6 Harbor Freight Finds You Should Keep In Your Car At All Times

As you travel in your car, you know what kind of unusual happenings might befall you at any moment. Every road has its quirks, after all — driving up north could have you run into an ice storm while driving down south could leave you stranded in intense heat, just to name a few extremes. For these and other reasons, you should always have an emergency kit in your car, even if you consider yourself a generally safe driver.

A proper emergency kit contains all the usual suspects, like a fire extinguisher, jumper cables, and portable battery, not to mention weather-specific utilities for winter. However, you might want to consider adding a few other odds and ends to your kit, all of which you can purchase either online or locally from Harbor Freight. A hardware store might not be the first place you'd think to look for emergency travel supplies, but you'd be surprised what you can turn up for less common situations.

Quite possibly, one of the most miserable circumstances you can ever find yourself in is being stranded on the side of the road in the middle of a howling rainstorm. Getting caught with a flat on the highway is bad enough, but if it's raining out, it becomes much more difficult to take care of it yourself, at least without catching a nasty cold. To that end, you need a discrete and convenient means of rain protection in case you need to brave the storm.

Harbor Freight offers the Emergency Rain Slicker from Western Safety. This compact poncho can be folded up enough to be stored safely in your glovebox. When you need to stay dry, just unfold it and slip it over your head for protection. It's long enough to keep most of your upper body covered up, and the hood even has drawstrings to ensure the rain can't slip under. In case your accident occurs at night, the Emergency Rain Slicker is colored a bright yellow to ensure nobody misses you.

You never quite know where you'll have to stick your hands in the event of an automotive breakdown. You might need to pop your hood to check your engine or battery, or maybe you'll need to unscrew and remove a flat tire. Whatever case you're in, none of them are situations you want to tackle bare-handed. In the interest of both safety and efficiency, you should always keep a pair of sturdy work gloves in your car.

If you want work gloves, try Hardy's Hi-Vis Polyurethane-Coated Work Gloves at Harbor Freight. These sturdy knit gloves keep your hands warm and protected while locking out any loose dirt or debris you come across. More importantly, they're dipped in polyurethane to create a reliable, non-slip grip that helps you maintain your grasp on the situation, no matter how wet or oily things get. These particular gloves also feature hi-visibility coloring so you can see what you're doing and so others can see you.

To nobody's surprise, the surface of an average road isn't safe to be crawling around on. Cracked pavement can catch joints and digits, and loose debris could cause potentially serious injuries. If an errant wood screw on the road can give you a flat tire, imagine what would happen to your knees if you crawled over one. In the event you need to get low to the ground to repair a disabled vehicle, such as to remove something from the undercarriage, you'll want a little extra protection.

Visit your local Harbor Freight for a pair of Hard Terrain Gel Knee Pads from Ranger. These comfortable pads feature a combination of heavyweight nylon, EVA foam padding, and a soft gel core to provide comfort and protection on even the roughest terrain. The quick-release straps help you to snap the pads on quickly and adjust them to your proportions, while the adjustable buckle holds them firmly in place no matter how much you jostle them.

It's anyone's guess how involved a repair job could be when your car is in trouble. You might be able to get the matter settled in a few minutes, or it could end up taking much longer than that. If you're going to be working for a while, you're going to want to set up a sign for passersby, something that both signals your presence and informs everyone that you're not just loitering at the side of the road for fun. For this purpose, a traffic cone works best, though a full-sized cone can be a bit unwieldy to keep in your car. Luckily, we live in an era of portability.

For your compact emergency sign needs, Harbor Freight offers the Collapsible Reflective Emergency Cone from Western Safety. It may seem like a small rubber square at a glance, but pull on the center, and you have a 15.5-inch traffic cone ready to inform onlookers. The cone is composed of a combination of polypropylene and polyester, making it sturdy and naturally weather-resistant. Of course, as any traffic cone should be, it's a bright, distinctive orange, paired with a built-in reflector to maximize visibility. When you're done with it, it collapses and fits neatly in a seat-back pocket. 

Cars have a variety of safety features designed to prevent or minimize injuries in the event of a sudden accident, including seat belts and airbags. Unfortunately, these safety features, while vital, can't always prevent injury entirely. If you and your passengers are in an accident, someone may need emergency first aid to tide them over until they can get properly checked out. This is why a first aid kit is an absolute must in your car's emergency kit.

For such instances, Harbor Freight offers the 10-Person First Aid Kit from Western Safety. This convenient case contains 116 medical tools for first aid situations. It has everything you could possibly need, from adhesive bandages to cold compresses to antiseptic wipes. As the name implies, this kit has enough materials to treat around 10 people, so even if you use some of the supplies, you can keep the kit on hand for future incidents.

If you ever transport oversized objects in your car, such as a canoe or bicycle, a built-in storage rack may not always be enough. You never know what kind of jostling your car will experience out on the road, after all, and the last thing you want is your probably-expensive large items flying off on the highway. To ensure you can always lug something large at a moment's notice, keep a pack of fastening cords stashed in your trunk.

Harbor Freight is an excellent choice for fastening in the form of Haul-Master's Ratcheting Tie Downs. These thick nylon cords are designed to hold up to 400 pounds in place without ripping or tearing, while the oversized plastic grip handle allows you to ratchet them to your preferred tightness with minimal difficulty. The S-hooks on the far side of the cords are also vinyl-coated to ensure they're weather-resistant and won't scratch your car's paint.