Are you Prepared?

[Gelliebeans]

Reading the sad news about James Kim today got me thinking about preparations in my vehicle should I become lost or stranded.

I got up and put together a emergency kit my car. I had an old medical kit that I purchased a couple years back and I went to restock it and added a couple of items. I suppose you could fill it with any items that would be appropriate for yourself including extra medication (if needed).

I am not saying that emergency kit would of prevented his death because who am I to sit in judgment. I just thought that I could use this as an opportunity to make sure if I was in a predicament that I would be prepared. Btw, I also change my batteries every six months in my fire detectors and after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, I followed Al Gore's advice on how I could help by changing out my light bulbs.

I was really pulling for this man to be rescued but I won't let his death go by without a lesson learned.

edited to add applegrove's suggestion about a charged phone or blackberry.

[applegrove]

1. Seems a charged cell phone or blackberry is the best way to go.

[Gelliebeans]

2. Duh, I forgot to add that.

I usually keep a phone charged in my purse and I never leave the house without it

[question everything]

27. I thouht that there was no cell phone transmission there..

[pitohui]

31. well then don't go anywhere if you think so

christ what part of the cell phone "pinged" once in 7 days did you not understand?

cell phones don't work in rural areas, period, end of sentence

just don't go anywhere, never take any risk, and you won't have to worry about it

this man died young, but at least while he was alive, he did actually live

[wakeme2008]

3. There are companies that make a "charger" for Cell phones that use

AA batteries. Something like that would be good in a kit. :)

[Gelliebeans]

4. Great advice

[Midlodemocrat]

5. I really don't go anywhere that I would need any of that.

:(


If I do travel, it's on major roads and I have a GPS on my van and my cell.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sam sarrha]

6. tell people where you are going and stay put if lost i carry food in the car and matches and hatchet

[pitohui]

35. they knew where they were going, THEY GOT LOST

crap, i have stumbled on an entire thread of non travelers who never go anywhere

it's amazing

you folks do realize that THOUSANDS of people get lost every day, and almost all of us survive?

kim did nothing wrong, he had shitty luck, there is nothing to be learned from this, and the folks who are "learning" from this are folks who are, from their comments, folks who never go anywhere or take any chance anyway!

sheesh

he was going to a popular resort, he took a wrong turn

everyone who seriously travels has taken a wrong turn in an area where there is no cell phone service, MOST of us find our way out of it, this poor guy just had bad luck

there is no lesson to be learned

it's like i cross a street and get hit by a car, and a thousand other people learn the lesson "don't cross the street"

crap

james kim would not want you to take his death as an excuse to be a freakin' wussy

[jannyk]

7. Yes I am

We drive from SF to BC on Highway 5 four or more times a year. We have been stuck on Highway 5 at Siskiyou Pass for 11 hours in a 'white out' blizzard - they just shut the freeway down with everyone on it - all 5 or 6 lanes (the opposite traffic was stuck on the other side). We were lucky, we had a Toyota Landcruiser (but still carry chains) and plenty of room to stretch out. We also had sleeping bags, food and drinks - you cannot run the engine in snow - danger of exhaust backing up and killing you! One of the most important items on that particular trip was a 'pee' bucket. There was no hiding from hundreds of vehicles, no bushes - nothing - we had a bucket - but many women were seen 'squatting' while hubbies tried to protect them with car doors and coats. We shared our food and drinks and some of our heavy clothes with those around us - many didn't even have the most basic of items.

I did drive that particular road the Kim's took once - never again - and this was in August.

We never, even in summer, make that trip without a full emergency kit. We do the same when we drive down to Baja too, but we leave the chains behind.

[Pied Piper]

8. Whenever I travel

domestically or internationally, I make sure that at least 2 different parties have my complete itinerary, including flight numbers, hotel phone numbers, and contact info for everyone who is travelling with me. It must run in the family - last summer, my parents (both of whom retired this year) took an extended vacation driving across the country, with no end date in mind. Before they left, they sent out an email to at least 6 of us, detailing where they wanted to go, when they expected to get there, plus cell phone numbers of everyone involved. They even shared the cell phone numbers of each of us contacts, in case we needed to do any tag-teaming. I think it's a smart idea. It's nice to know that there are several people (sometimes across the country, in my case) who are paying attention. Remember, in dick cheney's america, we are all on our own!

Edited to add:

If you are travelling to a remote region with poor cell service, be sure to get some landline info. A few years ago, my former roommate's mother passed away while she (my former roommate) was on vacation. The family remembered where I worked, they called me to tell me, and I knew who she was travelling with, so I hunted down the phone number of the mother of one of her travelling companions to get more info. Long story, but it took two days to hunt down my former roommate. Imagine losing your mother, and not knowing about it for two days! By the time she found out, all of the arrangements had been made, and she barely made it home in time for the funeral.

[Gelliebeans]

13. That is smart

to make sure everyone has your itinerary! This thread is bringing out many great ideas. Most we have heard of before but awareness is the goal.

That is sad about your roommate. :( It was a good thing they remembered where you worked.

[uppityperson]

9. matches newspaper sleepingbag food water sugar-products medkit

mirror flashlight extra-batteries shovel sand/catlitter

[piedmont]

26. good ones! May I add to it?

Peanut butter (in your food category, high caloric and protein density, lasts forever)
Hatchet. You can do damn near anything with a hatchet.
Camp saw (small, lightweight, cheap, useful!)
Good knife
Needle and tough thread (for improvising)
small metal pot for cooking or for boiling water
tool kit for working on the car (but that's a must, anyway)
motor oil


The whole thing can be stored in a small box in the trunk. I'm gonna make sure I get the items I don't already have.

[AIJ Alom]

10. take roadside flares, a flare gun, and a hand cranked radio

because sometimes, cell phones fail or can't get a signal.

Also stick to major roads, avoid shortcuts especially in the winter, I learned this the hardway a few years back, but with a shovel, in the trunk, was able to free my vehicle.

[elocs]

11. James Kim violated rule #1: you never, never leave the vehicle.

He also traveled in a region of the country during snow season is a vehicle that was unprepared for being stranded. I live in Wisconsin and have everything in the trunk of my car to keep warm and fed. I have a hand crank flashlight that will also recharge my cell phone. I also have a hand crank radio. When you drive in the winter where it is cold and snowy you need to be prepared. And if you become stranded you never leave your vehicle. James Kim traveling 8 miles in a circle is a classic for somebody who does not know what they are doing. When you travel in the winter with your wife, baby, and child you need to be prepared. Let's hope this might be an example for some people, but doubtless it will happen again because bad things always happen to other people, not to you.

[BlackVelvet04]

12. Don't forget some bottled water. n/t

[susanna]

22. In freezing areas, your water freezes.

Sometimes you just have to eat (the cleanest you can find) snow. Yuck. :-(

[BlackVelvet04]

24. Sorry I didn't think of that as I keep

my car in the garage and it never gets down to freezing there.

[susanna]

25. That's what most of us experience day-to-day.

In remote regions, things get trickier. That was my only point. You are absolutely right; keep water in your vehicle. For the time it's running and the heater is going, your water is drinkable. If you get stranded, cradle it in your body heat and you have water to drink.

I wasn't implying your advice was useless; sorry if it seemed that way. It's just in remote and super cold regions of this country, some of the advice for the lower states goes out the window. If you understand the science behind it all, you stand a chance. That was all I was trying to say.

[piedmont]

28. I wonder what the freezing temp. of Gatorade is.

It has salts and sugars in solution so it must have a freezing point below pure H2O. Might be worth keeping that in the car instead of water.

[susanna]

30. I'd be interested too...wouldn't discount that idea at all. n/t

[Cleita]

14. Be aware when you go into remote regions, especially

mountains that all your fail safes, like cell phones, CB's and even radios may not work. I like to camp so when I go on a trip I have supplies like food, water and warm clothes and lots of batteries for flashlights as well as matches. Just think, that you are a cave person with a tent and no electronic connection to the outside world until you are found.

[OnionPatch]

20. You make a good point

Actually, it's pretty often that you can't get cell phone reception in the mountains. Unless services have improved drastically in the last few years since I lived in the mountains. I would never count on a cell phone to save me in the mountains although it's definitely a good idea to take it just in case.

[susanna]

23. That was my first thought on the cell phone sub-threads.

There are places in the upper peninsula of Michigan where there is no signal. Cells are nice in sub- and urban areas, but in rural stretches of this country, they can be useless and people need to understand that.

The hand-crank radio is a favorite of mine for those regions. Also, try to find hand and foot warmers at sporting goods stores. You crush them in your hands and they provide warmth for several hours. In frozen areas, it can mean the difference between having fingers and toes or not. I not only keep them in my emergency kit, but I give them as stocking stuffers every year. They're great. And yes, I have had to use them. Thankfully, I was brought safely back home after six hours. The good news is that my fingers/toes were still pink and happy, without running the engine. It was 5 degrees out. I was very happy I had my stash in the car. Added to them, I also had a very heavy blanket. I was thankful to have that combination, or it could have been much worse.

[Catherine Vincent]

15. Very good post!

As an aside, everyone should read Gellibean's comment in her profile. It will put a smile on your face. :-)

[Gelliebeans]

16. aww cat_girl

have I told ya how much I liked ya lately? ;)

[Catherine Vincent]

19. Your comment made me chuckle with pride.

I envision freeper trolls reading your comment and cursing at ya. LOL!

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

17. Absolutely 100% unprepared.

But, DH goes on every little vacation as if it's a survival test & something awful will happen on the way there. (I guess being a vet will do that to you.) When he's by himself I don't have to worry & if I'm with him I don't have to worry. I can't count the number of times I've told him that we don't need to bring all this crap & will he please knock it off. Never again.

[Gelliebeans]

21. You know

I just started thinking about preparedness since the chimp was selected. I now worry about things now way more than I used to. Go figure :shrug:

[cynatnite]

18. On long trips...we always call family

let them know when we left and when we expect to arrive. When we lived in the NW, we had blankets, waterproof matches, flair gun, extra gas, canned food (don't forget the can opener), first aid kit, water, small radio, flashlight, extra batteries and a good knife. There were a few more things, but I can't think of them all. We couldn't afford a cell phone then, but now we never leave the house without ours and it's always charged. That's not counting the charger in the car, too.

[susanna]

32. All those things are very smart.

My DH and I are big road-trippers. We carry the same supplies wherever we go. We also check in with family who have the proposed itinerary. If we veer off course because we want to do something else, we call back and amend it. sometimes our family are like, "so you went west instead of north; why should we care?" We answer: "if we're lost or you don't hear from us, you will care and you will need to know what we told you."

It serves a dual purpose: it usually shuts them up for the moment and makes them remember what we said about our changes in plan. :-)

[Old_Growth]

29. Air horns are one of my essentials.

They make some fairly small and easy to pack. Good for keeping wild animals at bay too.

[susanna]

34. Yeah, there are not a lot of wild'uns who'd like to stick around.

Nice idea. I might add it to our packing essentials...

[Rainscents]

36. You can also buy emergency kit from Red Cross.

I have one in my car... it has everything you need to stay alive for 4 days. What you'd said is very good idea. We should all prepare for what to come in next few years with this global warming that is creating crazy weather. I have food, water, barbecue supplies for gill to last 6 months, just in case power goes out for long while. You never know.

[sweetheart]

37. One of these in the glovebox and a compass

A mobile phone in the glovebox, a jacket shell, gloves, hat and a sleeping bag, ducttape,
rope and a shovel.

One of these strobes for emergency rescue:
http://www.chinadepot.com/strobe1.html

[TransitJohn]

38. Well

I always have arctic gear in my truck, all year long, plus fuel and camp stove, MREs, flares, water and chocolate. It's just common sense when you live in Wyoming.