Winter Car Kit

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Now that snow has been falling I am starting to think about what to put in the boot of the car for my trips to the mountains to go skiing and snowboarding. I normally pack a shovel, some old carpet for traction, rock salt, water and loads of snack food. As we quite often set off at 5am to head to the hills the roads are quiet and can be untreated and unpatrolled. What should I have in my car and what would you take in your cars. Warm clothes etc are covered in our skiing kit with jackets fleeces, thermals, salopetes, thick socks and snow boots.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
A wool blanket is a good idea - much easier if you get stuck than a sleeping bag. I usually have a means to make a hot drink / soup and a rat pack or big breakfast tin. A good torch, mobile phone charger, tow rope, warning triangle and a good book are all in mine too.

Red
 
Do you mean one of those things you plug into the cigarette lighter to heat up a brew or do you use a stove of some kind? Would be worried about fumes/ setting car on fire! Because by the time we are stuck somewhere I would hazard a guess that i wouldnt be making a brew up outside the car. However a nice hot drink our soup would go down quite well.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
I keep a hex stove in the car in the smeer and usually sawp for a gas stove in Winter. I always have water (and screen wash concentrate etc.) plus a brew kit and cups. Often just for a drink or snack at a beauty spot but it has come in handy before now.

I use it outside the car though - easy enough to set up in the lee of your motor
 

Ronnie

Settler
Oct 7, 2010
588
0
Highland
I carry a 1st aid kit, full tool kit, 3 foot breaker bar, fire extinguisher, crow-bar, pump, engine inspection lamp with crocodile clips on for putting straight onto one of my batteries, tow rope, 58 pattern bag, space blanket, 2 litres of water all packed into one of those recycling lidded boxes. I also carry a round point shovel. I have a big car.

I'm aware I have more stuff for fixing my car and rescuing others than looking after myself, I'll be looking to improve this kit this winter.
 

Retired Member southey

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jun 4, 2006
11,098
13
your house!
You've pretty much got it all covered with the posts above, i would only add a flashing light, two if you can them, the yellow workman in road kind, they are heavy robust and brilliant for marking where you are one in the direction of travel one behind you car, remember if you do get stuck continually get out and clear your car as best you can, at least the roof and areas around your doors, try to keep the direction you are going to be recovered as clear as possible i only mean the area directly behind or in front of your vehicle, never sleep while waiting to be recovered, Plenty of people have died by being suffocated by the snow covering the car, only run your motor when you need to heat you car but also keep you mind on your battery also carry a decent amount of spare fuel i had a 20L steel jerry can in the jeep all through last winter when traveling around, perhaps include a battery powered radio with spare bats so you can listen to local news on how the plows are doing or to hold an impromptu stuck party, maybe add a rectangle marker panel, and a day night flare, just for the worst case stuckness where you may have to be located by sar heli, are you able to take the coast road easily, or maybe leave the day before after the roads have been plowed and maybe travel part of the way if you live on a road that doesn't get plowed early,

Of course you could always take up Telemark skiing, then getting stuck just means you go skiing early:)
 

Bigfoot

Settler
Jul 10, 2010
669
4
Scotland
No-one's mentioned a knife yet :) I normally carry one in the car, albeit a safety one that can cut webbing/seat belts.

I also second a supply of water in a squeezy with screenwash added, for those very cold moments (such as last winter) when even anti-freeze laden screenwash systems froze solid and your wipers just distribute road smir over the windscreen. With a squeezy bottle you can just lean out the window and squirt on the screen to clear it (stopping the car first, of course).
 

Retired Member southey

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jun 4, 2006
11,098
13
your house!
I really recomend rain ex too for keeping your window clear, doesent stop the build up but it makes it easyer to clear with your washers, halfords do some good window hammers with belt cutters, i have one in the front and one in the back so any one can get to one,
 

Ray Britton

Nomad
Jun 2, 2010
320
0
Bristol
One thing I always ask anyone on this subject to make sure of, Is that they can access their kit without getting out of the car!

Most of us do this without even thinking about it, but there are the odd few who drive saloons, and suddenly realise they cant get to their sleeping bags, once they got stuck in a snow drift.

The most vital thing I would carry would be my mobile phone (plus its car charger in the glove box). With the phone I have GPS to send my exact location, or to walk to safety), a phone to report my breakdown, a spare radio, all the outdoor guides I could want, a spare light source (plus I have torches that sit in the cigarette lighter and charge while driving, as well as a head torch in the glove box (as hand held ones are not much help when using your hands to dig yourself out/working on the car/giving first aid/cooking etc lol), a means of hearing weather forecasts or news.

I would also have all the usual stuff like a sleeping bag, shovel, food and water. One thing to make sure of with your water is to remove some of the water if its pre bottled water, so that if it freezes it wont burst the bottle.

If you have boil in the bag food, and your cars engine will still run, then you can always heat them directly on the engine. You must be competent enough to do this, and no where all the pulley belts are to avoid injury. Failing that you can heat them to some extent by placing them over one of the heater vents.................Just remember to have packed your favourite spoon too lol

If any of you are interested in using cigarette lighter socket torches, it is worth noting that many cars can have their cigarette lighter fuses set in two positions: one for always live, and one for ignition only live (so the device will not drain your battery when the car is turned off)
 

korvin karbon

Native
Jul 12, 2008
1,022
0
Fife
Is this kit really neccessary anywhere in the UK apart from in the Highlands?

depends on how bad the weather gets really. Having shovel is relevant no matter where you are when there is snow, i had to dig my mum out the local car park because of the compacted snow.

I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
 

Retired Member southey

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jun 4, 2006
11,098
13
your house!
my sister was stuck for around 6 hours last year, she lives in Wiltshire and was on her way home from Salisbury to wards Easterton, last year should show that being prepped for that one occurrence makes all the difference,
 

locum76

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Oct 9, 2005
2,772
9
47
Kirkliston
fair doos guys. A shovel is not a bad idea right enough, and I suppose the lakes get a wee bit of snow too.
 
Up here last year was pretty bad but then again it was my first winter in the middle of nowhere. Luckily the road I am on is used by the farmer and they get paid by the council to clear some of the local roads. However last year there was one day they didn't come out either I was home early or they were out later, can't remember, but my road had a fair dusting of snow on it and has a nice hill coming off the main road, got there and there were three others trying to get up that road including someone in a fancy RWD BMW. But basically if I couldn't get up there it would either be a wait in the car or walk the couple of miles to the house.

As for my in car kit, I have managed to get some thick army blankets this year so one will be put in the car, I carry 2 snow shovels. Sounds a bit daft but one is a small all metal shovel, easy to manuvere under the wheels and the other is a larger one mainly for clearing larger areas (easier to keep in the car than the shed for clearing the drive). I keep some lights, a maglite and a head torch, tempted to put in one of my wind up torches. Walking boots, extra clothes, food and water are also taken when nesecary.
I also have a small breakdown kit and high vis vest and as I couldn't find a carpet I take a bag of grit that I can use.

One thing I have thought about is snow tyres and whether they are worth it, I have to drive at least 10miles along country roads before I hit a dual carriageway and some bits of these roads are pretty exposed. Currently my tyres have reasonable tread, 5mm on the front and 7mm on the rear. I think last year maybe a handful of people had snow tyres on, distincive noise they make on tarmac is a give away. So would snow tyres be worth an investment or are they not really needed for this country?
 

Suffolksteve

Forager
May 24, 2010
239
0
Suffolk
In addition to all the survival kit you have it might be an idea to be prepared for accidents as skidding etc is more likely to happen. A disposable camera is a good idea so you can take some photos of any accidents and the damage they cause, road positioning etc.

It will probably be a lot harder to get the police out etc so you document everything just in case, sometimes people really don't want to admit they were in the wrong if it is going to cost them.

On the survival side of things my wife has a blood sugar condition similar to diabetes so if she gets stuck she really needs to have some basic stuff with her and a means of communication.
 

Shewie

Mod
Mod
Dec 15, 2005
24,259
24
48
Yorkshire
In addition to all the survival kit you have it might be an idea to be prepared for accidents as skidding etc is more likely to happen. A disposable camera is a good idea so you can take some photos of any accidents and the damage they cause, road positioning etc.

It will probably be a lot harder to get the police out etc so you document everything just in case, sometimes people really don't want to admit they were in the wrong if it is going to cost them.

Good advice, I carry a couple of A5 print outs of my insurance policy/details too which is better than writing it all out at the side of the road.
 
Winter tyres are a good thing my mate puts them on his subaru every october/november and takes them off again march/april time. They give better grip than normal tyres at temperatures below 8 degrees and are not just for when it is actually snowy. He travels a fair mileage every year for his work and basically he says that the snow only stops him if it is higher that the ground clearance of his car.
 

tomongoose

Nomad
Oct 11, 2010
321
0
Plymouth
Other than kit good knowledge of where everything is in your car is important,
I live on the edge of Dartmoor and my parents live right up at Princetown every time it snows I take the Landy out for a joyride and go and visit them. I carry a couple of tow ropes and always end up towing a load of people out of snow drifts and on one occasion changing a tyre for someone in the snow, most of them don't know where there tow point is especially the little screw in ones and the bloke who's tyre I changed took about 10 minutes clearing all the junk out of his boot to get to his spare
 

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