Excellent post and ideas as well! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> Don't forget a roll of toilet paper - good for the obvious as well as fire-starter. I keep a small bottle of hand sanitizer and a few paper towels with the TP in a heavy plastic bag that had contained pillow-cases. I also keep a few heat-paks - 18 to 24 hour lengths, and a wool blanket and sleeping bag in the vehicle I'm driving. I also keep a crank-type light as well as two flashlights in the vehicle. The metal canteen and cup is an excellent idea, along with a few heat tabs (trioxane). Foods such as jerky, ramen noodles, granola bars, instant coffee and/or tea is a good idea to keep in your kit as well. I always keep a Katadyn filter in my vehicles, although I have never needed it. Just a few suggestions - those traveling in more remote locations can certainly add more items to the list. Tom

Your right coyote our cell service was down all weekend. It is because it is such a small company with a HUGE service area. I really like Sasktel but this was a big outage and during the first big snowstorm of the year. I am not really worried though as it was the first time this has happened and I am sure they will fix it.

Yeah, I freeze mine every day. I fill one (standard large wide mouth) to about 30 oz and put it in the freezer. Just keep the lid a little loose to allow the compressed (by expanding ice) air to escape, or they will swell up. I had this happen a few times, but as it slowly shrunk back as the ice melted. Anyway, when it’s frozen solid, I fill it to the top with water, and put it in my insulated Nalgene bottle holder with strap. Two bottles last me all day. One in the sleeve and one is in the freezer. By the time the ice melts in the first bottle and the water starts getting warm, I fill the bottle to 30 oz and swap it for the one in the freezer. Even in the hot summer, I only need two bottles. The ice lasts like 10 hours or so.

They can also hold boiling water, I’ve done this too. For a handwarmer, I heated up some boiling water in a pan, and poured it in. It kept me warm for about an hour. I also kept some Aladdin thermoses that I got for a couple dollars at Goodwill and filled them with boiling water too. When the water in the Nalgene bottle got cold, I poured in near boiling water from the thermos. I could stay warm for hours. It kept warm longer if wrapped with something to insulate the Nalgene bottle like a wool scarf or hat.

While difficult, you can also purify water with fire in a Nalgene bottle. It’s a good survival skill to remember in case you’re ever in a situation where it’s all you had. You have to heat up rocks in the fire, and using tongs made from green wood, hold them suspended in water in the Nalgene bottle until the water boils. As the temperature lowers as the rock cools, swap it for a hotter rock from the fire. Just don’t touch the bottle with the rock, or it will melt it!

not to brag but believe it or not i live in some of the worst winter weather in america,its not my opinion its a fact.their are days where we have the coldest temps in the country for that day including alaska.we got over 100 inches of snow in two days last year....look it up.

i dont have the time now for all my thoughts but will reply later.
for now......proper foot wear is obviously a must.i prefer g.i. micky mouse boots even though their heavy as hell.

hell,half you guys live at the top of the world,you know what you need.i guess the only thing i have is this.

in my opinion winter survival is the hardest and most serious.heaven forbid your not familiar with it and find your self looking it in the face.i think harsh,harsh winter weather will kill you faster than any type of hot weather.its hard to do anything in -20 windchill.

to me their is no room for cheap,medeoker gear or cutting corners when it comes to cold weather gear if you know your going to be in it.for those of you have literally frozen your @$$ off you know what i mean because even great gear cant help you sometimes.if your not ready to prepare properly dont even bother.

i know how fast and hard -0 weather can suck the life out of you and have a deep respect for it.

I use a combo of canadian army winter gear and decent commercial stuff. It goes down to below -50C +wind often for months at a time here and over the last couple days we got several feet of snow. Today I replaced my worn out all seasons with good winter tires and the difference was incredible. If you have anything more than a couple days of snow forget those lame all seasons ang get some proper snow tires. It is expensive but it is well worth it.

For our American friends -40 C is the same as -40 F, it is the only place on the two scales that match identically. When we say 0 C that equally 32 F

Not knocking Sasktel just pointing out that relying on cell service can get you in trouble. Most of BC doesn't have cell coveage so it is very possible to be stuck in an area without service

Thats one of the reasons I like sasktel ,it has coverage through most of the bush except in the very far north. I would love a sat phone and do have a CB(in a box in the basement).

Cellular phones are basic line of site technology,you live in a fairly flat part of the world, BC is different with the mountains and such.
I have a cb that plugs into a lighter so that is the one I tend to use, but nowadays not many people in my area use cb's
Being well equiped means that if one thing doesn't work you will have a second option.
Like I bought a handheld GPS about 8 years ago, I have never used it hunting or camping because I just couldn't give up my compass and map.
I still $crew around with the GPS but I could never convince myself to use it as my main equipment.
However I have used it to very good results when fishing on large lakes or on the ocean

Just another vote for flares. I keep them in my truck along with an axe.

Remember that when you get cold, if you are not quick your motor skills will suffer. If you delay, making a fancy shaved stick to start a fire will be hard or impossible.

With a road flare, throw a bunch of stick in a pile, light the flare and away you go. Flares are easy to light and do not require any fine motor skill. I have tested them for firestarting and if it will burn, flares will light it!

I will put flares on my list for sure. I thought they might work better than pepper spray against dogs or maybe even bears because animals fear flames?

Jumper cables the longer the better.

If you have a truck that can take 2 batteries do it. My truck has the electricks for 2 but at the moment only has the one. If you are running a lot of electric powered devices like a big stereo or lights a bigger alternator is also a good idea but mostly I do it because I think it's cool. If there was a Police version of your car or truck that's the alternator you want because they have to run the lights ,siren ,computer etc.

I much prefer a compass just out of paranoia. I hate the idea of a device that stores everywhere I go all the time ,especially in my car or even worse my phone.
My phone has GPS but Sasktel does not support it but if they did you can't turn off the police being able to check it.

What about a Bluetooth GPS for your phone? That’s what I’m planning on getting. They’re really small, about like a pack of gum, run up to 23 hours on a charge, and cost $40-$60 or so. I have a Blackjack, so it’s pretty compact too. I plan on eventually building a solar charger that can charge them both. I have an unlimited data plan, and plan to use it with Windows Live or Google Maps apps on my phone.