How To Survive In The Winter With Your Car

If you leave the car to seek shelter, do not go too far. Rescuers will look in the area of your vehicle for you and falling snow could easily cover your tracks.
Shelters out of the car should be in a wooded or rocky area, if possible, because trees will assist in blocking the wind. Use a tarp, blanket, or whatever material you have on hand to make a simple lean-too shelter. Do not clean falling snow off of the shelter, it will help insulate it, unless it starts to bow in from the weight. Do not make your shelter under dead tree limbs, because they could fall during high winds.

If you can, use the natural surroundings for shelter construction. You can usually find a “pit” free of snow under large cedar or pine trees after a heavy snowfall. Or, you can place logs or limbs up against a fallen log or rock to back a natural shelter. Do not use a stalled vehicle as a shelter, because it is made of metal and will become very cold.

Make sure your fire is made in a safe area, with no low limbs that could catch fire. If there is a lot of snow, you may have to lay a platform of green logs to make your fire on, fires made on deep snow will burn, melt the snow, and then put themselves out. The logs will eventually burn through, so be prepared for that event. Also, keep your fire small. You can use rocks or stacked logs to reflect the heat from your fire, by making sure the reflector is180 degrees from the entrance of your shelter with the fire in the middle.

Once you are organized, do not leave. Stay where you are until help arrives. If you leave the spot, rescuers may have to spend addition time, which could prove fatal for you, looking for you, the weather may get worse, or you may suffer from hypothermia.

One aspect of winter survival most people never consider is dehydration. In cold climates we tend to drink less than normal. If your urine is dark in color increase your water intake. Do not eat snow or suck on ice, they will lower your body temperature. Instead, melt them in a container first if possible.
Hypothermia is the lowering of the body’s core temperature and it can be fatal. Once you have a shelter constructed and a fire going stay where you are and keep warm, as well as dry.

While surviving in the winter can be very difficult, it can be done. Just because your vehicle breaks down, or you become stuck, is in some ways no different than encountering a survival situation while hiking. Survival is survival, though there are obviously different challenges in each situation. The key to your survival is to think before you act, stay where you are once you’re organized, prepare by having the right equipment with you, and gain the knowledge you need to survive before you need it.

As I suggested above, some survival items I always have in my car in addition to my basic survival kit are, a two liter bottle of water, a poncho, and a signal mirror. I suggest you consider carrying them as well. Each driver can add additional items and eventually develop a large kit, but remember you do not want to fill up your trunk. In addition, try to select items that serve more than one purpose.

Also, if you are inexperienced with survival, purchase a survival manual to go along with you. At least make sure your car survival kit at least has the following items packed in it:

A quality penknife or jack knife.
Large zip lock freezer bags or latex gloves for water storage.
Waterproof matches and a lighter.
Flint and steel or a metal match.
Water purification tablets.
A long strip of heavy-duty aluminum foil folded up to cook with.
Fishing kit, i.e., hooks, sinkers, and some line. Nothing fancy.
Commercial first aid kit or with instructions, I also place a small hotel size bar of soap inside mine.
One small pack of gum and one pack of hard candy for quick energy.
Casualty Blanket, sometimes called a thermal blanket.
Wool blankets or sleeping bags.
Instant powder broth, beef or chicken, four servings total.
Survival Whistle, small, made of plastic and with a lanyard.
A flashlight.
Approximately 50 feet of nylon cord.

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