Top-5 Outback essentials

Travelling by road in the Aussie Outback is one of the most enjoyable activities you’ll ever do, but things can go wrong very quickly when away from civilization.

Having some basic equipment (and knowing how to use it) can make the difference between minor irritation and major disaster out in the scrub.

Even though you’d be hard-pressed to drive for more than 10 minutes without seeing another vehicle on main routes like the Stuart Highway during peak season, during shoulder season or on quieter roads you could be stuck for hours if not days before another vehicle turns up.

The gear we’ve listed is for main road touring – for off-road bush travel, you’ll need to take a lot more gear, for example off-road recovery equipment, a tyre puncture repair kit and an additional spare tyre. It also goes without saying that you should allow for adequate food and water in case you become stranded, and never leave your vehicle if you strike problems.

UHF radio and/or Satphone

You can’t rely on your mobile phone to call for assistance when you’re travelling in the Outback, as there are many areas where you'll have no mobile reception.

The best thing option is a satellite phone; this will provide phone reception anywhere you have a clear view of the sky (and the satellites). However, satphones are expensive to buy (although you can rent them) and call rates are high. However, they're a good investment if you will be travelling for long periods on remote bush tracks.

A more cost-effective back-up to a mobile phone for on-road travel is a UHF radio.

Ideally you’d get a 5 watt (the maximum power permitted for UHF radio) in-car unit with a co-ax aerial mounted to the roof of the vehicle. However that’s not always possible, and a hand-held UHF can still be an effective comms device.

Because two-way UHF radio works by line-of-sight, a 5 watt hand-held radio might get you up to about 5km range (don’t bother with a 0.5 watt or 2 watt hand-held). If you’re on a hill, that range might rise to about 20km.

Using the UHF in duplex mode (using repeater towers), you might extend your range up to 70-80km, although you can’t rely on it.

Use channel 5 or 35 only for emergencies, channel 19 for caravanners and channel 40 for communicating with truck drivers and wide-load operators. Make sure you read up on UHF use and practice with it before you head out bush.

Full-size spare tyre

A full-size spare tyre should be a given for any new vehicle sold in Australia but sadly it's not. If you get a puncture with a run-flat tyre, a space-saver tyre or a vehicle that has only a puncture repair kit, you could be stuck in the middle of nowhere, with getting your vehicle trucked into the nearest town the only option.

A run-flat tyre is good for only about 80km, and then it needs to be replaced with a new tyre anyway (which may not be available in the regional area you’re in). A space-saver tyre is usually speed-restricted to 80km/h - which is not much good when you have hundreds of kilometres to travel to the next town.

If your vehicle doesn't come standard with a full-size spare then make sure you get one for any extended Outback trips. In either case, make sure that you check the spare’s pressure too (it’s easy to forget).

Roadside hazard gear 

While you might not be able to do much about the fact that your vehicle has broken down on a narrow shoulder or on a blind corner, you can make you and your vehicle more visible to other traffic once it has.

Even if you’ve conked out a few metres off the side of an arrow-straight road, it always helps to make it clear to other road users that your vehicle is there. Driver distraction is at an all-time high and being out in the middle of nowhere is no guarantee that drivers are going to have their full attention on the job of driving.

A safety vest is useful if you have to be out on or near the road (if changing a flat tyre, for example) and a warning triangle and/or safety cones set out so road users have plenty of warning about the hazard ahead is important.

Fire extinguisher

If your vehicle has an electrical fire, or if you happen to park on long grass and the vehicle’s hot exhaust starts a fire, you’ll want to be able to put it out quickly.

Chances are you’ll be a long way from a garden hose, let alone a fire tender to put out the flames, so something like a 1kg dry chemical ABE fire extinguisher should be carried at all times.

Make sure that the fire extinguisher is secured properly in the vehicle (many come with a bracket, which must then be secured to the vehicle) and is easy to access quickly.

First aid kit

A first-aid kit might literally save your life in the Outback. You don’t have quick and easy access to emergency services in the bush and so a well-equipped first-aid kit might be the closest thing you have to medical aid.

A first aid kit should contain small plasters, antiseptic, saline, burn cream, cotton wool, some triangular bandages, a couple of compression bandages (for snake or spider bites) and aspirin or similar.

It’s all well and good having a first-aid kit but it can be of little use if you don’t know how to use it. Do a first-aid course (there are also some courses available specifically for remote area workers and Outback travellers.)