Are you heading out in your car today — into the snow?

How will you fare if you get stuck in a winter storm? Will you survive?

Most people make it through, of course. Last year a 36 year old man was stuck in a winter snow storm for 5 days, along with his dog. They made it out alive even though all they had to eat were taco sauce packets.

Some people don’t make it out alive. You probably remember the 2007 story of the Kim family. After being stuck in an unfamiliar mountain road in Oregon, the father tried to walk out to get help. His wife and two young daughters stayed in the car, and were found alive after 9 days. The father was found dead, 16 miles from the car.

Experts generally advise, “Stay with the car.”

Obviously, what you have with you IN the car will make that decision a lot easier!

I know you’re busy, what with Christmas coming in just a few days. But take the time NOW to review this list of survival items for your car. In just a couple of minutes you can make some choices about what to have in your car that could mean the difference between easy and hard, even life and death if you get caught in a winter storm.

Check off the things you already have in your car’s Survival Kit and your Emergency Road Kit. DOUBLE CHECK the items you should add right now, so you’ll have them before the next storm arrives.

(in the lists below, the underlined words are links that lead to earlier articles here at Emergency Plan Guide, go to YouTube for useful videos, or go directly to Amazon so you can check features and prices. We’re Associates at Amazon so we may get a small commission if you buy through our link. Your price isn’t affected, of course.)

For the average driver, even this list of car parts and supplies is pretty extensive.

If you know how to use something, you can decide to include it. If you think you should include something, but don’t know how to put it to use, time for a few training videos on YouTube!

For even short delays in traffic, you may need:

• Bottled water, snacks, warm blanket
• First Aid kit
• Toilet paper, paper towels, unscented wipes, zip-lock plastic baggies for trash
• Flashlight w/ extra batteries
• Cell phone charger that plugs into the dash and fits YOUR phone!
• Seat belt cutter and window breaker tool (pack of 3)
• Emergency radio (battery operated)
• Maps
• Spare tire and jack
• Fire extinguisher (for car)
• A couple quarts of oil (with funnel). Never checked your oil, or added a quart? Two useful videos will give you everything you need to know: https://youtu.be/XQ3GRCMifiw and https://youtu.be/JHitZBTWJ-U
• Sturdy work gloves
• Something to write on and with (phone numbers to call, etc.)

If your car stops running in a winter storm, you’ll be glad you have these additional items:

• Boots
• Raincoat or poncho
• Wool socks, wool cap in cold climates
• Hand warmers (pack of 40)
• Flat tire inflator (aerosol can)
• Tool kit (Put a collection from your garage into a zip-lock baggie so you can see what you have: screwdrivers, pliers, wrench, tire pressure gauge, snow scraper, duct tape, etc.)
• Battery charger (Different levels of quality: here’s a top-flight one.)
• Jumper cables (Get heavy duty cables so they’ll work for sure. The smaller the gauge, the heavier the cable.)
• Hazard triangle, flares (regular and LED) or glow sticks, or reflective tape (Click the link to learn about our CERT team experience lighting regular flares!)
• More water (packets) and emergency food bars (not just snacks) (Here’s a water and food kit for one person, also includes thermal blanket.)
• Whistle to call for help

If you could possibly get stuck in snow or sand, you’ll definitely want:

• Fold-able shovel (This one is more expensive but gets the VERY BEST ratings!)
• Kitty litter, sand, or rock salt to pour in front of your tires. Check out Magic Traction as a better alternative.  You may be able to dig down far enough to slide your floor mats underneath both of the tires that are receiving power. (May mess up the mats, of course.)
• Towing strap (get the right weight for your car)

(Want a refresher on driving tips for getting your car unstuck? Check this article from Les Schwab, the tire people: https://www.lesschwab.com/article/what-to-do-when-your-car-is-stuck-in-snow.html)

Pack everything in a sturdy pack or maybe two. Put the heaviest things on the bottom. And tie the packs down so they don’t fly in an emergency stop and hit you or one of the kids.

Now, that’s a good start! I am sure you will come up with other personal items you couldn’t do without in a winter storm. Add them!

The idea is to have enough of the important items that your car-stuck-in-the-snow adventure remains an adventure, and doesn’t become a real emergency.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. One other essential — an Auto Roadside Assistance plan! We’ve had AAA for years, and it has been a godsend. My latest research on plans suggests that plans associated with your auto insurance company may not be as good as plans from independent companies. Consider where you live, what’s likely to happen, what the crew will deliver to you, how far they will tow you without an extra charge. Above all, how many times can you USE the service? (per person, per household).

P.P.S. We welcome any good stuck-in-the-snow stories!

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We Test More Batteries

If you’ve been following our blog entries you know that over two years ago we ran some tests on our Emergency Response Team’s battery purchases and the batteries’ life expectancy.

What we found was that performance between Duracell and EverReady batteries was pretty much equal, and both outperformed their private label versions sold through the big box stores (Costco & Sam’s Club).

The one dramatic difference was a higher failure rate (i.e. leakage and corrosive damage to our radios, flashlights and other tools that we relied on) for the Duracell batteries than for the EverReady batteries.

It’s important to note here that our Neighborhood Emergency Response Team typically has close to sixty active volunteers. We issue each team member a radio (FRS/GMRS) and a flashlight. We run active monthly drills with the radios and recommend that members check their batteries regularly and change them twice annually. The result is that we spend almost $1,400.00 annually on AA, AAA, C & D batteries and replacement radios, flashlights and other devices.

Batteries Die and Fail

While most batteries simply die and are unable to produce sufficient voltage or current to power the devices, we experience a 15% (+) failure due leakage and corrosion. We are able to “repair” about half of the radios using baking soda & water paste applied with Q-tips to dissolve the corrosion confined to the battery compartments. Flashlights are usually a total loss.

You can easily see an example of corrosion on the black flashlight in the photo. It takes a sharper eye to spot the point of failure of the Premium AAA Duracell battery. The arrow points to the cavity where the casing failed at the bottom (negative pole), under the silver strip.

We Switch to Premium Batteries

Lately we have been using only the premium Duracells (red/gold, 10-yr guaranteed shelf life) since the EverReady batteries are no longer available through Sam’s Club (where we used to find the best price). Our hope was that by purchasing the higher-priced premium Duracells, we would experience a longer life and a reduced failure rate. So far we have no evidence that this will indeed be the case and, to date, the failure rate seems to be about the same as the regular Duracells.

As of this week we are stocking up on additional EverReady, Amazon, Ikea and Orchard Supply Hardware batteries to measure longevity. We will share our methodology and results in a future post.

And, while the comparison on battery failure rate will take longer to measure, the results will be more anecdotal since the sample size of our tests will be smaller and subject to individual team members’ actual usage and care patterns. We will share our experience in this regard as well with the caveat that it’s not possible to completely separate individual user habits from the failure rate experience.

Joe Krueger
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. If you’re asking yourself why we don’t use rechargeable batteries, that’s a good question. But we think the answer makes sense. It’s this: We’ll only be using these radios and flashlights in a real emergency – most likely, after a major earthquake. We expect all power to be out for an extended period, days if not weeks. As soon as our rechargeables are dead (and they don’t last as long as disposables, anyway), we’ll be stuck. We don’t want that to happen! (Yes, we DO have some solar chargers. That’s a topic for another Advisory!)

P.P.S. If you are interested in the results of our planned test, be sure to sign up below to get our weekly Advisories.

Here in earthquake country the chances of “the Big One” hitting are greater every day. My particular concern is that it will happen at night, making things far more scary and dangerous. One thing I’ve done to set my mind at ease is to create a little emergency stash right next to the bed.

My bedside chest has the space on top for a lamp, a couple of books, and an alarm clock. (These days, that’s my phone.) It also has a water bottle and my glasses. And whatever else gets piled there temporarily. Sound familiar?

In a real temblor, that table is likely to tip over and crash. The lamp will break, my glasses could break, and the phone will slip down and likely be lost, at least for a while, in whatever pile of stuff it lands in.

And all this will be in the pitch black!

As a simple precaution I have taken the time to pack, inside that same chest, just a few important items to carry me through the first minutes after the earthquake.

Here’s what I have so far:

* A pair of heavy shoes, and inside the shoes

* Socks

* Flashlight

* An extra pair of glasses in a hard case

At least I won’t be trapped, barefoot and blind, in the immediate aftermath!

I expect you could put together the same simple package beside your bed, too. I’m sure you’ll feel better once it’s done.

P.S. As I took this picture, I realized that I‘ve forgotten one simple thing in my bedside stash.  Gloves!  I’m putting them in right now!