Great list -- what's a "corn shovel?"

You remind me that on a drive to New Jersey earlier this month there was so much salt on the roads that the spray where it was damp was coating my windshield to the point of near-blindness. Took so much windshield wiper fluid to be able to see that I nearly ran out.

I was in a three-car convoy. We each bought a gallon of wiper fluid after we got to our destination. Two of the cars, including mine, took virtually the entire gallon to re-fill.

I won't be carrying wiper fluid but will definitely try to be better about making sure it is topped off before a drive out of my home area.


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A corn shovel (a.k.a. corn scoop shovel) is a shovel with a wide scoop and high walls along that scoop. Makes moving snow much easier, especially if you're thinking of shoveling yourself out of a ditch instead of a driveway.

Mine is kind of like this: http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/troy-bilt-aluminum-d-handle-snow-shovel-0596904p.html#.UulRqT1dXj4


Topping off your wiper fluid before you leave is smart! I carry a bottle in case I forget, or in the event that it's a particularly messy drive. A messy windshield is a terrible driving hazard. Snow will work for a one-off cleaning, but won't get me home.

Speaking of topping up your vehicle fluids, check out the condition of all your gear - boots included. If you don't, you may never know when a fail is lurking around the corner, like this one I experienced yesterday:



It never hurts to have a little duct tape in your kits:




p.s. Thank goodness I keep those snowmobile boots in the Jeep. They're awesome in super cold weather, particularly when you aren't mobile, and they made awesome back-up for my every day boots.

My favorites

Shovel (materials transfer shovel in aluminum, ie corn shovel)
(make it collapsible http://blog.owareusa.com/2012/12/30/make-a-tough-avalanche-shovel-from-a-hardware-store-version/)

Tire Chains (better than 4 wheel drive)
Complete set of waterproof and insulated clothes, shoes, mitts
Spare windshield squirt
Nylon jerk strap WITHOUT metal hooks for pulling car out of ditch
Jumper cables
Headlamps
Wool blanket(s)

If possible, I prefer to get back on the road and to a safe warm place rather than have to shelter in a spot exposed to traffic and cold. If one car goes off the road at a spot, more will likely follow.

I realize this is "Hot"lanta and not given to lots of winter snow storms but from those of us who live in northern climates - very little of this chaos would even have occurred at all. Because:
a) highway crews are prepared with snow plows and sanders
b) people are used to winter conditions and drive accordingly and
c) a lot of vehicles have snow tires.
d) it was only 3" of snow, which is hardly anything!
This just goes to show you that people in different climate zones prepare differently and while you or I may be prepared, a southenern may not be prepared at all for the 1-in-10 year or 1-in-25 year snow storm occurence.

That said -- if you aren't equipped for winter at all, why are you on the road? All people had to do was check the weather forecast/highway hotline to make the determination of whether to travel or not. If you don't have winter travelling experience, don't know how to handle your vehicle in snow/ice, don't have snow tires or at the very least have better quality all-seasons with enough tread then why make the decision to drive? What is so important that you can't defer your trip?

All the rest of the prep items you mentioned are really post-incident preparedness instead of pre-incident. Somebody who was truly prepared and equipped for the conditions probably already made the decision of not to be out driving in the middle of it.

Anecedote: A woman calling into a local talk radio station complained bitterly about how the trucks were kicking up snow clouds and road salt as they travelled during a recent snow storm. She thought that during inclement weather that these types of vehicles had "no business" being on the road and obscuring the vision of small vehicles, while she was simply travelling into the city to shop. Then another fellow chimed in and rebuked this caller saying that the trucks have required schedules for deliveries to meet business/customer/consumer requirements, have better training and more experience driving in snow and if anyone had a real need to be on the road during the snowstorm it was them -- not the shill of a housewife. She became very silent as the light bulb in her little head finally turned on.

The point is: we as the drivers have the responsibility to make the go/no go decision of whether to drive in bad conditions. Why didn't more people in Georgia just say no?

Known on the prairies as a "grain shovel". We use them to shovel grain around the truck beds and into auger bins for the graineries.

Yeah, I need to add tire chains to my truck's permanent kit. I've got lots of stuff to keep me warm and fed on the road -- even have a couple stoves to cook and make coffee. But snow chains have been off the list of things I need for a long long while. I saw them the other day and know where they are; tomorrow a set will be in my truck.

I agree---general rule is, "if you don't know what you are doing, don't do it."

But this seems to be superseded by "you don't know what you don't know", so drivers who have never experienced snow/ice etc. have no idea what it means, or what questions to ask, or what to do. So they default to doing the "usual." You might as well give them information in Klingon (which might be more successful)

I'm the only person I know in DC who carries tire chains (a habit ingrained from learning to drive a '69 Mustang on Oregon's Mt. Hood).

Chains are terrific, 4x4 and high ground clearance and experience in snow driving are wonderful. But if despite all that you are in a mass of stalled vehicles and there are guard rails on both sides, you are just as stuck as everyone else.

The Carmageddon list is about staying comfortable in a gridlock or breakdown situation you may not have any control over.


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I would be very careful about using any appliance with a live flame in any enclosed space - carbon monoxide. We will probably get a media story about deaths from people who fired up their barbeque grill or other makeshift device in order to keep warm - this unfortunately is a very predictable occurrence.

This is one reason I stash a flameless heater in my kit, although those evidently are no entirely hazard free, either. I have used backpacking stoves (Svea or similar) briefly and gotten away with it. They will raise the temperature noticeably, but unless your space is well insulated, the heat goes away quickly.

It is much safer to just bundle up and snuggle with a warm, receptive partner than risk CO poisoning - voice of experience here. "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes."