Update, Adjust, Make Ready

[stickmaker]

The seasons are changing. Have you updated your vehicle emergency kit for the cold weather?

Anyone who drives more than an hour's walking distance from home (and most would be surprised to learn how short a distance that is, especially in bad weather) needs to have at least a medical kit and simple tools. Keeping in mind that winter storms can come on suddenly, and can still surprise forecasters, some warm clothing (including socks) and good shoes should also be included.

Maybe it comes from reading _Robinson Crusoe_ and _Swiss Family Robinson_ at an impressionable age. Maybe it comes from both family and my youth church group enjoying camping and hiking. Maybe it's a holdover from the Great Depression, passed down from grandparents on both sides of my family. Whatever the reason, I've always felt more comfortable having things available to help with problems both common and unlikely.

A Get Home Bag is something intended to help you walk out of a place where you're stranded, or survive in that place until help can arrive. The problem can be as simple as getting lost and running out of gas in an isolated area with no cell phone coverage. It can be as complicated as a record snowfall which leaves cars buried on the Interstate.

The point is, having a source of warmth - even if only an old sleeping bag - and food - even if only some granola bars - and water - even if only a few supermarket water bottles - can save your life.

Comments

[kengr]

FRS radios are a good fallback from cell phones. They don't need towers and search parties *will* be carrying them. Plus, there's a good chance that *somebody) will be listening unless you are way out in the middle of nowhere. Mine, like most all of my gesar (GPS, bike lite, at least one of the flashlights) runs on AA batteries, and I carry a bunch)

Oh yeah, one of the flashlights has a USB power jack, and I carry the cable that'll let my use it to power my phone. I may not get many hours on the 4 AAs in that flashlight, but it's more than I'd get if the regular battery ran down.

Since I don't have a car, I'm only going to get as stranded as my bike could get me stranded. Which means I'll have at least one bottle of water and several to a dozen granola bars type things (depends on when I last refilled the ziplock. I put one of each kind I have in a big ziplock and then refil when it gets empty). if I was going someplace that wasn't more or less in town, I'd go for a second bag if the first was getting low.

Gear I'd carry if going hiking/camping would include my fire kit. Piece of hacksaw blade, one of those *huge* metal "flints" to get sparks from, a hunk of magnesium )even *wet* wood will start if you put a spark from the flint into a pile of magnesium shavings sitting on it. :-)

Also have one of those "solar cigarette lighters" that Radio Shack used to sell and a large magnifying glass (I've started fires with both on sunny days)

Another useful trick if you walk or bike near the right sort of streets is "used" road flares. Ones that have burned part way, then been put out are often by the side of the road after an accident.

Not easy to light unless you have my fire kit (why yes, I *am* a scrounger:-)

Real road flares are best saved for other situations.

A filter straw or filter pump for folks who might get stranded farther out than I'm likely to wind up are a good investment.