Was told to wait with the car – you would be surprised how cold it gets in a metal box if you can’t run the heater.
No, I really wouldn’t! The only advantage is being able to stay out of the wind.
I used to carry a couple of the big grey wool blankets removal companies used for wrapping furniture in the back of my Octavia, along with a waterproof Hi-viz jacket, a pair of Muckboots, jump-leads, small electric pump for tyres, and some other odds and ends. The EcoSport I now have has a much smaller boot, but I’ve still managed to get my hi-viz coat under the boot-board, it has an inflation kit, and I’ve got my Muckboots in a bag along with jump-leads. I’ve thought about a portable jump-pack as well, but I’m not sure how effective the smaller ones are.
Sleeping bag, some biscuits (since they're sealed and longlived), torch, a bottle of water. And there's a small shovel, towrope and a couple of snow mat whotsits that live permanently under one of the seats, and a hiviz in the glovebox. Doesn't really take up a lot of space. I might add a book actually! I don't really see it as any different to carrying jump leads, you're not that likely to use it but there's not an awful lot of reason not to either.
Never actually had to use the "winter bag" stuff in winter, I'd rather have it than not. Have used the rope, snow mats, though never for me! When I got stranded in a flood I was there for about 6 hours waiting for recovery and I was bloody frozen.
(I have an AWD car and winter tyres but if the road's blocked I'll be as stuck as anyone else)
Absolutely. Even though we might only go 10 miles out of the city if you get stuck that is a long way and it might be someone else that blocks the road and not you. Too many people just reach for their phones if something goes wrong but that isn't keeping you warm for very long
There's a box in the van with old bulky winter sleeping bag (just because there's space) another has post ride stuff including headtorch warm clothes other bits and pieces. Was glad on one trip from Glenmore when snow closed A9 everyone put in carparks in Perth. Slept well in my kit woke up and there was ice on the water in my pan that I made coffee from. There were dozens of cars with very cold people who were now looking for fuel as they'd had to run engines all night.
Only needed it once but it was a wake up call.
I could understand in a rural setting, but not in a town using main roads.
I've been trapped for extended periods in winter weather twice - once on the approach to Slochd Summit in the middle of the night and once in a suburb of Glasgow in the middle of the day.
The conditions right where I was in Glasgow weren't that bad - I wasn't stuck in the sense that my vehicle was unable to move - but problems elsewhere had brought everything to a halt and once you'd been stationary for long enough it got cold - a diesel engine in tick over doesnt really generate much heat after a while, You could be in just as much bother in fairly clement weather stuck behind a motorway pileup - which again can actually be in quite urban locations - but if you're stuck between junctions even in a city you can't really leave the car and walk to the shop for some water.
Not intentionally, but i have all my swimming stuff in the car, so am pretty sure i could make some sort of warm cocoon in the car and be happy.
Having worked in Milton Keynes for a long time I've found the only thing I need when the weather turns bad is a bottle of water, empty bladder and bowel and a lot of patience. When all the middle managers pile out of their offices all at once because they saw a snowflake the roads become chaos. Pretty much nobody round here has the vaguest idea how to drive in the snow so when it starts to settle the biggest danger isn't the weather, it's idiots.
If I break down over anything that can’t be fixed with a SAK then I’m calling the AA.
Whilst I largely agree that I wouldn't be taking the engine apart I still maintain at least jump leads are worth having.
For the price of them and the fact you can just tuck them away somewhere and forget about them unless you ever need them they are absolutely worth having.
Calling the AA is fine and I've done it on a few occasions but the wait time is normally well over an hour and sometimes 3-4 hours.
Jumping a car takes minutes and I'd rather do that if it's just a flat battery than wait around in the freezing cold.
It probably is overcautious, but I do keep a hi-viz insulated jacket (old site jacket), a pair of boots, a hoodie and some leads in the boot year round.
It's mostly laziness TBH, but it's a bit like having an ice scraper in the glovebox, it's basically no use anywhere else so why would you take it out for 6 months? You can almost guarantee that the one time you need it you've forgotten to put it back in...
My car is a skip though, I can see how those a bit more "car proud" would prefer to minimise such clutter...
Sleeping bag, insulated hi-viz, gloves, hat, boots, torch, chocolate and water in both mine and my wifes car - seems sensible when we know that motorway pile ups can take hours to clear
I don’t have boots but would rarely be in totally stupid footwear. I do have a torch which I was surprised to see missing from your list and in the winter months would usually have a shovel, and blanket.
Bear in mind I live in a city and my journeys are not rural or away from main roads.
The last time I used the shovel was 1.5 miles from home in a fairly busy car park. I think everyone I know who has got stuck somewhere and walked home was in a built up area (presumably if you get stuck rurally it’s less sensible/possible just to walk home!) or very close to home.
Your wife may think it’s odd, but imagine being say 3 miles from home, unable to drive home due to snow, flood, trees blown down, petrol greedy idiot gridlock, etc and not being able to go home because you didn’t have sensible clothes to wear. What would she do in those circumstances? Call you to bring her warm stuff?
If you’re going out in winter, would you not have a hat/coat/gloves anyway?
My car sits 2m from my front door and has a heater. If my destination is also very close to where I’ll park it won’t be unusual for me to go without a jacket never mind a hat or gloves. Having a spare hat and gloves in the can is also very handy if you’ve been out riding, running etc and get back to the car soaked and cold (or one of the kids soaked/cold) you can quickly get things back to comfortable.
Ooh thanks for the reminder.
We always had a spare gear bag in the old car(hats, gloves etc.). We carry a full water bottle and snacks even for short journeys.
I need to get a bag for this car now. Will add a spare fleece blanket too.
Yes some people I know think I'm weird, as one year I had a small shovel in the boot, which I'll get sorted too.
Generally keep a big old coat, wooly hat and gloves in the car. Mostly for if I need to change a wheel on the car. Or is good to put on after a muddy ride when wet and cold whilst you're sorting your kit out and putting the bike on the car bikerack.
If I keep food in the car then it'd have to be buried in the boot somewhere well out of easy reach else I'd eat it. I've no will power of there are snacky type foods about.
When it's proper winter I'll also put a snow shovel in the boot.
I think it's a sensible idea.
Both mine and my wife's car have some old but warm sweaters, fleeces, woolly hats, scarves, coat, hiviz stuff all year round. It's used more by one of us or the kids when it turns chilly at a playground or when one of us/the kids forgets a coat as we bundle the family out the door haphazardly. There for emergencies/got wet changing a tyre events as well but generally it's just the 'I'm cold!' moments within minutes of arriving at a playground.
This thread reminds me of my dad many years ago. He was never without his huge metal cantilevered tool box full of tools when driving anywhere.
Cars where appreciably less reliable back in the 70s but even to me then it seemed crazy carrying 40KG+ of tools all year.
In winter, most of the crap people mention above went in the boot as well.
Far far too much stuff and usually if he got stuck in winter it was because somebody else blocked the road, so he was still stuck.
When I was driving for a living I had a bigger coat, some food and on days where snow was a risk, a shovel. Never felt the need to have a full on survival pack and never been stuck in a situation where it would have helped. Fuel in the tank to keep the engine running is the main thing I'd say, unless you're heading into the highlands or somewhere really remote, which doesn't really happen that often in the UK.
Nowadays, a coat, water and maybe food would be all I need. If the weather is that bad, don't go.
If I get stuck somewhere on a motorway, I'll keep the car warm ish, so fuel is the no.1.
When all the middle managers pile out of their offices all at once because they saw a snowflake the roads become chaos
I used to work on a business park on the approach to the Dartford tunnel. If the M25 had queues it got used as a shortcut to join just before the tunnel entrance. One year it started snowing heavily at lunch time, settling by 2pm and by 4 people were told they could go- as was every other office on the park.
With the people using the shortcut to the tunnel it meant most people were queueing for ages to get out of the carpark. Myself and a few colleagues decided to stay put in the warmth of the office. There was a pub on the site so we went for a meal and left for home at about 9pm. The roads were still snowy but empty and there were few other cars to worry about.
It's not something I've thought about before.
In my car there's a jacket and a changing towel. There's also a half-packet of bourbon biscuits, but that's a very fluid thing, depending on my daughters intake.
I rarely drive very far these days, and if I do, it's because I'm off riding, so I'm not heading out in a blizzard, or indeed if it's likely one will turn up. My Car is a 4x4 saloon, partly because it's cool and partly because I'd like to help my Wife get to patients if it snows, which it almost never does in Cardiff.
As for getting stuck on the motorway in the dead of night due to an RTC, only because I've thought about it and I've done my best to calculate it, my car will idle for about 40 hours on a full tank, 6 hours from the point the reserve light comes on. I think I could easily double that by using the 'Rest' function on the HVAC combined with letting stop/start as it usually would (it will typically restart for a min, every 10 mins to keep the battery going). Combined with the jacket/towel and of course my daughters Bourbons, I reckon I'll be okay.
Oh. I don't think this has been mentioned yet and it's probably in your car already anyway but,
Phone charging cable.
my dad many years ago. He was never without his huge metal cantilevered tool box full of tools
The thing with carrying tools, I assume he knew how to use them.
Big old down jacket is the main thing. But I also have 3 Land Rovers to choose from…so my main concern is that my AA cover is up to date 😉
How many times have you needed this stuff?
Reminds me of a friend who keeps a snow shovel in his car all year round. It's a kind of survivalist fantasy.
I had to call out the RAC a little while back. I was left waiting for about 7 hours. It was a nice summer's evening as it happens but I would not like to do it in the dead of winter. Doesn't really matter where you are, at a minimum you should pack enough gear to make sure you can walk home, or at least get to safety.
Nothing specifically for winter, but I'm generally prepped for most stuff. I have a van so am not short on space, and I have 3 kids and a dog. It's our main family vehicle so I carry loads of stuff just in case. Stove, hats and gloves, warm jacket, waterproof jacket, battery pack, some very basic tools, blankets, bothy bag, torch, snacks, pot noodles, picnic blanket, kite, frisbee, football, , umbrellas, chairs, cutlery, trays, water etc. The list goes on. I even carry a buggy upright against one of the seat backs. It's all very neatly packed and set up in a way that you don't notice it's there
Sounds totally ridiculous but we often go out for the day and use what's in the van - picnic while we're out, pop down to the beach, take the dog for a walk etc. Also regularly do some bigger trips and it makes life easier
Couldn't put this much stuff in a car, the boot would be full, but there's so much room that I don't even notice it. The only thing I haven't used in anger is the bothy bag
(disclaimer, the van gets used to sleep in for outdoorsy trips so a lot of the stuff gets used for things like that)
I used to live up a steep un-tarmacked track, which itself was half way up a steep road. (Outskirts of Hebden Bridge) I also drove a 1 series Beamer...My winter kit was a torch, gloves, thick socks and a pair of wellies, and I used them pretty much ever winter I lived there. Alternatively, I looked out of the window, and stayed at home!
How many times have you needed this stuff?
How many times do you "need" that helmet on your head?
hi from the frozen wastes of middle sweden. I keep a blanket , sleeping bag ,some gloves, torch and a few snickers in the car. No point keeping water in there as it can be minus 30c here. plus you just eat the snow (not yellow)
everyone must have a hi vis jacket and accident triangle. i also have a sign for if i've hit a moose.
Jumpleads as well, plus a battery booster that generates elec to charge a battery when no one else is a round, which is very common here!
Snow shovel too, which has been used many many times.
Snow chains live in the car year-round, cos they fit in the wheel well and there's no point removing them. And in winter there's always a blanket in the car.
Only been caught out once - hired a van to do a house move sometime just after Christmas, and the damn thing broke down on the motorway. I was wearing a warm jersey, but didn't have a coat with me as clearly I wasn't going to need one, not with the van heating + moving furniture you get pretty hot too. Waiting for the tow truck with just a jersey wasn't enough... and since then, I've always made a point of carrying adequate clothing to cover having to stand around outside in the event of a problem, even if it just sits on the back seat all journey.
belay jacket, sleeping bag, snow tyres on, flask or stove, munchies, torch, jump leads mini shovel, rope and tyre compressor. In summer water.
I work shifts and in the cold winters got stuck on a blocked road once, couldnt believe how many people in the cars around me had nothing, it was forecast so no idea why.
Had to leave the car once when the fuel lines froze. Six in the morning, minus 17, deep snow and no phone signal. Had to walk and the 2 cars that passed me would not stop- couldn't understand their mindset, I was well equipped and alright but they didn't know that.
Reminds me of a friend who keeps a snow shovel in his car all year round. It’s a kind of survivalist fantasy.
No, it makes more sense to keep it in the car than to put in the shed for the summer, only to drive into a snowdrift and realise at that point that he'd forgotten to put it in the car.