How to NOT get stuck in a snow blizzard?

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
Messages
4,453

I have heard and seen reports of unsuspecting motorists and even hikers who are caught in a snow storm and eventually die.

How does one who is unfamiliar with the ravages of a savage icy storm avoid such deadly pitfalls?

What if you are driving along a country road and suddenly the road "disappears", covered by a fast spreading snow?

No where to go, no place to hide, no where to run, end of the road.
What to do?

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Make Love your strongest weapon. Compassion your shield and forgiveness your armour.
 
Here in the Northeast US, snowstorms are quite common in the winter. I know I have a yearly autumnal ritual of putting together a bunch of extras for this whatif scenario. I'm sure I'm not alone. My "kit" might include:

clothing
a good wool blanket
snow pants
winter boots
wool hat
flashlight
fire starter
knife
water container
rope
a small shovel
gloves
chapstick
sometimes food like Power bars

I don't fill the container all the way - ice expands.

Above all, pay attention to the weather reports and if a storm is coming in, stay put.

I'm sure others have more to add.
Mike
 
My earliest memory of death of any type (other than that of JFK) is that of a family that froze to death on US Rt 81, just north of my hometown, during the Blizzard of '66.
They froze to death in their disabled vehicle, less than 1/2 mile from aid and comfort.

Preparedness here is paramount. Anyone living or traveling in the northcountry when seasons are near or right MUST have adequate survival equipment available. Water, food stores, emergency candle lanterns, appropriate clothing and boots, as well as heavy blankets or sleeping bags are standard fare in most vehicles here.

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It's not the pace of life that concerns me, It's the sudden stop at the end.
 
In the winter, my icefishing gear is always in the back of my truck, along with a shovel and other survival gear. So I always have a huge down parka and down bibs to slip on. I would recommend keeping lots of warm clothing, blankets, or better still, a winter wt sleeping bag. Something to keep you warm would be the minimum. I also keep an alcohol stove, a small pot and bottle of alcohol in my truck as well. This is part of my ice fishing kit as well and I use it to heat up smoked sausages or hot dogs while fishing. You can use the stove and pot to melt snow for water. If you look in the Cheaper Than Dirt Catalog, you can get a great Swedish Cookset, compete with a brass alcohol stove, for about $10 (I think that's what I paid for mine-but I will check the catalog to make sure.). This is a great deal and the stove works like a charm. If you don't want to go with alcohol, get an esbit stove and some trioxane fuel tablets.

{I just checked this. The cookset I bought is called the Military 5 Piece Cook Camp Set and it costs $5.97!! The alcohol stove is made by Svea, the same company that made the legendary Svea white gas backpacking stove.}


Another thing I always take on the ice is homemade beef jerkey. It's some of the best survival food I know of, as long as you have plenty of water. So there is always a big baggies of beef jerkey in my truck during the winter. I keep some chocolate bars there too, although they don't last too long.
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I also like to keep a hunk of beef stick there as well. As long as its cold, you shouldn't have any problem keeping this stuff in a trunk or enclosed pickup bed.

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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM

[This message has been edited by Hoodoo (edited 05-11-2001).]
 
Dang, HooDoo, Don't forget the CornNuts! Jerky, chocolate, and cornnuts are truly the breakfast of champions. lol

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It's not the pace of life that concerns me, It's the sudden stop at the end.
 
HooDOO,Beef jerky??? I thought you were a hunter,its deer jerky for me.
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AKTI #000946
 
I hear ya Lone Hunter. Nothing is sweeter than venison jerky (although I've had some elk jerky that was a contender). Unfortunately, since I started teaching full time, my deer hunting has been seriously curtailed. I've had to rely on the kindness of friends for venison. I used to take the first two weeks of October and head to the UP but those days are now over unless they change the school year.
frown.gif
Now I'm just a weekend hunter and mostly chase small critters. But either this fall or next, I'm going to get back in the saddle. Don't know if I will be hunting with a bow or not but if not, then maybe a muzzleloader. With a muzzleloader, I can hunt the late season. Anyway, there's nothing like jerked backstrap! Goes well with corn nuts.
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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
First, snowstorms don't come up that suddenly. One needs to stay tuned to the weather forecasts and pay attention.

Second, if the weather is getting bad and you could end up caught in it, STAY HOME or where you are. Nothing and I mean NOTHING, is worth dying in a stranded vehicle in a snowstorm over.

What usually happens is the weather is bad and people go out after they have been advised not to travel. Then it gets dark and the temps plummet. They usually aren't dressed properly and don't have any extra gear in their vehicle. They may have a cell phone however and feel safe!
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These are the people who risk other people's lives and somebody may end up dead.



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Plainsman
primitiveguy@hotmail.com
<A HREF="http://pub7.ezboard.com/bplainsmanscabin.html" TARGET=_blank>
Plainsman's Cabin Forums</A>
 
First of all, being in Malaysia is a good start.
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Plainsman is absolutely right. You usually know when these things are coming, the news stations LOVE to sensationalize on them. Most people should absolutely stay home. Period. If caught in a vehicle, you should have provisions for winter camping for at least 3 days, probably more. That's why I drive a truck, can't get all my junk in a car.

Stoves and all that are ok, but you should have a sleeping bag that can handle the cold without any help.

Where I come from (South Dakota, USA), usually the people who live there get too familiar with the elements and don't take the proper precautions. Went home to visit family in 1993 over Christmas, and some High School kid froze to death less than a mile from his farm. He slid into a ditch, tried to walk, became disoriented, and tangled in a barbed wire fence. He only had a very light jacket, and it was about 27 degrees below 0 fahrenheit.

The weird thing about freezing to death is that they always seem to find the bodies partially or fully nude. It seems right before losing consciousness, the victims must think they're warming up and start taking their clothes off - kind of like rapture of the deep, I guess. Does anyone know why this happens?

[This message has been edited by swede79 (edited 05-11-2001).]
 
A couple of years ago, an elderly couple in Hancock, Maine froze to death in their driveway. Their house was at the end of a long driveway, but was plainly visible from heavily traveled US Rte.1, they drove their car out of their garage to get to the mail box during very icy conditions, and got less than halfway there when they slid into the ditch and got stuck. Due to their frail states of health, they were incapable of making it back to their house, and perished in broad daylight, in plain sight of the road. Neighbors found the bodies. Which goes to show, that nature can turn even the most mundane events in the most familiar of surroundings, into a life or death struggle.
 
Along with all the good stuff everyone mentioned, bag of kitty litter will help get you going if you are stuck ( as opposed to ditched). Some ditches are deep and if you roll or slide in you may be missed. If you have the room bring a broom handle or if in a treed area cut a tree and hang a reflective vest or like on it near where your vehicle went in. Actually a reflective vest for all is great, it really shows through when the snow is pounding. It goes to that never drive in winter with less than 1/2 tank of fuel
Cheers
Ken
 
Kitty litter is great, it also works well for removing oil and grease spots from your driveway, just grind it in with your foot, and sweep it up.

If you're on ice, rubber floor mats can also help get you started, I've used this more than once!
 
The most important thing is not getting stuck in the first place. Most areas you can get away with just staying home if it's snowing. Unfortunately, up here in MN/WI that would mean you were stuck at home for the majority of the winter. This is not a good way to make a favorable impression with the boss.

Drive the right car with the right setup for winter. A few years back, some idiot who was into racing his Mustang decided to keep his summer performance tires on the car. In general, high performance tires are absolute garbage in the snow. The guy slid into a ditch and froze.

Lots of people say get a front wheel drive car for winter driving, but I've found that to be unneccessary. RWD works just fine if you know what you're doing. A BIG winter survival tip is to take whatever car you're going to be driving, wait till after the first snowfall, and go out to an empty parking lot. Get it up to around 30mph, yank the wheel over and pull the E brake. Now keep the car from spinning. The most important thing to do to avoid being stranded in the winter is to learn how not to get stranded in the first place. Knowing how to handle your car in the slick is a huge part of that. BTW, don't be fooled by the idea that 4X4 trucks are safer - -they're not. 4WD is good ONLY to help get you going. It doesn't enhance your steering, and it doesn't enhance your braking. I've seen SUV's going much slower than me spin off while I wasn't even slipping.


Once you ARE stranded, here's my emergency kit:

3 blankets

an old milkjug full of sand

two 2X4's, 3 feet long (put 'em under the drive wheels to pry the car out of the deep snow)

2 butane lighters

Flaregun

Cell phone

CB radio (very important. . if you don't want to install one, just get a handheld. Truckers are a HUGE help if you're stranded by the roadside, and with either a CB or a cell it's possible for rescuers to triangulate your position and find you)

Strobe light (a friend of mine is a schoolbus mechanic. He got one for me. These things are BRIGHT. I have it wired up to a cig. lighter adapter. If I got stranded, it'd go on the roof to help people locate the car)

Candy bars and power bars. I avoid the jerky idea because it requires a boatload of water to overcome the huge amt. of salt in the jerky. I don't feel like having that much water sloshing around in my hatch.

 
shadowfax, you can make jerkey salt-free. Just cut it into strips and dry it in your oven. I usually add some liquid smoke but I've made it plain jane many times. Venison is the tastiest.
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Eat a little jerkey, drink a little water and it will swell up in your stomach and satisfy hunger well. But even jerkey will take more water to metabolize than carbohydrate, not so much due to the salts but the nitrogen content. During catabolism, nitrogen is removed (called deamination)from proteins and has to be eliminated in the urine (as urea). This takes more water.

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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
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