Don't leave home without it!

While I don't like playing master of the obvious, here's a tip I didn't think of until I got stranded. I was in New Jersey, 30-40 miles from the Bronx when my vehicle dropped its muffler..I don't mean a clean break, which would have done me a favor, but the exhaust pipe severed from rusting through and the muffler was dragging, still hanging from the clamp.  Man, I thought, a roll of duct tape would sure come in handy right about now.  I called AAA...a tow back home would have set me back around $150 but I lucked out in having two large garbage bags in the back which I rolled up and used to tie the hanging muffler to the underside of the vehicle, not to the hot broken end of the exhaust pipe, mind you. All this in a raging thunderstorm with traffic whizzing by on the interstate. I had never thought to carry duct tape in the vehicle..I carry a roll on my boat...and duct tape in the car has a number of uses, not just on a dropped muffler.

Good story...

Send it to the magazine and if they use it you can win $100.00....

I have several good rolls of duct tape I keep in the house, car ,van, boat, and garage.

Everyone should make up a safety kit for their vehicles.

This is a really nice story, I'm glad you've made it. I've always had a set of different useful things in my car - from the more popular screwdrivers to large sized plastic bags (they are always useful when you go somewhere and you discover that you don't know where you are going to put trash). I'll add duct tape on the list as well.

The Tape idea is terrific, but they do make a special heat proof tape for muffler repair which can come in handy for other hot items as well. Duct tape is great all you need is a small roll . Thanks for the heads up. 

That was a good presence of mind I must say. Good that you succeeded The duct tape is indeed a useful tip. I am definitely going to add this to my kit.