As an adjunct question to my urban/suburban choices post, I was thinking about how to survive a specific weather/climate scenario.

You get stuck in your vehicle due to a winter storm. You are either too far from or unable to trek to safety. Because the snow is over the tailpipe, you can't run the car for heat. What are the best things to have with you? Here are my thoughts. What am I missing?

Extra socks
Hat/balaclava
Gloves
Cold weather sleeping bag
Candles (and matches)
High calorie energy food
Water

As far as additional heat sources, would something like sterno give off enough heat without giving off toxic fumes?

Sterno is about as safe as you can get but it will still deplete oxygen and does produce carbon dioxide (not carbon monoxide), so you still have to take some care in it's use. Aside from the obvious (cell phone, 2W radio, etc) I would add something to signal with. I have a large glass mirror, a flashlight, and a bright orange plastic sheet. A shovel is a necessity, and if you have access to wood a saw and an axe would be invaluable. Something to boil water and melt snow in would likely be necessary.

I keep two footlockers full of supplies and gear in the cap-covered bed of my truck. I figure I could hold out at least a week if I had to.

Regards, Vince

Edited to add: the orange plastic sheet is especially handy if you drive a white vehicle <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Obvious, I guess, but if you have a choice, choose a large vehicle to get stuck in.

It would really suck to be stranded in my current (and only) vehicle... small, two seat, no back seat. No place to stretch out, seats do not fully recline. Forget for a moment that there's no place to store supplies, I wouldn't want to be trapped in this thing for more than a few hours due to comfort considerations.

An SUV or van would be good, I think. A motorhome... wow. If you're in a motorhome, are you really stranded? Or just not moving for a while? <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Or you can try this:
A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.

Rescue teams found Richard Kral drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains.

He told them that after the avalanche, he had opened his car window and tried to dig his way out.

But as he dug with his hands, he realised the snow would fill his car before he managed to break through.

He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it, local media reported.

He said: "I was scooping the snow from above me and packing it down below the window, and then I peed on it to melt it. It was hard and now my kidneys and liver hurt. But I'm glad the beer I took on holiday turned out to be useful and I managed to get out of there."

Parts of Europe have this week been hit by the heaviest snowfalls since 1941, with some places registering more than ten feet of snow in 24 hours.

Uh...

I believe it, that's not the problem.

The only added benefit of actually consuming the beer was heating it up. You could do that by just putting several bottles inside your coat. Drink one or two, maybe, assuming no other food calorie sources (ya gotta make the heat somehow), but it certainly wasn't necessary to actually drink all of it.

Here is an idea for a heater from Field & Stream
Toilet Paper Heater <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I know that snow differs in water content, but generally speaking, I read that 12" of snow equals about 1" of rain.

Sooooo..... if you had to tunnel out of your car window to get to the road, couldn't you scoop it into the back (or lowest part) of the car and pack it down? That should reduce the volume by 10 or so.

I've wondered about this since I moved up to snow country from CA.

Any thoughts?

Sue

Sounds like the MGB I had in college. It had a tiny little cockpit but it was great in the snow because it was so light.

Vince

Interesting question. I've never tried it, beyond making snowmen and snowballs.

But I remember reading about how forces are distributed in... cornflakes of all things. Apparently, there is no practical limit to how high you can pile cornflakes without crushing them, because the forces are distributed throughout the pile. I wonder if snow (not all snow is the same, so this may not apply to every situation) acts like the cornflakes? Yeah, you can compress it some, but the force required to change the volume enough to matter might be pretty high.

Hey... Mythbusters... you listening? <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'd leave the car and build an igloo. It is better insulated than your car. If well made you can even light a fire inside.

This, provided that you don't go out, farther than the nearest supermarket with just a t-shirt on you,

Under severe weather conditions you should plan to be prepared for the unexpected. If nothing happens, good for you, but if it does, you will not regret those extra boxes in the trunk.

Keep there a couple good blankets, a small petrol stove and minimal cooking gear, high energy food like chocolate will keep you alive and warm for a good while.

A small shovel and a knife should already be there, eh?

D.