testtest

(Scenario) Broke down.

KLGunner

Moderator
Staff member
Let’s say your driving down some back roads at night. You break down where there is no cell coverage (Dead Zone). Distance to the next town probably about 75 miles. What do you have in the vehicle with you? What is your plan of action?

intentionally left vague!!!!!
further questions will be asked based on your responses.
 
I'm hanging with the truck. Shelter, food, water, enough blankets/coats to stay warm, and plenty of ways to defend myself. Your chances of being found and helped are higher with the vehicle. If I were alone I might strike out come daylight depending on how back the back road is. Lots of variables equal lots of different decisions.
 
In MT if you're on a main drag then you'll eventually run into some traffic.

If you're on a back road you can wait along time before another rig comes by. People have died in the winter by #1 being stupid getting themselves stuff back in the sticks, and #2 not having gear to allow for safely staying with their rig. Most back road go down hill in my part of MT so if you know what you're doing its' better to walk out.

Winter time is a whole different ballgame in the N. Rockies, and needs a whole different set of gear and prep for unforeseen circumstances.

You lose cell coverage extremely fast in MT outside the seven cities, especially in the mountains.

This scenario is really dependent on where you live & what time of the year it is.
 
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Great answers so far guys so Montana seems to be a perfect Scenario. So let’s take this a step further. Again it’s a back road now in Montana middle of the night in winter time. So what gear did you bring? What’s your plan of action?
 
Well I wouldn't say MT is the perfect scenario. Anyone who lives west of the Mississippi River and/or in the upper Great Lakes needs to know what their area can throw at them.

There's the east side (east of the Continental Divide) part with it's open high prairie that's different than the West Side/East side from Yellowstone NP to the west.

MT West-side Winter scenario
  1. Clothing = layering with synthetic baselayer & mid-layers, + wind-shell upper & lower, balaclava, liner gloves, insulated mittens/gloves. Smartwool socks. Insulated boots not too tight.
  2. Sunglasses
  3. Medium-sized backpack with water bladder
  4. Water + Water-filter (creeks will still have flowing water even with ice)
  5. Handwarmers
  6. Energy bars
  7. Hydration mix
  8. Standard survival items - fire starter, whistle, signal mirror
  9. Map(s) (hardcopy of course)
Again this this post is intentionally vague a scenario is really dependent on where you live & what time of the year it is. Plus there are times when the weather is too bad to go anywhere but people do, and get into trouble.

I would say another scenario would be west Texas, Arizona and New Mexico in the middle of the summer.

BTW if you want to get found fast buy & carry a sat phone.
 
A couple years in North Dakota and you realize in the winter you can get in trouble really fast.
Make sure along with all the gear folks have mentioned and you have a full tank of gas. Maintain your vehicle
or maybe better said, over maintain your vehicle. Tell people where you are going and what your
itinerary schedule is. One thing I always had in the vehicle was a candle heater. Homemade from candle
wax that 3/4 filled a cake pan. Had 15 wicks in it. Could keep the vehicle warm by lighting and snuffing
out wicks to control temperature. Going to have children along. Candy bars and games to help keep them
occupied. Every so often you need to clear any snow accumulation from around the vehicle tailpipe. As long
as the vehicle is operable stay with it.
Had an incident while I was there. Fellow got stuck. Saw a light and decided to walk to it. Found him next day
frozen to death in another vehicle about a mile up the road from his car. Keys were not in that car. The light was
around a 7 mile walk. When they checked his vehicle it had nearly a full tank of gas and started right up
 
A couple years in North Dakota and you realize in the winter you can get in trouble really fast.
Make sure along with all the gear folks have mentioned and you have a full tank of gas. Maintain your vehicle
or maybe better said, over maintain your vehicle. Tell people where you are going and what your
itinerary schedule is. One thing I always had in the vehicle was a candle heater. Homemade from candle
wax that 3/4 filled a cake pan. Had 15 wicks in it. Could keep the vehicle warm by lighting and snuffing
out wicks to control temperature. Going to have children along. Candy bars and games to help keep them
occupied. Every so often you need to clear any snow accumulation from around the vehicle tailpipe. As long
as the vehicle is operable stay with it.
Had an incident while I was there. Fellow got stuck. Saw a light and decided to walk to it. Found him next day
frozen to death in another vehicle about a mile up the road from his car. Keys were not in that car. The light was
around a 7 mile walk. When they checked his vehicle it had nearly a full tank of gas and started right up
Wow I wonder what made him stop his vehicle and start walking then. I mean even if your stuck at least you have warmth and could be found when daylight came. But it’s reasons like this why I brought this up. There was a story a friend told me about when he broke down between Van Horn, Tx and El Paso. This was a very long time ago I don’t know all the details ether. He told me he got off the highway to take a nap it was middle of the night. I’m assuming this was before cellphones. Anyway he somehow broke a driveshaft and was out of visual sight of the highway traffic. He said he started walking and was about 6 miles from his vehicle before he was picked up. He said that the next day when he returned to his vehicle it had been ticketed and also broken into. Personally I think that if he had stayed with the vehicle he would’ve been able to receive help from officer who obviously came by shortly after his departure and I think he could’ve prevented the theft and damage to his vehicle had he stayed.
 
Wow I wonder what made him stop his vehicle and start walking then. I mean even if your stuck at least you have warmth and could be found when daylight came.
When you're talking about up in that neck of the woods, you can see everything there is to see, and there isn't anything to get in your way of seeing it. A farm house light can be seen for miles. They think that the guy felt he could walk there. But Sub zero temp, not dressed properly, after a mile he was pretty cold and crawled in to the car for shelter. But when it's 20° below you really need a source of heat. Not uncommon to be driving along and experience a white out and be stranded for a day or two. Once the weather settles down choppers can be deployed to perform rescue/recovery along the highways. Brutal country up there in the winter. The one day of summer each year is strikingly beautiful! :ROFLMAO:
 
"The one day of summer each year is strikingly beautiful!"

Lol. I served with a guy from upstate NY (near Niagra), and he always said they only had two days of summer......one was the 4th of July, and he said he never could recall the other one due to celebrating it with large qtys of beer, lol.
 
"The one day of summer each year is strikingly beautiful!"

Lol. I served with a guy from upstate NY (near Niagra), and he always said they only had two days of summer......one was the 4th of July, and he said he never could recall the other one due to celebrating it with large qtys of beer, lol.
That's my childhood neck of the woods. Further south in the snow belt..... 120" a year or so lake effect. Cold wind too and I thought I knew cold until I got to North Dakota. My winters at home were like summer compared to ND. Brutal.
 
That's my childhood neck of the woods. Further south in the snow belt..... 120" a year or so lake effect. Cold wind too and I thought I knew cold until I got to North Dakota. My winters at home were like summer compared to ND. Brutal.
I was once offered shore duty orders to a reserve center in Watertown, NY. I asked the Detailer what there was to do up there, and he replied.......shovel lots of snow. I promptly turned the orders down.
 
I was once offered shore duty orders to a reserve center in Watertown, NY. I asked the Detailer what there was to do up there, and he replied.......shovel lots of snow. I promptly turned the orders down.
Yeah, Watertown is quite a way further north close to the Canadian border. You didn't miss out on anything. Some cold followed by more cold! How long a tour would it have been?
 
Spent 3.5 yrs in N, Minnesota on Lake Superior. When I was there the locals said it was a warm period but it was brutal IMO.

When folks complain about winters in my neck of MT I laugh and tell them its like FL here.
Some of my family found Superior Wisconsin a place to settle down..... Ok!
 
Well I wouldn't say MT is the perfect scenario. Anyone who lives west of the Mississippi River and/or in the upper Great Lakes needs to know what their area can throw at them.

There's the east side (east of the Continental Divide) part with it's open high prairie that's different than the West Side/East side from Yellowstone NP to the west.

MT West-side Winter scenario
  1. Clothing = layering with synthetic baselayer & mid-layers, + wind-shell upper & lower, balaclava, liner gloves, insulated mittens/gloves. Smartwool socks. Insulated boots not too tight.
  2. Sunglasses
  3. Medium-sized backpack with water bladder
  4. Water + Water-filter (creeks will still have flowing water even with ice)
  5. Handwarmers
  6. Energy bars
  7. Hydration mix
  8. Standard survival items - fire starter, whistle, signal mirror
  9. Map(s) (hardcopy of course)
Again this this post is intentionally vague a scenario is really dependent on where you live & what time of the year it is. Plus there are times when the weather is too bad to go anywhere but people do, and get into trouble.

I would say another scenario would be west Texas, Arizona and New Mexico in the middle of the summer.

BTW if you want to get found fast buy & carry a sat phone.
West Texas, New Mexico and n. AZ wouldn't be too bad, but s. AZ a whole different ball game. I do live in the west Texas area and it's not hard to find shelter or a house in need. Back roads or not there are farmers everywhere! What happened too me one time is that I had a blowout on rt66 in the winter. This is about 6:30am Monday morning and had too walk 1.5 -2 miles for the next house (a farmers house that is} for a jack, 4 way wrench and/or 2x6". The problem arose due to the jack not being tall enough and the new nuts were larger and he offered a ride back to my p/u. This was '84 and I did mention he was a farmer. A good suggestion on knocking/door bell ringing is that after, 1) back away from the door and 2) let them see your hands which makes you less threat looking. This person was grateful about my actions and welcomed me in.
 
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