Making a winter bag for winter travel

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2012 12:09 am

We got a big snow fall last week. The wife and I were out driving around, taking photos, and enjoying the winter scene. I felt pretty comfortable with newer tires and a winch, but also realized that we were at the mercy of mother nature in the event that we get stuck or break down. When I came home that day I started making a list of items to keep with me during the winter months. I’m going to call this my winter bag.

I’ll be gathering materials, equipment, and other supplies to complete my winter bag. Feel free to post up ideas. In the meantime, I’ll use this thread to document the items that I have selected.

CIEJEK'S KJ · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:48 am

i can't wait to see what you come up with, always can use a good survival kit

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2012 2:11 am

One item that made it on the list was a snow shovel. I thought a snow shovel might come in handy in the event that you need to shovel yourself out.

Telescoping snow shovel
28 ¾” long (when scoped down)
Price: $10.00 (Wal-Mart)

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2012 2:51 am

I always have
water
snack bars
candles
matches
tools
small shovel
jumper cables
at least two flash lights with extra batteries ( switched out every now and again
couple of blankets
all of the time and esp. in the winter
just a few of the things

Liberty02sport · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:39 pm

If you're serious about a winter survival bag the very first item on your list should be one of the Army surplus "mummy" style sleeping bags. This will allow you to be cocooned in a way which blankets will not and retains heat generated by the body much better, most can be found for around $20. Add water and a container to make sure it doesn't freeze on you and you're most of the way there. Be sure whatever food items you include are cycled out regularly and aren't to sensitive to hot/cold extremes. The biggest enemy in winter is the cold/exposure.

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2012 2:00 pm

A big jar of peanut butter contains about 10,000 calories. You can survive on that for a long time if you have to.
A good sturdy knife like a Kabar comes in handy.
550 parachute cord has many uses.
Gloves. Waterproof and more than one pair.
Waterproof and breathable pants and jacket are a must if its snowing/raining and you need to hike.

Sky is the limit really, just depends on how much space and weight you want to carry.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:08 pm

We travel a lot at night or the wee hours of the morning. In case of a breakdown, you can’t have enough light.

This small but convenient 12v Worklight has an adjustable light, hook-on hanger, magnetic back, and a built-in tripod. I bought it years ago for roadside emergencies.

MAGLITE LED triple cell D flashlight

It was an easy decision to add my Princeton Tec Vortec Headlamp to the list. Not only is it a nice piece of equipment that keeps your hands free, but this lamp is fully adjustable, waterproof, and comes with two bulb options (halogen and krypton). The halogen bulb is the brightest and the krypton bulb has the longer burn time.

audiboy86 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:19 pm

Umm kitty litter and a coffee can and candle or coffee can full of a deicer or rock salt. Just for those slick sistuations when you get stuck on some ice. Also a good recovery/snatch strap is a must.

Jaber · **Joined:** Fri Sep 30, 2011 8:37 am **Posts:** 102

Although this winter has been very kind to us, I still carry these items year-round.

Phone Charger
Jumper Cables
Zip ties/hose clamps (2, one big one small)
Tow Strap
D-Cell Maglite Flashlight/Headlamp
Tools (small socket set/wrench, hammer, pliers, knife, crowbar, cheap multimeter)
Blanket
Flares/Lighter
Bottle of water
Gloves/Beanie Hat
4-5 packs of ponchos
Tote Bags (Mainly for groceries)
Micro Fiber Towels
And finally, lots of bungie cords.

All tucked away nicely in a plastic toolbox I bought at Ace. Has wheels, so easy to move, if I ever needed to remove it for space. This year, I didn't bother putting the shovel in there, as no one predicted big snow storms.

Granted, I'm more in the city, so if a breakdown were to happen, chances of getting help is higher. But the hours I drive to work in the early morning, I rather not take the chance of being left powerless on the side of the road. When snow gets bad here, traffic comes to a halt, so good luck getting a tow truck or help anytime soon. [Insert Feb 2011, Snowpocalypse on Lake Shore Drive]

bugnout · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2012 10:56 am

I highly recommend carrying road flares in your winter kit, not for the reason you would normally think.

Flares are by far the best way to get a fire going when its wet frozen, cold etc. When you need to get warm and you don't have the strength or time to collect, cut or split the kindling, neccessary to building a proper fire, flares can be a lifesaver.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:14 pm

Jaber wrote:

Micro Fiber Towels

That’s not a bad idea. :idea:

I have a pack towel made by Therm-a-Rest. It’s designed for backpacking and absorbs a lot of moisture without becoming saturated. It’s small in size, dries quickly, and doesn’t take up much space. This was not originally on my list, but now it is. :mrgreen:

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:38 pm

Atthehelm wrote:

Waterproof and breathable pants and jacket are a must if its snowing/raining and you need to hike.

This is one item that I wouldn't cut off the list under any circumstance. We have tops and bottoms made by Lowe Alpine. They are designed to be an outer shell, which makes them very lightweight. I don't have pics of the bottoms, but here are the tops:

His:

Hers:

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:39 pm

Jaber wrote:

Gloves/Beanie Hat

I got those items covered.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:56 pm

tommudd wrote:

jumper cables

Added these to the kit:

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:26 pm

bugnout wrote:

Flares are by far the best way to get a fire going when its wet frozen, cold etc. When you need to get warm and you don't have the strength or time to collect, cut or split the kindling, neccessary to building a proper fire, flares can be a lifesaver.

I'm going to take this one step further. I decided to add a small backpacking camp stove to the list. It's super lightweight, very compact, and can run for hours on a single propane/butane mix bottle. I can use it for heat, cooking, or thawing something frozen.

Here's the stove:

Here's the stove on the propane/butane mix bottle. This stove and fuel combo is excellent at extreme high altitude:

Again, with lightweight and compact in mind, I’m going to add this titanium cook set made by Snow Peak to the kit.

The pans are also the lids for the pots:

Those pots and pans get hot, so we need a tool to take them off:

The stove fits nicely in the pots:

And there's room for the tool:

Put both lids on and you have everything in one small kit.

2006 KJ · **Posted:** Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:43 am

Atthehelm wrote:

A big jar of peanut butter contains about 10,000 calories. You can survive on that for a long time if you have to.
A good sturdy knife like a Kabar comes in handy.
550 parachute cord has many uses.
Gloves. Waterproof and more than one pair.
Waterproof and breathable pants and jacket are a must if its snowing/raining and you need to hike.

Sky is the limit really, just depends on how much space and weight you want to carry.

^^ good ideas. or if you were hurting for food throw in 2 MRE's (military meals).. they never go bad and have a lot to live on.

also a spare cell phone charger (or 2 if your rider has one).

flare's/gun...

a small square of sheet plastic. a 2x2in square unfolds to a huge amount

a First aid kit.

bungie straps / ratchet straps.

and dont forget you can always use floor mats to gain extra traction.

Making a winter bag for winter travel

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