Minimum for a car journey in winter...

[santaman2000]

Most items seem to have been covered (either by your initial list or by suggestions since) One thing I'd add though is to make sure to keep the fuel tank topped off as regularly as possible.; It wouls be far better to be able to idle the engine occasionally to heat the interior and power a few items than to sit with an empty tank and a dead battery.

 

[Laurentius]

Flat battery certainly is the curse of winter, and usually when you least want it. The problem is lots of short runs in the dark with the heater on.

 

[yomperalex]

I usually pack winter walking gear and my boots - I'ld rather walk a few miles rather than wait hours to get home.

 

[santaman2000]

Flat battery certainly is the curse of winter, and usually when you least want it. The problem is lots of short runs in the dark with the heater on.

You heaters run off of the battery?

 

[roger-uk]

You heaters run off of the battery?

The blowers do

 

[vizsla]

id test her survival skills a knife and a firesteel that way she wont get bored and she may learn a little!!!!!!

 

[Vulpes]

Very interesting...I've always keptI always keep a NATO folding shovel, 2 blankets (1 surplus 60/40 wool mix & 1 pure wool from the Salvation Army shop), wellington boots + socks, LED headlight + spare batts and a good stock of hand tools in my car all year round. I also have standard supplies and some extras such as some break/clutch fluid(from personal experience), plenty of rags, spare bulbs, Holt's tyre weld, extra Halfords ready mix screen wash which freezes at -9 and old car mats (very good when inspecting underneath the car, etc).

When the temperature goes way down, I'll add a hexi burner + brew kit, thermal insoles, charcoal hand warmers, matches in a sealed case, a 24h ration pack and 3l of water. I'm looking at getting some SealSkinz gloves this year too. I spent a week cutting slate tiles on a wet cutter outside in the snow a long time back and my fingers blew up like sausages. It happened again with my toes when my DeWalt work boots got soaked walking to site. Turns out I got chillblaines. Very sore, very uncomfortable. Lesson learnt.

Watch out with warning triangles, I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think you're allowed to use them on motorways.

 

[spandit]

Watch out with warning triangles, I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think you're allowed to use them on motorways

I broke down on the M6 earlier this year and the AA drove over my triangle and broke it

 

[Hetzen]

All of the above. And an extra wool jumper.

I got stuck on the M3 yesterday for 4 hrs. No snow or bad weather, just inificiency of health and safety demanding a camera and radar plot of every single piece of debris, before the waiting 20 police and highway maintenance could clear the road.

Nothing a cup of tea couldn't fix in terms of patience.

 

[Laurentius]

You heaters run off of the battery?

The fan that blows the hot air around does, and it's quite an amperage.

 

[AussieVic]

Just about everything I could think of has been mentioned, or you already have.

You should consider toilet needs, if stuck for 24 hrs, #1 and #2 will be needed - you may consider some kind of bucket with lining bags, or a she-wee type device ? Hand sanitizer and perhaps a small hand towel.

Actually a towel is a good addition, and a small tarp and some work gloves - I find these handy if I need to fit chains or inspect the vehicle. (The towel to help clean up and dry off afterwards).

A chemical light stick - can be mounted outside the vehicle as a marker, or provide light inside

Something to do or read ? You could even consider a small portable radio, I know you will have the card radio, but you may want to keep it turned off ? Some family photos or something to let her know she's not alone - some people include a small teddy or the like (depends of the person if they like would that sort of thing). Deck of cards or another game? Some folk will include a bible if they are religious. Boredom is a very real risk, so something to occupy a long cold wait.

A phone charger ? To stay in contact

Some maps - at least she'll know where she is and how far to a town etc ? GPS, or a phone GPS could be handy for this too.

 

[Vulpes]

Forgot 1 more important piece of kit in the back of my car that's always there - a 58 pattern poncho. You can sit on it, string it up to make a basha or wear it. Excellent piece of kit and cheap to come by.

 

[Fizzy]

I broke down on the M6 earlier this year and the AA drove over my triangle and broke it

The AA guy now owes me for a new keyboard, this one has a dusting of coffee all over it now!

I guess he should have gone to Specsavers!

 

[FGYT]

the chemical hand warmers are useful ( the ones you boil to reset) pretty much instant heat if you need it while you get something better sorted usually 2 for £5 put then by your kidneys while you sit in the car (after you have got your hands working )

also if you drive with small kids lots of fluids as they use a fair bit if your stuck on a road for 6hrs etc

need to bump my kit up to winter levels with allowance for having 2 small kids in or finding some one else stuck etc

always treat 1/2 tank of fuel as empty and fill up.

remember you cant have a fixed or locking blade ( axe , saw etc etc) in the kit your car is a public space when on public roads and just in case is not a defense in S139. (your all right if you know that your definitely going to get stuck )


ATB

Duncan

 

[Sappy]

I was out last year pulling folk out of the ice and snow and the reason the majority were stuck were simple mechanical problems that anyone can and should be able to fix, cars have tool kits for this very reason.

The amount of people that were stuck because they hadn't used anti-freeze, a HT lead broke, radiator ran out of water, crack, fanbelt broke or even a flat tyre.

These are relatively simple to fix so maybe learning to fix small problems yourself is better than relying on help.

The amount of people who phone out because of a flat tyre is unreal and funnily enough most are men, which is probably because men are more likely to pretend they can change a tyre than woman who will ask for help.

 

[oldtimer]

Couldn't help noticing the location of Essex, how much snow are you expecting???

Anyway, all sound pretty good, just what others have suggested a phone fully charged, something to heat food/ water with [i'd go for a trianga stove - but that's just presonal preferance] shovel a couple of extra wool blankets - can never really have enough blankets [as some one else said - a car with an engine off can be a bit cold inside] brew stuff - tea coffee cappa soup hot chocolate etc.

perhaps a jerry can with a couple of litres of petrol??

I used to live in Essex. Not as much snow as Scotland, but it drifts. Acouple from the village were benifgted by snow drifts only 3 miles from home and could not get past drifts either by car or on foot. Essex folk are less likely to be prepared as they, too, often think that only Scotland gets snow.

 

[Sappy]

Can i also recommend carrying 100ft of heavy rope 3-4 tonne breaking strain is ideal, theres a technique we used when i worked on a farm for pulling out tractors when they were stuck, you need a strong anchor such as a tree or rock( it has to weigh more than the vehicle or you'll fell the tree or move the rock) two poles as long as possible and around leg thick for very heavy vehicles (you would need to cut them though which is a problem with a swiss army knife)

Tie the rope to the vehicle and to the anchor, place the poles at 90 degrees to each other parallel to the rope and wrap the rope around the point where the poles meet then lift the poles individually through 180 degrees, the rope will wrap around the poles as you do this tightening it so that the vehicle will be pulled.

I've pulled a 5 tonne tractor up a 45 degree slope through heavy clay soil using this method, i used very long poles to get the leverage required.

Actually i'll draw a picture, it's a good thing to know how to do more than rely on.

 

[Mesquite]

All of the above. And an extra wool jumper.

I got stuck on the M3 yesterday for 4 hrs. No snow or bad weather, just inificiency of health and safety demanding a camera and radar plot of every single piece of debris, before the waiting 20 police and highway maintenance could clear the road.

Nothing a cup of tea couldn't fix in terms of patience.

How is it ineffciency of H&S that demands the photgraphing and plotting of an accident?

If they need to do that it's for a good reason like evidence needed in case of criminal procedings, someone has been injured or worst case scenario someone has been killed.

In cases like that it's understandable they need to gather the evidence as quickly and thoroughly as possible because once it's cleared there's no going back at a later date. If some folks are delayed because of it that's a small price to pay

 

[John Fenna]

A small bag of road salt/grit served me well last year.
Mind you I have a van which holds a mass of gear (including a FULL set of camping gear) and space is not a problem

 

[forestwalker]

Make the torch a headlamp (the Petz E-lite, perhaps?). Doing anything holding a torch in one hand is silly these days.

Apart from that not much to be added. My own car (semi-ancient Terrano) contains:

shovel
tow rope
jump cables
extra glycol
extra windshield fluid (premixed 1:1)
a spray bottle of 100% windsheid fluid (great for deicing stuff)
lock oil
window scraper and snow brush
a come-a-long puller
triangle (2 of them, one by law)
day-glo waistcoat (survival equipment if working by the roadside!)
some mixed tools, extra oil (the damn truck burns oil)
a steel pipe to extend the tyre wrench (for the lug nuts) to I can get tyres off even if nuts are stuck
insulated work gloves (cheap, and nice to have when e.g. changing a tyre)

a few blankets
a old "army trangia" cookset, with fuel
axes
saw ("swede saw"), thinking about replacing it with a 3' cross cut in a case, just because I can
No food (one can live for weeks without it), no water since it would freeze and kill the bottles
a mora knife

I always carry the e-lite torch
I wear sensible clothes, or bring proper boots and so on in case I need to dress properly rather than sensibly