Your car as a ‘go bag’

 

alfadriver said:

Sometimes it seems that if you are going to point out a fallacy, pointing out an alternative would be helpful 

I agree wholeheartedly. But alternatives have been covered pretty well. Except cash (was not really my point) that had not been brought up yet. And you have covers that. 
My suggestions woul only apply to folks that live and travel out in the country. I think you method of proposing potential problems is better. 

The cars all have a basic tool kit. Beyond that, you should be able to support yourself for 72 hours at any time. 

I carry that in a backpack that goes in whatever vehicle I'm driving and is never far from me. It has a little bit of everything in it. $100 cash in small bills. A T-shirt, a pair of socks, and underwear in a ziplock bag. A life straw water filter. Two 2400 calorie emergency ration bars. 2 Bic lighters and a magnesium striker. A compass. A largish sheath knife and a Gerber multi-tool. A pair of work gloves. A small 1st aid kit. An emergency blanket. An orange survival bandana. 200' of 750 paracord. A phone charge cord and a battery pack that will charge my phone 4 times. A waterproof phone case. Around November I stuff a puff jacket in the bottom and pull it back out in the spring. I also carry a Garmin InReach Mini for emergency contact in case I get hurt or break down outside of cell coverage. 

I'm pretty sure there is some other stuff in there. Must be time to do an inventory. 

The odds I will ever need any of that are in an actual emergency damn close to zero, but mother nature and machinery are prone to whimsy and I spend as much time off the beaten path as I can. 

Besides, if you are prepared for it, it's not an emergency. 

I will start by apologizing to the above commentors, I just started replying once I read the first few lines of this. 

This is a topic/subject that Ive looked into several years ago (2014?), after the events in ATL when folks were stranded in their car's on the highway during a snowstorm for something like 18 hours. I had just gotten my little fiesta and had to go to work on a day they were calling for snow in my area, so I tossed some things in a pack, threw a shovel in the back, and headed out. 

Since then Ive changed my 'get home bag' some, adding and removing items. Honestly, I dont carry it daily anylonger, but if bad conditions are possible, it goes in. Along with that shovel (or A shovel).

My pack, a London Bridge Trading pack (look them up, really well made, some of our veterans might be familiar), has quite a bit. I'll leave stuff out, not on purpose, but here's a basic rundown

-Water bottle filled (always keep a filled bottle in my car, at least one, but lets have an additional 20+oz, just in case)

-One MRE - food, toilet paper, something with some flavor to drink

-A Leatherman tool (always at least one in the car, but, again, a backup)

-Mora knife - simple, cheap fixed blade

-Small flashlight with extra batteries

-Water purification tabs

-Silcock key (for opening industrial water sources)

-Small First Aid Kit

-Leather gloves, wool socks, thermal shirt

-Some snacks - trail mix, granola bar

-A small/short book. Short in length, but also small in size to fit, better, in the pack and keep weight down.

-Some paracord, matches, magnifying glass (small), Hot Hands hand warmers, small wool blanket I throw in the car too

Im sure I left stuff out, and I apologize. But it's good to have things and have a BASIC plan in place. Know the roads youre traveling on if you might get stuck, have warming items with you. Most of my life Im no more than 15 miles from home, I work about 15 away. Id hate to walk that far, but, dangit, Im NOT sitting in my car for a full day, either. 

hybridmomentspass said:

Im sure I left stuff out, and I apologize. But it's good to have things and have a BASIC plan in place. Know the roads youre traveling on if you might get stuck, have warming items with you. Most of my life Im no more than 15 miles from home, I work about 15 away. Id hate to walk that far, but, dangit, Im NOT sitting in my car for a full day, either. 

This guy figured he could make it six miles.  He didn't.

https://news.yahoo.com/body-man-abandoned-car-snowstorm-202947161.html

1988RedT2 said:

Park your car in your garage overnight.  You'll have no problem with water freezing if you maintain a temperature above 32 F. in your garage.  It sounds as if some of you Barbarians park outside in the winter.  That can cause no end of grief, including having to scrape ice off the windows.  Definitely not my idea of fun.

It's -1F in Minneapolis, and it's not much warmer inside my garage...remember that people here live in many different areas with many different circumstances.

stuart in mn said:

It's -1F in Minneapolis, and it's not much warmer inside my garage...remember that people here live in many different areas with many different circumstances.

Very true, and I want to thank all you crazies that choose to live in the frozen, uninhabitable wasteland north of the 40th parallel.  If you all ever come to your senses and move to a warmer climate, it's going to get crowded around here. 

Since I trade cars too much I have a literal go bag that I carry to each. basic first aid (bandages, antibotic creams, floss, alcohol wipes), food (protein bars) and two bottles of water, leatherman wannabe, spare knife, blanket. I also move over my spare jacket this time of year and we always keep gloves and blankets in the cars.

Meh, your modern car will be useless after an EMP event. Hope your crap is in a backpack and you have good shoes.

My truck has a -5* sleeping bag in it. If I travel farther I pack more than that.

1988RedT2 said:

This guy figured he could make it six miles.  He didn't.

https://news.yahoo.com/body-man-abandoned-car-snowstorm-202947161.html

That is definitely not funny.  And I apologize for being flippant in reply to mtn. Not a subject to be be flippant about. 
Please do not assume that the modern technology of todays civilization will prevent 100% of emergency situations. There is so much more than just "I can't fix my car anyway" or the "tow truck I call (even though cell service might be out) will help me."
I don't carry as much as some of the folks on here have stated. Just a few things for when (or if) something goes sideways.  

preach (dudeist priest) said:

Meh, your modern car will be useless after an EMP event. Hope your crap is in a backpack and you have good shoes.

My truck has a -5* sleeping bag in it. If I travel farther I pack more than that.

If there's an EMP, it's not likely that any emergency kit will be of any real use.  

Good stuff here. I wanted to add a yo yo fishing reel and one loaded magazine for any bang stick you may regularly  carry or have in the trunk just in addition to everything else that has been included.

In reply to alfadriver :

Sadly, one may survive, but google will not help much.

In reply to alfadriver :

An emp, or solar flare or just a power outage/cell outage does not have to mean a world wide apocalypse, like the movies and conspiracy folks make it out to be. So I'll disagree. For the folks that think because they live in a city, nothing can happen, you might be right though. 

In reply to 03Panther :

Seems like the system is robust enough to natural things.  But I'll rephrase- if life is interrupted by an intentional EMP event, basic survival will be very different compared to a snow storm or hurricane.

This discussion started out with a regular old snow storm, but made the leap to a world apocalypse?  

Virginias milkshake brings all the preppers  to the yard. 
and they're like my loadouts bigger than yours.  
 

I could teach you but You'd have to like and subscribe to my channel where I debate the attributes of miniature titanium pry bars for EDC in my fancy pouch. 

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :

If you would care to translate that last into English, I might be able to understand it. Not a clue what ya mean as written. 

1988RedT2 said:

hybridmomentspass said:

Im sure I left stuff out, and I apologize. But it's good to have things and have a BASIC plan in place. Know the roads youre traveling on if you might get stuck, have warming items with you. Most of my life Im no more than 15 miles from home, I work about 15 away. Id hate to walk that far, but, dangit, Im NOT sitting in my car for a full day, either. 

This guy figured he could make it six miles.  He didn't.

https://news.yahoo.com/body-man-abandoned-car-snowstorm-202947161.html

Shame, truly. 

But we have to make decisions daily that put our life in risk, like driving (gasp!). We do because the odds are in our favor. I dont know this guy's physical condition, what he was wearing, how much he had eaten that day (how much energy he had etc) or anything. It sucks, it does. But so would sitting in a car for 24 hours while your home is a dozen miles away. 

Being that we arent in a Mad Max situation, I would stick to main roads, going through the woods seems like a bad idea to me for the reasons in that news article. If anything happens youre on your own and no one knows where you are. 

Oh, and I forgot the esbit stove that I have in my pack, as well as small button compass. I might remember more later, but I remembered those today

Calling for a LITTLE snow on Saturday night here, inch or so, I'll still toss a bag in IF I go out in that time frame

In reply to 03Panther :

It's a riff on the song milkshake. You know, that "my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard" song.

There's absolute preppers and then there's what you are likely to actually ever encounter prepping.

To me, unless it's a very remote and rural case, two weeks for a house and a max 2-3 days for a car is the likely case. I mean, add time if you traverse the passes in the Rockies, or death valley craziness, but for most of us...

alfadriver said:

preach (dudeist priest) said:

Meh, your modern car will be useless after an EMP event. Hope your crap is in a backpack and you have good shoes.

My truck has a -5* sleeping bag in it. If I travel farther I pack more than that.

If there's an EMP, it's not likely that any emergency kit will be of any real use.  

that's why I pack what I pack. There's enough there to get me home. 

Thanks for the good responses so far!

I realize there's a whole spectrum of preparation out there.  I've seen a few things I'll be adding to my kit for the potential scenarios that I'd like to have peace of mind about.

Apologies for generalizing people as 'idiots', I'll rephrase as: Individuals whose talents for poor decision making, lack of preparation, and willingness to blindly follow GPS could potentially block access to the twisty, hilly, 2-lane backroads I take to and from work.  

My scenario has more than a handful of times turned my nominally 40min drive into a 2+ hour commute backtracking paths or waiting for impromptu yard sales to be cleared from the road.  In the past week's weather event demand for towing and plowing combined with worker shortages would likely result in a long stay in the car in cold temps.  Also in today's modern world, this area butts up against a Marine Corp base and has sketchy to no cell phone coverage and is in the intersection of three counties, so clearing the roads is 'not my job' or at least towards the bottom of their lists. So this is more than just a thought exercise.

I find that carrying a large choppy knife comes in handy, I've cut trees out if the road before with them

rallyxPOS13 said:

Apologies for generalizing people as 'idiots', I'll rephrase as: Individuals whose talents for poor decision making, lack of preparation, and willingness to blindly follow GPS could potentially block access to the twisty, hilly, 2-lane backroads I take to and from work.  

In context, that's how I read it the first time. But since I've driven in that area, and read the whole post, it was easy for me. 

Weve got snow on the horizon, Saturday night. They're not guessing 5+ inches. I dont have anywhere I have to go, but I did check my pack last night and will toss it in on Saturday just in case things come sooner than expected.