.....;Posted on 02/28/2014 8:40:58 AM PST by virgil283
"It seems like every winter there are news stories of people getting stranded for weeks in bad weather while driving through the many remote areas of our country....I have written many articles about how to prepare your home for a power outage or national emergency, but today I want to address how to be prepared for an emergency when traveling in your car...
.....;
(Excerpt) Read more at backwoodshome.com ...
You don't actually see that addressed very often in these advice columns, but in winter conditions that gallon of water you're carrying becomes a block of ice and can rupture the container, which is a real problem if it then melts and floods your trunk. I speak from experience. Use good containers and allow for expansion.
In my area water is easily available so you only need a container and a micron filter but desert/snow areas would be different....
I dunno, gotta watch out for those engineer types.
Thanks for posting!
I've lived in the midwest my entire life and NEVER heard of anyone being stuck in their car in a snowdrift for a week.
I agree with you.
Even back in the blizzard of 78 there were guys on snowmobiles and Nat Guard 6x6 trucks out soon afterwards rescuing anybody who was trapped.
Bookmark.
That would be me....
I keep my water containers in an appropriately sized ice chest, it helps keep them from freezing, and it contains the water if they do a freeze/burst/thaw cycle.
People in super cold climates like Minnesota, have to assume that in their case, the water will freeze no matter what, and they need to allow for the containers to swell without bursting, as you pointed out.
I usually don't eat a lot of 'just add water' packaged foods, but I will pick up a couple at the store today. I can donate them every 6-8 months then.
Now I have to go at my ramen noodles for lunch!
There are those of us who get headaches if I don’t eat on a regular basis. My mood changes, too, and not for the better. It took someone else to figure out the reasons for my mood changes.
In a real survival situation, you don’t need to heat the can but can eat it cold. I speak from experience - I was sick at a hotel once with no room service AND no microwave. I went to the drugstore, bought a can of chicken noodle soup and ate it cold. It was a little tough at first to choke down, but it helped me feel a little better.
My professionally packed backpack that stays in the trunk of my car provides food bars for three days, water packages for three days and all other equipment one might need in and out of the car. I have posted the list of items in that backpack before. It contains all the items (and many more) this author deems as “Other Items”, with the exception of paper/plastic plates. I'm going to add those to the pack or trunk and here's why:
I was not thrilled with eating food bars but I hadn't found dry food items that would pack in the backpack and give decent nourishment. I will get some of the Knorr “Sides” of which he spoke. That is what he is talking about - dry packages of “Knorr Sides” that come in a plastic package. The seasoning is in the package so these “Sides” will taste fairly well. I'll pick up some and try some of them at home but I'm sure they will be tasty enough in an emergency. This is cheap food.
You will need hot water to activate these packages. Finally, a person, the author, who understands all you need is a can of heat like “Safe Heat” sold at Sams or “Sterno” sold most everywhere. He left off the Sterno Stove but one is stability for the can and Walmart usually has them in camping supplies or Academy has them and Amazon surely does. I have four or five Sterno Stoves. Not sure how many now since I gave one or two stoves and cans of canned heat to a few people for Christmas. This little stove gives you a surface on which to put your pot to heat water or soup or whatever.
Those cans of canned heat, both Safe Heat and Sterno are well sealed and aren't coming open easily. I have cases of both kinds still wrapped in plastic under my roofed deck which naturally is outside - it is hot under that roof in Texas summer. They have been there over six years. I have some stored in my laundry room and some under a bathroom sink downstairs as that bathroom is the safe room in case of a tornado which we do get in Texas.
I want to dispel a myth - someone told me some time ago that the liquid in the can would evaporate - no, they don't. I just walked out there and cut open the plastic, took out a can and shook it - total liquid in there. I slipped the information sheet out of that case and here is what it says about Safe Heat:
Hottest blue/white flame.
No rubber cap to lose.
Widest wick means broader flame.
Will not evaporate.
Replaces old fashion gelled fuel.
Our exclusive screw cap style allows the proper air to fuel ratio.
Can remains cool to the touch.
Snuff with cap and store for later use.
When power goes out, think easy to cook. No need to fire up the barbecue grill, just open a can of canned heat and put into a Sterno stove and cook a meal in the house. Two stoves and two cans going at the same time lets you cook a meal and heat water for a drink. If you need three cans open and three Sterno stoves to cook more food, no problem. I have enough Safe Heat and Sterno to cook two meals a day for one year - right in my house. I use these every time a hurricane comes and power goes out. You won't have the smell of food outside as you will with outdoor cooking.
What kind of pot to heat the water? Put any smallish pot you have in the trunk. I do have small camping pots with the long handle that folds so you can open up the handle and be a decent distance from the fire if it is an open fire. Using the Safe Heat or Sterno, however, is a small flame so a long handle is not necessary. I'll put one of the camping small pots in the trunk.
I'll put one can of canned heat that has never been opened, wrapped in paper towels and sealed in two plastic bags in the trunk along with the backpack, and one Sterno Stove. I have opened my trunk in Texas hot weather and it's not nearly as hot in there as it is outside or in the cabin part of the car. That trunk is a separate unit from the interior of the car. If your trunk is open to the interior of the car where heat builds up due to car windows, it would be hotter. As a precaution, I wouldn't put a can in the body of the car due to the heat generated by a car sitting in the sun.
I will also add a small bottle of instant coffee because I would die without it. :o) I have both paper plates and metal plates and metal cups so some of those will go in there.
He spoke of toilet paper in the Other Item section. Buy a package of Wet Wipes which is a small package compared to toilet paper and works better than toilet paper anyway to clean your body.
I’ve eaten cold food from a can several times, and that is my primary plan (and it’s not THAT bad). I also have several options to cook if my car gets stranded, but food temperature is the least of my worries - getting the liquid and the calories inside my body are at the top of my list.
I wonder if anyone sells fully stocked kits like this. If not, it might be a pretty good business opportunity. Just like those companies who sell fully stocked school supply backpacks just prior to the start of a school year.
5.56mm
Agreed. Back during Blue Law days, you knew to pack a can opener and canned foods with the liquid already in them when on a trip. I can't ever foresee being stranded in a snow drift in the middle of Texas but would be more concerned with foods exploding and dry mixes turning to goo in the middle of our 110 degree summers. I'll pass on the "add water" foods and sterno inside the car. One size does not fit all.
A BTT for an excellent idea. I do think I'm going to do just that.
Just buy some tuna packages or canned tuna, and keep it in the car, and a can or two of pork and beans, every two years replace it, and take the old ones back to your pantry, they will be fine, even in desert heat.
Things do keep a little cooler in the trunk, especially if kept wrapped up in your gear.
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