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I recently re-read the story of James Kim, and got interested in the "toy" question: If I am stuck in a blizzard or a disaster, what should I be worried about?

I recently re-read the story of James Kim, and got interested in the "toy" question: If I am stuck in a blizzard or a disaster, what should I be worried about? The rule of thumb is I can be cold for 3 hours, be thirsty for 3 days, be hungry for 30 days. There have been stories of people who are stuck in a car in a blizzard for months, didn't eat much and were OK. Being hungry sucks, but it takes a long time for hunger to kill you. If the wasteland has hazards or hostile people, I need to worry about my physical security so guns with lots of ammos will go a long way too. So I keep in my car a lighter, an old dumb cell phone that has microUSB lead I can charge easily with my car cigarette lighter or anything that has USB out, a knife, a super bright flashlight, and a first aid kit. I don't store cans of food. That sounds pretty stupid.

piaste 9y ago
Interesting thought experiment. What do you think about storing some water in the car? On the one side, it's the most critical resource after wound treatment and shelter - you won't survive more than a few days without it. Also, if you're just semi-hibernating in a closed environment (and possibly cough recycling), you'll need much less water than normal so you can realistically keep enough water for a week or more. On the other side, most "stuck in a car" scenarios (at least in the northern hemisphere) involve rain or snow, and if they aren't and they last a month or more, your water reserve won't save you.
- jimmies 9y ago
  I keep a bottle of water too. Yes, I think realistically the only reason that I'm stuck that way is because of a blizzard. Melting snow is going to be the solution. In any case I think given I don't die right away, the best chance to be found and rescued is to have a radio transmitter device. So the cell phone, even when it doesn't work, is the next most valuable thing. There are tons of stuff we can do with the cell phone or ham radio. Kim was searched for, just that they couldn't find him. I think being searched for is the most realistic scenario if something like that happens to me.

piaste 9y ago

Interesting thought experiment. What do you think about storing some water in the car? On the one side, it's the most critical resource after wound treatment and shelter - you won't survive more than a few days without it. Also, if you're just semi-hibernating in a closed environment (and possibly cough recycling), you'll need much less water than normal so you can realistically keep enough water for a week or more. On the other side, most "stuck in a car" scenarios (at least in the northern hemisphere) involve rain or snow, and if they aren't and they last a month or more, your water reserve won't save you.

jimmies 9y ago
I keep a bottle of water too. Yes, I think realistically the only reason that I'm stuck that way is because of a blizzard. Melting snow is going to be the solution. In any case I think given I don't die right away, the best chance to be found and rescued is to have a radio transmitter device. So the cell phone, even when it doesn't work, is the next most valuable thing. There are tons of stuff we can do with the cell phone or ham radio. Kim was searched for, just that they couldn't find him. I think being searched for is the most realistic scenario if something like that happens to me.