Packing with No Wrinkles???

[Syv]

whew! this topic could go on forever...

I keep a blue recycle bin in my car trunk with all the usual vehicle necessities (that you never need 'cause you HAVE them with you - You always end up loaning your jerry can or booster cables to someone ELSE!! Murphy's Law).

This last trip to Europe was the first and only time I haven't thoroughly planned to the minutest detail everything I needed to pack. We had been overly busy at work and plans to get away early or at least half-decently somewhere near 5 p.m. any day in the couple weeks prior, just was impossible.
Ends up I dashed home with 45 minutes to spare until I was supposed to be on the way. I was throwing things out of the closest into a bag in the last half hour with folks standing in my living-room waiting to take me to the airport.
Surprisingly... I found once I arrived in Munich that I had not forgotten anything, and amazingly enough my clothes were the least wrinkled of many well planned packings.

:-)

[AZBuck]

Full Circle - Very Nice!

AZBuck

[Mark Sedenquist]

...amazingly enough my clothes were the least wrinkled of many well planned packings.

And the world keeps on turning...

Mark

[PNW Judy]

I try to get people here, in southeastern PA, to take things more seriously, and I get called "Eeyore." Siblings tell me that whatever happens, happens. Sigh.

Yeah, I've been told I'm being a negative person for wanting to be prepared. It's silly, isn't it? It's not like I go around scared all the time or thinking everyday about how I'm gonna get wiped out. It took little time to put the bags together. They sit in the trunk. When we turn the clocks ahead and back for daylight savings time, it's my cue to rotate the food/drink items out and replace with fresh ones. That's really about the only time I even think about the whole deal....except, of course, when conversations like this come up.

Take care!

[Mark Sedenquist]

They sit in the trunk. When we turn the clocks ahead and back for daylight savings time, it's my cue to rotate the food/drink items out and replace with fresh ones.

That is a great idea as a memory cue. I will have to adopt that one. About the only problems I have with my trunk gear are:

I tend to forget what I have in there and when I pick up someone at the airport, there is no (or very little) room in the trunk (or the boot) for their bags. I guess I just need a larger trunk!

Mark

[PNW Judy]

You just need to tell 'em to take the bus! LOL

[Mark Sedenquist]

I keep a blue recycle bin in my car trunk with all the usual vehicle necessities (that you never need 'cause you HAVE them with you)

That is exactly why I carry tire chains 365 days a year. I hate putting them on and I know that if I always carry them, the appropriate weather gods will conspire to ensure that I never need them. I also always carry 2-3 extra jackets -- friends never seem to remember them and I hate to see folks shivering...

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

The PowerTank looks cool. That bears further investigation.

Craig, I had Del Albright, the RTA off-highway expert, report on his experiences with the PowerTank. His article is online here.

Mark

[findapath]

Digging up this old thread, pulled from a link from the Blitz Drive thread. Wow, I'm totally showing my n00bness here. I moderate/administer a few other Off-Road and Truck/SUV based forums, and it always drives me crazy when some new guy comes along and digs up a thread that has been lying dormant for ages. LOL. Anyways....

In RE to the PowerTank, I've got several friends who have the PowerTank brand and they love it. I have a similar concept, but it is not the PowerTank Brand. I made my own CO2 system using a CO2 welding tank (can be purchased for less than $80) and regulator (I got mine on eBay for $30), and an inexpensive Air Fitting kit from Home Depot ($25), and a 50 foot, coiled air hose ($10), and a mounting bracket for a 10lb CO2 tank from PowerTank. The PowerTank hard-mounting brackets will secure any 10lb (5lb, 15lb, or 20lb) CO2 tank, since they are a universal, standard size. I bought a used bracket on eBay for $5, a little bit of spray paint, and it was as good as new and ready to mount in the back of my truck.

Here's a picture of my CO2 setup. This was before I bought the correct bracket. A buddy of mine had that one and gave it to me to use until the right one arrived, because I was going out 4-wheeling that weekend, and needed to mount the CO2. Oh well.

I also have a hard-mounted, 12V air compressor in the spare tire well underneath my truck. I have a 5-gallon air tank that stores air at 125PSI regulated by a pressure switch mounted under the truck as well. The air tank goes into a manifold and has three outputs. Two are regulated down to 90PSI to run ARB Air Lockers in my front and rear differentials (don't have the front one yet, but the air is there for it when I get it!), and to a quick disconnect as a backup air source to the CO2. The CO2 is much faster than the Compressed air. My Air Compressor is a Viair 450H, with 100% duty cycle at 100PSI and 4CFM of output. I can also use the third output to run air tools if I need it.

I'm currently living in Phoenix, AZ (seems like there are a lot of us here!), and I do a lot of desert 4-wheeling. I need to be prepared for anything. Here's my overall, worst-case, back-country preparedness list....careful, it's long.

- On Board CO2 air source
- On Board Compressed Air Source
- 2 Full Size Spare Tires
- Hi-Lift Jack with front, rear and side jacking points thanks to receiver hitches and Rock Sliders.
- 2 5-gallon NATO gas cans
- 3 Fire Extinguishers (One on the passenger's A-Pillar, one mounted by the liftgate, and a mini-extinguisher under the hood). I check/refill/replace every Solstice.
- EMT Bag with small oxygen tank for assisted breathing in poor air situations (i.e. forest fire)
- Full set of metric and SAE hand tools
- Assortment of air tools
- CB Radio with NOAA Weather Radio and Weather Alert
- 5m HAM Radio
- 2 FRS Radios
- 2 GMRS Radios
- Pre-paid cell phone with backup charger (in case regular cell phone doesn't have service, I have a backup on a different network)
- Power Inverter
- GPS
- Regular Cell phone
- 7" Buck Knife
- 4" folding knife
- Other means of protection from unsavories or wildlife
- Firestarters
- Windproof/waterproof lighter
- windproof/waterproof matches
- at least 6 road flares
- citronella candles (mosquitos LOVE me)
- Emergency candles
- Emergency cash
- Large Ziplock bag with dry clothes
- JetBoil compact cooking stove w/ extra cans of fuel(heat and food)
- 1 Gallon Jug of filtered drinking water
- assortment of non-perishable food
- assortment of spare truck parts (belts, hoses, alternator, water pump, thermostat, etc)

Then of course there is the rest of the spare truck parts that could break while I'm off-road, and all the camping stuff on top of the fresh food and clothing and what not.

Here's a link to a picture of my truck on the Kane Creek trail in Moab, UT. :)

[Mark Sedenquist]

In RE to the PowerTank, I've got several friends who have the PowerTank brand and they love it.

I use mine pretty often as well. Nice pricing on the self-made version!

I also have a hard-mounted, 12V air compressor in the spare tire well underneath my truck. I have a 5-gallon air tank that stores air at 125PSI regulated by a pressure switch mounted under the truck as well. The air tank goes into a manifold and has three outputs. Two are regulated down to 90PSI to run ARB Air Lockers in my front and rear differentials (don't have the front one yet, but the air is there for it when I get it!), and to a quick disconnect as a backup air source to the CO2. The CO2 is much faster than the Compressed air. My Air Compressor is a Viair 450H, with 100% duty cycle at 100PSI and 4CFM of output. I can also use the third output to run air tools if I need it

.That does sound like the hot set-up. I have a back-up air compressor too, but I only use it when I want a good excuse to sit around and look at the sky for a hour or so....

I'm currently living in Phoenix, AZ (seems like there are a lot of us here!), and I do a lot of desert 4-wheeling. I need to be prepared for anything.

That is a good list one I may "borrow" from.

3 Fire Extinguishers (One on the passenger's A-Pillar, one mounted by the liftgate, and a mini-extinguisher under the hood). I check/refill/replace every Solstice.

That refil date on the Solitice is really good. I hate to think when I last refilled those extingushers....

Thanks again for the ideas!

I re-wrote and organized the material in the original Blitz post here.

Mark