What Do you carry in your winter survival pack?

[95FZJ80]

I was wondering what all you cuys carry in your Winter Survival kits? I am in the process of putting together a "IH8MUD Winter Survival Kit", and hope to sell them on here eventually (although I must admit I am not sure yet how to accomplish this as I do not want to step on anyones toes). Anyway, here is what I plan to include in the kits:

Datrex Emergency Food bars (2 packs of 18 bars, 200 calories each)
6 MRE's (Meals-ready-to-eat)
5 Gal. Jerry Can for water
First aid kit
10 pack of Mylar blankeets
StarFlash Signal mirror
JetScream Emergency Whistle
(12) Emergency road flares
(10) Cyalume SnapLite 12 hour Glowstiks
(3) TriWick 120 hour Emergency Candles with stove
(4 oz) Solrx 44 waterproof Sunblock
(4) Burt's Bees Lip balm
Maglight 3 D-cell LED Flashlight with batteries
Uco Survival waterproof matches with container
Magnesium Fire starter
(7 oz) Tindersticks
(1 oz) Tunderdust
100' 550lb Black Reflective Paracord
Rain Tarp
5-in-1 survival shovel
pack of 12 fishing hooks
120 yds 8 lb. test monofilament
Duct tape

 

[Wallygator]

I carry a pack similar to what you have listed but I also make room in the car for a military sleep system. They are relatively cheap and can be used down to -30 (If I remember right) degrees.

 

[Wallygator]

 

[TrekboxX]

No offense, but in my experience most folks here would probably rather put together their own kit. But, if one were to buy a pre-made kit, I would think you would need to put a lot of thought and real world experience into it. Check out Doug Ritter's kits. They'll give you a good starting point. Your list looks to be a bit all over the place. Example: if you can carry a 5 gallon water can (in vehicle), you probably can skip the fishing hooks and just carry some food. There's a difference between a survival kit and an emergency kit. You seem to have a mix. Not that you can't, it just needs a bit of refinement. To give you an example, here is the content list of my go-bag. It's a mix of survival/defense. But, if I'm traveling in the car, I can just chuck in some extra food/water/blankets on top of the go-bag and what I always carry in the vehicle.

GO Bag - Camelbak tri-zip

PROTECTION GROUP

50 rounds ranger .40 cal
60 rounds .223
Gun cleaning supplies:
Bore rod with brushes and appropriate patch tips
Brass bore brushes
Cleaning patches
Small container rem oil
Q-tips
Stainless brush
Nylon brush
2 Molle leg rigs
Springfield EMP 40
Keltec SU-16 CA with husky amentum slider sling and Streamlight

EMERGENCY DEVICES GROUP

34 REI Stormproof Windproof/Waterproof Matches and 4 fire tabs in waterproof case
"Pocket Chainsaw" survival saw
Slingshot band
U-Dig-It Trowel

SHELTER and PERSONAL PROTECTION GROUP

Bear paw 8x10 silnylon tarp and polycryo floor, 8 titanium stakes, dyneema guy lines and cord locks
Fleece gloves
Long underwear
Socks
T-shirts
Underwear
Sunglasses

MEDICAL GROUP in exterior mounted Molle attached bag

"SAM Splint" emergency splint
2 quikclot sport
2 red bandanas
2 Compress Bandage, 4"
6 Compress Bandage, 2"
1 Elastic Bandage, 2"
1 roll 2" gauze
Lip Balm SPF-30*
100% Deet spray
Sunscreen
Neosporin
3 large safety pins
10 ft 1/8 nylon cord
Duct tape
Alcohol swabs
Iodine swabs
Tweezers
Basic medicines

WATER and FOOD GROUP

3 liters water in sealed bottles, 3 liter camelbak bladder clean and empty
3 days mountain house meals
Power bars
Hard candy
Msr whisperlite international with windscreen and gas conversion jet
11 oz fuel bottle
Brunton 2 pot aluminum set
2 plastic REI sporks
Small bottle camp soap
Green and yellow scrubby
Wash cloth
Pur hiker water purifier
2 coffee pre-filters

PERSONAL SUPPLIES GROUP

1 roll toilet paper in zip lock
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Floss picks
(camp soap in cook kit)

MISCELLANEOUS / MULTI-PURPOSE GROUP

Micro-Light (clipped to outside of pack)
Petzl headlamp
2 spare AA batteries
2 Spare "123-cell" Lithium Flashlight Batteries
Leatherman wave multi tool
2 opsak bags
4 Zip-Lock Plastic Freezer Bags, gallon
8 Zip-Lock Plastic Freezer Bags, quart
Itoya "Pocketlens" Plastic Fresnel Magnifying Lens, 3"x 5"
Assorted split rings
50 ft snare wire
"Rite in the Rain" Waterproof Paper Notebook
Fisher Waterproof "Space Pen"
Pocket sized SAS manual
Contents List
Copy of important documents and cash in ziplock bag

Small survival kit - resides in go bag, transferred to pack for longer hikes

SIGNALING GROUP

ACR locator Beacon
Fox 40 rescue whistle

EMERGENCY DEVICES GROUP

Survival knife - Busse Combat SAR 6 with kydex sheath and pouch including:
10 ft paracord
Altoids tin w/ mirror polished base
Large and small needle with multipurpose thread
Fire steel and striker
Fire starter
6 fire tabs
3 ft duct tape
2 band aids
3 ft aluminum foil
4 small zip ties
Diamond sharpener with leather honing back
Water purification tablets

Silva Compass
Map
Fenix TA-20 flashlight
50 ft paracord

Fishing Kit
10+ Flies, assorted styles
2 Snap Swivels
300 yards mono 4 lb test
100 ft spider line 40 lb test
10 Hooks, assorted sizes
2 Spinners
3 assorted indicators
Poly yarn
Assorted sinkers

SHELTER and PERSONAL PROTECTION GROUP

survival blanket
Emergency poncho
Beanie

WATER and FOOD GROUP

50 Katadyn Micropur MP-1 Water Disinfectant Tabs

Small first aid kit - resides in small survival kit

Sawyer Snakebite kit
Bandaids
Gauze
Bandages
Duct tape
Basic medications

 

[rusty_tlc]

We took a long trip across America last fall. Even though we were on interstate all the way I carried a two person "72 hour" kit in the car.

$10 Chinese butane stove + two fuel cartridges
Small pot
Two MRE's, (my wife and I can get by a full day on one.)
Some canned and instant food stuff
Tea bags, sugar packets
Two survival bivie bags
A sil tarp + misc para cord and stakes
Two big Styrofoam cups + plastic spoons
Opinel folding knife
Deck of cards & dice (Boredom is a killer)
Note pad + pen + pencil
Case of water (500ml bottles), actually two; we would drink from one and buy another when it got empty.
Pee jar
Swiss Army Shovel

If some freak storm had dumped on the Rockies and stranded us we could have stayed pretty comfortable for a day or two.

I didn't count the first aid kit and tool kit as part of this since they are in the car 365.

 

[patrickfinley]

I guess the thing is that everyone's kit would be vastly different depending on where they go and how many people they have in the vehicle. Some people might get stuck just a mile or so outside of town while others would be deep in the wilderness. Then everyone likes their own specific gear, especially people on IH8MUD who are most likely gear freaks and love the tools they own.

You would almost need 2 kit variations, an everyday kit and an expedition kit.

Looking at your list here are some of the variations I would probably prefer:

-Headlamp instead of Maglight for hands free use and much smaller size.
-Multitool and perhaps a knife.
-Some sort of cell phone charger (battery backup, crank, solar, etc)
-Folding avalanche shovel instead of 5 in 1 shovel, compact but with big spade to move snow.
-5 year Daltrex water bags so I don't have to recycle water in a Jerry can. Also don't want to carry a Jerry can every day.
-6 MRE's takes up a bunch of space, I wouldn't want this unless I was going on an extended trip or into the wild.
-If I'm going to be really remote I'd want a PLB.

 

[rusty_tlc]

I kind of assumed stuff like a multi tool and cell phone/charger were EDC things.

Since we don't usually go places where there are stores and gas gas stations are far between our normal gear is our survival gear. An additional kit for the Cruiser would be redundant. IH8MUD is probably a poor demographic to sell a kit to.

I might buy a pre-packed kit to throw in my wife's or DIL's car but stuff like a 5 gallon jerry can would probably be impractical for that application. It would be more like the list I posted above, enough stuff for one or two people get through 24-72 hrs stuck on the side of the highway in a blizzard. Which happens occasionally on the passes around here.