Winter car kit - what do you carry?

[Habbibu]

I've ordered Autosocks, have flask, blankets, first aid kit. Need decent torch and small shovel, so will hunt those down. What else do you keep in a winter/snow emergency kit?

Yes, JTOL, you would. You just haventbeen desperate enough yet!

At the moment - Autosocks, YakTrax, wellies, ski socks, ancient waxed jacket, telescopic shovel. First aid kit always lives in the car. If DD is with me she would always have a decent coat on anyway, so the jacket is for me if I happened to break down on the way to work. It's mostly aimed at getting me, with or without car, home if necessary, from work or similar, not longer distance stuff.

I think DD's folding potty is still in the car, under the front passenger seat ... I don't clear the car out very often (at all even - she's six).

As someone who never goes to a public toilet I never thought that I would be able to wee in a nappy either, but after 8 hours, it was that or the side of the road. Luckily I had a dress and tights on, so put a carrier bag on seat (just incase), opened the nappy up a wee'd free. I have to say it reallywas a low point..

And for years it was only Aitch who'd pee'd in a nappy on the M8... .

I now have winter tyres which I am finding fabulous, money well spent! I also have grit, shovel, down sleeping bag, down jacket, walking boots, socks, extra clothes, phone charger - this is all left in from last weekend, I know I'll potentially need it again before long! When it does start again I'll add a flask and a bar of chocolate

Does anyone have a suggestion for somewhere to buy some wool blankets that aren't too £££

Try charity shops - our local Oxfam often has some.

You have inspired me to sort out the car and get a kit ready....

Got potty, nappies, blankets, torch, car charger.

Going to sort magazines, another blanket, an old blanket for getting tyres unstuck, shovel, swiss army knife....

I have visions of sorting this kit out ...

... and then leaving it in the porch. managed to do this with the dc's christmas presents last year.

If there is anyone reading this thinking 'I would never get stuck/it won't happen to me' (as I would have last week)...

I left the house at 10am last Monday to drop off something 3 miles away and come right home. It had just started to snow when I left but nothing significant. I got home at 3.30pm. Having eventually dumped the car when it was safe to do so and walking the rest of the way complete with 10month old DD and the dog, who I had just chucked in the boot rather than dog proofing the house before I left! It was hell.

To my shame I didn't even have my changing bag with me. Poor DD was fab, didn't even cry all that time, but she was mighty hungry when we got home!

Do not get down wet. That's why I always stuck to wool. It's still insulating even when wet.

Remember the old adage: cotton kills.

If it gets wet, you get cold, so wool/nylon, synethic fleece is the way to go.

If you have a Gore Tex or triple point ceramic or other water-repelling jacket, now's the time to check it.

Sprinkle a few drops of water on it.

It should bead up.

If it doesn't, head over to your nearest outdoor shop and get you some Nikwax or other water repelling top up to spray on it.

Don't use liquid washing soaps to wash garments impreganated with water-repelling chemicals!

actually I am just going to go stay with expat she knows what she is doing and can keep me alive.

I have a waterproof jacket for dog walking, but I get far too hot in it and wore it today over a fleece, when I got home the inside of the arms were wet.

I dont have nappies, my children are grown out of them, maybe I should put some puppy wee pads in the car. Would they do the same job?

Puppy wee pads fine. Bring something to use as a potty, though, a big jar and funnel, a bucket, etc.

People don't realise it, but you can become very dehydated in cold conditions, partly because you don't feel inclined to drink water.

Flavouring it helps. Weak fruit or herbal tea, sugar and salt added in, mixing with fruit juice, that sort of thing.

Is it wrong that I am finding this thread very cosy bedtime reading, snuggled in bed with my cup of tea, warm sleeping child and iPod?

All the talk of kit and survival puts me in mind of the Swallows and Amazons books. I must dig out Winter Holiday.

Blankets
walking shoes and socks
gloves scarf hat
if Im wearing a skirt i will put trousers in.
Phone
spade

Towing rope - and learn the knot that does not tighten at each end once the strain is on the car or you can't get it off!

is there a special knot Pushka?

!! Oh yes there is a special knot - impossible for me to describe how to do it but it is a bit like doing 5 or six blanket stitches with the loose end over the taught rope once you have looped through the cars towing eye. it will have a name...will go try to find it now!

See? Exactly like Swallows and Amazons.

Do 5 or six half hitches:

www.netknots.com/html/half_hitch.html

turkeymartini - it is probably described beautifully in Swallows and Amazons!!!

ok, so who's actually pissed in a nappy then? Because I worry about whether it'd be absorbent enough to hold a huge adult pee that you've been putting off doing for hours I have visions of flooding the cars footwell.

I haven't, Ramble. A bucket and myself crouched in a footwell works for me.

What pushka says, use a hitch to tow your car.

the one one I ever learned was a clove hitch, which works fine. Two loops, then the second in front of the first and adjust as needed. It will cinch when pulled but come loose when unweighted fairly easily.

Invest in a good pocket knife or one of those Gerber multi-tool things, IME. Between that and a Clipper or Zippo lighter there's not much you can't get out of.

Worst comes to worst, I keep close the words of the immortal climber, John Long, author of 'Climbing Anchors' and many others: 'Now there is always something to do, even in the worst of situations, if you just keep your wits about you.'

What's no. 1 on your list of The Ten Essentials?

Your brain.

Ramble - It.Does.Not. Some will say it does, but it doesn't. I have used them several times and it's a two nappy job (nappies were for a 3 year old, so not tiny) and I don't have a large bladder... Geordieminx got on OK, but she didn't say whether it was a one or two nappy job nor how dehydrated she was!