Hi Guys:

We have just finished one of the colder Januarys on record, and the cold weather had a definite detrimental effect on some equipment. I thought I'd share some observations.

As a regular snowmobiler, I have created a few mid-sized survival kits. I'm regularly 20, 30 or more miles 'in the woods' during winter, and some areas of the Adirondacks are remote.

We (friends, my wife and I) spend a weekend at our huntcamp in the Adirondacks. Actual temperatures were 37 degrees below zero. And the snowmobiles were kind of cranky. Luckily I had my kits!

Siphons: The kits include some tubing for siphon purposes. No good! At these temperatures the tubing "sets" in whatever position it was stored (in this case, coiled). You cannot get it to the bottom of a fuel tank. I've since replaced it with a pump-type siphon that has a 16" straight, rigid pickup tube.

Jumepr cables: I included these since the wife's 4 stroke snowmobile is near impossible to start with the recoil starter. These ended up very useful, even for the two-stokes. At -37, the sleds wer all difficult to start. Using the jumpers, the added little boost got them all going in short order. Definitely a good cold weather item.

Sunglasses: Absolutely necessary items! Lost mine at the restaurant where we had lunch. Major squinty eyed headache from near snow blindness. Definitely throwing a cheap pair in the kit...

Storage: Storing an enlarged survival kit can be an issue on many sleds. I packed a set of jumper cables, tools, and other typical PSK stuff in a cheap military surplus ammo pouch. Lit the hood on the sled, and belly pan area at the front of the snomobile, under the manifold. There is often a lot of space there. A few small bungee cords and the SSK (snowmobile Surval Kit) is in place...

Hope it helps.

Frozenny

I am a regular snomobiler too. All our sleds have the spark plug wrench, spare plugs, a knife, a lighter, a metal cup, a whistle on the key, and a few other things. My fathers sled has most common hand tools (those needed to take the recoil off, ect) as well as a tow strap and a hatchet. My sled has a lot of survival stuff in it. One thing we found that comes in handy is saddlebags. There great for throwing some food in, an extra sweater, parts, ect. Great, especially when we do those 60 milers. <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Siphon hoses. Sure they take a set when it is tht cold. If you need to use them tuck them inside your coat for a while to thaw them out. Its a little chilly but it works.

Snow shoes? I'm not a snowmobiler myself but I would think that a pair of emergency snow shoes would come in handy if you had to hump your way out in a worst case scenario. FWIW
gino