tire within the vehicle. You should make sure that all of these tools are in tact and do a dry run of removing a tire and the spare so that you are familiar with the process. Your owners manual should contain instructions on how to complete the task. Typically it will involve a jack to lift your vehicle and a lug wrench to remove and fasten the wheel lug nuts. Gaining that knowledge in a comfortable setting will provide you confidence when you have to do it in the field. 

While having a spare tire is ideal, you can do a lot of repairs that do not require switching out the tire at all. In every scenario where you repair a flat tire, you will need to add air back into the tire. The easiest way to do this is to have an air compressor available. This is a critical tool that not only allows you to fill your tires to their highway air pressure, but also gives you the flexibility to air down the tires to match the trail conditions. I will cover that in a future article. For the purposes of a filling a single flat tire, you can get away with a small compressor that is powered by the cigarette lighter outlet if you already have one. Otherwise I recommend getting a higher output compressor that connects directly to the battery terminals. You can find the manufacturer recommended tire pressures in the owners manual and often within the driver doorsill. While your air compressor will have a pressure gauge on it, it is also helpful to have a separate air pressure gauge on hand for quick checks when you suspect your air tire may be low. 

If your tire has a small leak, you might be able to fix the leak by using a sealant filler. This is a relatively painless fix that should allow you to get back to civilization to get the tire checked out by a professional. If you have a larger puncture from something like a screw that cannot be fixed via the sealant, the next option would be to remove the object and plug it with a tire repair kit. While shoving a rope into a tire sounds like a precarious fix, they are surprisingly robust and can get you back to safety if you are familiar with the process of the repair. As with the sealant, this is not a permanent solution, so you should visit your tire shop to have the tire repaired or replaced by a professional as soon as possible.

Prepare for the unexpected

There are a variety of other problems that could arise, so keeping some general repair supplies and gear in your rig could mean the difference between a minor hiccup and a major headache. Most emergencies that disable your vehicle will be happening roadside, so inattentive drivers might be a risk. You can help mitigate this risk by drawing attention to yourself via hazard lights. You might already have a multi-tool in your ten essentials kit, but it doesn't hurt to keep one in your rig as well. It not's as good as a full tool set, but can serve to help with repairs in a pinch, such as pulling out a screw from your flat tire. If you have a broken window, a trash bag and some duct tape can help keep the weather out. In an extreme scenario, you may need to cut your seat belt and/or break your window. An escape tool specifically for this task could mean the difference between life and death. In many instances, you should distance yourself from a car fire. However, if you're in the backcountry, you might risk causing a wildfire, so a fire extinguisher could save an entire region.

Get unstuck

Leaving the pavement for gravel and dirt roads leads to the possibility of getting stuck. I recommend you avoid low traction terrain like mud, soft dirt, sand and snow for your initial outings because they can be extra challenging for newcomers. However, it doesn't hurt to be prepared for these conditions because you may find yourself dealing with them unexpectedly. Using the capabilities of your AWD or 4WD drivetrain might solve most stuck scenarios, it won't solve all of them. 

As I mentioned earlier, airing down your tires can help you gain traction because it elongates your contact patch with the ground. You should only do this if you know what you are doing, however. I will cover this topic in a future article because there are some considerations at play, such as low profile tires, which may not make this option viable. In most scenarios you should be safe to air down 10 psi from the highway pressure to gain some traction. To air down, you can use something like a stick or pen to push in the valve to release air, but a dedicated tire deflator will speed up the process. 

Adding some traction below the tire can help if airing down did not do the trick. This can be in the form of nearby branches, your vehicle placemats, or the best case would be traction boards. If you are stuck up to your vehicle's frame, you can try to dig out from underneath the center of your vehicle with a shovel or whatever you have on hand to clear the sand, dirt, or snow. If you can not self-recover and have rated recovery points on your vehicle, a kinetic recovery rope and shackles can be connected to another vehicle's recovery point to pull you out of your obstacle. There are a lot of physics involved in these recoveries, however, so I would advise against using them unless you and/or your recovery vehicle operator are familiar with them and know how to use them safely.

The last resort

If you find yourself in over your head, there are groups able to help you out. If you are a AAA member, you can get assistance through them on paved roads. Your insurance or credit cards may also provide towing support. If you have none of these, there may be local off road recovery groups in your area. Facebook is a good resource in finding them. If you are located in a western US state, this site has a list of groups. Generally the groups will have the name of the state with "offroad" and "recovery" or "rescue" in their titles.