Cold Weather Car Kit

[beetlejuicex3]

With the east coast blizzard in effect it got me thinking about what gear is best for being stranded, in your car, in cold weather. 3-4 days.

Space is not infinite (at least not the space in your trunk) and the contents should fit in backpack or medium duffel sized container!

[Rick]

A few threads to look at. Might not be what you had in mind but close:

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12546

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11323

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10042

My get home bag is my get stranded bag augmented with wool blankets.

[DOGMAN]

I know guys that go to extremes and store backpacking stoves and fuel along with several days of dehydrated meals in their trucks during the winter.

Cold weather boots and clothing, sleeping bags, tire chains, jumper cables and tow strap, and first-aid kits are all madatory...I also always have snowshoes and an axe and firestarting stuff in my rig as well....

[beetlejuicex3]

...backpacking stoves and fuel along with several days of dehydrated meals in their trucks during the winter.


I was looking at fuel stoves. Aside from the alcohol stove, which people say doesn't generate enough heat for cold environments, the other types of stoves I found don't sound safe to use indoors. Inside a car or house, for example.

Is there a fuel stove or reliable heat source for inside the car? They say you aren't supposed to run your car heater for very long. It doesn't seem like the chemical "hand warmer" products are reliable in my experience.

[DOGMAN]

Greenbeetle, I am not sure where you are...so I don't know the temperatures. But, I've used most types of fuel pretty effectively down to -10 below with no problems...I've used Coleman stoves with propane even colder than that.
Stoves that use HEET will go drastically colder than that....maybe -50 I am not sure...

Also, all you have to do is roll down your window, and you can cook with anytype of stove...or get out and cook next to your car- then sit back inside to eat....

Also, I recommend a warm sleeping bag, and lots of cold weather clothing then you dont need to worry about running your engine/heater....but if you have a full-tank of gas and want to idle forever like a truck driver all you have to worry about is ventalation...roll down your windows some, make sure your tailpipe is buried in the snow...get out and stretch every hour and you'll be fine....

[crashdive123]

GB - it's not that alcohol stoves don't produce enough heat - they do. The problem is that the liquid has to be warmed in order to vaporize. It is the burning vapors that make them reasonably efficient. In the cold, unless you preheat the liquid, it will not vaporize sufficiently to perform well as a stove.

[Rick]

You don't need a lot of flame inside a car to star warm. If you've been stranded because of snow then you can run the engine 10 minutes of ever hour with the front windows cracked a bit to ensure cross ventilation. Make certain your exhaust isn't covered with snow, of course.

Beyond that, there are some great ideas for staying warm. UCO Candle Lanterns, Keohler flame safety lamp or any lantern will put out a lot of heat in an enclosed space where the wind can't reach it. Again, crack the windows to allow in fresh air.

Esbit and similar stoves will also produce a sort of enclosed flame. You just have to be a lot more careful with them. The up side with a stove is you can heat drinks.

[tsitenha]

The lanterns that I have both naptha and propane have flat tops so you can rest a metal cup with liquids to warm them up (as long as you are very carefull with their balance)
Mid december I let the car cool off and then spent a few hours trying to warm the interior with only one candle flame...not a very good outcome, I was still to cool for any comfort level, I will try again in a few days with multi wick candle to see if they (wicks) make a culmulative change.
For the now I place canned heat in my wifes car and a Coleman "Black cat" heater with propne bottles as a more stable source as long as the propane heater still will light.

[Rick]

Oh, yeah. I forgot. Chemical hand warmers. Those are a must.

[beetlejuicex3]

For the now I place canned heat in my wifes car and a Coleman "Black cat" heater with propne bottles as a more stable source as long as the propane heater still will light.

This probably sounds silly but should one worry about the potential for an explosion with compressed flammable gas in the car? What are CO emissions like on the propane heaters?

It's why I'm still thinking about alcohol gel or Eco Fuel XB. Maybe a hand warmer under an alcohol stove will cause enough vaporization to make it feasible in cold weather?

[JPGreco]

no matter what kind of fuel you burn, you're going to produce some form of toxic fumes. Alcohol or gas of any kind is carbon based reactions with oxygen resulting in CO2 or CO fumes (other compounds depending on the fuel). The chemistry is very similar across the board. In reality, nothing is truly "safe" to burn in a closed environment.

[DOGMAN]

This probably sounds silly but should one worry about the potential for an explosion with compressed flammable gas in the car? What are CO emissions like on the propane heaters?

It's why I'm still thinking about alcohol gel or Eco Fuel XB. Maybe a hand warmer under an alcohol stove will cause enough vaporization to make it feasible in cold weather?

again, where are you? How cold are we talking. Your making this way more difficult than it really is....keep your fuel cannister under your coat or in your sleeping bag to keep warm...turn your car on for awhile with the heat on to warm it up...there are lots of possibilities here. Roll down your windows some and you'll be fine...

[LowKey]

It would all depend on where you are too as to why you'd be trapped 3 or 4 days.
I tend to check the weather forecast in the winter before venturing out on any trip over 3 hours and pretty much know the route I'm going to take and what's along it. But in this area there are far more houses and amenities than out in the mountains and plains.

[Rick]

While I do agree with you Lowkey, I've seen service calls take hours when bad weather sets in. In most cases, locally, you can hit a fast food shop or strip mall and stay warm till help arrives but if you happen to be in a rural area and need a winch because you slipped off the road or you broke down you might be waiting for several hours.

[beetlejuicex3]

I'm in Oklahoma. The prospects of being trapped in bad weather here for very long are slim. But I drive up through Kansas to Colorado frequently where I have been in caught in horrible weather in the past.

The question is not necessarily about my needs, however.

[DOGMAN]

I'm in Oklahoma. The prospects of being trapped in bad weather here for very long are slim. But I drive up through Kansas to Colorado frequently where I have been in caught in horrible weather in the past.

The question is not necessarily about my needs, however.

I understand its a good question...but, it is important to know where a person is to come up with relative suggesstions. A "Cold weather" car kit is much different for someone in Oklahoma than it is for somebody in Alaska. In OK with only occassional travel in Colorado, I wouldnt even worry about what kind of gas stove you have...heck in Montana (where the coldest recorded temperature ever set in the continental USA is) I rarely even have to worry about that. Where your traveling you can survive with a warm sleeping bag and a bunch of power bars until roads open up....

[Alaskan Survivalist]

I've been driving commercial truck in Alaska for 37 years and worked the north slope and even built ice roads 70 miles into the Arctic ocean. I was required to take an 8 hour coarse that was a basic explaination of frost bite, hyperthermia, wind chill and etc and the there was a list of required gear we needed and a store just to the side of the class room to buy what was required. It was all just parkas, gloves, boots and head gear rated for extreme cold. The gear is rather bulky and fills a duffel bag. Total weight is about 20 pounds. That's all there was to it. A little knowledge and warm clothes.

[rwc1969]

I've been driving commercial truck in Alaska for 37 years and worked the north slope and even built ice roads 70 miles into the Arctic ocean. I was required to take an 8 hour coarse that was a basic explaination of frost bite, hyperthermia, wind chill and etc and the there was a list of required gear we needed and a store just to the side of the class room to buy what was required. It was all just parkas, gloves, boots and head gear rated for extreme cold. The gear is rather bulky and fills a duffel bag. Total weight is about 20 pounds. That's all there was to it. A little knowledge and warm clothes.

Right there is the answer. All I carry is a raincoat, extra coat, gloves, over the face boggin, scarf, a blanket and a fire source, aka lighters.

I haven't been stuck in cold weather for days, but have camped in my car for days on end and this is all I had, no heat source. I stayed plenty warm.

Also, I have a single mantle coleman globe lantern that will burn for many hours on 1 lb. of fuel. I've used it to heat water and to roast weiners and such too. I think at full power it burns for 16 hours straight or something. I take it ice fishing and one pound of propane lasts several trips. I usually get 3-4 4 hour trips out of it. It consumes very little oxygen and will heat a 3-season tent sitting on solid ice to a comfortable above freezing temp even after dark. The single mantle is attached above and below and the globe is encased in a steel cage, so it is quite durable and reliable. I have a few extra mantles twist tied to it in a ziploc bag JIC, but have been using the same mantle for going on 3 or more years now. I think it would be an excellent alternative for a light and heat source in a vehicle as long as you ever so slightly crack the window while using it. It's small enough you likely sit it in the floor of the vehicle in a location where it wouldn't get brushed on by clothing or blanket, etc. It only needs less than 1'of clearance to avoid burning or melting something. I think they can be purchased for under 10 dollars.

[kyratshooter]

My Coleman double mantle only gets 5 hours on a 1# can. I have had several and none of the gave much better than that.

They get red hot too. Make sure you have plenty of room. I have a piece of flat sheet metal on top of mine instead of the lid bolt so I can sit a billy on top and heat water.

[hoosierarcher]

A big wool blanket and if you can afford it one full set of 200 gram Ulfrotte's Woolpower long underwear, including socks, mittens and balaclava and a 400 gram full set too. The 200 gram should be form fitting without being tight in the least and the 400 one size bigger than you usually wear. If it is just about freezing the 200 gram alone with the wool blanket and you will be completely warm. If you're in below zero temps the 400 gram over the 200 gram with 800 gram socks over 200 gram socks and you'll still be toasty. Woolpower clothing it truly amazing. Their ads so a man standing on a frozen lake in just 2 layers as I described, no outer garments or boots and ice fishing. There are credible reports of people sleeping in just their wool power and no blanket or sleeping bag on top of an snow bed. I'm saving up for a set right now. I will be 50 in 2 weeks and I am not going to be an old man that complains about being cold. I'm doing preventative steps.
I keep a couple boxes of the chemical muscle heating massage wraps. they make them for several areas of the human body and last about 4 hours. Under your clothes they can keep you alive when the mercury drops as long as you stay out of the wind and off direct contact with the ground or rocks or trees that are cold. Convection and conduction heat loss can kill you. I usually keep a couple MREs with heaters in my truck too. I started doing that when I was hunting on an unusually warm day in November. No report of rain or a storm was given, let alone the 50 degree drop in temperature. I had rain gear in my day pack and had it on by the time the storm got to me. Unfortunately I was dressed for the 60 degree weather and the rain gear was for Summer/early Fall. I was shivering and clumsy by the time I got to the truck with the freezing rain caked to me in layers. I had my wool blanket in the truck. I unlocked the door, took my rain gear off with difficulty threw it in the bed of the truck. I got in the truck and dried myself with a towel I usually have on the passenger seat and reached behind the seat and pulled out the bag with the wool blanket in it and from there I started the truck and then wrapped myself up in the blanket. I had a thermos with coffee in from the morning and it was just luke warm; but it helped. After the shivering stopped and the truck was very well warmed up I drove into town and went into a diner for hot food. until I finish a plate of polish sausage, sauerkraut, potatoes, pierogis and 5 cups of hot coffee I still had a chill inside me. Once I had eaten it went away and so was my sense of well being. I determined that hot food in the truck would have been a lot better because the "healing" as I think of it could have begun sooner. I now also have some of those self heating cups of hot chocolate and coffee in a box behind the seat. Well right now I don't. During my homeless stretch a couple of times I really needed the comfort of a hot beverage and couldn't build a fire were I was. I have other gear too but this post is long enough. I should post so soon after getting home from work. I'm too chatty from being starved for conversation with people I share interests with. the only thing they seem to talk about at work is coworkers that are not present at the time.

[crashdive123]

You were hunting and it dropped from 60 degrees to 10 degrees? How much snow was there by the time you made it out? Man, that's crazy.

[hoosierarcher]

You were hunting and it dropped from 60 degrees to 10 degrees? How much snow was there by the time you made it out? Man, that's crazy.
It was in Central Ontario Canada and it never turned to snow it turned to sleet, black ice and all the trimmings to a Freezing rain storm. I've also experienced a 50 degree drop in under an hour in Michigan and the desert in California. In California it went from 119 to 69 in the first hour after full dark. It was just about freezing at 03:00. In Michigan I was fishing on the Au Sable river when a Nor'easter tore through. I haven't Fall Steelhead fished since, it took weeks to recover from the after effects of hypothermia because it went from 75 to 25 faster than I could get to my car. I was wearing hiking shorts and a T-shirt with a fishing vest. I never go fishing in shorts unless it's full on Summer and I am south of 40 degrees Longitude anymore.

[Rick]

Please tell me you put some clothes before you went into that diner.

[hoosierarcher]

Please tell me you put some clothes before you went into that diner.
All I took off was the rain gear. I still had my clothes on. They only got a little damp in the time between getting off the rain gear and getting into the truck.

[Rick]

Whew! I feel better for those trying to eat in the diner. There are just some things we should not subject other people to. The city council passed a "no shirt, no live here" ordinance and named it after me. I'm not sure what they were trying to say.

[Brazito]

Thanks for the wool power info!!! I will be saving for a full set now.

[Beans]

When I lived in NE Missouri and traveled the icey roads, sometimes at night, I was worried about sliding off the road and having to stay overnight in the ditch by the roadside.

I built a wooden box that fit in the trunk of my car up against the back seat, It was 42 inches long, 12 inches wide, 12 inches tall and was slanted to fit the slant of the back seat.

In the box I carried a GI Mummy bag, a hand axe, matches, several road flares, 1 pair of wool socks, a surplus navy wool watch cap, insulated gloves, two Mountain House dehydrated meals, a GI canteen cup and canteen in an issued GI canteen cover, a GI poncho and an issue wooden handled GI folding shovel with folding pick.

I also had a good first aid kit that I kept in the car regardless of the season, summer, fall, winter or spring.

I had just been discharged from the USMC and had the GI items on hand. Luckily for me I never had to use any of the items except for the road flares now and then. Besides being a great signaling device they were also great fire starters. Since NE Missouri is heavily wooded, fire wood was never a concern.

*That was BCP ( Before Cell Phones)

[hoosierarcher]

Thanks for the wool power info!!! I will be saving for a full set now.
You're Welcome does "S.S.T.C.W.N." stand for Sitting Still, Taking Care, What Now?