In Your Vehicle:

Some ideas for the road

Vehicle Precautions:

• Have a full tank of gas and refuel if possible just before you go off-road.
• Vehicle should be in good running condition - this sounds so obvious, but recently I was with a person that had engine warning lights flashing on his dash the entire time he was driving.  We were lucky as it easily could have been a recipe for disaster.
• Good tires are a must - Desert roads can tear up tires in no time.
• When living in the desert, the batteries in your vehicle are only good for about 2 years.  Don't get stuck because of a dead battery.
• Have good spare tire and extra gas.  Traveling back roads drops your gas mileage dramatically.

Vehicle Security:  The days of "all off-road people" being good guys are long gone.  There are enough not-so-nice guys running around on the back roads that you need to be aware of what is going on around you.  Thieves are targeting trail heads for vehicle break-ins and thefts.  At a trail head there are usually other people around to assist you in case of an emergency, but when you are 20 miles from the nearest road, up a dry wash, in the middle of nowhere, you are usually on your own.  A few things that might be of help:

• Locking lug nuts to help prevent loss of tires
• Locking gas cap - My jeep did not have one so I got an after market cap
• Locking hood latch - Jeep Wranglers do not have locking hoods.  I purchased an after market latch after I came back to the jeep and saw two ATV'ers stopped at the jeep.  It may have been an innocent rest stop for them, but I was not willing to take a chance on losing my battery.

Obviously if they are intent on doing damage to your vehicle, there is nothing you can do to stop them, but at least you can slow down or deter the average thief.

Vehicle Supplies: Some of the things you might want to keep in your vehicle in case of emergencies:

• Spare gas
• Spare water
• Hi-lift jack
• Spare tire - If you have a locking lug nuts, verify that you have the lug/key/whatever you want to call it in your vehicle
• Spare keys
• Shovel
• Tow strap
• Jumper cables
• Flashlights with spare batteries
• Emergency flares
• Tool kit
• Duct tape
• Trash bags
• Change of clothes
• First Aid kit - Take a basic First Aid course

 

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