Decent Article on Yahoo

[KAW77]

an article on todays Yahoo page


its nice to see someone other than specific interest groups disseminating information regarding preparedness
Article on Yahoo this morning

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/8810;_ylt=AspfDaEt7tlibX3HazqtWuwrLpA5

[Wise_Tioga]

Not a bad article and well over 1,300 replys at last check. I'd say the article hit a nerve. Unfortunately many of the replys just parrot one another. There are only so many things that you can pack into a car survival kit. Still well worth a read.

[sheen_estevez]

There are only so many things that you can pack into a car survival kit.
Soon I'm going to have to tow a trailer behind my car ;D

[edward_4576]

It is interesting that recent news has had the hikers lost in Oregon and then the husband that died when they became lost and stranded. In one instance the news reports that the hikers are well prepared where the family was not. I like to go hiking and camping but not in extreme conditions. I'm wondering did the climbers do everything right? I know that the family that became lost did some things wrong.

I remember reading an article that explains that no amount of gear can make up for poor judgement or bad decisions. If you were to sit down and consider the things that needs to be done in the case of traveling whether it's a business trip, vacation or any other scenario what do you think the first rule should be?

Planning
packing or
communicating?

[sheen_estevez]

Planning is the first thing you need to do.

Many years ago my van went off the road in very icy conditions, I live in the woods, it was about -25 below with heavy winds, I was on my way home from my friends house and it was around dinner time, so it was dark, my friend lived about 10 miles from my house and the road I went off of is traveled by people most of the time, that night it was not, too cold for people to be out. I had cross country skis in my van and a BOB, blanket etc. I could have gotten out the ski's and took a chance going the 8 miles back to my house but with it being -25 below and wind I opted to sit tight, well about only 3 hours went by before my brother came and found me, good ending I know and not too much time had gone by, but by planning I had the equipment I needed to stay warm in that situation, I was able to run my car for heat although I didn't run it all the time just in case I was going to be out there for the night, but even if I had been out there for the night in those conditions I would have survived, and I would have been pretty comfortable as well. The BOB never leaves my vehicle, again planning. Oh ya this was before the invent of the cell phone and I couldn't raise anyone on the CB :-/

[alma]

Great article. I recommend it to everyone. It'll take me days to read a little at a time, but it is well worth it, and i have the time.
thanks you so much. love, alma

[JAK]

In winter I find it hard to have enough volume for what you need for extreme cold. An emergency kit isn't much good if it gets tossed out to make room every know and then. A good place for wool blankets in winter is right on the back seats, which leaves more room in the trunk. Long wool underwear for everyone in the family is a good thing to pack because they don't take up much space and they are likely to work with whatever people might be wearing. I also put in several pairs of wool socks and hats. The socks can double as mitts. Instead of water I like the idea of a few cans of apple juice under the front seats. Peanut butter and honey both have a lot of calories for their volume. The biggest problem is most vehicles are like big friggin heat sinks. Still, I think you need to have a plan for staying in the vehicle as well as a plan for making shelter outside of the vehicle. In both cases you need to have some of those foam ground pads, even though they take up so much damn volume. I was thinking they might be precut to fit over windows, or to stow better in the trunk, and still be useful as sleeping and sitting pads. Where volume might be more critical than wieght, wool blankets miight be better overall, but a few foam pads might still be good.

On a different note, lighting a birch tree on fire is a good signal you don't hear about too often anymore.

[wax]

There is no greater survival kit than an informed human.

There are any number of things that would be nice to have when your vehicle goes off the road and into a snow filled ditch, but nothing will help you if you can't stop and think.

The number one mistake anyone can make is leaving the vehicle they are in. But most who die do so because they made that very mistake.
It is an easy one to make if you are not mentally prepared.
A light in the distance on a cold night can be enticing, there is no doubt about it, but attempting to get to that light just might kill you.

The problem of course is twofold... threefold when you think about it:
One: Cold! In windy blizzard conditions assume the same thing that crab fishermen do in the bering straight; with the absolute best cold weather gear I can survive outside for fifteen minutes.
In wet falling snow, with a fifty below windchill, assume that you would die in fifteen minutes attempting to walk wherever you attempt to walk to.

Two: Where is that light? Can I accurately judge how far it is away? Is it only a few minutes away like it looks or is it two hundred miles away... on the other side of a raging river... on a mountainside?

Three: What is that light? Can I actually see that it is attached to the side of a barn and thus conclude that it is close enough to walk to? Or is it a landing beacon or attached to a pole in the middle of nowhere?

If you don't know, stay with your car!
And realize that even if you are in your underwear without a single "survival" item, you are better off than any of your ancient ancestors who lived perfectly well throughout the winter cold!

People forget they are in a manmade cave with resources all around them! And they die easily which is the saddest thing a person can ever do!

First make sure your exhaust is clear, then use your heater.
Cycle it on and off throughout the night and crack a window away from the wind in order to insure that monoxide does not build up.
You are fine, you just can't go anywhere.

Even if your engine is dead and you can not run your heater you are still ok. You are inside a cave designed to retain heat.
You are sitting on seats stuffed with insulation, vut them open and use it.
Get close to the person next to you and you can stay warm enough to survive (oh... you might feel cold but that is a good sign, you don't feel cold while freezing to death, just numb).
Use the carpet, the seatcovers, the ceiling material and simply snuggle up!

Anyone can survive overnight in a car and wait out a blizzard, absolutely anyone!

But things might be bad the next morning as well:
Is the road you were on completely blocked or shut down for the winter (like the family in question)?
If so you are still fine as long as you don't panic.
Stay with the car, people are out looking for cars after a blizzard, they are not looking for fools trecking across some field!

I can't tell you how many rescuers have been crushed when they drove right past a victim and saw him/her walking across a field! They might assume you are out snowshoeing or cross country skiing because they are looking for people in trouble not people out enjoying the new fallen snow.
They are looking for stranded vehicles... and they are easy to find!
A plane flying over won't give a man out in a field a second thought but they will notice a car in the ditch!

The vast majority of people who leave their vehicles die after the vehicle is found! Just think about that tragedy; stay with your car!

So... it is the next day and you suspect that the road you went off will not see a snowplow before spring.
It is cold out and huddling in a car is not something you feel like doing for the next few days.

Screwed right?
Not by a long shot! Because you are a human being with hundreds of thousands of years behind you concerning survival! You are not some dumb animal without options.

But survival is 90 percent a mental activity, only ten percent action.
You have three days before you absolutely need water.
Do not grab a handful of snow and start sucking on it!
Snow is designed to be cold and it will lower your internal body temperature.
But you know how to turn snow into water.
Grab a hubcap and toss some in, put it underneath the front seat of your car... or better yet on your dash, and just let it sit there.
You will come to realize just how much warmer it is inside your little cave than outside as that snow slowly melts and turns into drinkable water.
You are fine.

But it sure would be nice to be warmer wouldn't it? Of course.
So how do you start a fire with a car?
You would be amazed how many people could not figure that out if they are required but you of course can.

First of all... most cars have a cigarette lighter right there in the car that never gets used. Even if the engine has died that lighter is likely to work. So use it!
You know that the lighter works by heating wires using the 12 volt battery system... so any crossed wires will get hot enough to start a fire!
You are fine.

But you don't want to sit out the next five weeks or so in a nice cozy cave with plenty of water and plenty of heat with nothing to eat! I don't blame you, but of course you will not starve to death even if it feels like you might!
It takes the average person months to starve to death.
But you want out now! And again, I can't blame you.

You have a fire, the next part is very easy.
Take off the tires from your vehicle, one or two of them, and puncture them to let the air out.
Pour a tiny bit of gasoline on them (and I do mean tiny) and then light them on fire.
It doesn't matter where you are in the United States of America, on a clear sunny day, after a blizzard, the thick black smoke from tires being burned will bring everybody and their mother to exactly where you are!

They will come from miles away, hundreds of miles away, over mountain sides and across valleys! Burn it and they will come!

None of this information is new in any way, but you would be amazed at how many people fail to live because they fail to think!

Just tell yourself now... as you read this... it doesn't matter what situation I am in I will sit down and think before I take action. I will look around myself and think, "What could that be used for since it is not useful to me for the purpose it was created"?
"What is the nature of the thing, what does it do?"
"I will refuse to panic in any situation I find myself! I will not die easily!"

Survival is the most complicated simple thing.
It is only hard if we make it hard.