Emergency Kits, Traction & Recovery
What to Keep in Your Car in Winter
Fourteen items, grouped by the problem they solve rather than by aisle. Most of them you already own and have left at home.
Three problems, in order of likelihood: you cannot see out, you cannot move the car, or you cannot leave it. The first two are equipment problems with cheap answers. The third is a warmth problem and it is the one people are least prepared for.
You cannot see out
Far and away the most common winter car problem, and the cheapest to solve.
- An ice scraper. In the door pocket, not the trunk. The trunk is not where you are standing. The picks are here.
- A snow brush long enough for your roof. Fixed for a sedan, telescoping for anything taller.
- De-icer spray. A small can that fits the door pocket, for the mornings when ice has bonded and a blade skates across it.
- Winter washer fluid with a printed rating. Not summer fluid, which freezes on the glass at speed and cracks the reservoir in the tank. Rated fluids here.
- A microfiber cloth. For interior fog, which no amount of exterior scraping helps with.
You cannot move the car
- Jumper cables or a jump pack. Cables if you always have somebody around; a pack if you do not. Keep a pack in the cabin, not the trunk.
- A folding shovel, as long as your trunk allows. Length is the whole specification - it decides whether you dig standing up or kneeling in slush.
- Traction mats, in a pair, 39 in or longer. One under each driven wheel, long enough to give you real momentum.
- A tire gauge and, ideally, a compressor. Pressure falls roughly 1 psi per 10F drop, so this gets used on ordinary cold days rather than only in emergencies.
- Chains, only if you drive posted chain-control routes and only after checking your owner manual permits them.
You cannot leave the car
This is the section prebuilt kits ignore, and it is the one that matters most when it matters at all. If you are stopped for three hours in the cold, none of the equipment above helps.
- A real blanket. Wool or fleece, not a foil sheet. Foil blankets are better than nothing and considerably worse than a blanket.
- A hat and gloves you are not currently wearing. Spares, in the car, permanently. Most heat loss you can do something about is at the extremities.
- A phone power bank. Charged. A phone at 4 percent is worse than no phone, because you believed you had one.
- A flashlight with its own batteries. Not your phone torch, which is draining the thing you need to call for help.
- Water and food that survives freeze-thaw cycles. Nuts, energy bars, anything that does not mind being frozen solid and thawed repeatedly.
- A reflective triangle and a hi-vis vest. So the people who come to help can see you, and so nobody hits your stopped car.
Do notrun the engine for heat without checking the exhaust
If snow is banked around the car, the tailpipe can be buried, and exhaust gas then finds its way into the cabin. Carbon monoxide has no smell and the first symptom is drowsiness in a warm car. Clear the pipe before every restart, and crack a window slightly while the engine runs.
The complete list, in one place
Check it in October
A kit you have never opened is a hypothesis rather than equipment. Once a year, before the cold arrives: test the flashlight, charge the power bank, check the compressor works, replace expired first aid consumables, and confirm the food has not gone through two summers.
Do it at the same time as the rest of the pre-winter pass - the full checklist is here. And if you would rather buy most of this in one order, prebuilt vs DIY sets out what a bundle does and does not get you.
What to buy, and what to skip
We haven't tested these
No lab, no borrowed units, no free samples. What we did do: pull every published spec into one table and work out what the numbers mean on a cold morning. Everything below traces to a published spec sheet, a manual, or a standard we can point you at - and if a figure isn't published, we say so instead of estimating it. The full method is here.
Heads up: we earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you. It never changes a ranking - here is how we pick and how the site is funded.
1. Covers most of the list
Car Emergency Safety Kit with Digital Air Compressor and Detachable Snow Shovel
The compressor is the piece that earns its place every single winter: tire pressure falls as temperature does, and a low tire in the cold is the most common thing that goes wrong.
Best for: Cold-morning tire pressure
What the maker publishes
- Includes
- 92 items per the listing, with a digital air compressor
- Cables
- 12 ft, 8 gauge
- Snow tools
- Detachable snow shovel and snow brush
- First aid
- Included
- Compressor rating
- Not published by the maker
What works
- Publishes its cable gauge - 8 AWG at 12 ft - which almost no bundled kit does
- Air pressure drops with temperature, so the compressor gets used on ordinary cold days rather than only in emergencies
- The shovel and brush make it a genuinely winter-specific kit
What doesn't
- 8 AWG is fine for a car and marginal for a big truck
- The compressor rating is not published, so how fast it inflates is unknown until it arrives
- 92 items always includes filler - count the ones you would actually use
Skip this if: you already carry a compressor. You are paying twice for the most expensive item in the bag.
2. For cannot start
NOCO Boost GB40 1000A UltraSafe Lithium Jump Starter
The one most people should buy. 1000A, rated to 6.0L gas and 3.0L diesel, and small enough to actually live in the glovebox where a jump starter is any use.
Best for: Most gas cars
What the maker publishes
- Peak current
- 1000A
- Engine rating
- Up to 6.0L gas, 3.0L diesel
- Jump starts per charge
- Up to 20, per NOCO
- Safety
- Spark-proof connections, reverse polarity protection
- Extras
- USB-C power bank, 100-lumen LED with seven modes
What works
- Small enough to store in the cabin, which matters because a jump starter in a cold trunk is a jump starter with less charge
- Spark-proof and reverse-polarity protection turn the scariest part of jumping a car into a non-event
- Doubles as a power bank, so it earns its space the other 364 days
What doesn't
- Lithium cells lose deliverable current as they get cold, which is exactly the condition you bought it for - keep it inside, not in the trunk
- NOCO does not print an operating temperature range on the listing, so check the manual for your climate before relying on it at 0F
Skip this if: you drive a diesel truck. 3.0L of diesel is the published ceiling and a cold diesel is the hardest thing on this list to crank.
3. For cannot move
JOJOMARK Tire Traction Mats, 2-Pack, 39 in
Two 39 in tracks is the sensible default. Length is what matters: a short mat gives one wheel rotation of grip, which is often one rotation short.
Best for: Most stuck cars
What the maker publishes
- Length
- 39 in each
- Quantity
- 2
- Surfaces
- Snow, ice, mud, sand
- Load rating
- Not published by the maker
- Material
- Not published by the maker
What works
- 39 in gives more than one wheel revolution of grip, which is usually the difference between moving and digging deeper
- Two mats covers the two driven wheels, which is what you need on a normal front- or rear-drive car
- Works in mud and sand too, so it is not a three-month-a-year purchase
What doesn't
- No published load rating, and load rating is what stops a mat folding under a heavy vehicle
- No published material
- Mats fire out backwards under a spinning wheel - stand clear, always
Skip this if: you drive something heavy. Buy mats that publish a load rating.
4. For digging out
BirdRock Home 34 in Folding Emergency Snow Shovel
34 in of aluminum shovel that folds. Length is the whole story with a car shovel: a 16 in tool means kneeling in the snow, and 34 in means standing up.
Best for: Actually digging
What the maker publishes
- Length
- 34 in extended
- Material
- Aluminum
- Folds
- Yes
- Blade width
- Not published by the maker
- Weight
- Not published by the maker
What works
- 34 in lets you dig standing, which changes how long you can keep going in the cold
- Aluminum does not go brittle the way cold plastic does
- Folds down for a trunk, so the length costs you nothing in storage
What doesn't
- No published blade width, and blade width decides how much you move per stroke
- Aluminum blades dent on gravel and buried curbs
Skip this if: trunk space is genuinely tight. A short shovel you have beats a long one you left at home.
Questions people actually ask
What should I keep in my car in winter?
A scraper and brush, de-icer, rated washer fluid, jumper cables or a jump pack, a folding shovel, traction mats, a real blanket, spare gloves, a charged power bank, a flashlight, water and a reflective triangle. Most of it you already own.
What do most people forget in a winter car kit?
The warmth items. Prebuilt kits are good at roadside equipment and almost always omit a real blanket, spare gloves and a charged power bank - which are exactly what matters if you are stopped for three hours rather than three minutes.
Is a foil emergency blanket good enough?
Better than nothing and considerably worse than a wool or fleece blanket. Foil reflects radiant heat back but does nothing about conduction or wind, and it is uncomfortable enough that people stop using it.
Should I keep a jump starter in the trunk or the cabin?
The cabin. Lithium cells deliver less current when cold, and a pack that spent the night at cabin temperature performs noticeably better than one that spent it at outside temperature in the trunk.
Is it safe to run the engine to keep warm if I am stuck?
Only after checking the exhaust pipe is clear of snow, and with a window cracked slightly. A blocked tailpipe pushes exhaust gas toward the cabin, and carbon monoxide has no smell - the first symptom is drowsiness in a warm car.