Winter Survival - Stranded in a Snow Storm

I recently had a question from Robert B., based on a story he read in the newspaper, about what would I do in a similar situation. Apparently two college kids traveling on a seldom used road became stuck in a snow storm. Robert’s questions were would I stay in my vehicle? How long would I stay waiting on help before I would trek out towards civilization? Would I take the shortest route or would I follow the roads? What if I didn’t have any survival gear with me in my vehicle?
 

My reply to Robert:

It would near impossible for me to be caught in any vehicle oriented situation without my traveling Bug Out Bag holding various pieces of kit depending where I am going; the season (hot or cold weather); whether I am flying or not; and what purpose I am traveling for.

But for the sake of argument let’s say we ventured out without any kit, without any knowledge of impending adverse weather, cell phone went dead or no signal, traveling a remote road with long distances between any infrastructure, and, became stuck in our vehicle in a snow storm.

Your first priority is not to become a cold injury. I would not sit in my car running the motor and heater as it will eventually run out of fuel. I would use it to get warm between bouts of survival work. I would build a shelter outside of the warm for two reason: one - to have a fire (for signaling and warmth) and, two – the vehicle becomes a refrigerator without the motor and heater running....two plys of sheet metal do not insulation make.

Shelter. Even in the desert location, there are natural materials to build an overhead cover or lean to type shelter. Maybe not enough to provide decent cover from a rain, but if you make it sturdy enough you can stop snow even if you have to clear the snow off from time to time (to reduce the weight and maintain the survival shelter’s integrity).

Vehicle seat covers, floor mats and trunk carpet can be used as a tarp for your overhead cover. All these materials as well as removable seat(s) can provide insulation from the ground as well.

I would build and maintain a fire. If you do not have lighter, the vehicle’s cigarette lighter (until the Government outlaws them) can be used to ignite tinder. One of the vehicle’s battery cables can be loosened and touch connected to the other cable to produce a spark to ignite tinder.

The vehicle’s fuel supply can be used to provide an accelerant. Stuffing a piece of string, root or vine down into the gas tank with a piece of cloth wrapped on the end can collect enough fuel to help start a fire. Maybe you can stuff some paper or cloth down into the carburetor or fuel injection system then pump the accelerator to collect the fuel onto the rag or paper.

Everyone has a owner’s manual or vehicle registration, or scrap paper,…or maybe even a pile of traffic citations or parking tickets in their glove compartment. This paper source combined with small twigs, scarps or torn pieces of clothing or insulation material from your coat provide the tinder. Most vehicles have a paper air filter. The paper filter can be used as a tinder sources as well.

Don’t start your fire until you have an adequate amount of tinder, bigger tinder, small pieces of fuel and even larger pieces are collected and ready to be added to your growing fire.

Water. Don’t pile the snow into your mouth to drink. Instead collect snow in a cup, water bottle or makeshift canteen and melt it by placing it close to the fire. If you have a used water bottle you can pack with snow and put in your coat pocket or under the vehicle’s heater when you run it, to melt. Hub caps and removable vehicle cup holders all can be used for improvised canteens.

Signaling. Keep the vehicle roof, trunk and hood clear of snow so that any aircraft can more easily spot it. You can take two, 2 or 3 inch diameter sticks and fashion an “X” on the roof. You can find an open area on the ground and create a larger “X”. If and when you decide to walk out, leave a note in the vehicle on the dash or steering wheel articulating your intent and direction.

If your vehicle ran off the road, making a signal on the road where passers by can see it is a good idea.

Decision to Walk Out. The decision to walk out has to be made considering your physical condition,.....what your condition will be in a day or two. How far you have to walk…if it is within your capabilities. I would probably walk the roads, as it is much easier and in case there is other traffic on the road – you can access help. If you have no land navigation skills and are in poor condition, there is no other route but staying on the roads. Other considerations are what gear you have on you in order to build shelters and fire if the trip will take more than one movement. A final factor is if anyone knows what route you took and will be missing you therefore reporting you as missing.

The bottom line is that winter survival, as described in the scenario, above can be made much easier if you carry wilderness survival kit in your vehicle. A simple bag in the trunk or cab containing a blanket or two, a couple small tarps, fire starting material, some long stay food, a couple of bottles or tins of water, a flashlight,…even better if you add candles and chemlights. These are all simple and inexpensive items to keep in your vehicle just in case.

Economic Collapse: Watch Out For QE3

QE3 is of course Quantitative Easing Round Three, where more fiat currency is printed further devaluing the current paper money in circulation and necessarily causing prices to inflate because the dollar is worth less. Once QE3 is announced or actually executed,.....expect the latter since the Government and the Fed have taken secrecy from the people to new heights,....precious metals will go up, particularly Gold.

In fact, when the major central banks launched a joint action to provide emergency U.S. dollar loans to banks in Europe, which put more money (not backed by anything but some politician's word) there became a rush to buy equities and commodities that would survive inflation and Gold rose $30 an ounce.

As 2011 ends, the four FED governors will be replaced and most analysts figure that the next four will be much more liberal in their monetary policies. QE3 will probably be snuck in, money created from air, without much publicity; and the present incredible low interest rates will climb as the dollar devalues. This will incite the $16.4 trillion Federal Debt to explode and the U.S. will be all probability start the slide to become like Greece. So the smart people are buying precious metals ahead of the very probable QE3.

It shouldn't end there for Survivalist. Everything will go up in price,... excepting your pay checks. The smart idea is to procure now what you can, because as the interest rates rise, the beginning of the dollar collapse begins. Scary times my friends. They will likely become much more scary in early 2012.

I am not advocating going into debt to purchase vehicles or property at the current low interest rates, although I know a couple people who are rationalizing that they would rather have new, reliable vehicles for a Bug Out
than to try and procure one when the interest rates are higher and the dollar buys less.  I'm not going to do that.  I'll continue on the same rate, maybe just step it up a notch, on procuring long stay food items and perhaps more Silver. 

2012 is going to be ugly.  Be prepared.

Copper: The Other Precious Metal?

Received an e-mail from Henry who wrote: "What do you think about savings pennies for their copper value. One of my friends told me that the one cent penny is now worth 5 cents as copper scrap metal."

UrbanMan reply: Henry, you wrote me over three weeks ago and to be frank I did not think I would reply, until I saw a recent article on the internet talking about potential legislation in Congress that may result in the abolishment of the penny as currency. Until then, and only then can pennies be legally melted down for their copper value.

But not all pennies are made of copper. Pennies made in 1982 or earlier have 95% copper. Pennies since then are made mostly from zinc. The current value of a copper penny is around 2 1/2 cents.

Copper has a lot of scrap value, otherwise you would not be seeing copper related thefts of copper wiring, construction sites, phone facilities, etc. As I write this copper scrap is valued at $3.57 per pound.

Going back to the value of a copper penny, 150% of it's face value, is substantial, however you would need a truck load of it to make any substantial money once or if the legislation is passed to abolish the penny. Plus it is just so heavy as to not be practical. I even know gents who have taken very substantial amounts of silver and converted it to Gold to reduce the weight to value ratio.

I think you would do okay just to save what you normally get in pocket change. I do this and routinely fill a jar which I take once a year to the bank to convert to dollars. My average yearly conversion is just shy of $200. A little mini- windfall which contributes to my survival stockage as ammunition, or helps buy a new gun or long stay food.

You could collect copper pennies, again 1982 or before, and sell on e-Bay as some people do. I would recommend however that you put your precious metal collection efforts into Silver and/or Gold. My efforts are concentrated mostly around the buying of silver coins for their silver melt value, one or two ounce silver rounds, or, five ounce bars.

Government Crackdown on Survivalists?

UrbanSurvivalSkills received several e-mails from readers alerting us to "government raids on private citizens who had been stocking food" because these people fit a profile for domestic terrorist activity. Apparently this story came from an Oath Keepers report on a federal raid on a Mormon (Latter Day Saints) facility in Tennessee and was later de-bunked by Glenn Beck and the Blaze and the
story recalled by Oath Keepers.

However, the roots from this story, and possible others like it, come from government "intelligence" reports about domestic terrorism with survivalists, "gun nuts" and returning "disillusioned war veterans" as potential "lone wolf" type domestic terrorists. One of the government documents that fuel the belief is a joint bulletin from the FBI and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) titled "Communities Against Terrorism" where the bulletin listed potential indicators of terrorist activities related to (purchases at) military surplus stores.

The joint bulletin lists suspicious activity and encourages store owners to call authorities if they have customers who meet any of these profiles:

What Should I Consider Suspicious? People or Groups who:

Provide ID that is inconsistent or suspect, or demand identify privacy.

Insist of paying with cash or use credit cards in different names.

Significantly alter appearance from visit to visit.

Have missing hands/fingers, chemical burns, strange odors or bright color stains on clothing.

Make racist or extreme religious statements coupled with comments that are violent or appear to condone violence.

Make suspicious comments regarding anti U.S radical theology, vague or cryptic warnings that appear to endorse the use of violence in support of a cause.

Demonstrate interest in uses that do not seem consistent with the intended use of the item being purchased.

Possess little knowledge of intended purchase items.

Make bulk purchases of items to include: Weatherproofed ammunition or match containers; Meals Ready to Eat; Night Vision Devices, night flashlights or gas masks; high capacity magazines; bi-pods or tripods for rifles.


See the Blaze story here, as well as a copy of Joint FBI-BJA Bulletin.

UrbanSurvivalSkills believes that if you are not doing anything illegal then you have little to fear from the government, except tanking the economy and running businesses out of business, but it stills pays to maintain OPSEC,....against misguided government instusion and criminal threats targeting you because you are a prepared survivalist.