Coming prepared can change a catastrophic, day-ruining event into just a minor inconvenience. This list of things to bring is intended for both organizers and cruise members.
Roadbag
A decent bag the size of a duffel manages to hold quite a lot. Here's mine and a list of some of the items.
- Work Gloves
- First aid kit
- A selection of basic hand tools
- Sockets
- Wrenches
- Drivers
- Zip ties
- ODB2 Scan tool
- Spare fuses
- Jumper cables
- High visibility jacket
- Foldable traffic triangle
- Microfiber towels and washing fluid
- A change of socks
Instrumentation
These should be accessible from your drivers seat.
- A working speedometer. You need to know how fast you are going. Is your speedo accurate and how accurate is it up to what speeds?
- Walkie Talkies or Communication Radios. Cellphones run out of power and service. Dedicated radios are essential for drives in Northwest Nevada. I have the Cobra ACXT1035R but there are lots of other affordable options available on Amazon.
- GPS or physical maps if you have them (you can usually pickup physical maps for free at any visitors center, Home Means Nevada Co. always has some on the back wall too). Don't get lost!
- Radar detector. Just to help remind you there are consequences to speeding.
Note: Counter measures are strictly forbidden, un-acceptable, and prohibited as they are illegal.
Car Mods
Bought or built, you may want to consider the following modifications depending on your cars attributes and your abilities.
- Summer Tires - Having tires made out of a sticky compound with a good contact patch is probably the best bang for buck upgrade out there.
- Stiffer suspension (Coils, Springs, Rollbars, Bump-stops) - Whatever helps you keep it between the lines.
- Performance oriented brakes (steel braided lines, bigger or slotted or drilled rotors, good compound pads) - 10 to 20 minutes of heavy breaking is different from just driving around normally. Brakes slow you down by converting motion into heat. If they get too hot then they can't do their job anymore, resulting in unexpected loss of the ability to slow down or stop.
- A rollbar - worst case is if the car flips. With this installed you get to walk away alive.