The McGuyver Road Kit

[Nikas Zekeval]

(Might turn this into a guide, but throwing a few things out for now)

If you are a packrat, like me, and want to loot things to the ground in Perpetual Stability zones, or just drag large armored car parts back while still in the outer zone, space is at a premium. Especially early game when you are still trying to unlock side racks and storage.

Not helped by the long list of suggested and nice to have things for leaving the garage. Especially if the situation never comes up requiring you use some or any of it. However you do have a craft mat, and can make things on the road, which leads me to the McGuyver Road Kit. The stuff to take to make sure you can make everything you'll need.

Yes, you can find things out in the zones, maybe. But do you want to be frantically scrambling around for that last bit of cloth to make a medkit while soaking in the rads?

The suggested "get into everything including trouble" road kit is as follows. This is limited to things that can be done solely with the craftmat in your car.

Kits- Stackable in groups of 3, single use items save Repair Putty.
Medikit- Yeah, the Zone is rough, including your car when it rolls back over you. Literal life savers.
Mechanic's Kit- Might not need it much, but remember your left front wheel when you arrived?
Sealing Kit- Alternate to a spare tire, or keeping stuff from leaking in a cracked window.
Electrical Kit- For fixing shorted car parts, or opening shorted keypad doors. Research Required
Battery Jumper- The Bunny might keep going and going, but you lights and such won't forever without one.
Repair Putty- All purpose fix it material.

Tools- Non-stackable, variable size. Lost after a certain number of uses.
Prybar- The Zone Skeleton Key.
Scrapper- If you can't pry it up, chop it into lootable sized pieces.
Impact Hammer- When you need to knock really loud.
Relightable Flare- It's dark out there, and there are worst things that Grues in the shadows.

I've split the material list into three categories, Recommended, Cautious, and Paranoid.

Recommended:
Duct Tape- The Handyman's Secret Weapon
It has a light side, a dark side, and may not hold the universe together, but can do so for nearly everything else. NASA sent this stuff into space where it saved two Apollo Missions. If it's good enough for NASA it's good.

More relevantly for you Driver, it is used in several items, the First Aid Kit(4), in a pinch you can use it to make crude car parts. Which are better than nothing. Throw a stack of twenty into cargo before you leave.

Uses- First Aid Kit(4), Mechanic's Kit(1), Sealing Kit(2), Prybar(1), crude car parts (varies).

9v Batteries and Copper Wire- It keeps going, and going, and going out
You can't have one without the other, and is your portable power to recharge your car, open a code paneled door, or get any light better than a basic flare or your headlights.

Take at least a partial stack of each, Driver. Or you might find the parts you need behind a door you need an electrical kit to open. Or be scrambling in the dark or in the dim glow of a flare while trying to find them.

Uses (Battery/Wire)- Battery Jumper (4/2), Electrical Kit (1/2), Relightable Flare (1/1)

Electronics- American Components, Russian Components. All Made in Taiwan!
Less common, but scrapping computers and maybe other electrical appliances can drop one.

Use- The finishing parts of the Electrical Kit and Battery Jumper, you just need one for either, but do you want to be scrambling early only to find it behind a door you can't unlock?

Gas Cylinder- I'll huff and I'll puff
You only need one for a new Impact Hammer. And while they might pop up randomly from a friendly dumpster or pneumatube, the reliable place to find one is in hazardous material cabinets in ARDA trailers.

Only not every hazmat cabinet has them, and again you can easily find yourself needing the part to get through the door to get it. Stuff one or two into cargo, just in case.

Use- Only the Impact Hammer (1), but if you need it, you will feel the lack.

Cloth- Of course it's sterile!
In the garage, useful for blueprints and outfitting station upgrades to your personal gear. In the field, it's bandages. If you hunt through boxes and bags, but it takes four cloth to make a single Medkit. Don't be left scrambling a partial stack of a dozen along with a full stack of duct tape is three medikits in the same room, plus tape left over for other kits.

Use- Medkits (4), but when you need some, you really need it.

Flares- Come on baby light my fire
Basically some in any trunk you pry open, taking these with you is partially inventory management. But a partial stack isn't out of place for making sure you can make relightable flares.

Also handy as an emergency light source if nothing better is immediately available, and useful for tourist popping to get thermosap. Or you can craft an emergency headlight with them.

Use- Relightable Flares (2), Crude Headlights (5), farming Tourists for Thermosap (1, burning down).

So seven 2x1 items, which is just under four kits in room.

Cautious:
For when you are less confident in sourcing material in the field, or just expect to be short on time and don't want to waste any.

Chemicals- Better Living Through Chemistry
Outside of a friendly dumpster, tourists lobbing it at you, or other lucky find, only seen in ARDA trailer hazmat cabinets. If you find a trasmuter that gives it and have the time, trade up for them.

On the road, needed for repair putty, but given its relative rarirty, I'd consider this worth packing a couple premixed buckets, in case you find one in your looting, at your garage.

Use- Repair Putty (2)

Rubber- Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball
One of the other two components a Sealing Kit, pack a partial stack if you are worried about not having a handy tire to scrap in a pinch. Throw in a partial stack if you're worried

Uses- Sealing kits (3) and crafting a Spare Tire on the spot (4)

Glass- Break in case of emergency
Relatively common, in doors and containers. The final part of the Sealing Kit, and used in Repair Putty and Crude Doors. Same as others on this list, if you feel the need bring a partial stack, fine. If not there are a few things sure to give some.

Uses- Repair Putty (2), Sealing Kits (1), Crude Doors (2)

Paranoid:
Metal and Plastic- Please remember to recycle
Common material, just take a scrapper to nearly anything. Or take a peak into most containers while looting an abandoned home or ARDA trailer. Often a byproduct of getting to the electronics, batteries, and copper wire of anything electronic you scrap. Not hard to hunt down really.

Just know what car components produce what. Crude can drop metal, plastic, duct tape, and glass for doors. Better ones will just metal, sometimes in plates, along special material needed for their resistance, such as thermosap from armored parts.

Tires besides rubber will drop plastic for spares, metal for Summer and Off-Road.

About the only supply concern is to make sure to hang onto enough to rebuild any worn out tools. Getting into a "I need the material to get the material" situation for this stuff is embarrassing.

Uses- Prybar (4/0), Scrapper (3/6), Impact Hammer (9 metal only, 6 for Gears), Repair Putty (2/2), Mechanic's Kit (3/1), Relightable Flare (2/0), Crude Parts (Varies)

[Gwen]

The Anchor Radar when there is anchor obfuscation, do you know if the radar works. I have completed the game and I still do not know. I tried once but not much time since it was closing. I did not get any signature of the presence of anchors.

[Nikas Zekeval]

Originally posted by Gwen:

The Anchor Radar when there is anchor obfuscation, do you know if the radar works. I have completed the game and I still do not know. I tried once but not much time since it was closing. I did not get any signature of the presence of anchors.

You can't craft an Anchor Radar in the field without upgrading the craftmat to a basic workbench. That is also why I left things like the plasma charger, Liberator, and hand-vac off the list. All require more than the basic craftmat to make and that was a limit I stipulated when putting this list together.

[Gwen]

Originally posted by Nikas Zekeval:

Originally posted by Gwen:

The Anchor Radar when there is anchor obfuscation, do you know if the radar works. I have completed the game and I still do not know. I tried once but not much time since it was closing. I did not get any signature of the presence of anchors.

You can't craft an Anchor Radar in the field without upgrading the craftmat to a basic workbench. That is also why I left things like the plasma charger, Liberator, and hand-vac off the list. All require more than the basic craftmat to make and that was a limit I stipulated when putting this list together.

It is fine. I just wanted to know if the Anchor Radar works when there is anchor obfuscation because I still do not know.

[Nikas Zekeval]

Originally posted by zen:

should probably consider making this a guide so people can see it for more than one 1 day.

I'm seriously considering it, just putting it up here for some initial feedback first.

[Deftallica]

This is very helpful, especially for someone like me who justr started. Thanks for putting this together

[AshHinton]

This very useful, thank you. I assumed the coded locks on Arla trailers needed a code I would either find or not find at some point, never thought to try jumping one with an electrical kit.

Definitely make this a guide, someone else mentioned put the tyres on last to get the full protection of the panels. If you’ve just fitted a better panel in the garage take the tyre off and put it on again - might be worth adding.

[Nikas Zekeval]

Originally posted by AshHinton:

This very useful, thank you. I assumed the coded locks on Arla trailers needed a code I would either find or not find at some point, never thought to try jumping one with an electrical kit.

The electrical kit doesn't get you through all code pad doors, just the ones which are broken. Which are shown by them sparking. If the pad is intact, you can't get through this way.

Definitely make this a guide, someone else mentioned put the tyres on last to get the full protection of the panels. If you’ve just fitted a better panel in the garage take the tyre off and put it on again - might be worth adding.

I didn't make it (posted the guide already) for a general tips list, just was offering it as an alternative packing list for a trip.

[KnownUnknowns]

Good advice.

Learned quickly to carry base items rather than crafted stuff, Saves lots of space.
Common stuff like scrap metal, might not have time scavenge in a hurry.

I carry a stack of each common base item for stuff that can be crafted and a few things that cannot be crafted (with the un-augmented crafting mat).

[Burning like KELT-9b]

canned food is far superior than medkit and MRE is a joke. you can stack 10 canned food for half the space of medkit and MRE while at the same time significantly more abundant than both.

all you really need to stock up first are scrappers because you effectively can save space by crafting anything else along the way. remember that crude parts drop plastics and duct tape instead of just scrap metal and metal sheet plates from steel parts; which would mean its better to just scrap crude parts to get the early materials you need.

if youre using offroad tires then its not much of a problem to let the tires go flat or even blown out; the tires still retain decent grip and you definitely can manage it. different story if its loose though, better fix it quickly or the tyre may fly on its own.

quickly upgrading your personal radiation resistance will make the game significantly easier; most of the time the only thing that would consistently kill you/damage your car would be radiation.

honestly, on early game its more recommended to just push the story further so you can get to middle zone as possible to get the marsh eggs for crafting blowtorches. managing putties is always the bane of newer players including me back then.

[Nikas Zekeval]

Originally posted by Hugh Erick Sean:

canned food is far superior than medkit and MRE is a joke. you can stack 10 canned food for half the space of medkit and MRE while at the same time significantly more abundant than both.

But you can't make canned food. The closest you get is running across a transmuter in the zone that will give food for whatever.

The focus of this draft, and the guide I posted based off it, is substituting raw material and on the spot crafting of needed survival supplies rather than filling up cargo space on "I might need it" pre-crafted gear. Stuff you find in the Zone, or spit out by the garage friendly dumpster are bonuses.

In terms space efficiency? For twice that can goods cargo space, I can have 20 rolls of duct tape and cloth, and make five medkits, with a combined 250% health boost.