Christmas Gift Ideas: Car Survival Kit

Published on December 9, 2016 in Blog by Marc-André Gauthier

Don’t look now, but it’s the holiday season again. It seems like we just finished paying last year's bills and, lo and behold, you can't go into a store without seeing Santa Claus or twinkling lights. It’s enough to make you wonder: "What am I going to give for Christmas?"

For those of us living in the Western world, the holiday season usually involves buying at least some gifts. Even if you don't exchange presents with your immediate family, there's a good chance that you’ll end up buying a thing or two for friends or coworkers as part of a gift exchange.

This year, forget about funny mugs and fancy tea collections. The mug will end up hidden at the back of the cupboard and you can bet that tea lovers already have something similar to whatever you’ve bought. The item will probably be re-gifted over and over again.

So, why not give something useful for drivers? But what to give?

As surprising as it may seem, especially when you consider the number of cars on Canadian roads, very few people have a vehicle safety kit.

What’s in an emergency kit? It depends on where you drive (people in Nunavut don't have the same needs as drivers in Montreal) but certain basic items tend to be included in most kits. For example, living North of the 49th parallel dictates that a small shovel is a must, whether it's for digging out of a snow bank or in case you slide off a side road.

Besides the shovel, think road flares, bandages, etc. Fortunately, there are relatively inexpensive preassembled kits out there. And who knows? Maybe your gift could save a life some day!