12 Things to Have in Your Car, Whether It's you Daily Driver or Off-Roader

Introduction
    When it comes to things you should have in your car, many things may come to mind. From a first-aid kit to a multitool, the list is endless. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs, YouTube videos, and magazines all saying what they think are the best items to have in your car. Today, I'm throwing my hat in the ring and saying what I think you should have in your car.
For this blog post, I'll be splitting the list into two categories: daily driver and off-roader. The daily driver category will include essentials and high-priority items, while the off-roader category will feature less crucial, yet still important, items. I'm also going to talk about what you don't need, but everyone thinks you should.
Read This Section Before Continuing
    I know that this seems unnecessary, but I want to get this out of the way. Most cars come with a basic toolset, with things like a tire iron, screwdriver, etc. So before you go and buy anything on this list, make sure to check to see if your car already has it or if you already have it sitting in your toolbox. Now that we have this out of the way, let's dive in.
Category One: The Daily Driver
    This is for the car you drive every day. The stuff that, statistically, you're most likely to need the most. I'm going to start with the obvious ones and move on to some less obvious ones.

1. First-Aid Kit: This is something you should not skimp on, and should have readily available at a moment's notice. While you don't need a massive one, you should have one that is Red Cross certified. I would make sure you have gauze strips, various band-aids of various sizes, medical tape, nitrile gloves, tweezers, burn supplies, antibacterial ointment, small scissors, and antiseptic wipes/spray. I would also have pain medicine, aspirin, an emergency contact card, a tourniquet, and trauma pads. Now I don't have all these things in the first-aid kit in the Lexus, but I do have most of them. You should never have to use this, but it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. As an important note, for the tourniquet, and as a general good idea, take a Stop the Bleed and/or any other first-aid certification program. This should be the first thing you buy when getting a new car. Please, please, please, make sure you get a Red Cross-approved one, familiarize yourself with its contents, and make sure you can get to it rapidly, because if you need it, the odds are that every second counts.
2. Bluetooth Code Reader: This (on average) $40 part from Amazon can (and probably will) save you a lot of money in the long run. It may seem obvious at first, but the reason it's here and not in the prior section is that some people might just take their car to the shop if they feel something is wrong. I can attest to this personally. Just these past few weeks, I was driving "my" Lexus (two notes: the "my" is in quotation marks since it's my parents' car that they let me drive, and it's not a fancy Lexus. It's an '08 GX470), and I felt like it was having trouble staying up to speed between ~20 mph and ~50 mph. I was worried that something was wrong, and so my dad checked to see if it was throwing a code. It wasn't (it was just typical paranoid me), but it took less than five minutes, and he did it while I was driving the two of us home from church. That's how easy these things are to use. You connect it to your phone via Bluetooth, download a code reader app (there are tons of these on your phone's respective app store), connect the Bluetooth-connected code reader to the app, and see if there are any issues. Not only does this save you time, but it can also save you money in a twofold way. It saves you money from having to take it to a shop, and it can save you money if something is wrong and you catch the problem early on, before it does more damage.
3. Tire Pressure Gauge: Electric or manual, this will be a lifesaver for you, and your tires will thank you. Almost every car will alert you when a tire is low on pressure, but they might not tell you which one is low. That's where this sub $20 part on Amazon (unless you want a fancy one, which then it can get pricey, but one that my dad has is just under $30 on Amazon and can connect to an air compressor and can inflate or deflate the tire) comes in handy. The light goes off, you pull off to a gas station with an air pump, pull out this nifty little guy, find which one is low, inspect the tire, fill it up, and go on your way to your destination, a tire store to get the tire fixed, or you swap out the tire for your spare (which you check the tire pressure on using the guage) with (maybe) a little help from the next tool on the list.
4. Ratchet Wrench: This may seem odd, since most cars come with a wrench and a tire iron, but you might need this guy for more than attempting to break the nut on your tire. The most common wrench style in the tool set in your car will be a spanner wrench, which can be helpful in a pinch, but for making sure you get maximum torque, that dinky little guy isn't gonna cut it. I can assure you of this fact. Back in August, just after my family and I got back from a two-month road trip, I was going to my church to help out with summer camp prep. One major problem. The battery on the Lexus was dead. Not "just jump it" dead, but "time to get a new one" dead. So my dad, being the handy, super-duper awesome father he is, swapped out the battery. I drove to the church, no problems. Drove across the street to the church offices, no problems. But when I go to leave, the car doesn't start. Like, I turn the key and no "click-click-click of the alternator trying to start or do whatever alternators do or whatever that sound is before the engine kicks in. So I open the hood and pull out the Gooloo jump pack and jump the car. It then starts up, and I start to head home. As I'm driving down the road, something in my gut feels off, so I go to turn off into a parking lot when the car dies again. Mid turn. I try to jump the car, but it doesn't work. My brother, who was with me, went over to the car shop that's right by where the car died and got a better jump pack, which got it to the parking lot. I then looked at the cables, and the negative cable wasn't properly tightened, and when I tried to tighten it with the spanner wrench, I couldn't. If I had a ratchet wrench with the right socket, I probably could have fixed it and not had the whole fiasco. So, get a decently sized ratchet wrench with two or three sockets for common bolts on your car, and keep it near your built-in tool compartment or a spot you feel confident you will remember.
5. Leather Gloves: While mechanic's rubber gloves are good, I wouldn't want to be wearing them when changing a tire or having to do roadside maintenance in 10-degree weather in them. This is why I recommend a pair of good leather gloves. The leather can be pig, deer, or cow, and they cost around 10-15 dollars on Amazon. They last (almost) forever, and can withstand a beating. Again, using my dad as an example, his pair of leather gloves have been around for a while now and continue to absorb the beatings he throws at them while working on his '75 Bronco. The pair I have in the Lexus are great, and they are even designed for the cold with the insulation found on snow-proof/snow-resistant gloves and mittens. Some mornings when the steering wheel is freezing cold, I throw them on so I don't feel like my hands will go numb. Relatively cheap, long-lasting, and will withstand almost anything you throw at them.
6. Flashlight: This is great for looking in the engine bay, finding things that fell on the ground in the dark, or just looking around in the dark. A good small flashlight can cost around 10-20 dollars on Amazon, and can definitely be a lifesaver (or carsaver) in a pinch. I would get a rechargeable flashlight and/or a flashlight that has a magnifying ability. I would also get one that has a clip that can allow you to attach it to a baseball cap, so it frees up your hands.

    These are six things that I think everyone should have in their car, regardless of whether you are handy with cars or not. I didn't include an ice scraper since not everyone will need it, but if you live in a climate where ice/frost/snow is a possibility, having it may not be a bad idea. Some of these things could save your life or someone else's, so make sure you know how to use them, when to use them, and where to use them.
Category Two: The Off-Roader
    This is for the more serious drivers, those who will be going four-wheeling, camping, and/or overlanding. These are still things that you can consider for your daily driver, but might not ever be needed.
    Safety note: if you do go four-wheeling, try to go with at least one other person (they don't need to be in another vehicle, just with you so if something goes wrong, you have someone to help out), and if you do go alone, make sure you let someone know where you're going, how long you should be gone, when to alert people if you don't check in/show up.

1. Multitool: This is something you should not skimp on, either, since this can fit in your pocket, but potentially save your life. I would get either a Gerber or a Leatherman, and make sure it has a knife blade (serrated and spearpoint), a screwdriver, a bottle opener, and other standard multitool parts. This could help cut a rope for a sling, make a fire if needed, or unscrew a screw stuck in your tire, which could make or break your off-road trip. I was tempted to put it in the daily driver category, but I decided to put it here since it felt more appropriate.
2. Radio: This is not an AM/FM radio, but some kind of two-way radio. If you are in the backcountry, the odds of having cell service are not good. So, if you're going out, have a two-way radio, if you're certified, a ham radio, and/or a satellite radio, so you can communicate without needing to rely on cell service. This also allows you to communicate with the rest of the people in your group without needing to get out to talk, and you can ensure that everyone knows where to go.
3. Spare clothes: This is here for two reasons: in case you get really dirty and don't want to track that mess into the interior of your car, or if you end up stuck somewhere and end up needing to spend the night, and then you can change your clothes and not feel grimy. I would have, regardless of the season, a t-shirt, jeans, a baseball cap, a beanie, underwear, socks (make sure they are athletic or winter socks), and a hoodie. This makes sure you have layers, so if it gets cold, you can stay warm.
4. Blanket/Sleeping Bag: This one ties into the previous one. If you do end up stranded overnight, you can stay warm without needing to keep your car running. Get one rated for extreme temperatures, so you know if things go south, you can stay warm and not freeze. I would get one or the other, but having both is not a bad idea, since it allows for redundancy and can be another layer of warmth.
5. Entrenching Tool/Folding Shovel: For this tool, it seems frivolous until it isn't. You get stuck in the mud, lose traction, and can't escape from a spot, and you don't have traction boards. I would get one that folds up for compactness, and make sure it can lock into multiple positions for different uses. I would get one with ridges for cutting and a spike on the back for a quasi-pickaxe mode.
6. Air Compressor: An air compressor will allow you to refill a tire that may have developed a leak or puncture, letting you make it to a better area to swap out the tire or plug the hole. Make sure you get one that can run off of your car battery, but is still powerful enough to fill a tire. This goes great with number 3 from the daily driver list, especially if the gauge allows for inflation and deflation without taking off the hose.

    These are five things for your car if you go off-roading or four-wheeling, even if you're just going on easy routes that don't require precise tire placement or winching. While the odds of you needing these are slimmer than needing some of the things from category one, it's again better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Conclusion
    This list is not meant to be comprehensive or all-encompassing, but a starter kit for you to get ready. However, for the daily driver list, I would highly recommend and encourage the first-aid kit, a flashlight, and the code reader as the first three buys for your car. While I don't have everything on this list in the Lexus, I do want to get things on this list. I would also recommend creating a list of everything you have in your car (to a degree) and doing an inventory checklist every month at least to ensure that you are ready for almost anything, and the 5.11 Tactical motto encapsulates this idea: "Always Be Prepared".