This is why I have a “survival box” in the car

Aardvark said:
Maybe municipalities should take some of the tax money they're studying gay birds with and form logically distributed stations of rugged and resourceful type A men who would like to have a job where they get to aid people in peril, protect the vulnerable, champion the weak, keep bad guys on the straight and narrow, in general serve their community as a rewarding career...


Nah. Never work for long.
Click to expand...
2002 storm-a buddy of mine had moved here from MI. He had not been able to sell his snowmobile, so he rode it up I-85 in the median pulling a tobaggan with supplies like food/water/hand warmers for those stuck in traffic. NG gave him fuel and eventually he took some medics with him.

My brain immediately thought of what crimes could be done with a snowmobile as a getaway vehicle…
 
Last edited:
amnesia said:
Electric cars idling can put all the energy into just the heat and not the entire vehicle. My Tesla at full charge has a 4 day idle with heat capacity.
Click to expand...

I had wondered about this before. Are EV’s insulated to help with that 4 day heat rating? I imagine the rating is at “X” degrees exterior air temp vs cabin temp. Wouldn’t take many human popsicles to turn people off from the prospect of purchasing one.
 
Pogue said:
I had wondered about this before. Are EV’s insulated to help with that 4 day heat rating? I imagine the rating is at “X” degrees exterior air temp vs cabin temp. Wouldn’t take many human popsicles to turn people off from the prospect of purchasing one.
Click to expand...
There was a guy who ran his for 4 days in Canada at zero degrees. Another YouTuber had one in -32 and it was 2 days and the cabin temp was set to 65 degrees and seat warmers.
 
HMP said:
My best friend is in Fredericksburg VA, we're texting now
Apparently 30 THOUSAND in his county alone are without power...lost it around 11am on Monday.
He said they really cant leave the house as no one is near them with power or could take them and their two dogs in (like a hotel)
BUT, he's lucky that he's got natural gas, so still has heat, hot water, and can cook on stove/oven.

But it's wild.
This happens from time to time, we must think ahead so we dont meet the same fate as those we see today.
Click to expand...
Yeah I lived in Fredericksurg for almost 15 years. I still have a house there and lots of friends. It is horrible there right now.

The natural gas heat and hot water was always a positive when I lived there. Another tip we used in Beckley WV was to have an extra propane tank for the grill. You can cook a lot if stuff on one even when it’s cold.

Around here in WNC I keep get home bags in each car. Thermal blankets, shoes, socks, cliff bars, water, med kit, crank radio that can charge things, multi-tool, flashlight etc… enough to last 24-48 hours but light enough to just grab and walk if you have to.

In the winter people who were dress shoes to work often forgot to have a back up pair of at least tennis shoes in the car. Hard to walk in the shoe in heels or leather soles.
 
Last edited:
I still keep a folding pack shovel in the trunk. I convinced myself lots of years ago that as soon as I remove it from my trunk I'll need it. And that's something you really don't want to ever need. Of course, my get home bag is stocked with lots of things that would also make "stuck in car" way more comfortable. Being stuck in the car actually would help to the degree that you have shelter already so those shelter type things can be re-purposed as extra layers for blankets and such.
One of my concerns with the packed granola type stuff has always been freshness. The natural oils must get a little gross after tempterature cycling from 140 or so to 40 to varying degrees day in and day out until I change them about once a year. The something is better than nothing of it makes me keep them, but the concern of having projectile poops when stranded is real too. My stomache is on the sensitive side.
 
How do you get around food and camp stove fuel storage in the heat of summer?
 
Timfoilhat said:
I still keep a folding pack shovel in the trunk. I convinced myself lots of years ago that as soon as I remove it from my trunk I'll need it. And that's something you really don't want to ever need. Of course, my get home bag is stocked with lots of things that would also make "stuck in car" way more comfortable. Being stuck in the car actually would help to the degree that you have shelter already so those shelter type things can be re-purposed as extra layers for blankets and such.
One of my concerns with the packed granola type stuff has always been freshness. The natural oils must get a little gross after tempterature cycling from 140 or so to 40 to varying degrees day in and day out until I change them about once a year. The something is better than nothing of it makes me keep them, but the concern of having projectile poops when stranded is real too. My stomache is on the sensitive side.
Click to expand...
For being just stuck in a car for a while, freeze-dried ice cream bars are a choice that survives temperature swings.
 
@cjcullom , I agree re: DC. I love it, one of my favorite cities, but the traffic is...well, nuts.

I don't routinely carry anything in my vehicles. I work 8 miles from my house; on any given day even with routine errands my wife could pull over and just walk home.

When we travel, I do throw in a bag with many of the items already discussed in the thread, seasonally appropriate.

I get not being able to move if you are stuck and there is a distance between exits, but if I can get to an exit, driving on the shoulder, I am getting off the interstate. No cell service? No prob. I always have my old Rand-McNally.
 
Les White said:
How do you get around food and camp stove fuel storage in the heat of summer?
Click to expand...
While liquid fuel bottles, like those by MSR are labeled as "do not leave in your car", which isn't practical for most people who are using them in the summer, in practice it is very rare for them to be problematic, according to this blog: https://www.unclesamgear.com/2016/05/27/can-fuel-canisters-explode-in-a-hot-car/

As far as I know, the solid fuel types, like that by esbit, aren't an issue.
 
Chuckman said:
@cjcullom , I agree re: DC. I love it, one of my favorite cities, but the traffic is...well, nuts...
Click to expand...

Chuckman said:
... No cell service? No prob. I always have my old Rand-McNally.
Click to expand...

I agree. I've been in a DC-area "unexpected snowstorm" extravaganza before. People forget how hilly and tree-packed some of the suburbs are. Between downed trees and power lines, abandoned cars, and a shocking number of sideways municipal busses blocking entire roads, getting from "A" to "B" can be like a Corn Maze. The inevitably crammed-up wireless networks make a few "Atlas and Gazetteer" type books in the trunk start seeming really smart.
 
Aardvark said:
Relax. Everything's sorted out now:


View attachment 419494
Click to expand...

There is an example in support of Planned Parenthood and abortion. Every time I let my morals start to rule my decisions some asshat like that makes me second guess myself.
 
Sad thing is. People who were stuck there, still will not put emergency items in their cars. They will rely on other people to come to them.

In 16 hours, could you not walk somewhere? Anywhere other than the middle of the highway?

If you are so worried about your car, then stay and freeze. Ooooorrrrrrr, put a note on the dash or somewhere visible to a tow guy your contact info and that you left for shelter.
 
There are many things I don't miss about Detroit


This is one of them we dealt with every few years.
Best part is that many homes up there have basements - furnished basements. And when the flooding gets bad, sewers back up ... into your furnished basement.
 
DrScaryGuy said:
There are many things I don't miss about Detroit


This is one of them we dealt with every few years.
Best part is that many homes up there have basements - furnished basements. And when the flooding gets bad, sewers back up ... into your furnished basement.
Click to expand...


Yeah. Global Warming. ...or un-maintained storm-drainage systems clogged with all the normal stuff and now millions of face-diapers... And the media religiously pimping "Climate Change" never mention that emergency-backup pumping stations are seldom-checked and never work because relentless thieves have stolen all the copper out of them.
 
HMP said:
he's got natural gas, so still has heat, hot water, and can cook on stove/oven.
Click to expand...
^^^ Do this when building or upfitting your home.
During hurricane Fran in '96 when we had no water for 7, and no electricity for 14 days. I won't have any trees that will get big within 100' of the house, have a tankless gas water heater, wood and gas stove, and generator (welder) to keep food and the water flowing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HMP
When I had my Jeep Rubicon I had about 100 lbs of gear stored in it for off roading and the like and never touched a piece of it in 22 years (except the shovel and TP). Now that the Rubicon is gone I carry a jacket, wool blanket and a couple of space blankets, Etool, some MREs, a first aid kit, water, snacks, and traction ramps in my Grand Cherokee, Even that takes up a fair amount of room.
 
Last edited:
pulled my pack out tonight and went through it all, adjusting
snow in forecast, PREPARE.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom