Winter Cycling - How many add winter emergency supplies to their kit?

I tend to be cautious and keep a first aid kit as well as tools in my bike kit. Now that the cold, winter weather season has arrived I've added winter emergency kits to both my truck and the panniers on my bike. I'm wondering how many others add a winter emergency kit to their bikes? Clearly, the emergency kit for the bike is much different (smaller) from what I can put in the truck. For the bike, I've got a lightweight emergency blanket, extra gloves and ear mitts, chemical hand warmers (enough for hands and feet) and a glow stick. (I always carry 2 bottles of water when I'm on the bike.) I'm thinking that I should add some nuts or dehydrated fruit but will hold off on that a while, until the bears are hibernating--I live in a large national forest between 2 black bear and grizzly bear habitats so I'm always leery of carrying anything that might attract a bear. If you have a winter kit, what's in yours?

Your riding sound a lot less.... urban than mine.

My emergency winter survival strategy is to park the bike in a snowbank and walk into Tim Horton's.:D

I do sometimes pack hand warmers though.

True, during winter I won't ride into secluded areas of the forest like I do in summer. My rides will mainly be to town, but even the paved roads here pass through some isolated areas and if you were to lose control and go off road you'd fall down some pretty steep ravines where you wouldn't be seen from the road. I guess I tend to be more cautious. I just wondered if anyone else, especially those who ride through rural or more remote suburban areas have a winter emergency kit for their bikes, too.

For the bike, I've got a lightweight emergency blanket, extra gloves and ear mitts, chemical hand warmers (enough for hands and feet) and a glow stick. (I always carry 2 bottles of water when I'm on the bike.) I'm thinking that I should add some nuts or dehydrated fruit but will hold off on that a while, until the bears are hibernating--I live in a large national forest between 2 black bear and grizzly bear habitats so I'm always leery of carrying anything that might attract a bear. If you have a winter kit, what's in yours?

When I lived in Canada, I carried all that except the glow stick all year round.

What do you carry for food on your bicycle?? Even riding through the Canadian rockies, I always had cookies and granola bars on board.

Hand warmers in case I have to change a tire. The cold kills my hands. I used to carry 2 road flares for fire making purposes. Not any more. Started to seem a little over dramatic. I think I carried them after reading Jack London's "To Start A Fire". Or something like that.

When I lived in Canada, I carried all that except the glow stick all year round.

What do you carry for food on your bicycle?? Even riding through the Canadian rockies, I always had cookies and granola bars on board.

Machka,

Right now I don't have any food on the bike. I live between 2 grizzly and black bear habitats and they haven't gone in hibernation yet. Once I know they're safely in hibernation, I will add nuts and dehydrated fruit, maybe granola bars, too. They keep relocating problem grizzlies to our region so I'm very careful about having anything on the bike or me that might attract their attention. State officials issue all kinds of warnings right before and after hibernation since bears are in eating overdrive.

Machka,

Right now I don't have any food on the bike. I live between 2 grizzly and black bear habitats and they haven't gone in hibernation yet. Once I know they're safely in hibernation, I will add nuts and dehydrated fruit, maybe granola bars, too. They keep relocating problem grizzlies to our region so I'm very careful about having anything on the bike or me that might attract their attention. State officials issue all kinds of warnings right before and after hibernation since bears are in eating overdrive.

How long are your rides? I can't imagine doing any rides over about 2 hours without food on board.

If I'm going to be fairly far from home, I take a super-duty contractor-grade garbage bag as a worst-case-scenario emergency shelter. Two of them would be even better, since there'd be a dead-air space between them to slow heat loss. That could be something to consider in addition to your space blanket. They could also be used as a makeshift parka if needed.

I'd rather take an LED flashlight with lithium cells than a glow-stick, which is going to fade down pretty quickly. My Fenix L2D runs for over two days on LOW, no problem with runtime.

Clothing, I try to bring plenty of extra layers to change into, including a winter hat to wear if I end up having to walk home or hunker down and wait for help. A neck-warmer can also be really nice to have.

Your riding sound a lot less.... urban than mine.

My emergency winter survival strategy is to park the bike in a snowbank and walk into Tim Horton's.:D

I do sometimes pack hand warmers though.

My route in Boston is the same way, though we don't have Tim Horton's. About four years ago during a particularly cold winter I started carrying a cell phone for the very first time to at least be able to call a taxi. I also might choose a more commercial route so if I should have a repairable breakdown, namely a flat tire, I may be close to an ATM I can enter for warmth to fix it.

I second Tim hortons, coffee spots or even a thermos of coffee.

If it is cold enough I will pack a warm jacket(if you have a choice down works well and can be compressed) - just in case of mechanical troubles... fumbling with numb fingers will make it impossible/quite difficult to even snap together a chain.

Even in the burbs you can get into trouble, things will instantly appear quite spread out if your bike fails.

I don't bother with first aid though, not in a situation where i'd have to treat others or myself.

Pfft. Gotta die sometime. Why lug around the extra weight?

How long are your rides? I can't imagine doing any rides over about 2 hours without food on board.

During the summer, I generally get out for about 4 hours of biking a day. I like exploring the unimproved forest roads, most of which head up the mountains. (I buck and split my own firewood so the rides have a dual purpose since I can mark areas with lots of recently fallen trees on my GPS unit and head back with the chainsaw and truck.) As long as I have lots of water, I'm fine. I don't get that hungry, but then I add flax seed to my oats in the morning. Once the worst winter weather hits, I won't be heading into the forest but simply going into town and riding the paved roads so I won't be out all that long, probably only a couple of hours.

My strategy has been to never bike farther than I can comfortably walk back if things go bad. If I were going into a winter situation where over-night survival would be a possibility, then I'd bring a cell phone, avalanche beacon and a winter bivy setup. After having spent just 1/2 a night in full winter attire in the outdoors trying to sleep (mostly just tossed and turned in hypothermic misery), I've learned you'll want a full winter bivy gear if you want to guarantee survival. It's amazing just how cold a body gets the moment it stops moving, no matter how bundled up it is.

Again, just wear something reflective and warm, and make sure you're always within 1-2 hour walking range of the nearest inhabited house. Also, standard outdoor safety, make sure people know where you're going and when to expect you back.

Pfft. Gotta die sometime. Why lug around the extra weight?

:roflmao2:

I hear freezing to death isn't so painful as other ways, personally I wouldn't care to try...

I'm not sure what good a basic first-aid kit is going todo one under such circumstances, except encourage risky behavior. Better to pack a survival type kit instead if you're so far from medical assistance, unless you plan on playing [H]ouse MD with some gauze and ibuprofen.

I sometimes carry an extra 700C tire when I am expecting weather conditions incompatible with a leisurely tire change. It's an old race tire that folds up pretty small, but replacing the tire and tube together I don't need to take my gloves off and spend however long trying to find the (often microscopic) object that caused the flat.