I've had a Bunch of the chemical/Grabber packs,& A Few Merino wool Scarfs from Italian Military,aprox.5' long x 12" wide,Wrapped a Scarf around my torso,secured with safety pins,& Inserted a Hand warmer pack,at each Kidney,With a Silk-Longsleeved Shirt& My Goretex-Flecktarn Jacket,I was Warm for Longer than 10hrs,with a Nominal Temp. of 20 F.,I even had to wrap the packs with a Merino sock,at 1 point,As they got Downright,Too Hot! Those things work,Very Well,Are Compact,& If purchased in Bulk,Such as Costco,come out to about $1 ea.!Goose Down,Such as Falcon 5000 Recommends is By far,The Best Insulator,But when it Gets Wet,All bets are off!

A good sleeping bag with chemical warmers inside!

Sue

+1 on hand warmers and sleeping bags. I picked up retail box of 54 for 10.00 at sams club, have for same price on web- at 8 hrs per warmer even running 3 at once all the time is still 144 hours. inside a sleeping bag fully dressed you ar pretty good.

I do think you wil need sonething to keep your water liquid, candles etc....

Unless your water is too cold to begin with, consider bringing it into the sleeping bag.

A god bag won't even need chemical warmers, other that the occupant; if someone is hypothermic or nearly so, SOP is to insert another bod into the bag to provide additional warmth.

We resorted to the same plan recently Andy. We missed a Christmas dinner as a result, but better this one than all the rest of them them.

That said, my car kit includes wool blanket, sleeping bag, extra clothes, pocket warmers, candles, high calorie food, a nesbit stove and mess cup/hot drinks for warmth.

To the question of sleeping outside, I keep a small tent, therma-rest and a tarp in my kit for just such a scenario. Keeping warm longer than a few hours waiting for a tow, might be better in a smaller, non-metal shelter.

It happened up here in the great white north just a couple of weeks ago: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/world/americas/15canada.html?src=me

Step #1, no matter what other supplies you bring: My Dad always said the best way to get warm is to stay warm. Whenever we got into a vehicle, the rule was to dress to survive, not to arrive.

The latest wintry blow to the East Coast got me to thinking about something. I've never been in the situation myself of being stuck out on a frozen road, but you often hear the advice to run the car's engine for 10 minutes every hour for warmth. Has anyone actually done this?

I ask because I'm curious if 10 minutes is enough time to warm up the engine enough to produce a usable amount of heat? I would think an engine could become quite cold in 50 minutes in sub-freezing temps.

Anyone have any idea if your typical alternator can mostly recharge the power lost to start the engine in just 10 minutes? I'm also concerned that with cars getting stuck for 10+ hours, a cold-weakened battery could eventually get too drained by following this hourly warming schedule.

The 10-minute routine should work well enough, both for some heat and for charging. When I do it, I prefer to run the engine revs up for short periods -- this warms the engine faster, and charges much better since alternators are very inefficient at low speeds.