Snow

If you’ve never been to Montana, you’d probably think that once winter sets in we get 6′ of snow and everything comes to a halt. Not true. The eastern part of the state, flat as a cookie sheet, gets bone-numbing cold and some amazing snow…the mountains on the western side also get a goodly amount of snow. But, this little valley Im in is, for some reason, one of the warmest parts of Montana. We refer to it as The Banana Belt. This area gets the least snowfall of anywhere in the state. That’s not to say we don”t get any, it means that when Helena, Kalispell, and Butte are getting 15″ of snow we get 5″.

Today was the first “major” snowfall of the season, with about 2″ piling up. This is barely enough to break out the snow shovels, although in the redneck states this wolud be considered an apocalyptic amount of snow. But, it does mean that winter is pretty much here.

Being a survivalist in the winter is a lot different than being a survivalist in the summer. The biggest problem in winter is simply not having power. If the electricity goes out you lose lighting (which isn’t that big a deal), refrigeration (which is no deal at all when you can just put your freezer’s contents on the porch and they’ll stay frozen), and heating/circulation (which is a big deal).

Around this household, the goal for emergency heating is simple: keep the house warm enough so the pipes don’t freeze. Now, yes, you could eliminate that threat by draining the pipes but I really don’t relish living through a crisis without flush toilets or showers. So, I’ve a kerosene heater for the basement, and one for the main floor of the house. Additionally, I’ve a few small propane heaters as well to be moved around as necessary for ‘spot heating’. In the time I’ve lived in this house, there’s only been one or two winter power failures and they’ve never gone more than five or six hours. But…thats no guarantee that a big one won’t happen. If I lived out of town or out in the hills…well, at that point it’s almost a certainty that at some point you’re going to get a power outage measured in days (or weeks). Last years windstorm knocked out power here in town for almost ten hours, but The Metals Pimp was out for a couple days. Folks further down the valley in the smaller towns and out in the hills were without for weeks.

Needless to say, winter also seriously changes the gear loadout for the vehicle. The big Pelican Case O’ Survival Gear comes out of storage and goes in the vehicle. I don’t want to get into a long list, but right off the bat theres an extreme cold weather bag in there, blankets, candles, water pouches, a complete change of clothes, spare winter outerwear, and a host of other things to let me stay with the vehicle. (A couple thick books are a good idea.) Sure it takes up a bit of space in the vehicle, but I’d rather deal with that than deal with losing a few fingers and toes because my failure to plan put me in touch with my inner Jim Kim.

Come to think of it, I could use some low-hanging fruit in terms of blog fodder…maybe I’ll crack open the Pelican case and do a little show and tell. Anyone wanna link a picture of their winter gear?

25 thoughts on “Snow

  1. that’s something i need to get done this weekend. my main truck has been having issues so i drove the backup several times. now my gear is all over the place and still in summer configuration. must fix that now, its 18 degrees tonight and the wind is tough. i’d be s.o.l. if i broke down going over the mountain to work, no cell service up there either. good reminder, thanks!

  2. Excellent idea on a timely subject. The dusting of snow the PNW received in the last 48 hours has closed down schools and created chaos, leaving sometime for winter preps. Would appreciate to see how others prepare their (and spouse’s) vehicles.

  3. Here on the Oregon south coast (within a dozen miles of where Jim Kim was headed) it’s not the cold that gets you…the Polar incursion a couple of days ago managed to push the temp here down to just below freezing for (wow) a couple of hours. The issue here is hypothermia from getting wet. Right now it’s about 50 degrees, but it’s raining and blowing hard enough to make the pairs of animals wading down the road to Noah’s place kinda blurry through the window. Soaking wet and out in the wind is not a good thing for any length of time.
    Unless I’m headed east into the I-5 corridor or seriously up into the Coast Range where you need the polar gear, the truck bag doesn’t change much during the year…dry clothes, calorie source, rain gear and tarps, dry clothes, 47 ways to make a fire to dry out, water filter (water sources aren’t a problem locally), did I say dry clothes? Plus some other misc. stuff.

  4. I’ll try to get you some pics later this weekend.

    My load out changed significantly by adding a girlfriend and 4 teenagers to the household. There’s only so much available volume even in a Suburban, especially with a limited budget for additional stuff.

    Steelheart

  5. Here in Texas, snow has never been the problem. The problem is we tend to get sheet ice. The only experts in driving on sheet ice I have found are the ones smart enough not to drive on it in the first place!!!! Snow not a big deal.

  6. The post you did with your month labeled fuel jerry cans was great- I stole that idea as soon as I saw it; and it has been super helpful on at least a half dozen occasions.
    With that in mind, any kind of organizational or simplifying factors you use are well appreciated, even though I rarely comment.
    Thanks, and hope you have a great 2017.
    Sledtwo38

  7. Any particular measures you’ve taken, or researched, to prevent frozen pipes? Insulation works both ways – it slows the cool down to prevent/delay freezing but also impedes the warmup; heat tape requires electrons, which may not be available in quantity; draining, as you pointed out, works but prevents using plumbing for its intended purpose; PEX tolerates freezing but has some disadvantages over copper and still requires thawing.

    • The exposed pipes are easy enough, its the one in the walls that are problems. The heater in the basement should keep that area warm enough to prevent freezing. Hopefully, the heat will travel up the spacees between walls but I’m not planning on it. most likely, in a prolonged crisis, I’d have to shut off the water to everywhere except one bathroom and the kitchen.

    • Depending on how long you have to deal without heat, you can always let the faucets trickle. The moving water won’t freeze, not a great long term solution but it will work in a binde. I live in Michigan and lost power for 72 hours in in the middle of winter, slept in front of the fireplace and trickled the water the whole time, worked great.

  8. Snow….. Under a foot, ho hum. Over a foot, I’m staying home anyway. Let it snow. It looks pretty while I watch from the window, all dressed up in shorts and T-shirt.

    Heat…. backups. ‘Main’ heat is an oil furnace. Secondary (more like primary when I am home to keep an eye on it) is a wood stove that will heat the whole house, along with a wood pile one could hide a Buick in.

    Primary backup, a portable propane burner big enough to heat the house, and several tanks of fuel. 40 pounders are about all I care to handle anymore. Secondary backup, propane Buddy Heater.

    All the K1 heaters have been ceded to #1 son, as his backups.

    In other news, a VERY fortunate cave in of the front yard revealed a bricked cold cellar that was covered over at least 60 years ago. No one in the area, including the property owner, had any idea it was down there. With an opening into the hand dug well out front, I expect it stays an even cool temp all year round. That is probably why there are meat hooks laid right into the brick ceiling. Come spring I will lay a stone entryway and make doors. Our new wine cellar…. ahem.

  9. I install sat tv all over montana but am based in missoula. I always carry a bag. My truck has GPS tracking so if I don’t make it home they call the calvary for me but I could still be stuck for several hours in sub freezing temps. Always good to have a goodie bag and a 3/4 full tank before leaving the paved road.

  10. We’ve got about 4″ of snow in Spokane. And apparently it’s cold outside. I lived in Wisconsin for a while and tend to shrug at temps in the low 20’s. When you get down to the single digits that’s getting cold.

    I do most of my getting around by foot, bike, and express bus so a loaded up car is of really limited use. 😉 (I roll out pretty heavy when I do use it for longer trips). I probably should do a better job of using a backpack, instead of a messenger bag and keeping extras in it.

    • When we moved here I thought we’d get more snow than Spokane as we’re 75 miles north – but you get more snow & more wind.

      This post reminded me that my car bag is missing an item – extra socks. I have foot problems so warm, dry socks are a necessity.

      • If you’re east of the Kettle’s they’re probably soaking up your snow.

        I’ve been really surprised at how much snow and rainfall can vary around here depending on location.

  11. My problem is that I don’t have a garage, so any water I keep in the Jeep is frozen solid for 4 months out of the year.

  12. the Democratic Republic of Missoula got a good dumping of snow, twice as much as other areas just east. the global warming idiots making a run on all the hippy blankets and Rasta hats. we need to get some more to start xc-skiing. gonna get stupid cold this week after a good round of snow on Sun>Mon.. which should be great. as for driving slow down and slowing down is not 80mph to 70mph. better to be late than upside down in the barrow pit.

  13. Here in the north east I usually add in the sleeping bag, blankets, hand warmers, etc. As far as keeping water in the car, what do you guys do? Leave it and hope it thaws if you need it? I have mine in an insulated lunch bag that comes out when I get to work and when I get home. Just gets to be a bit annoying with the back and forth, especially when I have other stuff to carry.

  14. Spec out the “Winter Box” for us.

    Curious cause you mentioned loading in the vehicle, but if it has been sitting in storage thru the summer, perhaps going thru it to make sure everything in it is serviceable first before you might have to rely on it is prudent.

  15. Yep, 2′ of snow would be another Snomageddon down here but I’m with the Texan… it’s the sheet ice (or the snow compressed to ice) on the mountain roads that is the worry. Four wheel drive and large steel bumpers with winches are the vehicle of the day, IF a family member goes out. Me? I’m probably already out in extracating some “driving too fast while on the phone bitching about the traffic” idiot who plows into the back of the semi and then careens into the ditch.

    I throw and extra set of poly-pro clothes into the truck along with a larger mummy bag come cold times. Just more stuff to haul on the backpack if I have to walk out.

    • Perhaps a small children’s toboggan in the trunk or behind the seat. Hauling capacity can be useful. Probably plastic nowadays. Don’t forget straps or nets to to hold stuff onto it.

      • I’ve looked at getting a game cart to haul the pack. I’m not over the hill yet, but the top of the hill is close… 🙂

  16. I lived in Portland when the Kim story was all over the news…sad…it seemed liked there was always search and rescues going on around mt hood and the coastal range…a lot of the time those people ended up human popsicles…

  17. Bag stays mostly the same with the addition of snowshoes and swapping out clothing. We got eight inches of supposedly fluffy stuff; windchill minus twenty-five tonight. Then it will get colder. I stashed a case of chemical hand warmers- somewhere… Sigh.

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