The idea of water in canning jars seems to make sense.Do you think that there is any merit to putting the water through the normal canning process before storing?
Is this even possible? I seem to remember reading something about making sure to have large chunks of things when canning to avoid too much liquid due ot expansion. Would canning straight water blow up while canning?
BTW - I considered storing MRE's in the car trunk and perhaps have a couple in my get-home bag, but what I ended up for the main food source is those lifeboat cookies. They come in a nice brick and have a lot of calories. They are designed to be digested when you are not drinking a lot of water. They seem to be impervious to heating up in the car trunk.
The recent Wilderness Survival course that I took said that if your scenario is being stuck for two days due to a car break-down you do not need food and probably could even survive without water. The main worry in the short-term car survival situation is keeping your body temperature stable, i.e. warm in winter and cool in summer. A great book on this is "98.6 - The art of keeping your ass alive".
http://www.amazon.com/98-6-Degrees-Keeping-Your-Alive/dp/1586852345/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347024733&sr=8-1&keywords=98.6+degrees+the+art+of+keeping+your+as±+cody+lundin
Thanks for the book idea joe. I just downloaded my free sample. Gotta love kindle.
Looking back over this, there are a couple of things that I didn't add to the intial list, because they're generally in the front, rather than the back of the car.
- A spring punch - there's a video in the link that discuss the use and reasoning for having this. I keep it in case of becoming trapped in a submerging vehicle. The possible uses for emergencies are pretty broad.
- A Seat-belt cutter - Mainly for situations in which someone needs to be extricated quickly from a vehicle (car fire, unconscious victim, etc) these handy tools will help get the belt out of the way so you can save lives. Again, not a tool for "everyday", but for the outlying threats that we just don't see often, but have to be taken seriously.
Cheers,
Aaron
All good ideas from everyone. Aaron - someone put one of those spring punch thingies in my xmas stocking one year and it has been on my key chain ever since one of our ferries had a mishap where a car ended up in the water and people ended up dead! Here is what I (Miss Independent!) have done:
I have minimal storage capacity in my small home, so my vehicle acts as part of my storage for emergency stuff, acting as an always ready grab & go bag on wheels. I have a Yakima box on a roof rack; once used for skiing, it now does double duty for my camping gear and basic emergency supplies including a water filter. Just for fun I put in a collapsible fishing rod, (no gun, sorry folks - not gonna go there - at least not yet…) backcountry road maps for locations of great bug out spots such as rec sites on rivers or lakes. When I want to go camping there is much less to pack! There are always a few litres of water in Nalgene bottles, well rotated, as I use them to rinse off my kayak after use most weekends. I threw in a container of Vega One (see link) which will see me through for a few weeks with adequate nutrients in a SHTF scenario. All you need to do is mix it with water. It won't be gourmet eating but will get me the nutrients and energy I need. Matter of fact, there are usually 3-4 containters of Vega One in my deep pantry as they have a long shelf life and take up minimal space. When I use one I replace it and rotate. I usually have one at work too - great for those days when I need a boost and it is far better than going for coffee and a muffin - not that I am totally immune to that 
http://myvega.com/product/vega-one-nutritional-shake/
My next big security blanket is a GPS signaller. I do a lot of stuff by myself and there are a lot of deadzones for cells phones in BC. Best thing I ever did for myself to give me confidence to get out and about was to get one of these gizmos. It is with me all the time in either my purse or backpack. In an earthquake or some other emergency, triggering the SOS will send emergency personnel to the exact coordinates I am at. A great service for the price you pay for it! And peace of mind for someone like me who cannot call for help as easily as other people can.
I walk to work. My vehicle gets used so little that the spiders make webs on the side mirrors in between uses! LOL I therefore do not mind loading it with gear & and emergency things. Somehow, someway, that thing sitting in the driveway, ready to go, gives me an awful lot of confidence.
Jan
I just bought one of these. It seems to be a nice little tool, although a little bulky to carry as a knife.
It has a window punch, seat belt cutter, small light (intended to look at pupils of patients) and a knife.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085P4TWW/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1