By Joseph Parish
Here you are driving in North Dakota in the middle of winter. You have the radio turned on and winter weather warnings are in effect for the complete state. The outside temperature is down around the 10 to 20 degree mark with wind speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour. You have been moving slowly at a snails pace since it is difficult to see ten feet in front of you. No other cars have been sighted for the last 40 minutes.
You approach a curve in the road but the road ice is so thick you begin to slide to the side. You try to compensate for the drift however nothing you do can help you prevent the slide. You bounce off the road and into a ditch. You and your car sit motionless in the snow bank for a few moments because you realize you are stuck there until help arrives.
You manage to push open your car door and make your way out of the car to see what damages have been done and what your next course of action should be. You can see that to try and get out of the ditch is virtually impossible as your wheels are firmly packed with snow and ice. All you can manage to do is spin tires and possibly make your situation worse.
You did not bring a shovel of any sort and even if you had you probably could not shovel your way out of the snow bank. In fact you don’t even carry a safety flare in your trunk for notifying passing vehicles of your predicament. You grab your cell phone to call for help and realize your cell phone battery is totally dead.
You are freezing cold and you know that you will shortly die from exposure. What are you going to do now? You know what you are going to do because you planned well ahead of time by creating a Blizzard Survival Bag.
Reaching over under your seat and withdraw a plastic tote containing a flashlight, a thermal blanket, extra socks, your hand cranked radio, several small containers of canned and dried food, several water purification tablets, an ice pick, a film canister of water proof matches and a candle. You know you have rehearsed this scenario many times before but now its for real.
You empty the contents of the tote on the car seat beside you and survey all the items that was in it. You next take a small can of food and open it and quickly eat it. Using the can you place the small candle in the center of it being certain that it is secure. I recommend tea candles. They are inexpensive and sit low in the can so as not to tip over.
Using the water proof matches light the candle and sit it somewhere that it will be safe. Wrap the nylon thermal blanket securely around you to conserve your body heat. Use your hand cranked radio to maintain checks on the weather status. Should you be thirsty you can easily melt some snow using your food cans and your candle. It can be purified with the use of your water purification tablets.
Should a car be coming by make certain to use your flashlight as much as possible to alert the passing motorist of your situation. As a side note in states like North Dakota it is mandatory that in the wintertime passing motorists stop to see if anyone is inside of a broken down car along the road however don’t take unnecessary chances let them know you are there.
While it is fresh on your mind why not create your own Blizzard Survival Bag. Don't delay until a disaster strikes because then it’s simply too late.
Copyright @2008 Joseph Parish
Original: http://survival-training.info/articles11/WhatIfaBlizzardCameThemakingofaBlizzardSurvivalBag.htm
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