Don't Get Stranded! Winterize Your Car's Emergency Supply Kit

The weather has been downright nasty this winter. Cars as far south as Texas and Florida have been sliding off the roads and New England is frozen solid. Not the best conditions for driving. You should always have road flares and spare tire, but now is a good time to winterize your car's emergency supply kit. Don’t get stranded out in the cold, follow the Scout Motto and “Be Prepared”.

Windshield Scraper

Duh…except for when you think about how many times you’ve had to scrape your windows with an old CD case. You’ll be ready for the next Bomb Cyclone with the Zeus + Thor Snow Bundle. It's a cool Quirky invention with a double-bladed ice scraper with an extending arm for hard to reach places.

De-Icer

Spray Prestone Ice and Frost Shield on your windshield the night before the big blizzard to make the morning dig out go a little faster. And if you forget, fill a spray bottle with two parts rubbing alcohol and one part tap water to create a homemade de-icer. Spritz this room temperature mixture on your frozen car to break up ice and speed up the cleanup. Just be sure to store it home and not in your car.

Portable Battery Charger and Jumper Cables

If you ever get stranded, you’ll be happy to have this Die Hard 950 Gold Portable Power Pack in your trunk. It can charge your car in an emergency and put air in your tires with its built-in compressor.

Portable Cellphone Charger

You don’t have to spend a million bucks to juice up your phone in a jam. The folks at Digital Trends offer up a few suggestions here. Our favorite is the BlitzWolf Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 for just $29.99. It charges your phone 400% faster than a conventional charger, and it's small enough to fit in your pocket.

Flashlight

Roadside emergencies never happen at convenient times. If your broken down on the on a cold dark night your cell phone flashlight might not cut it. If you need to check under the hood this UltraBright 500-Lumen Tactical Military Flashlight will light the way. You can find in the Popular Mechanics Shop for just $20.

Kitty Litter

Yes, kitty litter! Who knew? First take a deep breath and relax and don’t spin your tires. Instead try and get traction by rocking your car in the lowest gear with kitty litter poured under the tires. Add it to your emergency supply kit and store the heavy bag in the trunk of your car. The bag will add a little more weight to your vehicle and help you get unstuck.

This article was written and appeared on jkl@fakeemail.com. Grooming Lounge and our Founder, Mike Gilman, were quoted a lot, so we borrowed the article. Giving them credit -- hope it's OK.