So I have some knowledge with this. I am the Emergency Manager for my city, A member of the Medical Reserve Corps and a CERT instructor. A winter go bag is a great item to keep in your vehicle. Now a company called Pro-Pac sells complete survival kits ready made or by making your own you can customize it to your liking. Two issues are the water freezing, and mice eating the food. So you should put any food items in an air tight container. Water should be stored in some kind of insulated bag to keep from freezing solid. Always have a fold up shovel in the car if you get stranded . If you need to run your vehicle for warmth or any other reason you need to keep the tailpipe free of blockage to prevent CO poisoning. There is so much more that there is not enough room here. So go to Ready.Gov and there is info there for every type of event or your local Emergency Management website. Stay safe and prepared.
Great info. I also keep 4 to 6 bags of ice melt or sand in the bed of my pickup truck. The extra weight helps the handling, plus I’ve occasionally used a bag or two to get unstuck.
Although I'm retired now, I have about 40 years in total as a Trooper with the Oregon State Police, the last 9 of which I worked as a "game warden". During those years, I had on occasion contacted stranded motorists on both highways and in the mountains of northwest Oregon.
Your basic list is very good, however, if you have the room in your vehicle, a few more items could be added for "survival" should you ever actually become stranded, stuck or slide off the roadway during the Winter.
I always have a small seat belt cutter/window hammer in the cab of my pickup truck. Not only is this item is invaluable in case I should need to self rescue, but also should I need to assist someone else for whatever reason.
A few other things to consider would be a flashlight, cell phone charger or extra battery, small fire extinguisher, chains, hat and gloves, shovel, kitty litter (for traction), folding shovel, flares, jumper cables and tow strap.
These are items additional to what you already covered in your original message and depending on how prepared any specific person wants to be and how much room they have in their vehicle for safety items, may help them should a winter driving adventure suddenly becomes a matter of winter survival.
Thanks for your interesting articles! I sent in money supporting your efforts a year or so ago, will have to see if we can come up with another contribution after taxes in 2023!
BTW, I still haven't received clarification on a question I asked in your Facebook group back on November 27th. I received input both ways and am wondering if YOU had any additional comment? If so, here is the body of my question....
"We have a brand new pop up trailer with solar, lithium batteries and an inverter for those times when we need AC power. When I was doing our check out, I used one of those simple outlet test plugs and found that all of the outlets showed an "Open Ground" when running off the batteries and inverter. We then hooked up the trailer to shore power, 30amp connection, retested the outlets and all showed good. The salesman, of course, said this was "standard", but I'm not convinced. Is this something I need to be concerned with? If so, what do I need to do to "fix" it?"
Take care, Mike and stay safe. Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Not an Artic Special Forces type, but I do teach a lot of Personal Safety courses including winter car safety. Since I travel through very deserted/snowy areas, in my OWN vehicles, I have a plastic tote filled with everything "reasonable" to self-rescue and/or survive a few days: LiPO jumper, basic toolbox, folding shovel, metal traction grills (I think called "Bear Claws" by some folks?), electric hitch winch and hand-crank come-a-long, metal stake and hammer to create anchor for winches, snatch straps and such for rescuing others, etc... If those failed, I have heavy blankets (ugly but WARM), heavy clothes (old and ragged, but WARM), signal flares/strobes, modest food/water in METAL containers, an old cellphone (no service, so it's always charged and can still call 911), hatchet and basic firemaking equipment, etc. ALL the above fit in a medium tote in my pickup, so it's "not bad" in my opinion but might be "a lot" for other's opinions... it meets my estimation of the risk. I have used almost everything in there rescuing others (kept them fed and warmed while I sprung or winched their car out of ditches). I stress that the blankets/clothing don't need to be pretty -- they can be what your wife keeps insisting on throwing out, but are still plenty warm enough to save your life. As for the size of my tote, I'm already driving a 4ton truck, so the tote ain't nothing until it IS something.
So I have some knowledge with this. I am the Emergency Manager for my city, A member of the Medical Reserve Corps and a CERT instructor. A winter go bag is a great item to keep in your vehicle. Now a company called Pro-Pac sells complete survival kits ready made or by making your own you can customize it to your liking. Two issues are the water freezing, and mice eating the food. So you should put any food items in an air tight container. Water should be stored in some kind of insulated bag to keep from freezing solid. Always have a fold up shovel in the car if you get stranded . If you need to run your vehicle for warmth or any other reason you need to keep the tailpipe free of blockage to prevent CO poisoning. There is so much more that there is not enough room here. So go to Ready.Gov and there is info there for every type of event or your local Emergency Management website. Stay safe and prepared.
Great info. I also keep 4 to 6 bags of ice melt or sand in the bed of my pickup truck. The extra weight helps the handling, plus I’ve occasionally used a bag or two to get unstuck.
Hi Mike,
Although I'm retired now, I have about 40 years in total as a Trooper with the Oregon State Police, the last 9 of which I worked as a "game warden". During those years, I had on occasion contacted stranded motorists on both highways and in the mountains of northwest Oregon.
Your basic list is very good, however, if you have the room in your vehicle, a few more items could be added for "survival" should you ever actually become stranded, stuck or slide off the roadway during the Winter.
I always have a small seat belt cutter/window hammer in the cab of my pickup truck. Not only is this item is invaluable in case I should need to self rescue, but also should I need to assist someone else for whatever reason.
A few other things to consider would be a flashlight, cell phone charger or extra battery, small fire extinguisher, chains, hat and gloves, shovel, kitty litter (for traction), folding shovel, flares, jumper cables and tow strap.
These are items additional to what you already covered in your original message and depending on how prepared any specific person wants to be and how much room they have in their vehicle for safety items, may help them should a winter driving adventure suddenly becomes a matter of winter survival.
Thanks for your interesting articles! I sent in money supporting your efforts a year or so ago, will have to see if we can come up with another contribution after taxes in 2023!
BTW, I still haven't received clarification on a question I asked in your Facebook group back on November 27th. I received input both ways and am wondering if YOU had any additional comment? If so, here is the body of my question....
"We have a brand new pop up trailer with solar, lithium batteries and an inverter for those times when we need AC power. When I was doing our check out, I used one of those simple outlet test plugs and found that all of the outlets showed an "Open Ground" when running off the batteries and inverter. We then hooked up the trailer to shore power, 30amp connection, retested the outlets and all showed good. The salesman, of course, said this was "standard", but I'm not convinced. Is this something I need to be concerned with? If so, what do I need to do to "fix" it?"
Take care, Mike and stay safe. Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Not an Artic Special Forces type, but I do teach a lot of Personal Safety courses including winter car safety. Since I travel through very deserted/snowy areas, in my OWN vehicles, I have a plastic tote filled with everything "reasonable" to self-rescue and/or survive a few days: LiPO jumper, basic toolbox, folding shovel, metal traction grills (I think called "Bear Claws" by some folks?), electric hitch winch and hand-crank come-a-long, metal stake and hammer to create anchor for winches, snatch straps and such for rescuing others, etc... If those failed, I have heavy blankets (ugly but WARM), heavy clothes (old and ragged, but WARM), signal flares/strobes, modest food/water in METAL containers, an old cellphone (no service, so it's always charged and can still call 911), hatchet and basic firemaking equipment, etc. ALL the above fit in a medium tote in my pickup, so it's "not bad" in my opinion but might be "a lot" for other's opinions... it meets my estimation of the risk. I have used almost everything in there rescuing others (kept them fed and warmed while I sprung or winched their car out of ditches). I stress that the blankets/clothing don't need to be pretty -- they can be what your wife keeps insisting on throwing out, but are still plenty warm enough to save your life. As for the size of my tote, I'm already driving a 4ton truck, so the tote ain't nothing until it IS something.