An interesting test some day would be for peops to overnight in a campground -- in winter -- with only the stuff we normally carry in our vehicles.

And pretend the car is broken - so no heater, period.

Gaps in most of our preps would quickly appear. In my case, I really need to put my 20-degree or zero-degree sleeping bag in my SUV, and keep it there. Meanwhile, I have a fleece sleeping bag liner, chemical warmers, loads of fire-making materials (including fatwood).

The coldest temperature I've camped in was 19 degrees overnight - inside an unheated but insulated (R-11) teardrop trailer.

Not sure which sleeping bag I was using but I was also head-to-toe in fleece (hat, neck gaiter, mittens, socks, long underwear) and still I was cold. I slept okay but it was not a great night's sleep -- and that was in a much better situation than I would be in if I were stranded with my vehicle.

Toss into the equation the stress of actually being stranded and it really is unimaginable what would go through your mind and the effect of that on your physical wellbeing and decision making.

This past Saturday I had the edifying experience of a last-second decision to meet a friend for a walk with our pups at Great Falls National Park on the Potomac River outside the Beltway. I had a breakfast that morning so met my friend afterward at the park. I had worn or brought a few things in anticipation of the walk - Smartwool socks, hiking shoes, warm but not my warmest coat. I always have warm gloves/mittens in the car -- 24/7/365.

But I'd forgotten just how much colder the park could get compared to the restaurant area a few miles away. It was not windy at the restaurant and it was quite gusty at the park -- so a cold day at the restaurant became quite a lot colder at the river. And I'd taken some of my gear out of the car the previous weekend to make room for something I had to haul. My bag of fleece was one of the things no longer in the car.

Oh how I longed for my warmest fleece hat, ear muffs and neck gaiter -- which were at home, 14 miles away! Fortunately, I did have my BOB in the car and had winterized it recently -- in there was a balaclava and a fleece headband that has a slit for a golf/baseball hat to fit into.

A bit into our walk I was comfortable but as soon as I got home I dumped out that bag of fleece, broke it into ziplock freezer bags (hats, mittens, neck gaiters) and discovered that I could stuff them into a couple of interior sidewall compartments in the car. I now have three of each of those items in the car -- I like to have extras for friends or, in an emergency, strangers.

Today I went to the supermarket and bought some food items to be put into a Lock & Lock container and stored in the car for the winter.

Still, five days stranded in my vehicle on a snowy mountain road would be miserable and life-threatening.

And I'm nowhere near 80 years old.