A recent thread got me to do an inventory of my SUV's contents. Not pictured are a couple of flashlights, the ham radio (Yaesu FT-7800), a GPS (Garmin nuvi 660), a good set of 8x30 binoculars, two more liters of water, a repeater directory, and a farm jack (48" hi-lift).

Here's what the two rear pockets look like - a couple of chem lights for fast deployment, two quarts of water plus a nalogene bottle of water (for the dog). You'll see that I've got water stashed everywhere because I live in the desert. I change out the water about every month in use. The coldest it ever gets would be just barely freezing at higher altitudes and during those times I carry cold weather gear. Around my normal area of operations it rarely gets colder than the 50's.  





The car mats are heavy duty rubber and could serve as traction in loose (really loose sugar sand) if the BFG KM tires weren't already good enough. I have yet to find that loose of sand yet.

Next the Xterra has a pretty nice first aid kit in the back of the rear door. That's that "fashion" bulge you see on the back of the truck. I've added some anti-histamine, suntan lotion (desert thing), Bactine antiseptic, a lighter, mole skin, more water, some fuel gel, burn free, a CPR one-way valve, bandages, tape, and 4x4's, and some IB.



In the "trunk" there's enough room for a compact spare tire. This thing comes with a full-size below so I have no idea what they designed the stash area for .... except more survival stuff. There's a bunch of stuff in there - a bunch.



First I've got the "loose parts" for my hi-lift (so the truck fits in the garage with the jack on the roof), a remote control for my winch, a tree strap, an adapter plate to connect the hi-lift to the sliders on the sides (Wab-Fab Inc.), and a Warn rear tow point for my tow hitch.



Next there's four 3600 calorie food bars, more water (!), a boonie hat, a rated tow strap (20K), wet ones wipes, 10 more chem-lights, twine, two bungee cords, a cooldana (a bandanna with magic gel crystals inside), a BAS (big ass screw driver), a short 2M/430 MHz ham radio antenna, a 6-in-1 screw driver, an adjustable wrench, two survival foil blankets, VIP paper (toilet), two multi-tools, two lighters, lots of ear plugs (consumable item for when I forget them at a concert or at the range), a tee shirt, a rain poncho, a space blanket, a .45 (Springfield Armory Mil-Spec with Wilson Combat trigger/spring package), 21 rounds of .45 ACP 230 grain round nose, a pair of cheap binoculars, a micro fleece pull over (Old Navy but of course!) four more liters of water, another nalogen water bottle, a tiny shovel (need a bigger Glock type up on the roof!), a work light, and the genuine USN wool blanket on the bottom. Dang just noticed there are no candles in there ... anyone know of a candle which will survive 120 degrees?



For off road trips I plus this daily around town supply with the items below. I'll carry a compete camping gear set (stove, tent, sleeping bags, more water ...), toss on 15 gallons of fuel or water mixed in five gallon cans, and my big amateur radio antenna.





My handy air compress (Viair), an external air gauge, and some deflators (Staun). The Viair isn't the biggest but it's kept going, and going, and going on hot days when the Harbor Frieght made-in-China ones have overheated and thermaled off. Speaking of heat, the ammo can holds the air compressor as after filling up 8 to 12 tires the thing is danger melting plastic hot. When off road we air down from 36 psi to 18-20 psi. The deflators simply screw down on top of the valve stem and lower the presssure to 18 before automatically cutting off. Petty cool.



I also toss in a second "squad" first aid kit that I made up of parts. Rolled up the thing is about the size of a football. It hangs from a cargo hook on the roof of my truck - the red cross is visible through the window.



Unrolled you can read the labels on each pocket. I've tried to organize the thing logically. Tools up on top - knife, tweezers, flighter, mirror (self aid on eye injury), etc.



The thing hold a bunch of stuff. Top to bottom: top pocket fastest killers A (air way) and B (bleeding) = cuts/CPR: quick clot, bandages, ace wrap, antiseptic plasic no-stick banadge, plastic gloves, and CPR 1-way valve. Second pocket = foot injury: water (cleaning blisters/soothing feet/washing wounds), mole skin, blistex, antiseptic ointment, electrolyte powder, IB. Third pocket = burns/blunt trama = burn free spray and gel, hand warmers, biofreeze and three larger cold packets, and bug spray.



I also throw in my "auto club" tool kit.



Some hand tools: wire ties, soldiering kit (soldier and propane pencil), butt splices, electical tape, JB weld, spare fuses, adjustable wrenches, two types of wire strippers, more wrenches, a pair of lineman's pliers, a phillips, and two flat blade screw drivers.



And the bigger tools: metric normal and deep socket ratchet sets, small and large crescent wrenches, a camo tarp, two hold down straps (loose fenders/bumpers following an accienent), a folding four-way tire iron, a breaker bar, a BAH (big ass hammer), a steel rod (bend/beat parts back into place), a pair of gloves, and some bolts (rear leaf spring bolts).



I'd also have a handie-talkie (Kenwood 2M/220/430 MHz) along with my normal camping gear while off road. The idea if the truck got broke down/stuck beyond winch range is to call out on the truck's 50 watt ham radio or to hike up to a high point to call out with the HT - or last case, to take two quarts of water and the HT and hike to within range of a repeater or cell tower.

Outstanding setup Paul.  

Kind of surprised I didn't see a folder shovel but but figure its probably in that bunch of stuff.

As for the candle question, so far this was the third summer I have kept UCO candle lantern candles in my black Jeep GC and knock on wood they haven't melted yet.  I do keep them in a butt pack but nothing special.  

BTW, Just as an interesting tid bit.  This is one of the first posts where I think someone actually carries as much stuff in their SUV as I do if not more.  Looks like you are a little heavier on the first aid and tools and I'm a little heavier on water and food.  

Though I have a couple tow straps, I'm not really geared heavy off road.  Since we bought the little crossover, my jeep, thanks to its crappy in city mpg, is getting much less run time.  I plan to convert it more off road capable, this winter.  

Thanks for the thread, its timely for me and if you have any rough suggestions for what I intend it would be appreciated.

Tj

Paul,
Nice kits, do you keep the 1911 in there all the time?

Quoted: Paul, Nice kits, do you keep the 1911 in there all the time?

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

The holster might be nice. I carry one when I'm camping but around town it gets put into the pile-o-web-gear.

I'll have to watch that blow the tire back on the rim trick a couple of time before I'm ready to try it. I've heard of it done, just never seen it.

The camp gear contains wooden matches in a steel bottom cap of my lantern.

A tire puncture kit would be nice, need to add that.

Duct tape? I don't plan on breaking anything that easy ... (good idea thanks!)

Still looking for a good solid wooden shovel to put up in the roof rack.

One wheeling in the desert photo ...



Out by the Chocolate Mountain bombing range near the Mexican border.

Quoted: Excellent Post!  I have been ghosting this forum for a while now, and your post motivated me to register and say a big "Bravo"!

Welcome to the site. I was raised on Chicago's far south side suburbs (Chicago Heights) and even after +25 years in the Navy (mostly in California) I miss Chicago.

Quoted: holly crap that's alot of stuff!!! more wheelin pics!!

This weekend we're doing Anza Borrego this weekend - two nights and two full days of fun in the sun in California's biggest state park. We're right up against the Arizona and Mexican borders. Ought be lots of fun.

Quoted: great job. some recs for the overprepared (and overladen) off roaders: bolt cutters flares state atlas that covers fire roads gps bailing wire rope jackmate for hilift length of chain when using jackmate and hilift for handwinching

My GPS has even the jeep trails but I always carry a Delorme Atlas and Gazetteer and oddly enough ... I know how to read and use a map! (Boy Scouts)

What's a jackmate? ... off to Google.

I hope to never have to winch ... and never have to hand winch at all.

Most of my stomping is out in the desert where there's not a tree stong enough to help pull out a truely stuck truck. We go in groups and another truck is normally able to pull the first one out with very little effort - unlike mud sand doesn't create suction that holds you it and doesn't cling to everything making your truck hunreds of pounds heavier. None of our locked 4x4's have ever been stuck but we've had some troubles with 4x2's and even had a 4x4 without locker need a bit of a help. I pulled on a 4x2 and barely noticed that it was there - a few hundred pounds of pulling.

Bailing wire ... dang! Of course - gotta' aid some.

Thanks.

Cool Maasdam Jackmate!

My Wab-Fab works for adapting the flat Hi-Lift to the round sliders but doesn't re-inforce the pulling end. I was looking at getting the short pair of chains with hooks to grip the wheel spokes but went with the Wab-Fab instead.

I'm always adding to mine. The powertank was the latest. Looking for a small (but useable on a big truck) u-joint press next.   Hard to cover all the bases.

Quoted: On the newer EFI rigs, $100 worth of sensors could make the difference between driving home and getting a ride.

I've only had one O2 sensor fail on me in my life and the vehicle would still run. BTW, that $100 won't get you much of a parts stash, as I think I paid upwards of $60 for the O2.

A spare CPS is probably a good idea if you have a vehicle that is prone to eating them.

I do have a question for you though, my service dept guys are all kinda biased against Nissans for the most part (prolly because thats what they usually have to work on) and I can understand that ( I actually bought an '07 Ford Ranger FX4 Level II in the spring); so, what type, if any service issues have you have w/ your Xterra? how do the brakes hold up? Any tranny issues? Oh, and what year/model do you have? I know in 05 they started putting the 4.0 DOHC motor in them which has a LOT more pep.

The Xterra is a US built truck - Tennessee IIRC. I've got the second generation 2006 Off Road model. I've had the truck for 14 months and have just gone over 10,000 miles. I've had zero maintenance issues with the truck. There are two small issues that I'm having. Neither of which warrant a trip to the dealer.

First - when the truck is cool during the first 0-5 miles of driving when the transmission is shifting from first to second there is a small backfire that seems to be coming out from under the driver's foot. It happens once or twice a day and is just barely noticeable. If I were to guess I think there's a gasket not sealing on the lower flange of the catalytic converter. No one else seems to have this problem.

Second - I get a pair of indicator lights which go off when starting the car about once a month. They'll stay on as long as they want - minutes or hours, never longer than a day. I get the "slip" and "VDC" indicators. The first time they did this the truck was about a month old and I was on my way to my first off road trip with my club. The truck is not slipping and it feels that the VDC. There are others with this problem and their dealer visits as resulted in all kinds of service up to replacing the ECU. Most blame moisture - not my problem as when I swim the truck (+30 water crossing so far) the lights do not go on. They only come on when starting.

The brakes are doing well. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm replacing the pads and rotors way before I would if I was a on road driver. Creeping down hills means lots of break action - now cover the rotors with dirt and fine dust.

Zero issues with the drive train. Climbing the highway passes up and out of the Los Angeles basin the truck doesn't have to down shift to keep at 75 mph even loaded down with hundreds of pounds of gear.

The biggest problem I've read about is the rear differential shattering gears on the 2004 to 2004.5 year. The Dana 44 is a known item but Nissan made some changes to make room for the electical locker.

I'd buy this thing again, no doubt. I run it thing pretty hard, most people aren't going to be swimming 24 inches of water nor climbing 45 degree slopes with the thing. I understand that the cost of that is more wear and tear ... so be it.

Quoted: Consider purchasing a cam/crank sensor, maybe an O2 sensor, etc.  And ensure that you have the tools to make the swap.

We had a guy with a 2001 truck loose his Mass Air Flow sensor and the thing would only go into the limp mode limiting his RPM's to just 2000 which ain't enough to get the truck up and over the hills and mountains! One guy in the club had a ScanGauge II which would reset the ECU's error and allow the guy to get about 60 seconds of power before it would throw code again. We connected the thing up and his girl friend just cleared the code as fast as it would pop.

We found that the wires connecting the MAS to the ECU had been streched and broken by his aftermarket air filter housing. Because of where the wires were broken we needed to soldier them and didn't have a pencil out there. We do now. I carry butt splice connectors and a small propane powered pencil.

I spent three days off road this weekend with the truck - needed some of my kit including some of the newly added duct tape! One of the guys air matress got a hole and needed a bit of duct tape to patch the thing - it held over night.

One of the wives needed some non-asprin pain reliver - so I came up with two different ones.

A guy got a flat tire and needed a 4-way to break the wheel lugs. When the dealership puts on the tires they use a pretty strong air tool which torques the lugs down so tight that the cheap 45-degree angle wrench doesn't cut it.

Good times!