Deadly Winter; Be Prepared By Making a Winter Car Kit
Winter is approaching us quickly. The last few winters have been somewhat mild, but that can always change quickly.
Being prepared for natural disasters is one of the most important things a person can do to ensure the safety of their life and that of their family. Winter is no exception. The risk of hypothermia is high if you do not know the proper clothing to wear or have a winter kit in your vehicle. Having your car break down or slide off the road can be a recipe for death. However, being properly prepared can keep you alive until emergency personnel arrives.
Below are some items to consider for your winter car kit:
(Note: As with any kit, you will want to design it to fit your region. These are *ideas* to help you start your emergency car kit.)
Shelter and Element Protection:
- Space blanket
- Magnesium fire starter/striker and lighter
- Poncho with hood, (four pack: 2 kids, 2 adults)
- Emergency tube tent
- Wool Blanket/ Wool beanie or Hat / Wool Socks / Wool Glove liners
- Change of clothes according to season. Appropriate shoes for walking.
- Bandana to cover your face from the wind should you find yourself on foot.
- Hand/Foot warmers/ Body warmers
Tip: If you are stuck in your vehicle it is safe to run your heater for ten minutes every hour. Just make sure your tail pipe is clear of any snow or debris. We keep a tarp and duct tape in our vehicle so we can block off the back seat or the back of the SUV to retain heat to our location in the vehicle.
Food and Water:
- Filtration water bottle for each family member
- Several gallons (This depends on the size of your family.) of water for drinking or heating for meals or emergency water pouches
- Food/energy bars, powdered soups, camping meals, nuts, jerky or any other snack that will not go bad for a while in the trunk. Make sure to change these items out often to make sure. Hot chocolate or instant coffee would be good to keep as well. Not only would it be a comfort drink it will also help keep you warm.
- Pocket Stove
Communications and Lighting:
- Flashlight and extra batteries or a solar hand cranked powered light with an all weather radio and USB device charger.
- Glow sticks ~ If you use glow sticks, one neat trick I have learned is to tie a string or shoelace to the glow stick and swing it around like a lasso when you see a vehicle. It is much more powerful and can be seen from the sky as well. Most emergency personnel know about this trick as well so it would aid in your rescue.
Other items:
- Emergency whistle
- Plumber candles and lamp– With a little air ventilation these candles last about 8 hours and will also provide heat.
- Survival Guide/ First Aid book- This is great to have but having the skills and knowing how to use them is even better.
- Multipurpose tool/Swiss army knife
- Duct tape – We use this to tape the tarp down so the warmth stays in the front part of the car.
- Deck of cards, note pad, pencils/pens, List of phone numbers
- Signal Mirror
- Pre-Paid calling phone & card/ emergency cash
- 3 days of prescribed medication
- Compass/ local street map and state map
- Stanley Camp Cup or any tin style cup to heat water in.
- Walking shoes/socks
- Fold-able shovel
- Rock Salt
- Toilet Paper
- Kitty litter to get traction
- Tow rope
Being prepared can mean the difference between life and death. It is not something to take lightly or put off until tomorrow. Anything can happen to you in your car. Knowing the proper clothes to pack in your kit is important to. Many people do not know the dangers of cotton in the winter. Please do your research and do everything you can to keep your family safe.
Please add your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below to help everyone be safe and survive.
Keepin it Spicy,
Jalapeño Gal aka Cari Schofield
Learn How to make a survival stove off a car heater by clicking here.
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About the Author: Cari Schofield
Cari is an editor and author for American Preppers Network. Cari spends her free time gardening, canning, testing products for review, helping others prepare. She believes preparedness is about love and taking care of your family. Click Here! Please Join My New Blog!Subscribe
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Nice list, but I didn’t see “personal care items” on there. If you’re stuck long enough to need food, you’ll need TP, etc.
A shovel also wouldn’t hurt.
I’d also include a tow rope, ice melt and a gallon jug of kitty litter for traction. A small bow saw wouldn’t be amiss either.
Very good point. I’m not sure why I didn’t add those seeing as how we have them in our car to lol. Well, not the kitty litter but thats a great idea. Thank you for catching those things.
Great article; Here’s some other stuff to think about.
Towing. Do you know the most difficult part of pulling a car out of the snow or ditch? It’s getting hooked up to the car so when you pull it you don’t damage the car. Nearly all newer cars have plastic covers over the bumpers. When cold these covers can shatter like glass. even when warm they can scratch or be broken. I understand, when you’re in a life threatening situation, who cares? Here’s the problem. The tow vehicle probably will not be able to pull at the “perfect” angle to facilitate the quickest extraction of the car. So, the car will be pulled along the ditch until travel along that line brings the car back on to the roadway.
What should you do? Most 4wd SUVs and trucks have 2 tow hooks in the front and a 2 inch receiver hitch in the back. If you are ready with a strap hooked to your vehicle, any truck or SUV should be able to drive up, pull you out and be on their way in a few minutes with minimal disruption. See note below.
Best Option; go to your local mechanic and have tow hooks installed; 2 front & 2 back (2 back can be replaced by having a hitch installed as a tow point). See Note below.
Ok Option; All cars have “tie down points” which are holes in the frame allowing temporary hooks to be installed for transportation. there are 3 basic types of temporary hooks, and they can be purchased on a ring from Northern Tool for about $30. Purchase this set and have it in your trunk at all times (and know how to use them).
When I take my golf clubs out of the trunk, this stuff goes in (in addition to what’s there already); Coveralls, Boots, gloves (all insulated). A short handled shovel (the type for dirt, not snow) for tunneling to the tie down points on the car.
Note; Don’t put the loop of the tow strap over a tow ball (people have been killed doing this). Remove the hitch from the 2 inch receiver, insert the strap into the receiver, then reinsert the 5/8 inch hitch pin so it goes through the loop of the strap and secure the cotter pin.
Do a google search for alcohol emergency heater. It will also allow you to heat water for a warmish drink. Yes there is a danger element but BTUs are the name of the game when it is cold.
http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/how-to-make-a-survival-stove-car-heater.htm
THE most valuable item you can carry in winter is a plumbers candle (they are high in acid and last longer) with a slight amount of air they will keep your interior much warmer and comfortable. It is almost always best to stay with your vehicle during a raging storm. If you are on the hwy that will be traveled and cleared after the storm,,YOU WILL BE FOUND. run the car to keep the batteries charged to have radio or perhaps cell charged. KEEEP CANDLES this time of year.
Thanks, i will add them to the list and throw some in our pack as well !!
Hmm what about safety family of 5 with small car and burning flame ..is it safe to burn in a small space like that for long? sounds like it could be dangerous…just a thought….should you crack the window?
If you are burning anything then of course you should crack a window. 🙂 I would not let it burn constantly for a long period of time.
I always keep a sleeping bag as well as a blanket and large beach towel in my car. Also, bottles of water stashed under the seats.
Having all of these items is an unrealistic expectation, no one is going to want to have to carry around all this in their vehicle all the time. In fact, I’m not even sure half of this would actually fit in the trunk of my car.
Hi Corey! Thank you for your input but as stated in the article these are just item *suggestions.* We have such a wide variety of people in our audience from all over the place that it would be near impossible to target all the different areas and their specific needs. Obviously if you live in Floria you dont really need rock salt or chains on your tires like you would in Minnesota. 🙂
I always add to the car kit during winter. I keep ready to eat foods in the car. I add in a stove for cooking, melting snow, heat. I have tried to keep extra gas but not a good idea in a hatchback.
Hi James,
Thank you for your comment. 🙂 We do the same. We typically just have a small box with winter gear in it that we just toss in. 🙂
We have winter and summer totes we switch out accordingly in both our vehicles. This also reminds us to switch out the foodstuffs/water we normally carry as well as our personal care/first aid supplies. We live in the country in an area that can have unpredictable and brutal winters. We’ve been lucky, but I can’t imagine getting stuck and not having supplies on hand…