Edit: Wonderful information in this thread. Good work comrades! I'm proud of y'all :Care-Comrade:
Mods delete this if there's already a tip thread, but now is the time to share any information we can that can help people. I see good advice in the related threads, but I don't see one that's just dedicated to tips so I'm making this post.
Onto the tips:
If you have a tent, pitch it inside your house. It is a considerably smaller space to keep warm, and your ambient body heat will warm it.
If you don't have a tent, get bed sheets and hang them to create a "smaller room" within a room.
Sleep together in the same room with your other household members and pets. Your body heat will help warm the space.
Put your sleeping bag inside your bed and sleep inside that under blankets. Down comforters are great. Wool is great at insulating if you can deal with the itch and you aren't allergic.
Socks: Put on two pairs of socks, a warm insulating one on the inside and a thinner one on the outside. Put on your shoes (boots preferably) and pull the outer layer down over the top of your shoe. Snow will no longer fall inside your shoe. The only thing worse than cold feet is cold wet feet.
Fold newspaper into inch wide strips and pack it into anywhere cold air can seep in, like the bottom of the door. 3-4 large sheets can be taped over windows to provide extra insulation.
Layers layers layers. If you need to do any work outside peel off layers as your labor begins to warm you up. You do not want to sweat. You do not want to be wet. You can always put the layers back on.
Throw tomorrow's clothes in your bed with you to warm them up so you don't have to put on cold clothes in the morning.
Use every hour of daylight you have to prepare for the following dark. :af-heart:
AVOID SWEATING
ESPECIALLY WHEN SLEEPING
You'll want to layer it up and be as toasty as possible can so sleep sound. But the battle isn't over. If you're so warm you start sweating in your sleep you'll ruin your blankets and wake up with frosted toes, if you wake.
You'll want to ignore the damp creeping in. You just want to escape the nightmare. You don't escape in cold nights, you just survive and persevere. Day is your friend in the winter without heat not the night.
--a traumatized boyscout.
Wetness is the biggest enemy in the cold. First cold weather campout I went on was a 27 mile bike ride in a monsoon, wearing nothing but cotton (jeans and several t shirts at once bc I was fckn cold). COTTON KILLS. Cotton gets wet, stays wet, and stays cold.
Yep. Go pure wool if you can get it. Linen for underlayers next to the skin.
Had to wear fucking poly/cotton Auscam in cadets and only the vietnam-era sweater saved me a very unpleasant evening being hailed on at 0 degrees on sentry.
On the other hand an 18th century wool dress with a linen shift and a few petticoats insulates even if damp. Olds knew some things about the cold.
Don't go outside folks. Try and put some insulation like a towel or hwat not around your windows. Fill gallons of water while you can.
Wear a hat. While people exaggerate how much heat you lose through your head the amount is still substantial
Gloves are just as important. It's shocking how quickly you can get frostbite on your fingers in freezing weather, even if you have a hat or hood on.
That said gloves come at the cost of a massive penalty to dexterity for the benefit of cold resistance. Tasks that require precise finger movements will take longer.
Yup, also socks, double em up and dont let them get wet. If you have wool socks, wear those
That's true, I got super mild frostbite just by putting my hands in the snow the other day.
First aid stuff: Symptoms of hypothermia include confusion/irrationality, no longer shivering, slurred speech, drowsiness, weak pulse, and shallow breathing. Hypothermia comes on in stages and is most likely to become severe if you're wet as well as cold. It's much more likely than frostbite (which takes longer to set in) and is far more dangerous.
If someone you're with is acting unusually sluggish, clumsy, mentally "off" and unresponsive in severe cold weather, you may be tempted to try to re-warm them as quickly as possible with a fire or hot liquids, but a slow and gentle approach is better to prevent them going into shock or (worst case scenario) cardiac arrest. There were a lot of cases in WWII where sailors rescued from the sea would all die like an hour after being rescued, and it was because the doctors were giving them rum toddies and hot soup. Don't be that guy.
Ideally they need to be rewarmed in a hospital, but if that's not possible, remove any wet clothing, cover them with blankets, and use warm dry compresses (like towels warmed next to a heat source) on their neck or chest. If they can swallow, give them something warm that contains sugar (NO ALCOHOL alcohol is not your friend in the cold).
To add to hypothermia stuff: If you think it might be coming on, here's a quick test. Press down on one of your fingernails, then release. If the color hasn't returned in 2-2.5 seconds (the length of time it takes to say "capillary refill"), you need to warm up.
If you're driving on ice, the most important thing by far is to PUMP THE BRAKES. When you gotta slow down, go on and off the brakes repeatedly. Do not just slam them. If you have the chance, better to drive on snow than solid ice.
Startled the shit out of myself when I realized the old car I bought didn’t have ABS while driving on ice. Thought I was gonna be a champ in my wrangler but the thing a so old it doesn’t even have an alarm system so when I hit the ice there weren’t any electronic stability control systems or ABS so I did a full 360 on the interstate. 4 wheel drive isn’t everything
A/S tires are made of way harder rubber than snow tires.
Snow tires in the summer have traction like slicks, but they don't last long.
Yeah 4 wheel drive is just for traction when accelerating. It doesn't effect braking or the ultimate cornering grip of the car.
I learned on a rwd car without abs or stability control, no weight in the rear, and skinny tires. I'm honestly grateful I had to learn organically how to pump the brakes because the habit has saved me even in cars with ABS.
For folks who don't know how it works, imagine when you're scrubbing off speed going down hill, you brake a little until you feel the forward acceleration, then slowly release, then slowly apply until you feel it again, and repeat. Getting deeper in the brake as you slow down.
It's required as of September 2013, but I don't know how that translates to what model years of cars would then have to have it. The 2014s would probably be the earliest.
Before that, cheaper cars still had it as an option; my friend's mid-2000s Toyota Corolla did not have ABS, for example.
Here's the problem they try and solve: if you slam on the brakes and the wheels completely lock, this is OK on asphalt, which provides enough friction to slow you down reasonably quickly. But it's not OK on ice; ice provides basically no friction, so you end up with locked wheels just sliding along the ice, not slowing you down at all. (It's not ideal on asphalt either, but you'll stop).
So, my understanding is that ABS ("anti-lock brake system") tries to not let the brakes engage so hard that they completely stop wheel motion. I think older/crappier ABS just emulate "pumping" the brakes (engaging and disengaging them) but I'm not sure. My 2006 with ABS makes a repeated thudding noise when I slam on the brakes, which I take to be the ABS pumping the brakes.
Can you not feel the brake pedal move up and down rapidly in your car when it engages? My cars with abs have always done that.
Huh, I guess “thudding noise” is also accompanied by/more accurately a “thudding feeling”, but I really don’t notice the pedal actually moving so much as having a vibration transmitted through it.
I’ll have to test it out though, now I’m curious
well don't test it out too much so you go flying into a ditch Conway.
But yeah I'm pretty sure an ABS system literally flushes fluid into the brake system and the pedal rises and lowers because of it.
It looks for the wheel slowing down way faster than it should, the lets up on the brakes until it stops. It feels like rapid pulsing in the brake pedal every time I've experienced it, but you're usually not taking notes when you're in a situation that requires ABS.
Slamming the brakes locks the wheel and makes it so the only slowing force is friction on the stopped wheel, which on ice is virtually non-existent. ABS doesn’t lock the wheel and instead decelerates it by allowing its motion to continue while rapidly slowing it
Good tip for cars without ABS or with shitty ABS systems. Also do not turn and brake, or turn and accelerate at the same time. Only do one of the three at a time: turning, braking and accelerating.
Rule number one of winter driving is to go slow. Really slow. Brake lengths are much longer than you anticipate, steering responds in unfamiliar ways, visibility is shit, the road surface can change from normal to skating rink in an instance. Unless you are used to driving in snow and ice you don't know how your car will react.
Stay safe and go slow. You are never in a hurry when you're sitting behind the wheel.
Day one I had a blast driving around on the snow but the next day when it started melting into slush it was kind of scary because I couldn't stop. Then later on it turned to a solid block of ice and I fell down drunk a few times.
Tips for walking on ice:
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Waddle. Walk like an elderly penguin with a diaper full of shit. Take small steps, keep your legs far apart, bend your knees as little as possible, and shift your weight from side to side. Flap your arms out to the side for balance if you need to, think about grabbing a walking stick if you need one.
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Walk on grass or dirt rather than pavement where possible
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Wear your shoes that have the best traction
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If you're walking on snow, there's no guarantee that there isn't ice underneath it, especially if there are repeated storms
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If you find yourself falling, try to land on your ass
If you fall forward, do not stick out an arm to catch yourself. You'll break your wrist. Try to twist and land on a shoulder.
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Whenever the power is on charge all critical electronic devices and do your meal prep/cook while the power is on. Cold food is better than no food.
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To keep food from spoiling, set the fridge and/or freezer to the coldest setting and avoid opening it during the blackout and open it sparingly while the power is on. In the Texas situation, it is below freezing outside so you could put your food in a secure container outside and even bury it in the snow if necessary to prevent it from spoiling.
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If an internet connection is critical, you can rewire/combine a router power cable and usb cable to power a WiFi router from a powerbank.
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My country has a rolling blackouts schedule uploaded by the power producer telling you which areas will lose power when, so you can plan around it where possible.
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If the water supply is not working, you can make a water filter though out of half a soda bottle, some aquarium rocks/gravel and activated charcoal at home though that will do a pretty good job. This is the basic idea, though I'd use a lot more activated charcoal if I were to build it. You can use it to filter melted snow or tap water that is not being treated. I've made a few of these before and they in fact do work.
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Mentioned before else where but you can open cans by scraping the top on concrete. They held together by a seam. once perforated use a knife to pop it open.
Also eat all your fresh food first. If food is a little bad make a judgement call. Most food you can still eat cooking will help though.
Filter water with a cloth and boil. You can also clean water with some bleach. About 8 drops of bleach will clean one gallon of water. Shake it and let it set for an hour or so before drinking.
If you need antibiotics pretty sure garlic works as one and so do chilies. They will sting like hell but use them fresh, cooking them will get rid of the benefits.
If I think of anymore will update, stay safe everyone.
Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me about the concrete thing, it's brilliant. Further tip on opening cans with a knife: Wrap the blade in a towel before you start so that if you slip you won't cut your hand.
And in case if you do get hurt remember I.C.E Ice compression and elevation. Wrap your injury with a clean cloth and keep pressure on it while keeping it elevated. Change if needed and keep it clean if you can.
obligatory using a knife to open cans is notoriously dangerous (even if it can be easily done)
Find a neighbor with a guitar, find a neighbor with a fireplace, get together and play music to keep your spirits up. Not exactly sure how good of an idea this is with covid, but if you know they've been isolating and you've been isolating, having more people in a room will help you stay warm and an accoustic guitar is nice for entertainment.
If it's freezing outside avoid using the parking brake on your car. It can freeze and then your brakes will be stuck. If that happens you might be able to get them to release by putting the car in reverse and driving a few steps back and forth.
And the most important survival tip of all: Be a good neighbor. Check up on elderly or disabled people in your area. Share whatever provisions or tools you might have. Talk to your neighbours about what you can do to help each other.
I've had an 07 focus get a stuck parking brake from sitting for a few months mid summer, but over years of daily driving in north western NY, I never had it stuck. If its an honest to god ice storm, i'm sure its possible but parking brakes are usually fairly protected from static weather.
The parking brake on my 2003 Citroen froze the other day. I don't know if modern cars are better.
Storing food if your fridge isn't working: we store things on the balcony/windowsill every winter. The fridge is +4C/+40F, so as long as your outside temperature is around that or below it's fine. If you're worried about direct sunlight warming it up, cover it with a sheet or blanket.
For keeping warm inside: in my experience layers below you are just as important as layers on top of you. Put a blanket or two underneath you, especially if you've moved to a smaller room and aren't using a proper bed/couch. For window and door insulation, old magazines and paper really works well.
One more thing: if you have no running water but would really like a warm shower. Boil water in a big pot. Have another pot with cold water. Bring both to your shower and use a pitcher to dip in both, thus regulating the heat. (As the hot water cools you need less of the cold water.) Used to do this when I was a kid in 90s Ukraine and the city turned off the hot water regularly 😅
Do not use hot water to de-ice your car! You'll crack your windows! Just run the car with the heat on for a few minutes and the ice will loosen up enough to be swept away.
It's still not a great idea because the rapid temperature changes can weaken the glass, making it easier to break in the future.
If you have crayons, you can use those as makeshift candles. One crayon lasts for 10-20 minutes.
If you have no water and no heat, do not eat snow for drinking water, it will drop your body temperature a lot. Let the snow melt first, ideally by heating it over a fire (dont burn stuff inside your house for heat), but if you dont have the means for a fire, just bring the pot of snow in your tent/insulated room. It will cool the room down slightly as it melts but its much better than putting that cold directly into the core of your body.
Since I havent seen any tips for pets ill try and give some.
Warm blooded pets, all mammals and birds: Bring them in your tent/warm room, and let them under the blankets to share your body heat. Smaller animals may need to share your body heat if your shelter isnt warm enough, it will depend on the species, you may want to sleep in shifts so someone can always be making sure the animal is warm enough while also being sure you wont roll over onto them in your sleep.
Cold blooded pets, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and fish: For larger, handleable reptiles like snakes, lizards, and turtles, you may get through just by providing your own body heat to them, they will probably need direct skin to skin contact with you or another large warm blooded pet the entire time. Do not sleep with a constrictor snake using you for heat, its not safe, take shifts staying awake providing body heat, same as with small warm blooded pets. a lizard should be safer to sleep with, you may get scratched up a bit though. For invertebrates and small or dangerous reptiles, move their terrarium inside your warm room, wrap the entire terrarium in blankets, top, bottom and sides. If you have a fire going, heat objects over the fire that will retain heat, rocks, bricks, plates, etc. Bring them to a temperature that will not hurt the animal, for reptiles, if you can hold the object indefinitely without pain it should be okay. For invertebrates, you may not want it to be as hot, and you may want to bury the object in the sediment, they dont sun themselves or use heatrocks like reptiles do, but if it can heat up the soil in their terrarium they mat burrow into it and find enough heat to make it through. Replace the heat source regularly as it will run out, take sleep shifts to do this. For fishtanks, bring the tank inside your warm room, wrap the tank in blankets, top, bottom, and sides. Find the same objects you would heat the terrarium with, but place them outside of the tank between the blankets and the glass, water conducts heat better than air or soil does, so putting the object directly in the water may overheat the tank. Pay close attention to the thermometer, add or remove fire-heated objects from in the blankets to keep the water at a tolerable temperature for your fish.
As for both aquariums and terrariums, if you have a generator but can only supply so many things with power, your pet's heat rock/sun lamp/tank heater should be one of them. It will also provide you with heat as it radiates away from the enclosure and into the warm room around you.
The idea of fire-heated objects for inside warth came from the Beau video someone else posted in this thread, please watch it because it goes into greater detail on how to do it safely. Ive only come up with how to apply it to keeping pets alive.
Ive come up with most of this on the fly, so dont take my word as a final authority. If anything ive said is doing more harm than good, stop doing it, and if anyone else here knows better please correct me.
