Don’t leave home without taking these items when you explore remote mountains. This is the bare minimum gear I carry in my truck each time I venture into the wilderness.
Words to the wise
Vehicle Recovery is VERY dangerous. You can EASILY kill yourself or someone in your crew. Do NOT attempt a recovery without training and NEVER EVER EVER pull someone out with a ball hitch. I recommend you learn how to PROPERLY recover a vehicle or better yet, hire someone who knows how to do it safely should you need.
Mechanic Repairs I can complete some pretty major repairs with the kit I have in my vehicle but would be too much to explain all the tools and supplies in my complete kit. There’s enough supplies should you have a MINOR problem to fix it. I HIGLY recommend you familiarize yourself with basic maintenance of your vehicle before you hit the trails. You don’t want a small problem like a loose radiator hose you could easily fix on your own, to cost you over a grand by the time you have professionals come to fix it. Learn a little about mechanics before you hit the trail.
Water I carry ONE GALLON of water per person. It seems like overkill but this is the Sonoran Desert. People frequently DIE from exposure here. I also pack electrolyte packets which are (1) VERY tasty (2) boost energy and (3) help if you’ve flushed your electrolytes out; pretty common occurrence here as we don’t realize how much we sweat.
Click to watch video
I’ve been exploring the remote mountains here for a good seven years or more now. Since I’ve hand build my truck I take and arrived at a good kit to stay safe should anything go wrong.
This is the bare minimum I recommend taking on the trail
- Working spare tire, tire iron, and jack
- Spare serpentine belt
- 4 quart jug of of automatic transmission fluid
- Portable Air Compressor
- Fire extinguisher (two is better than one)
- Tire Plug Kit
- Pressure Gauge (included in tire plug kit above)
- Jumper Cables
- Vise grips
- Multi-bit screwdriver
- Multitool
- Spot X (Satellite Communications)
- CB Radio (this one can be used stand alone)
- CB Antenna (make sure tall enough to reach above your roof)
- You’ll need a spring and mount for antenna
- OR just get VOX Push to Talk Radios
- Water Jug
- Pedialyte Electrolyte Powder
- Shovel
- Gorilla Tape
- Notepad & pen
- Mechanic’s Gloves
- Construction garbage bag
I’ve provided links above. They are affiliate links which pay me a pittance if you use them. However, more importantly hopefully they make it easier for you to see what I’m talking about.
I show the Garmin InReach in the video as that’s what I have but to be honest, I don’t like it. It’s awesome to have a built in maps, however, my cell phone has better maps. My biggest complaint is the keyboard on the Garmin InReach is impossibly hard to use. I’ve only ever sent one text in 6 years as a result, and only to test if the device worked. I’m considering selling the InReach and going to the Spot X linked above instead.
I also purchased my water jugs at Wal-Mart. I don’t recall it being as expensive as on Amazon so you may like to check that out as well.
Emergency Medical Kit
I travel in remote areas. It can EASILY be hours before emergency responders may reach us. Likely we will have to rescue / stabilize ourselves until they can arrive. For this reason I carry a medical kit. This kit has basic comfort items such as Band-Aids, ointment, allergy & pain pills, etc. and more importantly rudimentary trauma supplies to control more severe bleeding.
I HIGHLY recommend somebody in your team be trained on how to use these items. I’ve VERY basic knowledge of how they work. Hopefully I never have to use them. However, having them makes the difference between life and death should we have a problem.
Questions
I hope to see you on the trails someday! There’s a contact box below for you to share your questions with me. I’d love to help you out and hear what your thoughts are on exploring!