If you are like me you have a vehicle full of recovery gear, gloves, straps, tie downs, and miscellaneous equipment to help you get unstuck. There is another type of vehicle preparedness, and given the current cold snap a very timely subject.
Winter Vehicle Preparedness
There are a bunch of things that can be done to your vehicle to prep for colder weather. From putting winter air into the tires or warming up your car faster by plugging the exhaust pipe there are tons of easy safety precautions. (Please note the preceding sentence is false and intended to be humorous.)
All of that is great and you should definitely do it. Today’s discussion has nothing to do with vehicle maintenance. This is how to prepare to save yourself in wintery conditions if you get stuck or stranded.
What’s In the Trunk
This is a list of some of the items I carry or have carried regularly. You may have a different setup or think of other items as you read. Add them in the comments below, on social media, or send them direct.
Blankets, extra clothes, gloves, and hats. The easiest way to freeze to death is to get wet and not be able to dry out. Carrying extras allows you to change and stay as warm as possible. Sometimes when traveling we leave a warm area and end up in a cold snowy place. Having items in the trunk when you weren’t wearing them is just a good practice.
Staying with the stay warm theme, carrying hand warmers is a great idea. Little shake and heat chem packs are wonderful and have the added bonus of providing heat to almost any area of the body.
A folding shovel. Most vehicles cannot easily carry a full sized shovel all the time. A small folding shovel is all you need to move some snow around tires, transfer dirt or rocks for traction, and it stores small enough to not impact other cargo.
Speaking of traction… Carrying around some kind of traction assist device is paramount. Kitty litter, MAXTRAX, those clip on tire paddles, or snow chains can mean the difference between being stranded and being inconvenienced.
Just because we are prepping for the cold doesn’t mean ditch that recovery gear. Straps are great for getting unstuck with a little help from a friend.
What do you do differently?
Tell us what we forgot, what you carry, and what you would add.
