A Winter Kit for the Car

In an earlier post, I referenced extended family members who had a basic winter kit in their cars. As my wife and I discussed the post, we realized that she didn't have a kit in her car, yet. So, off she went and created one.

What she did was quite sufficient. It is not what I have in my car, but it will pass muster. I thought I would share with you what she put in and maybe provide either a starting point for you or start a discussion on it. I will list her kit and then comment on it.

Her kit:

• plastic shopping bag from _____ (pick any grocery or chain store here)


• plastic trash bag (big, black one)


• bottle of water (pick your favorite brand) sealed in


• quart-sized plastic bag (just in case the bottle freezes and splits)


• polar fleece wrap (blanket may be substituted)


• fuzzy hat


• "magic" gloves (these are the knit gloves that stretch forever)


• two votive candles


• clean, empty flat can (like a tuna can or a cat food can)


• disposable butane lighter (to light candles)


• energy food snacks (just a few)


• disposable latex gloves (to waterproof magic gloves)

That's it. All of it is stored in the plastic shopping bag. And the whole thing is stored in the trunk. But is small enough that it could be on the floor behind the driver's seat or even under the seat.

I like a nice big blanket (mine lives in the trunk of my car year round.) I use a cheap olive-drab knockoff of an army blanket. It is durable and warm enough for emergency use and company never sees it. My wife likes polar fleece (and got a great deal on some in the summer) so she picked what was at hand. Inexpensive and available beats expensive and "we'll get it when we can afford it" every time.

Her energy food snacks are pre-packaged peanut-butter crackers, a bit of candy, and a couple of packages of trail-mix. A couple of energy bars would be just as good, but we don't like energy bars. They taste horrible to me. I like trail-mix and we have some around. It's a "good-enough" choice because it has nuts for long-term energy (protein), raisins and chocolate candy for immediate energy (carbohydrates).

We have a few disposable lighters around (even though we don't smoke) because they are generally reliable fire-starters (and can burn longer than a book or box of matches.) We get them by the multi-pack at the dollar store. (Tip: when you bring them home, open the package and try each one to make sure it works reliably. Now you can toss them in your kits knowing they will be there (and work) when you need them.)

In the next post, I will touch on the use of a few of the things in her kit that might not be apparent if you are new to emergency preparedness. In the meantime, if you don't have a winter kit for your car, you could do a lot worse than to make one like hers.