10 Road Trip Essentials

Image via Complex Original

Though not legal in many states, this bad boy can give you the peace of mind that makes the open road open up even further. Luckily most of them come with cloaking technology that keeps you one step ahead of the officers looking to put a price tag on your speedometer. So for those of you into shaving time between points of interest, lather up.

Complex recommends: Beltronics Vector 940 for ease of use, large display and superior range, or the affordable Whistler XTR-140 for small size, smart modes, and the fact that it looks like a pager.

What's a road trip without the possibility of expanding your horizons? It's no road trip at all, which is why it is absolutely necessary to have a safe spot to keep your capacity for mind expansion out of plain sight. At Complex, we encourage privacy. Everyone should have a place to store whatever makes things bearable/fun.

Complex recommends: the Soda Can Safe, a device that looks just like a soda can but is actually a hollow and dry space for storing anything you need to stash. Drifters looking in your windows will mistake your safe for a can of delicious Mountain Dew. But you'll know.

The sun is a harsh mother without a little shade, so make the road a little more inviting and keep from strain (plus you can get a nice raccoon tan). You might as well look cool as you pass the hotties in the car that you keep passing over and over “on accident.” The road is lonely.

Complex recommends: Ray-Ban Original Wayfarer for their casual look and sturdy frames. Or try the Aviator Tech for their maximum sun coverage and ability to establish instant rapport if ever pulled over by a motorcycle cop.

While cold beverages are important to the many moods of a road tripper, coffee is the real workhorse of the operation (and the sodas definitely know it). Unless you’re down with Starbucks, there’s really no good chain mud, and the consistency between gas station brew is usually that of burnt versus less so. With a vacuuming thermos, you can either stock up while the coffee getting is good, or you can churn out a massive batch before you leave in the morning and keep it hot for hours without any of that burner flavor.

Complex recommends: The Thermos Nissan 61 oz. Vacuum Insulated Beverage Bottle because it's sleek, it vacuum seals, and it's friggin' huge.

It’s often hard to really plan a road trip ahead of time, and often you learn a lot on the way through the radio, talking to locals, or even just thinking it out on your own. And that’s not even close to the number of times you’ll want to write something down on your quest across the country. So you’re going to need a good pen and notebook, and from personal experience we're telling you that it’s not going to kill you to pull over to write it down (but we can’t say that for not pulling over).


Complex recommends: The Fisher 400 Chrome Bullet Space Pen because it writes at any angle and in -30° to 250° conditions. For a notebook, we're going with the Moleskine Large Sketchbook for the beauty of its construction and the versatility a sketchbook lends to your more creative side.

As you’re burning through state lines, you’re going to need a bevy of different beverages to deal with your shifting moods. Don’t be surprised if you crave a different kind of drink every 100 miles, so it’s always better to head out the door with this in mind. Think about feeding your cooler with energy drinks, tea, fruit juice, horchata, coconut water, v8, and some celebratory beer (you know, for when you arrive).

Complex Recommends: the Rally 7509 for its rugged exterior, extra storage compartments, gripping top surface and easy transfer from car to the outside world. But for cars brimming with gear or limbs, try the Koolatron P20 Compact Cooler, which still holds 23 cans of a case (so close)!

Anything can happen on the open road, that’s what is so exciting about the trip itself. That’s also why you’ll want to have protection on you at all times, especially if the z’s catch up to you and you need to take a rest stop nap, or you become stranded on an island where a wealthy mad man hunts you as his prey. Also, they can be useful in other sorts of emergencies and when facing more practical problems.

Complex recommends: EMS Rescue Pocket Knife for its beautiful design, window smash point and seat belt cutter, or the Guard Dog Flashlight Stun Gun for those who only want to be close enough to drop an attacker.

If you’re going to go anywhere worth remembering, which is usually everything 30 minutes outside of your house, you’re going to want to capture the world for some show and tell later, or perhaps just to slow the constant stream of imagery (alright, trees, we get it: humans are outnumbered). But scheming travelers agree, taking pictures is a great lifting of the spirit and proof of the epic and unbelievable nature of your best road trip since the last one.


Complex recommends: Keep it discrete with the Leica V-Lux 30, a pocketable Superzoom camera that you can keep on hand at all times and with enough zoom to get shots regular compacts can't. Now, if you're really trying to ball out of control with your camera game, please proceed directly to our current pick for camera of the year: Fuji FinePix X100 (check out our review here). It's well-crafted, with physical aperture, shutter, and exposure dials. And it's handsome as hell.

CDs can be a welcome ritual, and the emotional ties you have to the discs themselves can make for a Virgin Suicides-type conversation with your past. But for longer, harder road trips—and, of course, general convenience—there’s nothing more engaging than having every record you’ve ever owned (and some you don’t) at your disposal. Too much choice can be really dangerous, not just to your staying in the same lane but to your frustrated caffeine addled brain, so as a backup, be sure to have some playlists ready.

Complex recommends: iPod Classic 160GB, because as cool as the app store and Angry Birds is, they're about the least essential thing to a good road trip. With the 160, you can grab those deep tracks and albums you’ve always meant to get better acquainted with, in addition to your usual wares.

Everyone hates to admit when they’re lost, or is that just the male baby boomers that brazenly refuse to look at maps? Either way, in this day and age, there’s no point in ever being lost again (unless it’s existential), and having to ask some toothless barbecue shack cashier which way to freedom. With GPS you never have to doubt your route again; you can cut through the back roads when traffic is roaring and they can even tell you how far till gas and even when the occasional Red Lobster looms horizon-ward.

Complex recommends: The Garmin nüvi 1350LMT, with lifetime map and traffic updates and lane assist that tells you which lane you should be in for tricky left exits, forks, and merges. Or the nüvi 255W for the pared down turn-by-turn with less distractions (for the zen drivers who need just a little help).