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The best car emergency kits for winter and travelling

• Be prepared for emergency situations
• You could be of assistance to someone in need
• Basic kits aren't expensive when they could save you in the snow

Written by Aaron Hussain Updated: 7 February 2024

Buying car emergency kits is a little like arranging car insurance. You hope you never need it, but it’s good to know that it’s there as part of your winter car checks. It’s also fair to say that you can only really judge the quality of a car emergency kit when you absolutely need it. And when the UK is hit with a cold snap which can be followed by sudden snow, the necessity for such a kit only increases.

An emergency kit is designed to sit in your car boot and should contain everything you need to stay safe in the event of an accident or breakdown. Don’t confuse emergency kits with first aid kits. Some emergency kits include them and turn your car into an emergency response vehicle. But emergency kits are primarily for breakdowns rather than injuries.

There’s nothing that exciting about a car emergency kit. They’re designed to stay in the boot, ready to spring into action in the event of a breakdown or collision. It’s the kind of product you don’t want to use, but you’ll be glad it’s there if you do. Don’t expect the individual items to offer longevity or be fit for heavy-duty use. They’re mainly designed to get you out of trouble should, for example, you get stuck during a heavy snowfall. If you lose control after unexpectedly coming across black ice, some of the equipment may save you in the aftermath.

The best car emergency kits at a glance:

Editor’s choice: Roadside Assistance Car Emergency Kit Buy now from Amazon UK
Best on a budget: TourKing Emergency Kit Buy now from Amazon UK
Best for winter: Xtremeauto Cold Weather Kit Buy now from Amazon UK

By their nature, these kits are designed to be small, portable and affordable. Buying individual items of higher quality is an alternative route, but you will pay more, and they’re likely to take up more space in the car. So here are some of the kits that we liked.

The best car emergency kits

Editor's pick
Price: $33.95
Although the kit comes in a compact and stylish zipped bag, it's not short of equipment.
The pack contains a first aid kit, reflective warning triangle, safety vest, pair of gloves, tow rope, safety hammer with a seatbelt cutter, LED torch, adhesive tape, raincoat, tyre pressure gauge, screwdriver, jump leads and an emergency blanket.

Pros

  • Covers most bases
  • Compact bag

Cons

  • Some products feel cheap
Best value car emergency kit
This AA kit includes everything you're likely to actually use or need in a roadside breakdown. In addition to the usual collection of a high-vis vest, warning triangle, jump leads etc., you get a tyre inflator and a tow rope. The AA provides good gear, so we can recommend the tyre inflator and the tow rope is rated up to two tonnes.

Pros

  • Comprehensive kit
  • Useful emergency tools

Cons

  • No emergency blanket
Best budget emergency car kit
This is one of the cheapest car emergency kits you can buy, so it's ideal if you're on a tight budget. This kit comes in a colourful bag with a reflective strip, so you're unlikely to lose it on a dark night. Why do breakdowns tend to happen at night and in the rain?

The pack contains jumper cables, a reflective warning triangle, a tow rope, a four-in-one flashlight, a pair of gloves, a safety hammer, a poncho, and a reflective vest. There’s no first aid kit, so this will need to be bought separately.

Pros

  • Affordable kit
  • Lots of equipment

Cons

  • No first aid kit
Best value winter emergency car kit
Price: $33.76
So, it pays to be prepared. Along with the snow shovel, this pack contains a safety vest, LED torch, and foil blanket. Curiously, for a winter pack, there are no gloves, so we’d recommend sticking a pair inside.

You may also want to carry a hat, coat and some chocolate bars. Good luck resisting the temptation to eat the choccies on the way home from the office.

Pros

  • Ideal winter driving kit
  • Contains snow shovel

Cons

  • Shovel is quite small

Best kit with a fire extinguisher
This kit from Evaq8 comes in a sturdy bag with a velcro strip on the back which allows it to be attached to any carpeting in your vehicle - very handy to prevent it from sliding around the boot. This kit is ideal for those emergencies that you'd rather not encounter, but you'll be glad you are prepared if you do.

Among the items included are a warning triangle, first aid kit, emergency blanket, safety hammer, torch, hi-viz vest and a powder fire extinguisher.

Pros

  • Includes a fire extinguisher
  • Emergency foil blanket included

Cons

  • No repair tools included
Best winter emergency car kit
During snowfall, the likelihood of a car getting stuck only increases. Xtremeauto offer a kit which can help in such situations. You get a tow rope, a set of jump leads, a head torch, a snow shovel and a foil blanket. It's ideal for continental winter drives as well since some countries require you to carry around a high visibility jacket- which is included in this kit.

Unfortunately, you don't get a first aid kit which is a bit of a miss in what is already a fairly comprehensive kit.

Pros

  • Tow rope included
  • Foil blanket and shovel in the pack

Cons

  • No first aid kit
Most comprehensive emergency car kit

Rrp: $39.99

Price: $37.48
Sailnovo specialises in outdoor equipment from roof bags to car covers. But they also produce this emergency car kit which has a plethora items within the package. We just find it a shame that a snow shovel isn't included in this pack.

You get all sorts of items including a torch, first aid kit, tow rope, jump leads and a plethora of other useful things needed if you find yourself in an emergency situation. The build quality of the equipment is not high, but you can't expect things to be made like a Swiss Army Knife in an emergency pack at this price point.

Pros

  • Very comprehensive level of equipment
  • Compact enough to hide away in the boot

Cons

  • No snow shovel included

Things to remember with car emergency kits

The RAC advises a list of things which should always be in your car. Most of them are things which should already be in your car at the time of purchase, a useable spare tyre, a tyre jack or a user’s manual, for example. There are also many things on the list which you’ll likely have in your car like sunglasses, an umbrella and, in the colder months, a jacket. However, we won’t all have things like WD-40, a tool kit or first aid kits. These may seem like overkill, but they could help save your life or someone else’s if there was an accident – which is more likely during cold snaps.

It’s always important to have fresh drinking water in your vehicle, and if you know you’re going to be going off somewhere remote, it’s probably a good idea to take some non-perishable food, just in case. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have a good old-fashioned A-Z under the passenger seat. Smartphones are great, providing you have signal, data and battery. But a paper map just might help get you out of trouble.

Be aware that if you do go for a kit that doesn’t include certain items, it may be a good idea to make up for it with separate items which you may have on hand. These include torches or shovels. Also, take care when travelling abroad, as you might need to invest in a European driving kit. A GB sticker, breathalyser kits and a fire extinguisher could be required, depending on your destination.

Aaron Hussain is a commercial content writer at Bauer Media writing for Parkers and CAR. He is obsessed with classic cars and anything with a fascinating story to tell.

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