Preparedness for when

Broomstick

1Tonsil, if you are taking a stove that might need to be used below zero, make sure it is one with fuel that works in that temperature. I don't have the details of recommended fuels at sub-zero temperatures but I do know that things like Camping Gaz won't do.

Hot water bottles and/or handwarmers (something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hands-Instant-Hand-Warmers-Pairs/dp/B000YF3DUA) might be other useful items. I have a few handwarmers with my first aid kit in the car.

B x

[Deleted User]

Broomstick wrote: »

1Tonsil, if you are taking a stove that might need to be used below zero, make sure it is one with fuel that works in that temperature.

Butane works to about 0 degrees C.

Propane works to about -40 C, but requires very strong (and thereby heavy) cylinders.

A 70/30 butane/propane mix works to about -15 C, and comes in ordinary lightweight cylinders, the same as pure butane.

There are other options, such as hexamine, which doesn't suffer from the cold, but it does produce toxic fumes, so must only be used outdoors.

Personally, I'd go for a lightweight backpackers stove, operating on 70/30 butane/propane.

Of course, if the cylinders won't work due to the cold (and bear in mind, even butane/propane cylinders will stop working before they are empty), then you can improvise ways to keep them warm, the simplest way being to keep them in your sleeping bag with you.

nuatha

1Tonsil wrote: »

Now for a question for you all. We are going away for the holidays and are driving through the mountains to get to where we are staying. It will be very cold, below zero, but hopefully sunny. What would you advise us to take with us? It is a main motorway that winds through the mountains. We have already decided on our thermals and winter wear, and some snow chains are compulsory to have in the car just in case.

We will be about an hour away from the Greek ski resorts in a town with lots of shops and restaurants. But would you take prep gear just in case?

Thanks in advance....stay safe all of you, your weather looks horrendous and there is another storm following this one closely, it looks like hell of a week for some of you:(

An hours driving, 30 to 60 miles could be 10-20 hours+ walking time.
I take prep gear just about everywhere, I do top up the gear if I consider there's additional risk factors.
I'd add additional food and water with a method of heating them. Others have mentioned phones and handwarmers.

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Butane works to about 0 degrees C.

A 70/30 butane/propane mix works to about -15 C, and comes in ordinary lightweight cylinders, the same as pure butane.
...
Personally, I'd go for a lightweight backpackers stove, operating on 70/30 butane/propane.

Of course, if the cylinders won't work due to the cold (and bear in mind, even butane/propane cylinders will stop working before they are empty), then you can improvise ways to keep them warm, the simplest way being to keep them in your sleeping bag with you.

I wouldn't rely on butane/propane if I was expecting sub zero. My experience is that even full cylinders become unreliable below -5 and that temperature is far too easy to experience if your expecting -1 (windchill or the forecast being wrong)
Given that the primary transport is a car, I'd carry a parrafin presure stove and as I'd need meths to prime it (or hex tablets) I'd also carry a meths burner if I had to walk out. Paraffin stoves are fiddly, but very reliable (as long as you practise how they work) and work well sub zero.

[Deleted User]

I certainly agree about carrying a hex stove.

I wouldn't use one routinely (the fuel is too expensive, bulky and heavy, to use continuously), but I always carry one, and a pack of tablets, when I go camping.

[Deleted User]

Weather is still filthy wet, round here.

ETA: Blowing a gale now too.

[Deleted User]

Just bought myself a Syma X3 Pioneer, Quadcopter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLhFNmQzyaw

It's great fun. :cool:

OTOH. I'm not sure I can find any actual prepping uses for it.

GreyQueen

Just had a lol moment in the comments section of a ZH thread, where they're riffing on a report that 40% of americans are now living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Commentator one; What happened to the green shoots from 2009?

Commentator two: That was mold.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Karmacat

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Just bought myself a Syma X3 Pioneer, Quadcopter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLhFNmQzyaw

It's great fun. :cool:

OTOH. I'm not sure I can find any actual prepping uses for it.

I saw one of those in operation at the World SF Convention in August in London :T:T:T they're brilliant. I was writing a prepping story at the time, and I'm sure they could be used to scout out zombies that are preparing to attack on a more "serious" level Top Gear used a heavier duty version when they were scouting the source of the Nile, to see if there were any bridges upstream or downstream (there weren't ).

Butterfly_Brain

Softstuff wrote: »

Glad bunny is getting better. Iodine in a proprietary form, Betadine, is all they use in Australia for everything cut wise. You very rarely see antiseptic cream of another form at all. If you get stitches or a wound, the doc always says pop betadine on it. Downside is, it stains *everything* it touches! Comes in an ointment, a liquid or a spray. The thing about it is, whereas an antiseptic cream keeps a wound moist, this sort of helps it dry instead, which I find heals faster. It's the only ointment we keep in the house first aid wise, it covers most everything. Not sure if it's available in England or not.

You can get inadine patches on prescription, I had some prescribed when my toe nails were removed and one of them ulcerated and I still have a few left that I guard jealously.
My DH has terrible reactions to insect bites and stings and usually has to have antibiotics, he was bitten in the summer and as per usual it went red, angry, swollen and weeping a couple of days with inadine on it and he had healed.

Softstuff

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

You can get inadine patches on prescription, I had some prescribed when my toe nails were removed and one of them ulcerated and I still have a few left that I guard jealously.
My DH has terrible reactions to insect bites and stings and usually has to have antibiotics, he was bitten in the summer and as per usual it went red, angry, swollen and weeping a couple of days with inadine on it and he had healed.

Starting to feel very fortunate here! They're available just to buy here at the pharmacy. I've come to rely on iodine related products and just see them as the norm here.