scimdarren

Hi All

We are about to enjoy our first Winnipeg winter! What is adviseable to keep in the car in case of emergency during the winter months, someone mentioned flares....this made me wince a little!

Our new home is 20m from the city perimeter so we anticipate a few white knuckle rides home from work.

Regards

Darren

Biiiiink

Not an expert, we just bought a cheapo kit-in-a-bag from Canadian Tire and added our own few extras (like nappies for the kid, bag of sand, chocolate, water, extra blanket, antifreeze screen wash...etc). When we bought it the kit contained gloves, hat, blanket, collapsible shovel, torch, flare, candles, matches, handwarmers, "please call Police/SOS" window sticker...can't remember the rest.

We're not going outside the perimeter until after Xmas, I'd be adding extra clothing and sleeping bags if I was.

...but where's all this snow in Winnipeg?! I've been psyched for weeks and weeks now, still nada.

Edit: where's your new house? HAve you moved in yet?

iaink

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...78&postcount=4

Majj

Sorry, but what exactly is the sand for?

Novocastrian

You can build sand-castles using the collapsable shovel to keep warm

Majj

what in your swimming trunks.

GlosMaple

Careful with the water in the kit.........last winter left 2 bottles of water in car overnight and funnily enough it froze!!!! That was in balmy/tropical Toronto. Luckily it was in plastic storage box!!!

iaink

Water? Why was there water in the kit? If you need water in the winter here there is usually a ready supply in big white piles everywhere you go!

Same problem goes for cans of pop by the way...only its much messier to clean up the aftermath.

scimdarren

Hi Biiink

We have found our dream home with 5 acres just North of Ste Anne (Highway 12) Hence the question as we are quite a way out of town! We will definitely be moving in before Christmas.

What do you mean wheres all the snow!.....take a look out of your window!!!

Cheers

Darren

Biiiiink

Yay Darren! Finally started snowing this evening

Had to look at a map to find Ste Anne, don't think we've been out that way. Best of luck for the move.

Iain, there wasn't water in the kit, my addition. I let enough out to allow for expansion, I'm sure the container will be okay. Don't fancy drinking grey slush

Bob

decent studded tyres
jumper cables...booster box is even better...
blanket
torch
triangle
warm gloves
a mini shovel would be handy
those little chemo handwarmers...or at very least a candle and match
water- half a bottle...if you get stuck in a car, you don't want to faff around with dirty salted snow...

Judy in Calgary

It serves two purposes. If you have a rear wheel drive car, as my son does, a couple of bags of sand in the trunk (boot) add weight to the back of the vehicle. That improves the vehicle's road holding capacity on slippery roads.

If, after all that, you still manage to swerve off the road and into the ditch, you use the shovel to remove as much of the snow from around the wheels as possible. Then you sprinkle sand on the remaining snow to provide traction. It is to be hoped that those measures will help you to get your vehicle back up onto the road again.

Some people swear by kitty litter instead of sand. Still other people favour traction mats.

A vehicle in this part of the world comes equipped with a mechanical jack, because a hydraulic jack doesn't work when the temperature is -20 deg C.

Our winter survival kit also includes a small pad of paper and a pencil, because a pen is another piece of equipment that does not work when the temperature is -20 deg C.

Here is the Canadian government's advice on winter driving.

Edward de Par

If you get stuck in the snow on the road/back lane/drifts etc.. a set of cables or chains is def worth having,... (Cdn tire) comes with adjustable tensioner ,..when the wheels spin put the chains on and adjust tensioner over top of tire. (FWD = place on front). Or, get a set of tracks you can slide under the tires so you can drive out of the hole. Also a decent sized shovel, warm blanket, flares and cell phone. People will stop to help you in Mb in a blizzard. Stay in the car in a white out. Ps. cables are easier to store than chains.

hot wasabi peas

A deck of cards, a good book and a pack of condoms... it can get boring waiting for help!

Souvenir

Oh goody. A pleasant -8 windchill this morning and the first of the expected 10-cm of snow has just started to fall. This afternoon I can look forward to another 5cm of snow/ice pellets.

Hopefully the forecast for tonight is correct. If we really do get 30mm of rain, I won't have to shovel.

Oddly, tomorrow we're looking at mid-teens and thunderstorms.