Posted on 12/22/2011 9:11:03 PM PST by Kartographer
New Mexico is a proud OPEN CARRY SNOW DRIFT STATE! Thank you very much.
Marvelous story, thank God for the perseverance of the rescuers.
Should be required to carry all these in the winter;
2 cans of Sterno, matches, bottled water, hard candy extra blankets.
Add other items you think you will need.
It didn’t say what road they were stuck on but because they are in Raton I will assume it was east of there. I saw an old photo years ago of a cattle herd that had froze to death in a blizzard. In the back ground was Capulin Volcano. that told me it was north of my old stomping grounds (as a child) Gladstone NM, where several people were trapped a few years ago.
My uncle, who lived in that area but later moved out to the high plains of Colorado, always told people to have at least TWO WEEKS of food on hand for these blizzard times.
You might want to think about a hatchet, a fixed blade knife, and a box of granola bars.
You don’t need a fire for granola bars, just stick it under your arm pit if you need to.
Your soup can freeze, and oatmeal needs cooking.
A few of the space blankets wouldn’t hurt. Couple of bucks each and will help to keep you dry. Your wool blankets wont.
Definately not sterno in a car.
Apparently air was their biggest need. I guess under several feet of snow that makes sense. I think the can of sterno might have made that situation worse. (I always pack sterno in winter driving as well).
I remember the Travelals and the IH pickups. FWIW, IH had a problem with breaking axles in that era. I was a on a construction site and a foreman started driving an IH pickup up a slight grade and then started drifting back. When he stopped and got out I asked him what had happened. He said right away he had broken an axle.
Apparently that wasn’t the first time he had broken an axle shaft.
Apparently air was their biggest need. I guess under several feet of snow that makes sense. I think the can of sterno might have made that situation worse. (I always pack sterno in winter driving as well).
Cigarette lighters
Multi-tool
Large heavy-duty trash bags (dozens of uses: tarp, poncho, container for gathering food, water)
Tarp
spare warm clothes
bag of driveway melt
chains for the tires
$$$
cell phone
Surveyor's Tape and a Sharpie
Compass
The last two are really for off-road situations if you are forced to hoof it. You can tie surveyors's tape to tree limbs and they are visible for miles. Write your name, date, and direction traveling. Post one every few miles. Rescuers can follow your trail with ease.
iPod, iPad, iPhone, NetBook, Portable DVD player, Honda Generator
Must be entertained.
Survivor Man would dismantle all that stuff trying to find a piece of wire, so he could make a snare to catch a rabbit.
I like the complete list:
A few cans of sterno.
Matches.
A couple of newspapers (starting fires, stuffing for insulation).
Cans of Progresso soup with the pull of top.
Hot chocolate.
Wool blankets (at least fleece, but wool is better).
One of those flare-orange emergency tents - can be use to drape over a smashed window, over the roof of the car to be seen from the air.
Emergency flares.
Water (leave room in the bottle for expansion if it freezes) such as four gallon aqua-tainer.
Flash light and batteries.
Mess kit.
Sporks.
Bags of instant oatmeal.
First aid kit.
Bag of tootsie rolls or similar quick energy.
Couple of cans of fix-of-flat.
Folding shovel.
Sven-type folding saw.
Decent two-way radios with weather channels.
Cigarette lighters
Multi-tool
Large heavy-duty trash bags (dozens of uses: tarp, poncho, container for gathering food, water)
Tarp
spare warm clothes
bag of driveway melt
chains for the tires
$$$
cell phone
Surveyor’s Tape and a Sharpie
Compass
The last two are really for off-road situations if you are forced to hoof it. You can tie surveyors’s tape to tree limbs and they are visible for miles. Write your name, date, and direction traveling. Post one every few miles. Rescuers can follow your trail with ease.
Posting them together so I remember when I get back from travel and have a chance to check what’s in my survival box.
Why not? I wouldn’t burn it in the car. Is there something dangerous about storing it unopened in your car?
Soup is very thick and I’ve never had it freeze in my car. It’s good to have food you don’t need to cook, and you don’t have to cook Progresso soup as it’s already cooked. But if you’re going to prepare, you should have a heat source and it is good for morale (and warmth) to have hot food.
Great ideas. Thanks.
“Important to have a bug out bag in your trunk...”
I have a question. I understand emergency flares and their importance. I have a SUV without a trunk. My concern (and it may not be warranted) is if I keep flares in the very back, could they light during an accident? Are flares one of those tools that must be kept in a trunk or you just don’t pack them?
If you are trapped in your car there wont be an open heat source, you'll kill yourself.
Of course you can eat the soup without heating it, but it will make you colder.
You can use heat packs to warm something up or to melt ice for water.
I'm not saying you shouldn't have anything you've listed, there is just a few things you might want to add.
You might also want to add some para-cord and a roll of nylon string.
I keep them in the back of my suv. I don’t think they can really light themselves just by bouncing around (though you should secure them). I suppose if the car caught fire, they could ignite, but if they ignite under those circumstances, it doesn’t really matter.
It’s a good idea to buy a cheap backpack on sale and keep most of your survival gear in that backpack (don’t forget packets of Mountain House freeze-dried food). Not only does that keep it organized and secure, but if you have to abandon your vehicle (usually a last option, because your vehicle does provide shelter and is usually fairly visible, unless down a ravine or in the brush or snow), you can throw the pack on your back and hike.
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