Winter Vehicle Safety Kit DIY

Winter Vehicle Safety Kit DIY
Check out our blog for further details on building a winter vehicle safety kit and download our free checklist to build your own:
wildmedkits.ca/blogs/news/win...

[@richarddaugherty8583]

Nice starter kit. Couple suggestions. Upgrade the matches to the UCO's. They have enormous heads and will light in any weather. Get a Light My Fire knife. It's a two-fer. It's a decent knife and has a ferro rod in the handle. The back of the blade is ground square so you can use it to strike a spark. Have many ways to make fire! Add various forms of tinder/fire starters that will burn a reasonable amount of time in all weather. Vaseline and cotton balls are pretty good. You can even use a bit of duct tape. Also hand sanitizer can be used to start a fire. Many don't think of that. Upgrade the blankets to at least two queen size wool blankets. I put mine in dry bags. Dry bags for the sleeping bags too; they're no good wet. Add toe and hand warmers to the kit as well. The body warmers are a great idea but your feet and hands will get cold first. You can put hand warmers in your gloves. Add backup gloves so when your first set gets wet from working in the snow you can change to dry ones. Add merino wool socks. Same reason. Add large contractor garbage bags. You can make ponchos. Add #36 bankline to your cordage inventory. It takes less room and is cheaper than paracord. Not as strong, but strong enough for most likely uses. Add more Bic lighters for backup. 2 is 1 and 1 is none. Finally, learn knots, hitches, and lashes. With a bowline, taut line hitch, marlinspike hitch, truckers hitch, and prussik knot you can handle almost any situation. Tie them every day with a short piece of cordage until you can tie them with your eyes closed (seriously). Check out Corporals Corner on KZbin. Sean is a great teacher and has a two part presentation on lashes, hitches, and knots with practical examples of how to use them. I would also upgrade to a heavy duty backpacking type tarp with lot's of tie-out points (in orange). Check out TheOutdoorGearReview... it's a channel I trust for gear testing. You can make emergency shelters with a good tarp and some bank line.

[@Wildmedbricks]

Thanks for the feedback Richard great ideas

[@ericsteel173]

Good video. A couple of suggestions of some things I have in my car kit. I do a lot of long trip driving for my job, and have been stuck twice because of weather. Foot long 2x6 board as support for a jack on uneven ground Syphon hose The plastic water bottles don’t last, and are hard to melt when frozen. I use Datrex water pouches. The lifeboat food works too. For my clothes I have two dry bags of clothes one for winter one for summer, and simply change the bag every 6 months. Comfortable shoes and socks, and some underwear. Toilet paper and disposable urinals. The Everready Lithiums are an excellent choice because they have long life and a wide temp range. I live in the South where it gets really hot, and Alkaline batteries tend to leak. You need a tool roll and first aid kit. Spare fuses for your car.

[@Wildmedbricks]

Great ideas thank you

[@run_hike_vanlife]

Something I might add, is a tire plug kit. A lot of times, it can be a quicker option, if you’ve just got a nail or screw in the tire. Don’t use them on the outer edges of the tread. But they can get you off the side of the road pretty quick, in a pinch.

[@wildmedkits]

Great idea thank you :)

[@peterevans8194]

I have never used a tire kit, but it's something I want to add to my kit. The ones I see on Amazon seem to mostly come with the lengths of "string" already precoated in rubber cement...Any idea how long these last if left in the trunk of a vehicle?? The last thing I want is to find they have dried out when I actually need to use them...

[@run_hike_vanlife]

@@peterevans8194 I’ve had them in the car for years at a time, without trouble. That’s in SC heat too. They’re made to bond to tire “rubber”, so you shouldn’t have any issue. If you have doubts, you can grab some new plugs every now and then, and switch them out. They’re available without the tools, so you can get just the plugs.

[@peterevans8194]

@@run_hike_vanlife Thanks that's much appreciated, I will definately get one of these kits....

[@run_hike_vanlife]

@@peterevans8194 you’re very welcome!!

[@PilotGlider]

Excellent.

[@frankz4900]

Good video

[@OzMan9989]

Great kit.

[@eldoeldon7388]

Great video!

[@wildmedkits]

Thank you :)

[@micjam1986]

Couple things I added after spending a night on the side of a pitch back country road in 11 degrees fahrenheit with no heat and no phone signal. COME A LONG, CB RADIO, GAS SYPHEN and a zero degree sleeping bad. I was so cold I couldn't move my jaw normal.

[@wildmedkits]

Great ideas :)

[@peterevans8194]

A thought provoking video but I think the selection of choices In that first section is a bit mixed, with some on the sketchy side. To start with, unless you have quite a small vehicle, you could really do with heavier guage jumper leads, and also leads that are much longer. I say this as some times you simply can't get two vehicles nose to nose such that their respective the batteries are close enough to use short leads. I like the jumper pack though. I have a similar one but have not had to use it in anger so don't fully trust it as yet. One thing I want to do is rig up a lead such that I can power my tire inflator off it, just for the added versatility. I am very dubious about those traction aids ? They look far too small to be of any practical value? If loss of traction in snow is your main concern, may be consider some of those snow socks that are fitted over the tires of the driving wheels as required.. That tow rope looks very hinky as well and I wouldn't use it to recover anything bigger than an ATV. A decent tow strop or tow rope is not that expensive , and then add a couple of soft (rope) shackles instead of the heavy, and potentially dangerous, metal ones. You haven't included much in the way of actual tools? It may be the person driving doesn't really have the experience or knowledge to warrant including them, which to me is a valid enough reason to omit them.. You might want to include some Radweld Plus (for coolant leaks) a few zip ties of mixed sizes, a few hose clamps of mixed sizes, some tubes super glue, some two part epoxy, and some rescue tape.... The danger with these lists is that they could go on and on, and as you say they do need to be customised to an individuals circumstances and abilities.

[@wildmedkits]

Completely agree with you, this is an evolving kit each year. This kit was specific for my wife nad her skill set at the time. I think you bring up a great point of adding skill and not just "stuff". I think I general vehicle maintenance/ recovery training would be great for a lot of individuals that were not brought up with that skill set.

[@MB12116]

I have that s a shovel in red…have yet to really test it…seems decent though. But, I love that yours is in blue…where did u find that?

[@wildmedkits]

Costco special :)

[@MsRotorwings]

Where is your pee bottle and bucket for #2?

[@miketrudelle769]

Weapon