Bad weather, slippery roads, snow and ice, car wrecks, even avalanches.
It wouldn’t be hard to imagine a scenario where you really could be stranded in your vehicle, and cut off from the rest of the world, with freezing weather and extreme conditions to contend with – especially in the Northern states.
While this situation is survivable, dozens of people die every year in these dangerous events. One of the major reasons is that fewer people are prepared in their vehicles.
But in an unexpectedly bad situation, especially one where you don’t know how long you could be stranded, it is vitally important to keep a kit in your vehicle. At a minimum, it should include blankets and coverings for warmth, medical supplies, an emergency supply of water and food.
For some real life cases of this, people had better fortune when they stayed close to their car, and had a source of heat to avoid hypothermia or other life-threatening complications. If you stay near the road, and in or near your vehicle, you will be found. With some common sense, you will be found alive.
Sensible Prepper writes:
Extreme Winter Survival Vehicle Kit. We’re putting together the items that can give you a fighting chance against Old Man Winter. Inspired by the Story of the family in NW Nevada who in 2014, was stranded in their vehicle for 48 hours in -21 degree temps and their story of survival.
Meanwhile, this video covers some of the most useful items that you may need to survive the winter, deal with power blackouts, snow ins, provide emergency warmth and sustainable heating methods.
33 Winter Preps and Survival Gear
Everyone’s needs are different, depending upon where you live, and how used you are to living self-sufficient.
Nonetheless, the winter can be harsh and unforgiving for anyone. Be ready.
Prepper’s Blueprint: Seriously. Prepare. For. Whatever. Is. Coming.
Could You Escape Your Vehicle In a Disaster? “The Potential Is All Too Real”
Surviving Extreme Winter and Blizzards: “Avoid Panic and Discomfort of Being Unprepared”
What Do You Prep For: Common Personal Disasters
These People Were Prepared During Snow Storm Jonas, But They Died Because of This Mistake
It Took 22 Years to Get to This Point
Most of us have heard of germ theory ad nauseam since the beginning of the COVID-19 scamdemic....
This article was originally published by Rhoda Wilson at The Exposé. The Pandermrix influenza...
This article was originally published by S.D. Wells at Natural News under the title:...
The United Kingdom's rulers created an online censorship law that has now advanced to the point...
Commenting Policy:
Some comments on this web site are automatically moderated through our Spam protection systems. Please be patient if your comment isn’t immediately available. We’re not trying to censor you, the system just wants to make sure you’re not a robot posting random spam.
This website thrives because of its community. While we support lively debates and understand that people get excited, frustrated or angry at times, we ask that the conversation remain civil. Racism, to include any religious affiliation, will not be tolerated on this site, including the disparagement of people in the comments section.
I know for sure i take for granted the excellent weather here plus the close proximity of everything, attitude of gratitude,
At worst we have heavy rains and wind, rare that i wouldnt be at home or within 30 minutes of home ever
sadly, here in the mainland, we got people that couldn’t survive at HOME without a few of their basic necessities, like a smart(dumb, actually)phone and a TV. people DIE every year INSIDE their homes because they don’t have “what it takes” when sumthin’ happens to their “perfect world”. it doesn’t say much for our chances of survival, longterm.
just last night i had a run-in with a homeless guy. it’s below freezing here overnight, and he asked for a blanket sitting there in my friend’s shop we were sitting and talking. he shooshed him outside, and i decided to go get him a couple blankets. so i tell him to wait for me and i go get a light sleeping bag, a couple moving blankets, and some granola bars and other foodstuffs. everything he needed to survive a night in this cold. but he didn’t seem to know what to do with it all, so i told him to put inside the bag one blanket under and one on top, and he would be warm(he was dressed warm already, with pretty much all the gear). but i just didn’t think as i drove off that he would be able to accomplish all that. i kinda’ don’t think he had both oars in the water, which explains why he’s homeless, i suppose. my point is, even WITH the tools to survive, he still didn’t have the knowledge. walk in the cold…camp in the cold/wind/heat to really KNOW how to deal with adversity….gear up, muhfugguhs, ’cause we are in for some SHITSTORMS in the VERY near future.
Yup,,,,
Things I carry with me: 1 case (10 packs) mainstay 3600 food bars, 6 one quart canteens full, backpack with extra socks, knife, space blankets, paracord, hatchet, handgun/ammo, jacket, boots, first aid kit, baofeng radio with spare battery, solar/crank radio, flashlights, alco stove and 1/2 gallon fuel, and a few other things. I could go about 2 weeks with what I have (except water). Whats in YOUR vehicle? 🙂
Here in Sunny, Hot FL it is a real challenge keeping the Beer Cold in the SUV. With many 90 deg + days, the Ice melts too fast. So we have no choice but to drink the beer faster before it gets warm. Anybody else have this challenging problem?
What was your problem, again?
A bag o beef jerky, nail bags, skillsaw,
I was at a gun show last year and this guy was selling old T-10 parachutes for 25 bucks and the harnesses for 10. So I bought the chute and harness. I was the only one at that point that bought any. So after I paid for them, a guy asked me what use would I have for that stuff. So I told him that the parachute will keep you very warm regardless of how cold it gets and as far as the harness, where else are you gonna buy 600 ft. of paracord for 10 bucks? I walked by that stand an hour later and he sold the rest that he had.
good score! at last gunshow i went to i found a guy trying to sell 100′ lengths of AAALLL different colors of paracord…nobody was buying, he was disgusted, and i offered 60 for the whole duffle bag full….probly 5 1200′ rolls worth,….threw in about 50 candles to boot….there’s at LEAST 40 different colors in there…..there’s a LOT to look at in the gun show…bargains galore….BTW, walmart is selling buckshot 25 rounds for 10$ right now….there’s a great crissmuss present right there!…stocking stuffers.
3 ways to start a fire would be a good start. Do not include a BIC lighter in that. Two tarps. A shovel. A real sleeping bag. Other then that, pretty much the same. Of course, I’m in Montana so what I’d need and what you do may be different… 🙂
Im in North central Montana…about minus 2 here now. A guy learns to carry alot of extra supplies in his rig as you never know what is gonna happen or what you might roll up on. I have a suburban that i could live in for weeks long as i dont roll it and break the windows…which happens all too often here.I bury my water supplies in a pile of clothes and bedding but it still freezes. Probably the only issue I have at the moment.
One of my vehicles is a nearly new F-150 V8 4dr super crew cab 4×4, with top of the line ARE camper shell, that pulls a 7×12 trailer, that will carry 5,000 lbs.
Its a handy little package loaded to the teeth. 🙂
Show off
Winter survival ??? Get some Muk Luk fleece lined boots to keep your feet warm. There’s nothing warmer. $99 🙂
IMO … Dick Proenneke remains the undisputed cold weather survivalist. The full vid is a must for the library of greenhorns and pros alike.
Don’t be a pussy … be like Dick.?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_3NRdZ8J24Q
http://m.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=2456246
YUP.
bcod,
That was very thoughtful and kind to help that man!
Hope you have a great day!
PFFT!…many thanks to YOU, for contributing SO MUCH to shtfplan! you are one of our very best. YOU, and your peers are why i’m here. thank you.
Many states closed mental facilities, which forced the residents out on the street. It’s equivalent to taking a six year old and turning him loose. There’s a reason most of those people were in there, and giving them”freedom ” does them no good at all. It’s sad.
Each winter-Jan & Feb-the Nashville,TN news stations do stories on going out to save the homeless from the severe cold.
The local ministries go around offering to take them to a church or the Rescue Mission for the night.
Some of these lost souls are so cold they are crying. It is a very sad thing to see. People so cold they cry.
I’ve been cold before, but never so cold and without any hope that I cried like they do.
I’m too old to hit the streets at night to help, so I give the Rescue Mission $s. I don’t like to see the crying. It happens every year.
We have a homeless nut here in my town named ‘andy’. He pushes his walmart cart everywhere…sometimes i’ll see him 60 miles out of town one day, then the next day he’s back…hot, cold, rain, snow.. nothing stops this guy…been at it for years…has money, doesn’t care.
You can’t even say hi without getting
a curse tirade from him..
no idea how he survives…but he does…
so, when the Scheiße does make contact…some of us will be just fine, even the best of us like andy…
When I know it is bad weather day I take an ATV with me on the back of my truck. If my vehicle gets hopelessly stock, there’s another vehicle available to get me home. Warm clothes are a must though
Menzo, we also stock our atv’s with similar preps. Don’t forget a small compressor and tire plugs.
No doubt. I had to ride one a long way one time and the wind is brutal if you’re not dressed well. Beats walking!
We always carry a Military Sleep System in our vehicles every where we go in addition to our GHBs.
Nail,
You forgot Tsunami’s. We are expecting one about 1500 hrs HST.
I’m staying at home 900 feet above sea level.
Tsunami warning cancelled, but flash flood warnings and snow warnings are now in effect.
Isn’t living on an island in the middle of the ocean
a real treat?
I am ready for WHEN it happens, only a matter of time and it WILL!
Not sure if its all still there but growing up on the big island going to school in Hilo we were very aware of the concrete foundations all along Kamehameha ave from the buildings wiped out in the 50s i think by a tsunami, an old family friend who lived on the pali right outside of hilo across the singing bridge had old photos from the during and after, he was a retired merchant marine who was into photography, old school photography,,, he had some skin crawling photos,,,
Was 50s I ink, no maybe about the tsunami
dates – 1946 and 1960 for the tsunami destruction.
Foundations are gone.
No wonder they were still there, i was born in 63, they used to line the end of Kam avenue all the way to Suisan from the dollar store
This would be perfect weather for them to have to evacuate the shorelines around the islands,,, its a bit damp today
Its real quiet in the Alutians,,, thats were the big tsunamis come from for us usually, there and south amerika,
But the Alutians is the area that freaks me out, that big ass cliff under the sea where that Pacific plate subducts the Arctic plate, potential for a huge slip thrust,
Check out this video of a guy using rope, to sub for cable chains, to get through snow. A few weeks ago even Hawaii had snow on its highest mountains, as well I’ve seen ice storms in northern Florida. These rope cable chains will also work in mud, my brother once got stuck for a day and a have in Death Valley, when a once in fifty years rainstorm hit.
https://youtu.be/NpJKU-zO4hk
I keep fifty feet of 3/8 nylon rope in each car. It has tons of uses, but once you watch this video, you’ll be able to handle freaky weather too with it.
I used to commute about fifty miles. During blizzards all the regular and interstate roads would go gridlock, but I had cable chains, so I went over the empty mountain road that no one without chains could even get up.
we had that here on shtfplan a few years ago. thanks for reminding us…totally forgot that one….always new coming in, and some leaving, so y’all don’t be afraid to repeat things every so often…thanks for your VAST contributions to shtfplan, plan!
learn how to drive “off-road”. and throw in your car a couple of 4×6 or 6×8 pieces of wood about 3 feet long, they will get you across those small ditches and chuckholes.
Thats one thing i really like about my new superduty,,, it came stock with an electronic locking rear end, that baby can do some serious offroading, just put some little bigger BFG tires and alloys on it so its got a bit more rubber touching the ground, 6.7L has some yank
nice truck but way to heavy for serious offroad. that truck would get stuck in a field with slushy topsoil. small Toyotas are the way to go.
Small Toyotas are the most gutless trucks made (I have had several). My next one will be a Ford ranger 4×4 6 banger. The reason they last so long is the low compression engine, no hard work, no hard wear. Plus they are a muther to work on.
my rock-crawler, bugout vehicle is a 84 pickup with a v6 astrovan motor in it…toyota parts are cheap, easy to find at wreckin’ yards, and durable…if my tundra fails me, there’s always the other toy-let pickup….oh, i guess i can call it the chev-ota……nawww.
Because of the heavy snowfall, I got to test my brand new ”heavy duty snow boots” from China, which broke in 1 hour. I ended up using my Stanley Rubber Boots (Made in USA) rated for -40c. Thanks China, i’ll be making sure everything now says made in USA.
We keep a pair of the Military Surplus Artic Mickey Mouse boots with wool socks in the vehicles. Big and heavy but warm and waterproof.
“made in china” IS a warning-label, afterall.
Here ya go. $39.95
ht tps://colemans.com/shop/boots-and-footwear/u-s-g-i-extreme-cold-temperature-boots-used/
MAC
Thanks for the info. There are a lot of people out there not prepared for the next COLD SNAP that is coming.
Forecast for my area is next week is for lows around ZERO plus.
I keep a lot of stuff in my truck and my wife’s Jeep. One of the best thing is regular blanket, solar blankets, hand and body warmers, water and food. (bottle of water 1/2 full so that it won’t freeze and break open.)
Sgt.
Move to a warmer climate for starters. Duh!! Like who still lives in a cold climate above the Frost line? Sounds like the Unprepared. What are you all going to do when the Grid crashes for 2 years in the dead of winter, and no electric period, or pump stations to pump LP gas to you? Your home’s value will have just decreased by 90% overnight. And most will just abandon their properties and 90% of their preps, they can’t carry with them, to go be a refugee traveling south for months for warmth and heat. I figured out this Northern FLAW nearly 30 years ago and got the heck out of the Frozen Tundra BS. Cars rust in just a few years and you spend a third of your life fighting the elements and doing it while shivering. You are trying to put a band-aid on a hemoraging amputation.
I guess they’ll all be moving in with you 🙂
I wouldn’t know if the grid went down since we are 100% off the grid with wind and solar power and we heat with wood with a life time supply around us.
5 years of LP Gas on hand at all times.
If the wireless internet signal went down, satellite TV, and cell phones went down, that would be a clue.
I would get on the HF Ham radio and quickly know if it was a local outage or nationwide.
If the grid crashes, everybody’s home value crashes… duh. Most of us who have thought ahead are off-grid up here anyways. Heat for us is a thing called wood… we have lots of it. Hell, 93% of my county’s homes have a wood burning stove listed as their major heat source. Water? A hand dug well, a stock pond, a river. Who needs LP gas… someone in an RV?
No, living in the south has a MAJOR flaw… competition for resources. You’ll be dying of some waterborne bacteria while starving and trying to keep the looters out. So keep your heat, your diseases and your Golden Horde… I’ll stay where me and mine have a good chance.
99% of the Golden Hoard Locusts will clean you out to the bone first before they try coming south. Good luck with that plan. You may be prepared but many around you are not. First they came for your food, then they came for your LP GAS, then your firewood, then your wife and daughters.
moving south to the warmer climates may work if there is no pole shift that causes the grid to go down; but if/when the next shift happens, then those warm coastal areas will be underwater. midwest or higher terrain areas will be better and yes have backup to grid issues. If the grid goes down, even down south won’t help if there is no gas for vehicles or to pump well water, etc. Using your logic a down grid in the summer may be worse down south than up north.
Our car kit includes a Ham radio programmed to receive NOAA weather/emergency broadcasts and transmit to emergency responders on their own repeaters plus plenty of ways to stay warm including 12 volt electric blanket, candle in a jar, extra clothes, etc. We can even brew a cup of tea and have a snack while we await rescue.
Getting a bit nippy up here in northern Alberta -40f for the past week plus the wind. Yes we all still function quite well in that type of cold. The coldest I remember was in late 90s I was working on a drilling rig in cold lake Alberta I happened to be on night shift and the temps dropped from -45in the day to -57 for 4 nights in a row. Of course we weren’t working right out in it but we did have to do our ground checks every half hour or so to keep lines from freezing. 7 minutes was all we were allowed to be out.that was a rough hitch but we got thru
Angry Beaver,
I find that when it gets below 15F the snow and ice starts getting less slippery as it gets colder. When temps turn subzero, it gets easier to drive in the snow.
Some people have frozen to death in cars, sitting right next to a snow drift that they could have dug a snow cave into and survived for days with just minimal supplies. Warm cloths, sleeping bag, tarp or sleeping pad, and some slow burning candles.
Basics of snow cave survival, you get air through the snow, but your body heat and breath will cause an ice coating that will seal the snow causing suffocation. Solution, scrape the ice coating off the snow walls and ceiling twice a day. Toss the scrapings outside. Snow is an amazing insulator, ice is not. Dig your cave so walls and ceiling are at least a foot or two thick. Punch a small hole with the handle of a shovel through the ceiling along one side. Place a lit candle under the hole. The candles rising heat will create a chimney effect that will pull air out of the cave, drawing fresh air into your cave for you the breath. From the candle you get heat, light and fresh air.
Yep I learned the snowcave trick when I was about 13.
One item on snow cave survival I missed. A metal cup suspended over the candle can melt and slow boil water (use the scrapings) and you can drink it. Drinking warm water in the cold is heaven. Never eat snow, it consumes huge amounts of calories to melt it when you eat it and it can have bacteria.
There are articles on surviving in snow caves, anyone who lives where snow falls, or might travel where snow falls should read up on the subject. It ain’t rocket science and could save your life.
If you were in an area where there was just six inches of snow, it would be worth the effort to use a shovel and pile it up to tunnel in if the temp goes below 25F.
Sarge, keep prepping, you will survive. Good article Mac. People actually believe that because Trump won the election, its time to let your guard down, and stop prepping. I know bullshit when see it and hear it. I just got a BIG solar panel generator as back up to charge up my radio’s flashlights, etc, run the freezer, to keep my microgreens growing, etc. Since my collapse and SHTF episode between November 2012 & July 2014, when you are homeless, living in the streets, and night comes down, every one is at home taking showers, eating, watching Tv, banging away with reckless abandonment, having more babies, causing pregnancies, relaxing in my area of town, life is so good isn’t, then there is a guy, me starving in that area, that’s suffering and learning the hard way..Once you research who grows food, how it gets here, how trucks transport it, most of the nations veges from California, you get scared because the food WILL BE CUT OFF. I WILL NEVER STOP PREPPING, NEVER WILL, BECAUSE ENVIRONMENTL DISTRUCTION, FROM NATURE’S NATURAL SERVICES, AND WAR IN THIS COUNTRY, YES WAR IN THIS COUNTRY will force me to continue to prep. AS THEY DUMP OFF THOUSANDS OF SOMALI MUSLIMS, JUST THE ONES THAT DEMANDED THAT I OPEN MY DOOR OR ELSE. I will never back down from what I know, the people I have met,the scientist, this disturbing shit I heard, the women’s mass extinction on the continental US, and risk that I am facing in this disaster. In my opinion is that Donald is just the distraction to allow the cabal enough time to get us to relax, so that we can let our guard down, then disaster strikes. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. And I have read how sales of survival foods are way down, businesses crashing because the savior has arrived, but like I said, I am a Trump fan, support the man, voted for the man, but the one thing that I have learned is hunger, when you get into that, no one is around to feed you, I have jumped into garbage disposal for food. Starved to point of such nutritional difficiency to the point of one day, I almost past out because I was on water for 3 weeks and ate once.. My potassium and magnesium levels were so low I almost died. luckily my friend was here to help me with some food. I lost most of my physique, lived a life of hell, I stank, smelled really bad to sudden accept that fact that I am now one these homeless people on the streets, slept outside, shit, and piss behind buildings, had to run my business while this was going on to watch my fucking car breakdown, leaving me literally trapped outside for 4 days and 4 nights, I could not get and apartment, I had a broken lease, I had to put my customers first, pay the business overhead, and tell myself to go to hell. Without food and water only in time to watch a cayotte trying to attack me in the 290 area of Houston to make dinner out of my ass. Once I discovered this site, the first thing I did when I made some money was to order to MRE and mountain house, and got the cooking equipment, I was able to get more vitamins, supplements, and headed back to the gym to built it back. According to the preppers on this site and their insite, it made sense to secure the food supply and restore my health, get back into working out, start practicing again, take showers at the gym, ate at the biggest all you can eat GMO AND MSG buffet around town. It was in the summer of 2013, now business was building back up. I listened to Tony Robbins and self power and how to make it work, got brutal, got aggressive, and literally pulled my ass off the streets right into a luxury Apt. Secured more prepps, got a lot more, got into more jams again, recovered again, backed up more food supplies, and will never stop this prepping shit every again. Most people don’t realize, that every year that passes, we get closer to distruction. The scientist told me 3 weeks ago, that the insiders, the blacktops boys are rushing to get all the food supply secure, they are shipping 50 tuns of meat under ground, have aquaponics, hydroponics, systems, farming and are in it for the long run because something BIG is coming to reck this entire planet on a mass scale, and now I am hearing that people are cutting back on supplies. Guys now in the chance to get more supplies. Get while you can, you will be needing. Make sure you guys have vitamins, and I recommend stocking up on whey protein, Optimum nutrition sells bags of it by the shit load.
So I am still buying food and leaving them at certain strategic locations with other real trustworthy friends, like one poor red neck buddy of mine, who is homeless for the last 5 years and is allowed to live out of his storage unit. He was shocked when I told him what I was going through when I just met him. THIS WILL HAPPEN AGAIN, WE HAVE A MAJOR FOOD SUPPLY SHORTAGE, PEOPLE I AM TELLING YOU ALL THIS, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A WAR IN THIS COUNTRY AND FACE A COLLAPSE, AND TRUMP WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STOP THIS. Now I just heard that Evanka just met with Al Gore about climate change, really? So now we are going to see possible the same bullshit under Trump that was under the current administration, while signing executive orders to take control of all food, water supply, land farms, and animals, etc, then the soldiers come in to kill us, rape us, shoot us, murder us, etc, then its . Then governments resource management is here, to make sure that we have nothing to eat. Every 4 years a politician comes into the public, bashes the current one, promises change, and all we get is the same pure un-adultered bullshit and lies. I have noticed that the bullets are still cleaning off the shelves in all the stores, luckily people are smart and know what’s coming. No doubt about it, people are spending more money, but we are still in the precipiss of the buttcrackofdoom.
NOTHING, I MEAN NOTHING WILL EVER MAKE ME LET MY GUARD.
My master, caught my kick a few weeks ago, side swiped and under cut my leg, air born I went, then flat on my back as the wind was knocked out me. I didn’t even see leg coming, as he was up on me with his foot in my chest, your dead he says, I didn’t even see it coming. Got my ass kicked. Never let your guard down, period. At lease a lot of food will be available for me to put in some more orders on some cheap corn syrup GMO garbage, and Genius and Brave is right, that cheap shit saved my ass many times. As a prepper, I track food production and supply, I know farming now, and know how to grow food really well. I have lots of seeds, etc for long term survival.
HCKS.
Don’t be a dumbass, use your brain.
Nice post HCKS. Trump ain’t no savior like you said. This feels all like a façade.
Survival Camping has got some back packing food on sale. Have never tried their food but have bought other items from them. Good people to deal with.
Also check out the artic canteens (double walled military surplus) that are for sale. I have bought several and they are gtg. One quart capacity.
When it is below 0 there is not much that will keep it from freezing in a few hours
As GMAFB used to say
SOSDD
HCKS,
You should get a book on edible wild plants if you don’t have one. I watched people on this site drive Rebbeca off. Too bad, our loss. She spoke of a life in harmony with her surroundings. Eating natural foods instead of trying to force nature with commercial seed! She was too low key for some die hard (got to get tough) preppers who swore she’d be the first to die! I doubt it. She’s gone OPSEC.
There is food all around us, if we but knew where to look.
I’m thinking of millions of Americans who like you in their worst days could walk down a country lane, right past pants they could eat and not see them.
HCKS, you have come so far, I look forward to your honest posts, thanks.
Didn’t watch the video, running low and gigabytes for the month…so,
FWIW, when you change out windshield wipers, (do it before they’re toast) throw the old ones in the trunk or somewhere. Getting stuck in a storm without wipers sucks. (Had a gas station guy try cleaning my windshield and he broke the driver’s side wiper during a heavy rainstorm. “Sorry, man.” (They didn’t have any new ones.)
Had to switch wipers with the other side, tie a cloth on the other, got a scraped windshield. But made it home.
Folding military surplus shovel? Also doubles as a weapon.
We keep two full gallons of water in each vehicle. No need to be concerned with freezing here.
Another thing I do is whenever I replace a belt or hose I keep the old one in the vehicle. If you are at about the expected life of an alternator or water pump etc. change it out and save the old one for a spare. Don’t wait for things to fail before replacing them, it will get you out of a jam when you need it!
Genius- To follow up with your good points of having extra belts, which I do. Also Take Photos of your Serpentine belt configuration of which ways it goes around the pullys while it is still on. And keep that paper photo hard copy in your glove Box. If it breaks, you will be baffled without that photo to how to replace it properly and which way it goes around each pully. Sometimes on the hood frame by the radiator there is a configuration config view sticker. Try putting one of those belts on in the dark on a back road with no configuration view.
Also know where the belt tension spring and roller is, that keeps the belt tight, and its usually a 3/8th socket wrench that can loosen the tensions spring so your can replace it. Carry that socket wrench and practice loosening and tightening the spring with a quick twist. How many people start taking off the alternator to get the new belt on? When there is a simple tension spring to easily loosen it. It happens all the time, I hear, just because the unprepared failed to know how their vehicle is repaired, even simple repaired. I just had to replace a wheel sensor. $20 and 30 mins for me, having to take the wheel off to get to it. Or be dumb and spend $150 at dealership with labor and parts.
Know your vehicle and or go ask a certified mechanic to help show you if you have questions. Buy a service manual for your vehicle. Also buy a box of extra fuses in various amps. 5/10/15/20/25/30 Amps, etc. Got that?
Along the lines of information, certain key data in a car manuals like fuse box layout and rating can be annoyingly small print. If your computer printer is also a copier, make a full 8 1/2 X 11 of the fuse page, you’ll be able to read it in lousy light while making a fix.
I use the crap out of my brother label maker, it prints labels on adhesive tape. Got mine from Sam’s Club. Under the hood of the car there are now huge labels for oil, coolant, windshield wash etc, I labeled it all to make it idiot proof. What kind and how much oil for an oil change. Part number for belts, spark plugs etc. The labels when put on a clean surface have been lasting a decade or more under the hood of a car. Surprised me, really tough conditions.
Tractors, snow blowers etc have labels that ID how much and what type of oil, replacement belts, spark plug and gap, filter part numbers. If I have to look it up, it gets a label. I also use the labeler to record maintenance on appliances, there’s a row of them on the furnace that ID the part and date it was replaced. Washer or dryer has its part number and serial on the back, first time I pulled it away from the wall to read those numbers it got a label on the inside of the lid.
May be a tad obsessive compulsive, but it really makes life easy. I have one tractor that I got from dad, he bought it when I was four. It still starts on the first pull. There is no data on the net, if you need a belt for it and didn’t record it somewhere, you are screwed. I wonder how many perfectly good American made workhorse products end up in the trash for want of a twelve dollar belt or other minor part that is available if you only knew the p/n or spec?
K-Up “Had a gas station guy try cleaning my windshield and he broke the driver’s side wiper during a heavy rainstorm.”
So what kind of Moron tries to clean a windshield in a friggin heavy rainstorm? Answer: A Moron, thts your first clue. And I would sent the moron your windshield wiper bill. I never let anybody touch my vehicle period. I pump my own gas so I know what goes in it, and it either me repairing it or a Certified SAE Mechanic.
So you get what you deserve. Wake up people, are you that lazy?
I meant to say ASE Certified Mechanic. My ASE Mechanic Buddy says this to people when they question his hourly rate. He says to them, “Do you know how much a Bad Mechanic Will cost you?”
Zeus, this happened in the 90’s when attendants did windshields at gas stations.
Your driving experience must be limited.
In the Pacific Northwest, DIRT is on the roads and the rain puts it on the windshield.
And in Oregon, there is no self serve gas, mr. moron.
Lazy? You, who spends his life at the keyboard? You have no idea of my work ethic.
If it’s not Old Guy, you have to have someone to attack, don’t you?
You must be miserable living alone.
Noticed all the sales on the dehydrated food sites kinda figured people were backing off on buying. I for one do not buy a lot of the commercially done dehydrated foods but keep my own food dryer busy most of the year. I have had a dryer of my own since the early 70’s so although it is an old concept it is still a great one for keeping food, don’t get me wrong canning is still a really good way to preserve food but two things that go along with it 1. labor intensive, 2. a larger amount of shelf space needed to store it in. I just finished canning up all the tomatoes I green picked, from my garden, and ripened them in the house; I have never had to can in Dec. so this was a new experience for me, but as you may already know, “waste not, want not”
Mallardhen,
I agree.
Lots of sales on prepper foods. It’s also end of year and they are cleaning out oldest date code products.
I for one have been on the complacent side since Trump won. His appointments also give me confidence. I’ve really enjoyed watching liberal communists squirm.
Never the less I still have things on my buy list.
I’m thinking when the Dow breaks 2,000 there will be a profit taking moment that could turn into a bloody run on the bank crash.
Stay frosty! Don’t be caught in cognitive dissonance!
When my Dad worked in Minot in the missile silos, his truck had a toolbox in the back that did double duty as a gas tank, in addition to the standard dual tanks on the rig. The company instructed drivers to remain with their vehicles in the event of a whiteout or big storm, and keep the engine running. Never turn it off. Crack a window for fresh air. Keep a kit of boots, socks, hat, gloves, candy bars and water, any other food you want.
Getting ready for work one winter morning, he saw the neighbor lady, lightly dressed, take her trash to the sidewalk, then start walking back to her house. Dad kept on getting ready, when he left the house 20 minutes later, the neighbor was frozen to death on the front porch. She had locked herself out.
When i was living in Co in the early 90s we found a BMW off the road in the trees one morning after a snowstorm, there were two yuppy popsickles in the front seat, no jackets, flipflops, and key was still in the on position but car was out of fuel,,,,,,,,,
Good times
If I lived where it snows, I would not drive a white car unless I was a private eye, or expected to need to hide or remain unnoticed. Be very careful when you are around trees, a helicopter may not be able to see through them.
It is important to keep in touch. If no one knows you are missing, chances no one will come looking for you.
__
I stopped watching the video when the guy started talking about sleds. I’m lucky enough to live where snow is a rarity, and when we get snow, it’s gone pretty soon.
It also doesn’t get that cold for very long. I didn’t heat my home office at all last winter, but it stayed sweater comfortable anyway.
Since my vehicle is almost 25 years old, I never go more than a few miles from my house. So I’m always within walking distance.
I always dress the same year around, just wearing a jacket in the winter. I don’t even own boots, because the snow doesn’t get deep enough to go above my hightop work shoes.
So, winter is not a big problem here, as long as you’re sensible.
Keep a few long life candles in your vehicle. A burning candle will raise the temp in side a vehicle by several degrees, plus the light is helpful and if you have a metal container you can warm some water/ melt snow. Only need a very small amount of fresh air coming to compensate for the oxygen being used by the candle.
Carbon Monoxide?
Hubby and I use to travel in the winter in an old VW bus.
He kept a large #10 can with sand half way up. Stuck candles in in the sand and lit them.
Hahaha, but it worked, a little. He still has a VW bus, but I have a nice car with heat and air.
Worked in north North Dakota for 5 winters. Outside 8 hours a day. 3 layers of sweatpants. Those 8 hour hand warmers they look like a big suger pack do work. One in each boot and glove and you don’t get your fingers and toes amputated from frost bite. Very compact . And can even melt ice and snow to drink. Cheap too. Probably the cheapest easiest most compact way to be ready.
Getting ready for winter, got a snow blower that sucks? Mine did!
I was given an old craftsman track drive that can’t toss wet snow over my mailbox, or the snow banks after a couple snow storms in quick succession. Turns out there’s a quick fix for this.
This guys video describes how to do it. https://youtu.be/EMAgb3QNEE8
Basicly the large clearance between the second stage impeller and its housing causes a huge loss in efficiency. I ordered a replacement Toro electric snow blower rubber paddle. I cut it into four 4 inch pieces.
Where I varied from the video was, I made my rubber impellers an inch bigger than the available space, so when I tightened the nuts and bolts holding them, the rubber formed a rounded trough shape. It seems counter intuitive that snowblower makers use flat bladed impellers to toss snow through a round hole. My impeller is now rounded like a scoop.
Finished it this morning, I Installed the rubber tight to the housing (I could turn the impeller but it was very tight). and and ran it for a out ten minutes. The rubber is now worn to a perfect fit. I’ll have to wait for the first snowstorm to test it, but when I stepped in front to observe how it was all working, I have to say it was blowing air out the shoot like a leaf blower. My upgrade cost about $15, and I used new rubber.
Get a plastic urinal from Walmart or any medical supply. Fill it with water and when you finish, pee. That way you don’t have to go out into the cold where you could freeze your privates. Wouldn’t want to see that get hard and break off.
Get an extra couple and fill with Cheerios.
__. ?. — ••
M&Ms would be better 🙂
Echoing a few key points from other posts:
Water in your car won’t be liquid if your nights are 20 degrees or less. You need something to melt snow/ice in and a way to generate heat to melt it.
It is very common to slip off a snow covered road and into deeper snow, so carry a small metal shovel. Not only do you need to dig a path back out, but your vehicle is trapped over packed snow and you have to dig out UNDER your car. You also need to clear your exhaust.
Blankets and candles and a cracked open window will keep you alive. Impatience is the biggest killer. – unless you are in the deep boonies, stay in your car!
have lived in this state for my entire life
some of the nastiest weather , cold shitty one day to the next you dont know what your going to get
like they say here, if you dont like the weather ,,just wait a few minuets or hours its going to change ( change doesn’t necessarily mean for the better but we should have leaned that by now with Obamas “change right?)
I have always carried a bad weather bag / or a break down bag in my trucks since i was a kid .. its a no brainier for those of us who have one
I used to just build me a shelter out of all the empty beer cans in the back seat lol. 😛
one more thing. keep a piece of chain along with your tow strap. a few years ago i was pulling everyone out of the snow, and i encountered a small car, low to the ground, and there was no way to connect my towstrap to it, so i left them sitting there…also know how to attach your car to a hook. that car probly had a cover over a hole to screw in a tow hook kept in the sparetire well, but i knew nothing about that model.