The Best Gear for Your Road Trips in 2024

Our original trip, in 2016, included 60 hours of researching and testing gear to take on the open road. We packed all of our top contenders into a Honda Fit EX and headed out on a four-day jaunt to determine what’s nice to have, what’s great, and what’s absolutely essential for your next road trip.

In 2020 we added a few items to help you adhere to safe-travel guidelines, and as those things will always come in handy during flu and cold season, we’re keeping them in the guide. We’ve also added several selections to take on challenging winter car trips.

After traveling for 1,500 miles, through four states and six national parks, we think we have a good grasp on what makes an excellent road trip. In addition to performing our own research and testing, we consulted with half a dozen engineers, mechanics, and other experts to bring you these picks. Our hope is that the recommendations in this guide will help you see more and explore farther down the road than you thought possible.

Below, you’ll find recommendations for cargo boxes, binoculars, coolers, emergency beacons, a first-aid kit, a folding blanket, an ice scraper, an instant camera, inverters for your electronics, a multi-tool, phone mounts, a portable jump starter, ratchets and tie-down straps, a road atlas, stain remover, a stowable daypack, sun shades, sunglasses, a tire-pressure gauge, a toolkit for cars, a travel game, a travel pillow, water jugs, windshield water repellent, wipes, and so much more. These items will help you have a successful road trip, regardless of region or weather.

However, even if you have the best gear in the world, it’s always best to address small problems before they become emergencies. That’s why we asked Christopher Smith, a veteran automotive journalist with a penchant for restoring fixer-uppers, to help us put together some advice on how to prepare your car for a trip. (And he lives in South Dakota, where things are spread out, so he’s always prepared.) We cover everything from checking your tires and dipsticks to knowing what you should do if your car starts smelling like rotten eggs for seemingly no reason.

This guide isn’t specifically geared toward families, though most of the picks would be useful to a family traveling by car. We do have guides to infant car seats, travel car seats, booster car seats, and water bottles for kids—all things that are of particular interest to families on the road.