Ever since I got stranded on black ice for 6 unescapable hours a few winters ago (on the highway), I’ve carried a winter emergency box with me. Here are the contents, based on what I really needed while I was stranded:
-Coffee can and tissue
(I REALLY had to pee, and couldn’t get out of the car because of the ice- plus, there were lots of people and I didn’t want to squat on the highway. I ended up using a big plastic cup)
-Box of granola bars
-Instant hand warmers
-1 large candle or canned heat
(you MUST open the window a bit if you’re going to burn either of these to keep warm- I believe they both consume oxygen out of the car air)
-2 bottles of water
-Extra socks, boots, gloves, hat, earmuffs (for me or other stranded people- sucks to have wet socks on when you get change 'em)
-Extra jacket (light, for layering)
-dry gas
-Prestone chemical windshield spray
-novel
-flashlight
-cigarettes
-first aid kit
-bag of rocksalt
If I never had to use any of these things, that would be fine, but let me tell you, I really wanted many of them when I got stranded, especially the food and water. (and source of heat- you can’t just idle your car for 6 hours)
So, do you have an emergency box? What’s in it?
(My list might sound extreme, but there is a very real possibility of getting stranded and not being seen where I live)
Zette: As long as you aren’t being drifted by snow, I don’t think there’s a problem with extended idling. Most vehicles can idle for a day or so on a full tank, and the latest Yukons with the camping package (the ones with 3 prong plugins in the back) were designed to idle for at least 24 hours to provide electricity for the outlets.
-2 blankets
-2 pairs of gloves
-extra jacket
-umbrella (may have to go outside, don’t want to be wet and cold)
-6-pack of bottled water
-de-icer spray and ice scraper
-flashlight w/the flashing red and yellow lights
-bag of rocksalt
The extra sock and box of granola bars are a good idea, I’ll probably add those. I suppose the first aid box is another good idea, and I should add that to my list of items, but I’m still young enough to believe myself to be invincible.
Wisconsin resident checking in. I don’t drive the car between September and May without my winter stash in the trunk. It amazes me when people here DON’T pack a survival box. A woman at work was complaining just the other day that she was waiting for a towtruck and her feet were freezing because all she had were her heels. Hello!? It’s Wisconsin in November!
Right now my car stash includers:
*Boots (my “Lambeau Field” pair, good to -40 below), hat, gloves, scarf, extra winter coat, extra wool socks.
*Sleeping bag and blankets
*Jumper cables, fuel line anti-freeze, bag o’ sand, tool set, first aid kit, ice scraper, etc.
*A couple bottles of water and some granola bars
I’ve been stuck once or twice with a dead battery in my older car and I was grateful for every extra thing I brought. Especially the boots.
I keep a kit in each car/truck.
It is in a hot chocolate container.
Besides extra clothes I have TP, candle(votive),matches and some hard candy. Thats about it.
My wifes car has a tow rope in it.
My truck has a tow chain ,shovel , jumper cables and tools.
The 4X4 has even more stuff.
My son has access to everything I have but since he is 20 and invincible I doubt he has anything:)
Wow! I never realized that people had to pack survival boxes in their cars. I don’t want to sound stupid, I have just never heard of it. Most of my life has been spent in south-eastern North Carolina where it very seldom snows. When it does snows here you stay home and don’t have to worry about emergency car kits.
Do you pack survival kits even if you only do city driving? I can’t imagine being stuck in your car for six hours.
Even when I lived in the city (I’m in a small town now with about a 30 minute commute through the country to work) I kept some sort of winter gear in the car. I’ve never been stranded for hours at a time, but just standing outside getting a jumpstart when it’s 20 below zero is pretty dangerous unless you are wrapped up like an Eskimo. Plus, I often drove to visit my folks on weekends (a 3 hour drive) so it just made sense to slways have the stuff in the car. The one time you forget to pack those boots and gloves is the one time you will really need them.
I certainly don’t envy those nearer to the glaciers than say, Virginia, but occasionally our wet snow captures cars too.
I carry a flat shovel and an entrenching tool (Army surplus). Also a mini-compressor that runs off the cigarette lighter. I keep my ashtray full to dump under the drive wheel for that extra push. I keep an old cell phone with a lighter adaptor in a Ziploc. No service, but in the USA you can use it to dial 911 in case of real trouble. Insulated coveralls, gloves, hat, oil, flares, a three pack of orange triangles, tool kit, hose clamps, electrical tape (resists heat–good for radiator hose), extra antifreeze. Mostly I try to avoid snowy driving but every few years we really get nailed. I try to let someone know I am travelling etc., etc. And four-wheel drive helps you GO, not stop, so I keep it slow.
Usually when people get stranded around here, it is due to weather (people swerve off of slippery roads and wind up in ditches) or extreme cold (dead batteries, frozen fuel lines). So if you get stranded during one of these times, chances are that a whole bunch of other people are also stranded elsewhere in the area for the same reasons. This puts a huge burden on the towing companies and you may wind up waiting hours for someone to show up and tow you out of the ditch or jump start your car. So the wise among us northerners/midwesterners make sure we are prepared for anything.
When I DID get stranded, I was on a regular highway, and it had not even been snowing! (apparently it had rained earlier, though)I was just driving along, and suddenly realized I was on a sheet of solid black ice (meaning, it doesn’t look like snow or ice, it looks like pavement. The difference is, it’s like driving on an ice rink, literally). It wasn’t even like I was out in the boonies!
It took that long to get out because one by one, cars approached, realized the problem, and got stranded as well. In the end, the highway got so blocked up with cars that could not move, the salt trucks could not get through. What a damned nightmare!
And Tim, you are correct about idling you car for extended periods- I do remember being low on gas (which I NEVER get caught short on) and worrying about my car (which was an older one). The canned heat is good, too if you get stuck with a dead battery and need to stay warm.
It’s good to hear that others take precautions. Winter is bad enough without getting stuck in a bad situation unprepared!
Zette
I forgot about the extra flashlite and batteries.It is just one of those little ones that take 2 aa batteries but each vehicle has a more powerful one in it.
Yes Black ice is probably the worst thing to drive on. It is worse when there is a little drifted snow on it.
*a flashlight
*a blanket
*a container of kitty litter (well half now that it spilt…)
*icescraper
*maps
*extra pair of socks
*this nifty car kit i got at walmart. for $20, it came with all sorts of helpful crap, including a first aid kit, a few tools, jumper cables. even had a bright orange “call police” flag to hang from my antenna.very spiffy.
*spare tire, cables, all that good stuff
*my cd player, CD’s, and extra batteries. if i get stranded, at least i have good music!!
*not relelvant to emergencies, i also keep a spare uniform for work in my trunk, just in case i forget to bring a change of clothes when i go out before working
I don’t really have a particular emergency kit, but there are a lot of helpful things that live in my car year round. Also, I drive to and from my parents’ house 150 miles away at least once a week, and I try to avoid the highway in favor of logging roads and ahem, ‘shortcuts’. If I get stuck, I can just about count on being 20 miles from a house or a phone, so I’m prepared for just about anything.
In the car:
At least two spare tires, jack, lug wrench, tire pump, gauge
Oil, coolant, power steering fluid, brake fluid, windshield stuff
At least three gallons of clean water
Towels
Two flashlights (one big and one small) with spare batteries for both.
Blankie and pillow
Cable chains
TP and paper towels
Spare change of clothes, including shoes
At least two pairs of spare socks-wet feet are awful
Cat sand
Spare lighter
Newspaper
Tarp
Knife
Hatchet
Baling wire, duct tape, and WD-40. You can fix anything with these.
Non-perishable munchies
Things I always have with me when I go just about anyplace:
Two quarts of coffee
More water
Whatever book I’m currently reading
At least one gun, but usually more, including a 12 gauge and a .22 semi-auto pistol (during bird season) and a .357 all year. This may sound odd, but if I hit a deer and it’s mortally wounded but not immediately dead, I want to be able to end it quickly. I can’t stand the thought of long dragged-out suffering for no reason.
There’s more, but I think I’ve covered the important stuff.
Jacket and gloves already go with me everywhere. And I think I have a tow chain and a tarp in the toolbox.
In case I get trapped on the highway between two avalanches( which has happened to people where I live) in my truck I maintain a layer of cracker crumbs, Cheerios, Cap’n Crunch, bread crusts and whatever else the kids have tossed on the floor. There’s even a few corners of dried up cheese slices here and there. Enough to sustain me for a couple days.
Food is about the toughest thing to improvise in a survival situation. I can improvise just about anything else.
And just for the convenience of making fire more easily, I keep wads of gas station receipts, school work, papers from the office, and documents for the Chinese Embassy stuffed under the seats too.
My wife just thinks I’m too lazy to clean out my truck. She’ll never believe that it’s there for a reason!!!
FOR VEHICLE
– tool kit (in general, once I use a tool on the vehicle or trailer, I leave it in the vehicle’s tool kit)
– voltmeter, bullbs, fuses, elecrical tape, duct tape
– jumper cables
– fluids (engine, tranny, rad, steering, windshield)
– compressor & tire gage
– shovel
– chains
– traction mats
– rope
– low & high jacks
– brush & scraper
– windshield wiper
– flashlight
– flares
– gasoline
FOR ME
– -40 sleeping bag
– warm work gloves
– pack boots
– big down parka with down hood
– fleece sweater, pants, socks
– wind jacket & pants
– tent & 2x1inch dense sleeping pads
– food for several days
– pot
– pencil, paper
– matches
– survival kit (extended wilderness tripping kit)
– medical kit (extended wilderness tripping kit)
– EPIRB (only when travelling off the beaten path)
– GPS (only when travelling off the beaten path)
– compass & maps
– a couple of pocket books
As you can tell, it is easier for me to simply toss my basic winter camping kit in the vehicle and leave it there for emergencies. One of the few times when being lazy is not such a bad thing.
I live in costal South Carolina. No need for winter supplies here, but watch out for hurricanes! When a big one is coming we all have to go. You can be stuck for hours on the highway with a few million of your closest friends trying to get out of town. The worst problem is the car over heating and having to pee! No, the worst is the boredom of sitting in traffic and the worry that you won’t have a home to come home to in a day or two. So pack water and toliet paper and deck of cards. We may not have snow and ice (but once in a decade) but hurricane season comes once a year.
That just made my day!
Bottled water.
4 sample bottles of 151 rum.
4 candles
signal/flashlight combination
space blanket
sterno stove and sterno
boyscout personal mess kit
bowie knife
hand ax
50 feet hemp rope
instant coffee
several packs dehydrated soup
emergency flares
emergency reflectors
waterproof matches
thermo blanket
basic tools
jumper cables
first aid kit
bag of sand
fuel line ice out
two books
hard candy
extra gloves
extra socks
hunters solid fuel hand warmer
bright fluorescent red/orange cloth flag and retractable 4 foot mounting pole.
Magnifying glass
whistle
several cans of instant tire inflator/patch.
Toilet paper
Hand sanitizer
Plastic urinal and female adapter for said urinal. (Just in case I have my girl with me if we get stuck.)
Plastic trash bags.
