Since we camp in a tent we have to use large coolers for a 'freezer' and a
'refrigerator'. I have many bottles of water that I bought wherever
(hellmart or the grocery store) that I put in the deep freeze (after pouring
out the 12% (+/-) for expansion). I look for a bottle that seems pretty
sturdy on the shelf; the best of these seem to be the cheap store brand
drinking water. The only time I can recall breaking any is when I hit them
hard against something while moving them around; other than that they've
held up well. I have some that are more than two years old (I do thaw,
sterilize and refill the bottles before the camping season). The point is, I
keep them for months at a time in the freezer without issue, so I would
think they'd work just fine for what you want.

On the other hand, during the warm weather here I have to open and refill
the bottles that I keep in the van for emergency coolant water all the time
as they will 'suck up' from evaporation and break. Go figger.

Cya,
Robert

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Max Wellhouse
Sent: Friday, October 30, 2009 6:22 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Vanagon Winter Survival Kit Question

Vaseline drenched cotton balls make a great fire starter, kept in old
film canisters(soon to be hard to come by).

I think this thread has fallen off the cliff, but if I understand the
consensus of the list, I can store water in my Vanagon in a sturdy
container with some airspace for expansion and not have it crack or
deform after a couple of weeks of temps at or below zero degrees
Fahrenheit.  That's sorta what I was loking for, as I don't have
Westy parts to break or get damaged.

Thanks

DM&FS

At 02:52 PM 10/30/2009, Mark Tuovinen wrote:
>Dryer lint and wax using an egg carton for a form works well too.  Makes a
>great waterproof firestarter for your survival gear.
>
>Mark in AK
>
>On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 11:36 AM, Rob <becida@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > Anyone carry a hardwood survival candle? I'd heard of them but never
> > made one. Wax and hardwood saw dust mixed and packed into a can
> > (coffee can?) to be used as a survival candle.
> > The burning hardwood sawdust (& wax) gives off heat, something to
> > keep you from freezing to death when you ran off the road in the
> > winter. This could be a lifesaver on a really bad day in a Vanagon.
> >
> > A quick search brought me to this site;
> > http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=009vSb
> >
> > I'm not even getting into the common sense stuff that goes along with
> > fire in an enclosed space.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Rob
> >
> > becida@comcast.net
> > Western Washington State, USA
> >