Building a Winter Weather Kit for Your Car

For those in places that experience extreme winter weather on a regular basis, a lot of these tips may seem like common sense. But for those who aren’t used to this sort of thing (like the cold snap about to hit the Pacific Northwest), taking a few minutes to build your kit could save your life. Especially if you’ll be driving in an unpopulated area where you can’t just walk into a nearby coffee shop to warm up in case your car breaks down.

The Scenarios

What I like to do is first consider all of the things that could happen. Then, I try to think of things that would make dealing with those situations easier.

• What if there’s snow or ice?
  • If you don’t have snow chains or snow tires, you could end up stuck—or worse, off the side of a cliff… all because you were too stubborn to turn around. And in bad conditions, there might not be anyone who can come tow your car or pick you up (or at least not quickly).
• What if your car breaks down or runs out of gas?
  • Your main source of heat is now gone, and if it’s below freezing, you could get hypothermia pretty quickly. Again, you’ll need a plan to stick it out until you can get help.
• What if nobody is around to help and you have no phone signal/battery?
  • Do you have shoes and clothing that would allow you to walk a few miles or so to get help?
• What if you’re stuck for a long time?
  • If you end up stuck for hours or even days, then staying warm isn’t your only concern—you’ll also want water and food. And you might also want a plan for going to the bathroom, since you probably don’t want to go outside every few hours to pee in a blizzard.

The Basics that Everyone Should Keep

Just to make sure everyone’s on the same page here, these are the things you should probably always have in your car, regardless of the weather:

• Phone
  • Self-explanatory!
• Offline maps
  • If you have a phone, you probably use it to navigate, e.g. with Google Maps. But if you lose signal, you can lose your maps! To solve this problem, download offline maps of the area you intend to travel to before you set off—particularly if you’re heading somewhere you might not have a signal.
  • In Google Maps, you can do this by clicking on your profile picture in the upper right, and then choosing “Offline maps”.
• USB battery
  • To charge your phone!
  • This is perhaps the most important item, because your phone is both your map and your, well, phone. So you can call for help and stuff. Of course.
  • Make sure it’s charged! You could even keep it plugged into your car’s outlet (with a USB adapter) to make sure it’s always topped up.
  • And no, you shouldn’t just rely on that USB adapter directly, because it doesn’t do you much good if your car breaks down.
• Jumper cables/jump starter
  • In case your car battery dies! Jumper cables might be ok if you’re on a budget, but a jump starter might be a good investment since it allows you to jump your car without the help of another vehicle. Many also double as phone chargers!
• Spare tire, jack, and tire iron
  • In case of a flat tire, obviously.
• Road flares
  • These are good to have in case you end up on the side of the road and don’t want to get hit by another car. They’re especially useful at night or in extreme rain/snow when the extra visibility is needed and hazard lights may not be enough. Basically a must-have if there isn’t much shoulder.
• Headlamp
  • In case you need to change a tire, put on chains, etc. in the dark! Way easier than holding a flashlight or phone, and way more waterproof than a lot of phones too. So no, you can’t get away with just using your flashlight app in many cases. 🙂
  • You might want to bring spare batteries for this too.
  • If you don’t have a headlamp, a lantern or flashlight is better than nothing!
• Water
  • I do NOT recommend using containers made of the same material as milk jugs—these always leak eventually. Consider something like a 2L soda bottle instead, or just regular bottled water.
  • Consider leaving some room in the containers for ice, in case they freeze. But ideally you would keep them in the main passenger compartment (where it’s warmer) to lower the risk of this, and bring it into your house if you plan to leave the car out in the cold for a while.
• Food
  • Preferably ready-to-eat and extra-delicious.

Winter Readiness Must-Haves

And now, of course, the stuff you’ll want to have that’s winter-specific! (or any time of year, depending on how cold it gets where you live)

• Snow chains/cables
  • Yes, even if snow is uncommon in your area. You never know when they could be handy. Snowstorms are allowed to happen unpredictably, and if you wait until the last minute, they’ll be sold out.
  • Make sure you test out putting them on at home before you go so that you know how to do it! You don’t want your first time to be on the side of the road, in the dark, in a blizzard, with your knees sitting in slush.
  • See this article for more info on snow chains vs cables.
  • You can also consider winter tires, either studded or non-studded. You’ll probably only want to bother with these though if you live in an area that sees lots of snow and ice, because swapping the tires out is a pain. See this article for more info about snow tires vs chains (just ignore the cheesy auto insurance pitch at the end).
    • All-weather tires are better for winter than regular tires, but still aren’t quite as good as dedicated winter tires. They are more convenient though!
• Gloves
  • You’ll need some good gloves if you want to be able to put on or take off chains without destroying your fingers. Get some that will not only protect you from the cold, but also from hitting yourself with the chains. Ideally some that leave you with a bit of dexterity too!
• Ice scraper + brush
  • So you don’t get stuck somewhere because you can’t see through the windshield!
• Warm clothing and boots
  • You’ll be glad you had these if you end up having to walk several miles to the nearest town. Or even if you just have to wait in a broken car!
• Blankets
  • Again, useful if you have to wait in a broken car with no heat. You could consider space blankets to keep the bulk down.
• Snow shovel
  • In case your car gets buried, or you need to dig a bit to get it unstuck. Even if you keep a snow shovel at home, you might get buried somewhere else, so it’s good to keep the shovel with you.

The Ultimate Gear: Knowledge

Having an emergency kit is great, but that alone is not enough. Check out these tips for staying safe on the road in winter.

Additional Gear for the Extra-Prepared

The stuff above will cover most people in most situations, especially if you can improvise a bit, or are willing to deal with a little discomfort in order to maintain your budget. But sometimes you want to go above and beyond “good enough”—for example, if you know you’re going to be in extra-dangerous situations, like driving through mountain logging roads in a blizzard. Or maybe you just want to feel better before setting out, knowing that you’ve done all you can to make your trip as safe and comfortable as possible. This list is for you.

• Tire traction mats
  • These can come in handy for getting your wheels unstuck, whether it’s snow, sand, or mud.
• Tarp
  • Putting a tarp down before putting on or taking off chains will help keep your knees drier, in case your pants aren’t waterproof. It can also help keep you from dropping tools into the snow!
• Propane stove
  • You can use one to melt snow or boil other water that you find. Drinking hot water will help keep you warm, too!
  • Or you can put hot water into a water bottle (just make sure the bottle can handle it) and snuggle with it to keep warm.
  • Just do NOT use it inside your car! You could run out of oxygen or get carbon monoxide poisoning!
  • Note that you specifically want propane, not butane or isobutane. Butane only works above 31F, and isobutane only works above 11F, while propane works down to -44F. A propane/isobutane mix (common for backpacking fuel canisters) also works, but their main benefit is being lighter than propane canisters, which doesn’t really matter as much if you’re not backpacking. Plus, propane is nicer because you can use the same bottles for a heater too. Speaking of which…
• Propane heater
  • Catalytic propane heaters burn more efficiently than stoves do, so they don’t produce as much carbon monoxide. This means that you actually can use these inside—but you still need to crack the windows so that you don’t run out of oxygen.
  • I personally have a Mr. Heater and am happy with it.
• 1lb propane bottles
  • For the stove and heater above! At least one, but preferably more like 2-4. A “Little Buddy” heater will burn through a 1lb bottle in about 6 hours, so you want at least enough fuel to keep you warm for a day or two, in case you get stranded.
• Matches
  • For lighting your stove and/or heater, if need be! Sometimes they have integrated spark lighters, but it’s good to have a backup!
  • Note that I don’t mention lighters, because they usually use butane, which again, doesn’t work below 31F!
• Radio
  • If your car is broken down and you have no cell phone reception, you’ll want some way to keep tabs on weather reports. Knowing whether a blizzard is going to get worse or come to an end might help you decide your next move.
• Bucket
  • You know, for those bathroom breaks I mentioned earlier, where it might be too cold or snowy to go outside safely.
  • Consider a standard 5-gallon plastic bucket. With a lid, ideally!
• Entertainment
  • What’s the only thing worse than freezing to death in a broken-down car that smells like stale urine? Boredom. Bring some playing cards or books or something. Maybe make sure your phone has some podcasts and music available offline.

Conclusion

As daunting as this list may seem, remember that you don’t need to get it all immediately, and you probably already have (or can improvise) a lot of it. But the more you can get from the first two lists, the safer you’ll be, so don’t get too complacent. Or better yet, just don’t drive in the snow/ice at all, if you can avoid it. 🙂

Oh yeah, more more thing: you might want to make sure that all of this stuff fits into your trunk or some other place that car prowlers won’t see it, unless you want to be a target for theft.

Anyway, may your batteries stay charged and your water bottles unfrozen. Next time, we’ll be talking about winter weather tips for the home.