I took a road trip this weekend to Kansas City. It was, yes, the 101^st Missouri Writers Guild conference, and normally a four-hour trip, but it got me to thinking.

Many, if not most, preppers have a BOB in their vehicles for those little emergencies, and a lot of “regular” people have at least a car-type emergency kit, which usually consists of some tools, flares, and maybe a blanket or some kitty litter in the winter.

Since we’ve spent so much time on the road the past year, I’ve been careful to keep our BOBs replenished and ready for almost anything:

Matches, knives, heat blankets, water, jerky, applesauce in a pouch (it sounds gross, and maybe is, but it was on sale), water bottles, and some granola and extra ammo. I also carry maps, very detailed ones, and a first aid kit, as well as all the car kit paraphernalia.

And of course, we had all our necessities in our luggage.

This is one of the simplest preps you can do, and it’s not just for SHTF. You could be a traffic jam, accident, overheated car, out of gas, or a flat tire—which we narrowly avoided on the return trip last night.

It goes without saying that you should ALSO know how to use these things, from maps to weapons to tire irons. And practice! The side of the road is no place to figure out what goes where and how to do it and what happens next.

Especially when you manage to wander around in a pretty sketchy area of a major city for twenty minutes or so, all in the name of “adventure!”