Survivor McGyver- Car

The ones on our 2011 Dodge truck are plastic too. The little bitty bulb inside is glass sure, but the surround is plastic.

 

BTW, this reinforces my decision to ship a bag to my destination ahead of time and have it waiting for me. I carry more than that minus the knife if\when I fly and then having the remainder of my kit available shortly after landing is nice. Yes, it costs money but not much more than an extra checked bag and just about anything short of a firearm can be shipped.

Getting stuck in unfamiliar territory in an unfamiliar vehicle with no tools...no thank you.

 

2005 Ford Explorer - glass
2014 Dodge Ram 1500 rental (other car is in the shop) - plastic
2008 Chrysler Town & Country - glass

ETA - I was wrong about the RAM

 

Well I don't know about the rest of you guys but when I rent a car I'm cheap so it's generally a compact. Camry, Fusion, a horrible little Mazda once, Corolla. They beez plastic.

 

The only reason we got the truck as a rental was that was all they had that would seat 4-5 and the warranty company is paying for it (and they capped it at $40 a day as a full size).

Spring break is not the time to have an emergency car rental.

 

Not me, down here it's a drop top and beach bound baby!!

 

So we have established that rental cars suck and are cheap.

But there has to be other things that could be used for survival purposes if the great flash happens. I am curious what else can be taken off a car and used in case of emergency.

 

Car Lust: How to Polish your Glass Headlight Lenses, Step by Step

Some are, and some are not glass.

 

2007 H3-plastic
2003 Dodge 3500-plastic
1999 Dodge 3500-plastic
1995 Dodge 3500-plastic
1989 Corvette-ALL PLASTIC

 

Even plastic would carry your water. And UV to purify.

 

Okay, I had only looked at the RAM, went out and tapped and it's indeed plastic (know the other two are glass as I've replaced bulbs in both).

@kellory - depending on what was plastic and how it was shaped, yes I can see it being used. I the case of the Ram I'm renting, it's just a piece of slightly curved plastic over the front. It looks like the backing is plastic as well and they are not "of a piece" but two separate pieces that wouldn't do much good in this instance. Now my Ford and my Chrysler are both basically big closed bowls with a hole where you put the bulb in so yeah, those would work dandy.

 

Disconnect the battery leads first.

 

So that is the way to get the bag out without injury? BTW- is the bag plastic? Could it be used as a tarp/poncho?

 

What are Vehicle Air Bags Made from?

 

Would be in a nightmare if caught away from home with "nothing". Reality has enough to get back home. Like all the hints on retrieving goodies from the junk rental--"gud thunkin". Visions of that "bathroom trip" still haunt me--lol.

 

So upon research there are tarps made out of airbags but there are pellets inside that make it deploy so I would use it inside out. So IMO the airbag is a must take so it can be used for shelter, poncho and also you could use it to collect water this way. I think it is called a condensation trap.

@Yard Dart I thought about the mats and trunk liner for warmth. The only downside I see is that they would not compact and be easy to carry.

 

Airbags are vented to inflate quickly. And deflate quickly. You could use it to deflect water (rain) and to fill a container. But unlikely that you could carry water in it like a bag. As a shade it would do fine, but they are not really that large.
Rather than remove it with tools I don't have, I would look for the pendulum switch that causes they to go off, and trip that if there is enough battery juice left. If not, I'd leave it alone. They can hurt you bad.

Airbag prank gone horribly wrong: