I am guessing what they mean is: one can use a car as a sort of tent to spend the nights in.

If its cold and wet, I would probably just stay inside the car (provided the car has intact windows and is habitable). Why build a shelter when there is a perfectly good one already?
Now if the car was somehow damaged, turned upside down, etc, then I would probably use parts of car to build an expedient shelter and use things like wires for ropes, insulation from car seats for warmth, gasoline for firestarting and perhaps even a battery to provide light.
I have seen Les Stroud do just that with parts of an airplane when he "crashed" in Canadian winter forest.

"But that isn't using the car as an 'ark'. Cars themselves aren't insulated, other than a fraction of an inch of foam attached to the headliner."

It still provides a wind break and shelter from falling rain and snow.
There is usually an extra layer of insulation above the headliner as well as insulation behind all the plasic panels conering the inside of the body.
You could pile snow up on three sides of the vehilce to help make insulation but I would leave one side open to get in and out.
Those reflective sun shades poeple put in their window on hot sunny days will reflect heat back in also.
You can also insulate your vehilce, I bought a roll of the reflective insulation from a hardware store that looks like bobble wrap with aluminum foil on the outside. They had a display where it was folded up into a littel pouch so that you stick your hand in and it refelcts your body heat and your hand gets warm. I removed all the plastic panels from inside my old truck and taped this covering everything and seldom needed the heater after that as it was always warm in the winter after a few minutes of reflecting my body heat.

Having an intact car for shelter is better than not having it. I've used my car for overnights on a few occassions and it does get cold inside, but not as cold as outside.

I don't understand this tearing up the seats for insulation thing. If you're thinking and planning, supplementing the car with sleeping bags or blankets seems like a better use of resources than dismembering your car. After the storm you may be able to drive out if you still have a car to drive. I've added a cheap fleece bag to my kit which along with the cheap "Italian Officers" wool blanket I got through one of the on-line surplus dealers I should be able to stay quite warm. Another body/person inside the cab would just add more shared bodily warmth.

That's why I always carry a couple of decaf coffee bags in my outdoor PSK. I might look into swapping them out for chocolate milk mix if I can find some that are reasonably small.

I actually had powdered milk packet from REI and Chocolate milk powder on side. (start of a week in the Smokeys) The whole milk powder packets from REI are great, more food value.
I never expected hypothermia, Feet wet, about 28degrees. Suddenly realized I was in big trouble, confused, weak,shaking uncontrollably. I was lucky that I didn't just collapse. It took forever to put up tent and heat stuff. Don't want to go through that again.

Jon

You should write up a detailed account of your experience, including lessons learned, and post it here somewhere. It would be an extremely useful read.

When projecting a possible situation like this, I always remind myself that everyone I've ever heard interviewed who had to (or simply wanted to) eat ants said they were "spicy" and "kinda tasty, actually". It's the formic acid in them that gives 'em a little tang.

Now, if you've eaten ants and it was the worst experience ever in your life, just keep it to yourself! I may need to eat ants someday and I need a clear mind about it. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

If I were a typical unprepared person that knew nothing about survival as most people seem to be, I may try to put the insulation from the backs of the seats into the windows to try to better insulate the insides.. then again, if I knew anything about the way insulation worked, I may think about stuffing my cotton clothing with small bits of seat cushion insulation to try to insulate myself from the cold instead of the whole car.. Just some thoughts looking at the article from the prospective of someone that might not be in the know.. which I belive most people have agreed is the way you haveto look at it from..

I really liked the article.

I'm going to take what seems here to be a fairly unpopular position and say that not only can a survivor go 3 weeks without food, but probably even longer, so long as they have access to decent water and shelter (dry & warm).

I've thought about this for a while, and did some research on fasting (consuming water, but no food). Fasting has been commonplace for thousands of years and has proven medical benefits. Researchers have found that even thin people can successfully fast for 30-40 days or more without serious consequences . They even say that people fasting tend to feel better and have more energy after 4-7 days of fasting than they do in the first 2-3 days.

Here is a farely comprehensive article: http://www.answers.com/topic/fasting .

My own view is that surviving is the act of taking care of basic needs such as first aid, obtaining shelter/warmth, finding water, and signaling for rescue while staying put and being as "findable" as possible.

If those in a survival situation have time/energy to fish, trap, and hunt, more power to them. Doug mentions in his PSP description that he didn't think fishing gear was all that essential, but he found buyers expected it, and figured fishing might provide a calming influence. I"d agree with that so long as the survivor doesn't put themself in any danger of falling or getting wet/cold. Plus I'd agree that the phsycology of survival is often as important as the physiology of survival.

Truth be told, if you really needed to consume some calories, turning over logs looking for worms and grubs to eat would provide calories without much risk, though it won't be as tasty as fresh fish.

I hope the holidays find all my ETS friends safe and happy,

Ken K.

If I was cold and I had a vehicle I am not sure I would want to expend the energy to build a shelter that is may or may not keep me warmer than a car.