Since both me and the wife work less than ten miles from home, I made us up a couple of duffle bags in case we have to hoof it. Today we had freezing rain and got sent home early. So I figured if we had to walk home or somewhere else, or even if we have to spend extra time in vehicle stuck somewhere, a bag like this is going to be a big help.

The duffle contains:

1 pair insulated ski overpants
1 pair heavily insulated snow boots (la crosse style)
1 pair synthetic thermal underwear
1 wool blend undershirt
2 pairs heavy wool socks
1 quilted heavy holofil type coat with hood
1 waterproof synthetic balaclava
1 heavy wool hat
1 pair undergloves
1 pair heavy snow mittens
1 pair heavy snow gloves
1 wool-synthetic blend scarf
1 set of foul weather goggles
1 multi LED flashlight
1 dozen sealed handwarmers

This is just one of a few different bags of stuff in the cars. Another bag contains guns, ammo, food, knives, firemaking supplies, more flashlights, and water filter. Another contains first aid and so on.

Thank God I have a crew cab.

Nice kit. 10 miles doesn't sound that far, but, it still could be too far. Have you considered adding a shelter to the get home bag....in case you start out walking and for whatever reason (twisted ankle, etc.), you can't make it. If your luck is like mine, that would only happen in the worst possible weather.

10 miles in snow conditions could take 5-10 hours and it may be at night. In almost all conditions, its better to wait with your truck.

snowshoes!!!!

Next on the list, but the pickup is getting a bit full.

Either or. The gear allows you to choose. If it is terribly nasty, then we would shelter in place.

Well, I've got some of those bivy sacks and HD lawn and leaf bags. I would like something more like a 4 season tent, but all in good time I guess.

Our route home takes us through town, with a number of facilities we could egress to if need be. There are a couple parks along the route to E&E through if necessary. Worst case might have us overnighting in a park.

My preference would be for a kit to make me comfortable while waiting in the car, not while leaving the car. Sleeping bag, adequate clothing, a little food, signalling devices (cellphone, mirror, whistle, etc.), some way to generate a little heat - maybe one of those moveable wick Nuwick candles (used with appropriate ventilation of course). The chances of me deciding to leave the car to wander off into the snow are about zilch. I don't put myself into deserted areas far from civilization in the middle of winter. Some people have to, and then I think it would be good to have gear for both scenarios: stay-with-car and leave-car. I still think the most prudent choice the vast majority of the time would be stay-with-car though.

Most of the stuff in your kit would be perfectly appropriate for a stay-with-car scenario too. I would add a sleeping bag, an insulating pad, and a tarp & paracord for additional shelter. Duct tape would be good for covering windows broken in an accident, etc.

Slide off the road and the car may no longer be a good shelter, depending on how and where it ends up.

I suppose you have traction chains, shovel, flares etc.

Yeah, like I said, getting kinda crowded in the pickup.

Being as we only travel around town, 99% of the time during the winter, shelter is not such a big concern. On those occasions where we would leave town, quite a few provisional changes get made. We have some Rubbermaid tubs that have more robust kit in it, like tarps, sleeping bags, signaling devices, etc.

But one can get carried away with this sort of thing.

As you're quite aware, even "just around town" can get pretty hazardous in the winter. Seattle, with it's mild weather, had a freeze a few years ago and EVERY road was blocked with stuck cars. Some of those people ended up sitting in their cars for 4 + hours while the roads were cleared and reopened. Others walked and just abandoned their cars in the roadway causing other problems. Even if you had a 4WD with 4 wheel chains you would have had a hard time getting around because of all the stuck vehicles.

Year round I keep a blanket & provisions but in winter I bulk up my kit just like you did. I agree on the shelter addition though
.

In addition to the warm stuff, I have used my recovery strap more than once to get someone either back on the road, or to the shoulder so I could get by. Sometimes it doesn't take a lot to get a stuck vehicle moving, or at least out of the way. As you said though, when you have "ice-mageddon", and multiple cars blocking you in, you're pretty much SOL until a couple wreckers can clear things out. I've always carried at least one recovery strap, assuming also that one of these times... I might be the one off the road and maybe a kind soul with an appropriate vehicle will stop and I'll be able to hook up to them.

This weekend I helped out a couple of guys who had a flat tire up at our local Mills fleet and farm. Not a terrible place to have a problem like that, but we had a rather unseasonable article cold blast come through yesterday and the wind chill values were running around zero.

These poor guys didn't have a jack or a spare tire with them, and the deflated tire had managed to pop the bead so no matter how much fix a flat they originally tried to pump into the tire before I showed up was going to help much.

I dug out the emergency jack from my truck and my 12v pump and once we got the truck up, the bead reformed up and we were able to get enough air into the tire to get them on their way.

One lesson I learned was to make sure you know where your emergency jack is located. I hadn't ever needed it before, and in my 2010 escape they had it squirreled away in a second little hidden compartment that I don't think I had ever actually looked in. In short, know what you have, and know where it's at. It took me much longer than it should have to find it, and when it's that cold, it's not a lot of fun.

Anyway, Good Samaritan deed done for the weekend. They were very appreciative of the help.

Great list and a timely reminder, Benjamin! Thanks! Good warm, layered clothing that's suitable for trekking in cold weather and will help keep you toasty if you decide to hunker down.

I need to pay attention to this! Even though it's only November we've already dipped below zero F a couple times.

I take this topic seriously.

A few years back, I was driving for work in a snowstorm in Northern Minnesota. I had a 4x4 Ram pickup. It was about 8:00PM, 1 degree, breezy, and snowing steadily when I hit a snowy curve in the road. The remote area road was lightly traveled, especially at night, and had been plowed extra-wide by the county truck to accommodate a heavy snowfall. The plowed shoulder was flat and looked like roadbed, but it was actually soft snow over a boggy area next to the narrow road. My truck got stuck, high-centered, and tipped at a 30 degree angle toward the ditch.

I was familiar with the area and knew no one would be coming by anytime soon. I didn't feel that staying in the truck was my best option, so I walked to a gas station I knew was at an intersection 3-4 miles down the road (actually turned out to be 7 miles). I had my deer-hunting clothes and boots with me, so I put them on over my lighter work clothes and made the long cold walk.

I now carry a more extensive kit including a heat source, wool blanket, a backpack, hot hands, a metal cup, etc.

A lesson learned the hard way.

Something that comes to mind; a roll of that mylar bubble wrap insulation. For about $25 you can get enough to build quite a shelter in a vehicle.

Great, now I will have to rip out the center console in the pickup for more space. LOL

Seattle is absolutely treacherous with ice. The grade on those hills precludes anything short of a ski lift to get to the top with.

Back when I worked there, it was a real pain. Combine that with rush hour and non-stop work on the 405 and a 15 mile drive could take 2 hours or more.

Denver was just as troubling, but more entertaining. One day we got a snow storm and everyone got sent home early. I caught a ride with two older detectives who worked downtown with me. These were old beat cops that had done their time on patrol and had done and seen it all. One of them had driven in and since they lived near me, we carpooled it home.

Needless to say, there were a lot of people who had no business being out on the road getting stuck and causing all sorts of traffic snarls. These two old cops were getting so worked up screaming at everyone, I just sat back, blended into the upholstery, and listened to them rant all the way home. I hadn't heard language like that since I had been aboard ship.

I guess when you've spent a lifetime dealing with driver stupidity, you run out of patience, compassion and understanding. Not too sure I would have wanted these two to stop and help were it me stuck in the snow. In most any other situation, these fellows were pretty cool to be around. But on that day, I was glad to get home and out of that mini van.

I had a similar experience in the White Mountains of northern Arizona some years ago, and spent the night curled in the backseat of my VW beetle. Fortunately, I was on my way to a multi-day backcountry ski trip and I was fully equipped, including a nice warm down bag.

Parts of Arizona do a pretty good Minnesota imitation (without quite so many of those large bodies of water which are lakes in MN and stock tanks in AZ). The local saying is that there is nothing between Flagstaff, AZ and the North Pole except a barbed wire fence.

I removed all the interior covering of my old truck and lines the body with that stuff *get the aluminum dict tape as it stays more permanent). There were days I drove to work in sub zero temperatures and realized I forgot to turn the heater on as I kept plenty warm.

I've always had the bench seat or split bench seat, never a console, guess it only comes with the higher end models.

I think for most people, having a good winter kit in the vehicle for shelter in place scenarios is more common. There are not too many roads where there is no traffic and you would be forced to walk.

The more common scenario is where the highway is shutdown due to weather, traffic accident etc for hours on end and having the appropriate kit in the vehicle gives a lot more warm and comfort options. Also it would save from having to run the vehicle engine as much in an attempt to stay warm.

Case in point. This past weekend on Saturday, a major and only north-south highway was completely closed for 10 hours due to an accident with 2 fatalities. Depending on where you were stopped on the road, some were able to get turned around and head south back to the metro area or north to another town or Whistler Ski Village further north.

Others who stayed and waited in their vehicles for those long and cold hours where temps were just at the freezing level were probably wishing they had a decent winter kit in their vehicles.

After nightfall, walking along the road may be dangerous. Better have goggles with clear lense and reflective clothing.

I was quite impressed with this winter vehicle Kit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFrX73Le9II

Very impressive considering the fellow was from the south of England where is might get a couple of inches of snow once or twice every decade.

Yeah, I'm getting pretty close to that level now.

a comment on the Coleman multi fuel single burner stove (Coleman fuel and unleaded gasoline)....years ago I not thinking gave away my double burner Coleman liquid fuel stove, and replaced it with lower maintenance propane appliances for hurricane supplies....the propane appliances work well, and I store 3 20# bulk tanks and transfer lines, but having a gasoline back up is a good idea... I store about 15gal of gasoline, and siphon access to the car.. I now have one of the single burner multi fuel Coleman stoves..

I think there is a pervasive counterintuitive thinking during shortages of fuel...namely, there are long gasoline lines, so it's not the best option for a fuel...conversely, there are reasons there are long gasoline lines

Plus out of fuel to the point it can't run doesn't mean it's out of fuel for a stove.

Try cooking with a bicycle sometime!

Fire good.

I do that all the time when bike touring. Just toss an isobutane canister in the pannier, along with a burner head and a pot -basically the same rig is employed for backpacking. For car camping, I long ago switched to propane because it is simply more convenient and much less messy.

I still use "Boy Scout fire starter (sparingly!) when I absolutely, positively must get a wood camp fire started.