I've seen 'good quality chocolate' and 'Snickers bar' mentioned, but any of your favorite, halloween-sized candies are a hit year round.

I would say fresh fruit, but with the months-long storage, I might suggest fruit leathers.

Beef jerky is always welcome around me:) , I added a bag to some soup last night to make it more interesting.

Quick boost stuff while you arrange your shelter: cyclist goo, hard candy, whatever form of mostly-sugar you like.

Easy-to-eat no-cook stuff while your fire gets going: self-heating food, peanut butter, energy bars, many of the foods suggested by others in this thread.

Hot stuff your fire and hot water can provide: tea. coffee, soup, and many of the foods suggested by others in this thread.

Thanks for all of your input. Some good ideas I will be incorporating in my pack. Some other observations: From other snowmobile forums, it seems the few who accidentally spent the night, they all just fed the fire all night and stood around the big depression in the snow and waited for daylight. I kind of assumed that I would do that as well. I wonder if the snow cave, makeshift lean to around a pine tree type of shelter wouldn't hinder the fire, or be worth the effort, but something to pass the night has it's benefit as well. I would have to guess there would be from 2 to 6 of us hanging round, waiting for the snow to freeze back solid enough to ride out, or morning and a chance to get gas/ parts to get out on our own. If it were more of a longer term survival situation, hurt, lost or ? then I would probably invest in the shelter, and of course it would depend on temperature and weather conditions... Is there a compelling reason to construct a shelter, by the way, I'll be dressed rather warmly, layers, etc...extra longjohns, socks, wool sweater, hats and gloves..my kits contains the stuff.. saw, knifes, trash bags, para cord, fire starters, bailing wire, zip ties, whistle, shovel, probe, avalanche beacon, cell phone (won't work but) walkie talkie, gps, and more..., never leave home with out a travel plan on a trusted friend/wife. So is sitting out the night around a bigger fire inherantly more risky?

Not necessarily. Assuming no injuries, no storm and lots of wood, the big thing is keeping dry and keeping out of the wind.

Building up a snow wall is effective for cutting the wind (downslope direction at night, usually). But it's a lot less effort to string up a plastic tarp or two.

It can take a lot of wood to keep a good blaze going all night. The more shelter you have, the less wood you need. The decision depends on how easy it is to resupply, how deep the snow is, the risks of getting wet/injured while gathering, and so on.

And keep in mind that it can be bloody cold at 5 a.m., after you've stopped moving for hours. A sleeping pad and light overbag can make your impromptu camp a lot more comfortable.

And remember to dry out your boots and mitts while you can.

My family and I have been snowmobiling, as a hobby, since the late 60's. Since that time, the de-facto rule we've stuck with is to always travel in at least pairs when out in the sticks. Why? Because, it significantly decreases your chances of being stuck out there. One sled can tow the other back, or, at least carry both riders back.

Using the "buddy system," the only time we've had to spend a night outdoors is when we got lost and both sleds ended up running out of gas. Since the advent of GPS systems and better trail maps, we haven't suffered that problem again.

To also help prevent that problem we started running unequal displacement sleds. Usually, when it comes to snowmobiling for fun everyone wants to run the most powerful sled, which means you often end up with a group comprised entirely of 750/800/900cc big block sleds. That's all well and good for fun, but those bigger sleds drink fuel much faster than a 600/550/340/ect. So, we always try to run at least one smaller displacement sled, so that sled might have enough fuel to make it back to civilization, even when the rest of the group is down to fumes. My old little 340 fan cooled was great for this, I would still have half a tank of fuel when everyone else was nearly on reserve (now I ride a 600 liquid cooled though, as the 340 just didn't have enough power for anything but casual trail riding)

Also, keep in mind, it's best to stop and get ready to spend the night before you're completely out of fuel. Having that little bit of fuel can come in handy during the night for starting/keeping a fire going, for getting away from the area quickly if you need to, and for warming up the engine during the night (why might you want to do that? keep reading).

So, now after all that, if you do end up spending a night outdoors, what do you do?

First, don't forget that your snowmobiling suit and your snowmobile are your greatest assets. With a good suit and helmet, my body rarely ever gets super cold. It's like sleeping in a form fitting sleeping bag. What does get cold, regardless of what gear I use, tends to be my hands and feet. That's when a nice warm snowmobile engine comes in handy; stick your gloves and outer socks somewhere under the hood (where they won't melt) and you'll have good toasty warm extremities. This is also a great place to stick your water bottle to help melt snow. We do, however, also carry plenty of little glove/toe warmer hot packs just in case the engine can't be utilized or if you need a bit more localized warmth.

When sleeping, I feel sleeping on the snowmobile is the best option if you can do it (some of the newer sled designs make it nearly impossible unfortunately). It keeps you well raised off the cold ground. Not to mention the seat, made mostly of foam, helps to add more insulation. Try to park the sled somewhere that allows for you to build a fire, while blocking you and the sled from the wind. You might also want to make sure you've got something to cover your body with, not for warmth, but because it always seems to snow in the early morning hours when I'm outside and you want to keep that snow from getting you wet.

As far as food goes, for snowmobiling I like carrying basic trail type snacks (gorp, jerky, ect) and a few canned selections (pork 'n bean, chunky stew, ect). Why cans? Because they're durable and easy to warm up over a fire. Often times we've also warmed up cans of food by taking the labels off and sticking them under the hood (by the engine) while riding. You just have to be careful with this as warming them up, in a sealed can, for too long will build up pressure in the can.

Typically, we would do this when we were planning on having a "trail-side lunch." We would heat up the canned food on the way to a good open spot off the trails, then, once there, we would build a fire, take out the steaks and grill-top we brought along, and have a nice meal.

When it comes down to it, food actually tends to be towards the bottom of my list of stuff to bring. Tools/spares to keep the sleds moving, navigation gear, communication gear, fire starting stuff, water containers, wood cutting tools, and first aid equipment tend to take precedence. The idea, for a casual trip, is to try not to spend extended nights out in the woods if you can help it. I like camping, but I'm not a huge fan of doing it in places where it can often reach -20*F at night. That's darn cold even when you've got a proper shelter.

Everyone's made a lot of great suggestions already but FWIW here's the stuff I take on dayhikes:

GORP
energy/candy bars
String cheese
bagels
beef jerkey/dry salami
peanut butter
gatorade powder
dark chocolate

If I take my stove:
Dry noodle packets or Mountain House freeze dried meal
coffee/tea/apple cider

"...it seems the few who accidentally spent the night, they all just fed the fire all night and stood around the big depression in the snow and waited for daylight."

Okay, please forgive me for snickering, laughing and shaking my head. These were all guys, weren't they?

So, they all assumed that if they DID have to spend the night out there, they would all be in fine shape, there wouldn't be much wind, and NO WAY would there be anything resembling a blizzard, right? No injures, no hypothermia, nada.

Snowmobilers are riding a piece of powered machinery THAT WEIGHS ABOUT 500 POUNDS! They could take a 25lb pack and never notice it! (Throw out some of the beer!) So why the wishywashy about taking a tarp and a closed cell mat??? Take a small stove and some fuel!

If you don't have an injured person, and WANT to stand around in the snow all night (*rolls eyes*), you can. But if someone NEEDS shelter and insulation, you've got it.

Sue, she of little patience

i'll second what Paul said about he snowsuit.a guy i worked with at the Vets Hospital was a snowmobiling nut.made big runs from Minneapolis to the border with Canada on what he called the snowmobiling freeway,at freeway speeds it sounded like,anyway i was sort agast about going out at nite making runs between bars and having a breakdown.he said his snowsuit was gortex and lined with so much Thinslite?--that he could just lay down on the ground and sleep in it..bravado? maybe..? but it made me think about getting one at a used sports gear shop to keep in the car.

Now Sue, new guy at the fire, asking good questions. He's on the right track. Cut him some slack. And give him the ammo to do the right thing.

P.S. Of course they were guys. Was that ever in dispute? It's great to be young and immortal.

Skidoo suits?

Yes they could be using thinsulate fiber in them for the quilting.

Remember that they are designed to keep you warm in a blizzard riding a machine that can go at speeds of 70 mph or more.
counting windchill it means an equivalent temperature of -60 degrees Fahrenheit or lower some of the time.
They are usually too warm to work in at 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
My last skidoo suit was lined with a fairly coarse fleece pile instead. It was able to keep me warm at -40 with no trouble and if I had to work hard in it at that temperature there was a good chance I would unzip the collar and maybe some of the leg zippers just to avoid sweating up.


Could you just lay down in a snowbank and go to sleep in one?
Yes.
You might want to protect your face, hands and feet a bit better but if you have the complete suit with the mitts and felt lined boots, the helmet and face mask, you are not likely to freeze anything. You might have to get up and move around a bit to warm up a few times if it is really cold.

Or maybe just light a big bonfire and stay up telling your buddies lies about how much better your love life is than theirs.

What Paul said about sleeping out if you had to is pretty much true.