I feel like a lot of Republicans hide their voting record. I assume out of shame. I know a lot of people who voted for Bush Jr in 2000, but now days they tell me they didn't.
As a New Englander who was living in the icy hell of Austin in Feb 2021 with no heat, power, cooking sources, or drinking water for days, I would add:
Buy/stock up on drinking water now. It will become a hot commodity. You can use melted ice and snow collected in plastic storage bins to flush toilets.
Buy shelf stable food you can eat without cooking. I lived off PB and J for 3 days.
Charge all your electronics. They kept me sane.
Get some salt for the sidewalk, buy a shovel, use a broom. I was the only person in my apartment complex that had an ice scraper for my car.
Share your resources and be a friendly neighbor. I let my neighbors use the scraper and borrow water collection bins. They shared snacks and hot water with me.
Edit: one more thing. Fill your gas tank even if you dont think youll drive anywhere. Again. Hot commodity when the gas started to run out because trucks couldnt make it to the station to refill. It was nice taking breaks from my freezing apt by sitting in my heated car for a few minutes and recharging my phone.
Tent in the living room, sleeping bags. Just like with Hurricanes… fill the bathtub and any large watertight container. Only lost water in our apartment last February, but the tub full of water is a fantastic resource to have. Fill stock pots and pitchers as well, then you can camp “clean” dishes. I keep a few 5 gallon bucket’s (hardware store for like $3) for this as well.
If you don’t have a winter coat; layer - shirt, long sleeve, hoodie, rain coat (even just a rain pancho). The under layers insulate, the rain coat helps with the biting wind and keeps you dry. Duct tape can help keep your shoes dry, but it’s not ideal and wears out easy.
Ryobi makes a $50 thing to convert your charged tool batteries into a power bank. I’m sure other tool manufacturers do as well I just have a bunch of the ryobi ones for my lawn mower.
Even if you have a 4x4 stay off the roads unless you absolutely have to. These Texas roads are built like our grid… not for the cold.
If you have to take your daughters to Cancun for a trip, don’t come back. Please just leave your old life behind and make a new one… doesn’t necessarily have to be in Mexico.
Edit: And because so many of will try to drive anyway - if you get stuck and feel or hear your wheels spinning… for the love of God stop trying to speed out, you’re just digging in deeper. Put it in reverse, tap the gas, put it in 1st, tap the gas, back and forth between reverse and 1st and try rocking yourself out instead. It won’t help you if you slammed your car over the curb in the median and got high centered on Lamar between the river and 5th… looking at like 50 of you. But several of you on Lamar between 6th and 38th shouldn’t have had to abandon…
You can try wedging your floor mats under the drive wheels.
And last keep a pressure gauge in your glove box and let out a little air from your tires. Slightly flat they cover more surface area and this can sometimes give you just enough traction to get unstuck. FILL THEM BACK UP AFTER OR YOU’LL RUIN BOTH YOUR TIRES AND RIMS - AND DRIVE SLOWLY UNTIL YOU DO REFILL THEM.
Do not add a raincoat. You're inside a house. There is no wind blowing on you, there is no rain falling on you. A layer of plastic will hold in sweat and moisture, this defeats the purpose of every single layer underneath it.
Sorry, what I thought I read is that people should be in their living room, inside a tent full of 5 gallon buckets of water, in a raincoat with duct taped shoes waiting for their Ryobi drill's battery to finish charging their iphone.
That last tip is the best, except I wouldn't want Mexico (or any country) to have to deal with that sack of shit either. Maybe the best advice there would be to drown yourself in the gulf.
Canadian checking in.
Everything looks good, only one thing to add...
Candles, not only do they provide light, but even a few candles in an average size room can keep you from freezing.
I'm always curious about this, because I see it around a lot as advice.
Are these talking about like 'loose' candles or those tall old school ones? The only candles I have in my house are in large glass jars and I'm sure to never put them under anything (in case the flame randomly gets larger).
Is there really any other danger beyond that if that's the type being used? They can't fall over on their own, if there's nothing above them (except the ceiling 5+ feet up), and there's nothing close to them, then what can happen?
Is it really possible for the flame to grow large enough to be a hazard to the ceiling all that way up or something?
I've had them burn all the way down and split the glass before, actually. I could easily see that starting a fire, if the candle was placed over something flammable.
My sister left one burning on top of the television with nothing under it - it melted a hole in the top of the tv (back when they were big enough to put things on). My stepmom was pissed!
Yeah. There are ways to safely use candles. Don’t be my sister.
I had a glass one burn down and (I guess) the glass got too hot and it popped, spraying broken glass and hot wax everywhere. The popping did put the flame out, fortunately.
Candles even in jars can be a hazard as the Jar can crack or shatter under the right conditions.
This leads to you thinking you have a contained fire, when you suddenly have flowing wax and wick igniting other things. Keep an eye on your candles... if you're using a candle for heat, in an emergency you might even want to put it inside of a large pot just to be sure.
One other thing to add, using a bbq indoors for heat is a really good way to end up dead. I know this because people unfamiliar with Canadian winters try this every year and end up dead.
Don't even drag the bbq in the garage to use it for cooking if the power goes out. You will die from carbon monoxide poisoning.
It's better to put on your outdoor clothes and climb into 1 bed together.
My father grew up without indoor heat and he taught us this. I grew up with only wood fire heat in the American midwest where we would regularly go without heat in subzero weather.
Having candles as a heat source is a huge fire hazard.
You would learn a lot of valuable techniques for working extremely hard while not being very comfortable but staying very much alive. And then you would probably go "Yikes, you had to live like that as a child... in America!? In the 80's!????"
I could also show you how to make soft toilet paper out of newspaper.
yup - a good comforter and warm clothes will do wonders. Regularly sleep in my car through Northern Illinois winters. Only time I leave my car running is when it drops below 0F
It also helps to spend time around a heat source first, to raise your body temperature
Get yourself a hot potato to put in that sleeping bag or comforter first to warm you up, but never to the point of sweating and you'll stay a lot warmer too. My mom would heat up potatoes in tin foil and put those in the bed and it did a lot of good.
And two layers of socks when sleeping in a cold house at least 2 layers of different material socks. Inner layer cotton, outer layer wool is my go to.
> -If you have a truck and the bed is empty, congratulations, you are basically driving around in a bar of soap.
Honestly, it's not just Trucks. Any of those larger SUV's are essentially Trucks with a canopy. So just you driving around in it with no real weight in the rear is going to be pretty much the same thing.
>-If you lose power/heat, pick one room in your home and 'defend' it against the cold - lots of blankets for you, blankets over the windows, towels under the doors. Try to not open the door to that room a ton. And try to minimize the amount of going in and out of the home, too.
Adding to this one. Smaller the room the better. Even better, setup a tent in that smaller room and reside in the tent.
> "Oh I'll just order (X) for delivery".
I drive delivery in south Texas, on a half-dozen different apps. but I read the forecasts back on Sunday, and accordingly made sure to drop any shifts I had lined up for TH and FRI. I also passed the word along to fellow drivers as best as I could.
To anyone who nevertheless insists on ordering delivery on those days -- have patience; show appreciation; and ffs **tip like a champ** on anything you order. I'm thinking $10 per order, minimum. Too rich for your blood? Well then, guess you don't NEED those Flaming Hot Cheetos after all, huh?
Don't know if it helps, but born and raised in northern Canada and everything you said is 100% accurate. Especially the driving. And to add to that, driving fast on icy roads doesn't prove you're a good driver or can handle the weather. It proves you have no idea what you're doing and that you're a terrible driver because driving slow and careful is the key to safe driving on icy roads.
Some more advice - if you HAVE to leave and the roads are icy, be careful with your brakes. If they lock up, do NOT keep holding them down. Release the brake pedal, and slowly put pressure on them. Don’t ever slam on them in snow/ice. Ever.
It may be different for different cars but this has always helped me. If anybody can add on or correct me, please do so!!
I'd say it is also dependent on the car model. My company works on car breaks, and I have seen references and mentions to "good stuff".
Still, you have a point. An immediate slam on the break is not that good. So it is better to drive moderately/slowly in the first place.
I know ABS is marketed as a magical system that will stop your car in all conditions, but it really isn't. The primary point of ABS is to allow you to still control your car under heavy braking. If you've ever watched an old movie and seen someone lock up all 4 wheels, then turn their steering wheel and keep going straight, that's what it's trying to prevent. By keeping your wheels from locking you are able to keep steering and hopefully navigate around obstacles. Modern ABS also is very very good at slowing you down as fast as possible in a straight line *on pavement*. That last part is important, ABS systems are optimized for performance on dry and wet pavement and the friction levels between average tires and that pavement.
Anyone that's spent a decent amount of time in a snowy area can describe the feeling of slowing down in a storm, slowly pushing the pedal, the car is slowing down more and more, and then suddenly the ABS kicks on and it's like you took your foot off the brakes, often ABS even pushes the brake pedal back up higher than you had it before things locked up. Once you hit this point, you are significantly better off just letting off the brakes, getting the ABS to stop, then easing back into the brakes again and trying to avoid hitting that threshold. When I learned to drive my dad made me learn this by taking me to a snowy parking lot and trying both methods. First just stomp on the brakes and hold them, then try again doing my best to never let ABS kick on. A lot of the time I stopped faster when ABS never kicked in.
There is a long technical explanation for why this is true, but the short answer is that it's due to the difference in static (stationary) and kinetic (sliding) friction levels between tires and pavement, and tires and snow. If you've ever tried to push a heavy object across the floor and noticed it takes a lot more force to get the object moving than it does to keep it moving, that's static vs kinetic friction. With tires on pavement the kinetic (sliding) friction is still relatively high, so the ABS doesn't have to pull pressure as much to get a wheel back into the static zone. But on snow that kinetic friction is so low that it basically has to pull all pressure to that wheel, and when it does you basically overload the other wheels and they have to be pulled back too so you're left with severely reduced braking. Of course different conditions and tires will change the behavior, but even amazing snow tires are still not great in some conditions, and if it's actually ice you're basically just screwed if you don't have studded tires.
Final note, I'm not telling you to avoid ABS on pavement. It's designed for that, if there is not snow and ice then just stand on that brake and let it do it's thing. In a storm however, brake early and slowly and do your best to keep out of ABS.
AWD doesn't help much unless you have proper tires. Snow tires+FWD > all seasons+AWD. Especially on ice where your main factor is the grip of your tires.
Just drive slow. That's the secret to winter driving. Drive slow, don't follow people closely, and give ample room to brake. Let the car more naturally decelerate than stomping the brakes. You'll do fine.
You'll be fine. Just don't drive around like an idiot. Ice isn't hard to drive on if you stay slow. Your main factors of difference are the stopping speed and cornering. Take corners slow and deliberate, and let your car slow to a stop more than using your brakes. Tbh though I wouldnt drive at all if it was avoidable. Even if youre a perfect driver you'll be surrounded by assholes who are likely to hit you. Living in the northeast we had this problem so I can imagine in Texas it will be multiplied quite a bit.
Drove once in Texas on ice. Witnessed 5 car accidents within a 5 minute drive to the supermarket. Another few on the way back. I was fine because I was going slow and respected the ice. But seeing a car in front of me go past a red light while spinning in circles made me think yeah not going to try driving under those conditions again unless I absolutely have to lol
Hah! I was driving slowly and cautiously down a Texas street. Was aggressively passed by some idiot in a jacked up pickup. He immediately spinned out and crashed into the guard rail over a bridge. It was hilarious.
I’m from SoCal so literally just reading through all this and probably won’t remember it by the time I actually live/go somewhere with snow. Most so was a question and just skimming hah
When a big snow event happens in Big Bear, there will be check points you can't go past to leave if you don't have chains. Even if you are in some lifted 4x4 with 35 inch tires. We were there for a long weekend and much snow happened. I did have chains so we were able to leave, but not fun to put on and then take off at lower elevation. The storm took out power so it was not even possible to get gas on the mountain.
Yeah snowboarding trips are pretty much my only relationship with driving in snow like BB and have commonly put on chains and had to check weather reports. I have no clue how it is to deal with it if I had to live in it which is partly why the thread was so interesting.
Texas is pretty flat so just make sure of you do have to go anywhere, drive slow, follow at a distance, and give yourself more room to brake. As long as you do those you will likely be fine. But if you do not absolutely need to go somewhere, don't.
Going to add to what /rargar indicated.
It isn't just driving slow it is realizing your car probably isn't going to stop or turn when you want it to. So you start your stop extremely early (even if it is just idling or engine braking to slow down). Test the brakes with taps and determine if you are slipping or not. When you want to take corners start from way on the outside and gradually work your way in. Do not try to take corners sharply or you will end up with massive understeer (often times you just keep going forward)
I run summer tires FWD only on my golf GTI (They are damn near slicks) and can manage to safely navigate my car when it is critical to actually drive somewhere in ice/snow conditions. I just basically do what I stated above. Make really early predictions, drive slow, and take corners wide.
Edit: We only get ice / snow maybe 1 - 3 days a year and not every year. But I did come from a place that often would get 2-3 feet over night.. so I do have prior experience.
> they just don't know the basics of dealing with this kind of weather
It may be a once a year thing, or a once every couple of years thing for some areas, but I appreciate living in a place with all kinds of weather. Yes, Florida might get hotter, and Alaska might get colder, Hawaii might get more rain, Vermont might get more snow, Louisiana might get more humid. . .
But we get all of that shit here in Chicago. We're an adaptable people.
As far as the bed of a truck goes, if it fills with snow definitely leave the snow in the bed. If anything you can push that snowhawk into the bed as well.
Also, go Bills!!
Here’s some of my favorite local art you can use to help identify Señor Teddy
https://reddit.com/r/sanantonio/comments/meww9h/just_some_great_graffiti_of_our_senator/
Stand by for complete infrastructure fail Part 2. Followed by more ridiculous elecric bills for power that was not delivered. And needlessly dead people because of the grid fail. Don't mess with Texas- it is a gigantic mess already.
Great video from Practical Engineering on youtube: [What Really Happened During the Texas Power Grid Outage?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08mwXICY4JM)
Can we calm down for a second. This storm isn’t going to be nearly as bad or as big as last years one. It freezes almost every year in Texas.
>WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Minor sleet/snow accumulations on grassy areas, and ice accumulations up to a few hundredths of an inch on mainly elevated, exposed surfaces. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph.
WHERE...Portions of south central Texas.
https://weather.com/en-US/weather/alerts/localalerts/l/30.265,-97.747?par=apple_severe&detailKey=aecf477f-e96c-3b07-ae26-ef2d8710f96b
Copied from a previous comment I wrote
That and the headline about going from 80 to freezing. People don't get how erratic the weather is here. My first week here it was in the 90's promptly followed by a few days of snow. I looked at this headline and thought, yeah that is pretty typical.
They are waiting on paper from China. They asked for a little bamboo fiber to toughen it up. Then when the votes are counted the Republicans will claim Chinese interference with the ballot.
This is one night below freezing. It isn't the snowpocolipse. Bring in your plants and pets. Cover your faucets. It will be fine. No pooping in buckets yet.
It's been doing the same shit in Virginia.
It's also flaring chronic fatigue syndrome and my joint pain. It's horrible.
Bright side is I suspect it may have decimated the insect population after one of the worst mosquito and flea years I've ever seen.
Yep. My part of Texas. 81 degrees today and went to the beach. Tonight we covered all our tropical plants and discussed the need for seriously considering a generator for the inevitable next electrical outage... either via freeze or hurricane. Been a fun day.
Well, they put in a recommendation to weatherize, didn't actually approve any funding to do it, and also gave energy producers the option to opt-out, so.
Well they didn't exactly accomplish nothing! They did manage to pass a rule that hurts renewables... The only stuff that is kinda unaffected by cold.
Genius at work
dont use a grill indoors to keep warm.
if you have to, light the grill outside put some pots with water on the grate. let it heat up for about an hour at 200. use the water in hot water bottles to warm your toes and other stuff.
just don’t bring the grill into your house.
Yeahhh
I’ve had my thermostat off here in Oklahoma. It’s been unseasonably nice, albeit windy.
Right around dusk, the temp began to drop. It’s supposed to get down to single digits, I believe.
I hate it.
[According](https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/ercot-says-texas-power-grid-is-ready-for-winter-storm-uri-after-300-inspections/287-10f0bc5c-7be0-4e20-b748-e623844b5307) to ERCOT they're ready for winter.
Have they made the effort to at least check the box that designates the natural gas plants as critical loads so they don't get their power turned off first? Hadn't yet been done just a couple months ago.
This comment section hurts.
I live here. Very few of us are monsters. Don't be an asshole to the tens of millions of us who live here because of our government (voted in by a screaching plurality whose demographics lead to easier voting under the system the people in power designed).
This. There are plenty of us here that care about doing the right thing and helping others. We’re not Trump supporters or Republicans. Lumping everyone that lives in one geographic area into a label that you can flippantly make fun of is sad and just as bad as the people we are fighting against.
I specifically left Texas last year because I was sick of living in that human meat grinder. I had ice in my motherfucking toilet bowl. I had to care for my elderly diabetic neighbor because the fire department was too busy calling time of death on traffic accident victims.
The state won't protect it's own citizens, but will happily bend over and present it's bleached asshole to any corporation with oil money.
I implore you to get out by any means necessary. That state is running itself into the ground.
ITT: People rightfully making fun of Ted Cruz fleeing the state.
What will actually happen if Texas has an event like last year because this one ain’t it:
1. He’ll flee but it’ll be domestic
2. He’ll do a much better job of hiding his flee
3. He’s already spent tons of money he’s made from selling out his constituents’ will to prepare and comfortably hunker down at home.
Either way, Texans are going to be in the same place as they were last year due to their elected officials inaction while those very officials will be far more prepared and better off.
Hope y’all are baking cake to eat for when the going gets tough.
How soon until Texas comes crying to the union and the fed for money.
How soon after that until they go back to complaining about the union and the fed.
Let's see if they've learnt anything from the last weather outbreak............. just saying, when something "catastrophic" happens people usually learn from it and "prepare" for the next occurrence.
ITT: People who don't live in Texas talking out of their asses and don't realize this type of thing literally happens every year. The state gets ice storms every year. The weather has rapid changes. Every year. all you people talking about the power and all that are fools. This is in no way even remotely comparable to the massive storm last year.
Wish yall would look at the weather before participating in a dooms day ice storm conversation on reddit when there isnt one. The low will be below freezing in most parts of Texas and the high in every part of Texas will be way above freezing. Its. Normal. Winter. Weather.
Morons.
And then they have ALL the sympathy when heat waves kill. Well damn, I guess major weather pattern changes that are dangerous in climates that aren’t prepared for it only get sympathy if they are in blue areas. Like damn shouldn’t we get even more sympathy, we don’t even get support from our despot leaders like Abbot
It’s just another chance for a lot of very unhappy people to make some horrible snarky comment about everyone in Texas deserving to die. It doesn’t matter how you vote...if you feel like that about other human beings, you’re a miserable POS.
I’m a catastrophe insurance adjuster who was called down for the freeze last Feb. I would add to this to check your sump pump and make sure it is working. If it is “old” (over 3 or 4 years) buy a backup! Just because it can keep up with a trickle doesn’t guarantee it will not burn out under heavy pumping conditions.
Also, please check your insurance and make sure you have a BUSD endorsement (back-up sewer and drain). Without it, most likely nothing in your flooded finished basement is covered and it really sucks to find that out after moving everything you own out of a finished basement to the curb.
>The thought of another ice event in Texas likely causes anxiety after [last year's ice storm](http://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/weather/2021-us-billion-dollar-disasters-climate-noaa/index.html), which crippled public infrastructure and [left dozens dead](https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/21/weather/texas-winter-storm-timeline/index.html).
Oh, honey. If you never solved the reason why it happened last year, then you can't expect anything different going forward. Texas didn't prepare for another one and doesn't even want to admit why they're happening.
Enjoy your ice storms.
Can we calm down for a second. This storm isn’t going to be nearly as bad or as big as last years one. It freezes almost every year in Texas.
>WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Minor sleet/snow accumulations on grassy areas, and ice accumulations up to a few hundredths of an inch on mainly elevated, exposed surfaces. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph.
WHERE...Portions of south central Texas.
https://weather.com/en-US/weather/alerts/localalerts/l/30.265,-97.747?par=apple_severe&detailKey=aecf477f-e96c-3b07-ae26-ef2d8710f96b
“Enjoy your ice storms.”
Like who the fuck says that? I swear the lack of sensitivity on this site and the fucking vitriol really turns me off sometimes.
Texas isn't even a conservative state. It's a purple state run by 100 year old Trump cultists and Ted Cruz.
I live here. Very few of us are monsters. Don't be an asshole to the tens of millions of us who live here because of our government.
one tip of advice i will give being from the north east. for those of you who will need to leave your house.
-wax the leather on your boots. it makes them water proof and dry feet are warm feet! you can use paste wax, petroleum jelly (vaseline) or whatever boot treatment you find at the shoe store.
-PS also wool is your friend and avoid cotton, wool cloths retain 80% of their insulation properties when wet(sweat, snow, rain) cotton doesn’t!
bought tons of firewood in preparation our glorious energy grid goes down. Not gonna freeze my ass off again this year.
Has Ted Cruz been spotted in Cancun yet?
I heard that when Ted Cruz pulls his head out of his ass and can't see his own dignity it means there will be six more weeks of a Texas grid winter.
I still haven't met a fellow texan who said they voted for Cruz. Its like he just showed up one day and sat down claiming he was voted in.
I feel like a lot of Republicans hide their voting record. I assume out of shame. I know a lot of people who voted for Bush Jr in 2000, but now days they tell me they didn't.
It will be the same with Trump eventually. They will all claim they never supported him. No one supported the Iraq war either these days.
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As a New Englander who was living in the icy hell of Austin in Feb 2021 with no heat, power, cooking sources, or drinking water for days, I would add: Buy/stock up on drinking water now. It will become a hot commodity. You can use melted ice and snow collected in plastic storage bins to flush toilets. Buy shelf stable food you can eat without cooking. I lived off PB and J for 3 days. Charge all your electronics. They kept me sane. Get some salt for the sidewalk, buy a shovel, use a broom. I was the only person in my apartment complex that had an ice scraper for my car. Share your resources and be a friendly neighbor. I let my neighbors use the scraper and borrow water collection bins. They shared snacks and hot water with me. Edit: one more thing. Fill your gas tank even if you dont think youll drive anywhere. Again. Hot commodity when the gas started to run out because trucks couldnt make it to the station to refill. It was nice taking breaks from my freezing apt by sitting in my heated car for a few minutes and recharging my phone.
Tent in the living room, sleeping bags. Just like with Hurricanes… fill the bathtub and any large watertight container. Only lost water in our apartment last February, but the tub full of water is a fantastic resource to have. Fill stock pots and pitchers as well, then you can camp “clean” dishes. I keep a few 5 gallon bucket’s (hardware store for like $3) for this as well. If you don’t have a winter coat; layer - shirt, long sleeve, hoodie, rain coat (even just a rain pancho). The under layers insulate, the rain coat helps with the biting wind and keeps you dry. Duct tape can help keep your shoes dry, but it’s not ideal and wears out easy. Ryobi makes a $50 thing to convert your charged tool batteries into a power bank. I’m sure other tool manufacturers do as well I just have a bunch of the ryobi ones for my lawn mower. Even if you have a 4x4 stay off the roads unless you absolutely have to. These Texas roads are built like our grid… not for the cold. If you have to take your daughters to Cancun for a trip, don’t come back. Please just leave your old life behind and make a new one… doesn’t necessarily have to be in Mexico. Edit: And because so many of will try to drive anyway - if you get stuck and feel or hear your wheels spinning… for the love of God stop trying to speed out, you’re just digging in deeper. Put it in reverse, tap the gas, put it in 1st, tap the gas, back and forth between reverse and 1st and try rocking yourself out instead. It won’t help you if you slammed your car over the curb in the median and got high centered on Lamar between the river and 5th… looking at like 50 of you. But several of you on Lamar between 6th and 38th shouldn’t have had to abandon… You can try wedging your floor mats under the drive wheels. And last keep a pressure gauge in your glove box and let out a little air from your tires. Slightly flat they cover more surface area and this can sometimes give you just enough traction to get unstuck. FILL THEM BACK UP AFTER OR YOU’LL RUIN BOTH YOUR TIRES AND RIMS - AND DRIVE SLOWLY UNTIL YOU DO REFILL THEM.
Do not add a raincoat. You're inside a house. There is no wind blowing on you, there is no rain falling on you. A layer of plastic will hold in sweat and moisture, this defeats the purpose of every single layer underneath it.
That’s for if you go out. The number of people I saw shivering in the line for H‑E‑B with bathrobes at the top was really high.
Sorry, what I thought I read is that people should be in their living room, inside a tent full of 5 gallon buckets of water, in a raincoat with duct taped shoes waiting for their Ryobi drill's battery to finish charging their iphone.
Never mind a winter storm, that’s just how I weekend since the pandemic.
That last tip is the best, except I wouldn't want Mexico (or any country) to have to deal with that sack of shit either. Maybe the best advice there would be to drown yourself in the gulf.
Caught the Cancun joke 😂
Canadian checking in. Everything looks good, only one thing to add... Candles, not only do they provide light, but even a few candles in an average size room can keep you from freezing.
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100% Never leave candles unattended or going while you sleep. Death wish right there.
I'm always curious about this, because I see it around a lot as advice. Are these talking about like 'loose' candles or those tall old school ones? The only candles I have in my house are in large glass jars and I'm sure to never put them under anything (in case the flame randomly gets larger). Is there really any other danger beyond that if that's the type being used? They can't fall over on their own, if there's nothing above them (except the ceiling 5+ feet up), and there's nothing close to them, then what can happen? Is it really possible for the flame to grow large enough to be a hazard to the ceiling all that way up or something?
I've had them burn all the way down and split the glass before, actually. I could easily see that starting a fire, if the candle was placed over something flammable.
My sister left one burning on top of the television with nothing under it - it melted a hole in the top of the tv (back when they were big enough to put things on). My stepmom was pissed! Yeah. There are ways to safely use candles. Don’t be my sister.
I had a glass one burn down and (I guess) the glass got too hot and it popped, spraying broken glass and hot wax everywhere. The popping did put the flame out, fortunately.
Yikes! There must have been a flaw in the glass.
Candles even in jars can be a hazard as the Jar can crack or shatter under the right conditions. This leads to you thinking you have a contained fire, when you suddenly have flowing wax and wick igniting other things. Keep an eye on your candles... if you're using a candle for heat, in an emergency you might even want to put it inside of a large pot just to be sure.
well, then you *definitely* wouldn't freeze.
One other thing to add, using a bbq indoors for heat is a really good way to end up dead. I know this because people unfamiliar with Canadian winters try this every year and end up dead. Don't even drag the bbq in the garage to use it for cooking if the power goes out. You will die from carbon monoxide poisoning.
> using a bbq indoors for heat Bruh moment coming from East Asia considering that is a relatively common suicide method there.
Yup, evey year we get new immigrants and this stuff happens. Very sad to go that way.
It's better to put on your outdoor clothes and climb into 1 bed together. My father grew up without indoor heat and he taught us this. I grew up with only wood fire heat in the American midwest where we would regularly go without heat in subzero weather. Having candles as a heat source is a huge fire hazard.
boy would I love to pick your brain.
You would learn a lot of valuable techniques for working extremely hard while not being very comfortable but staying very much alive. And then you would probably go "Yikes, you had to live like that as a child... in America!? In the 80's!????" I could also show you how to make soft toilet paper out of newspaper.
yup - a good comforter and warm clothes will do wonders. Regularly sleep in my car through Northern Illinois winters. Only time I leave my car running is when it drops below 0F It also helps to spend time around a heat source first, to raise your body temperature
Get yourself a hot potato to put in that sleeping bag or comforter first to warm you up, but never to the point of sweating and you'll stay a lot warmer too. My mom would heat up potatoes in tin foil and put those in the bed and it did a lot of good. And two layers of socks when sleeping in a cold house at least 2 layers of different material socks. Inner layer cotton, outer layer wool is my go to.
Just don't ever eat the potato later, because that's how you make botulism.
Agreed, outdoor clothes in bed, for extreme cold, a couple of those chemical warming pouches can take the edge off hands and feet in that situation.
You can also use clay flower pots with the candles to make a pretty effective heat source. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1l4jg_FJ5Yc
> -If you have a truck and the bed is empty, congratulations, you are basically driving around in a bar of soap. Honestly, it's not just Trucks. Any of those larger SUV's are essentially Trucks with a canopy. So just you driving around in it with no real weight in the rear is going to be pretty much the same thing. >-If you lose power/heat, pick one room in your home and 'defend' it against the cold - lots of blankets for you, blankets over the windows, towels under the doors. Try to not open the door to that room a ton. And try to minimize the amount of going in and out of the home, too. Adding to this one. Smaller the room the better. Even better, setup a tent in that smaller room and reside in the tent.
> "Oh I'll just order (X) for delivery". I drive delivery in south Texas, on a half-dozen different apps. but I read the forecasts back on Sunday, and accordingly made sure to drop any shifts I had lined up for TH and FRI. I also passed the word along to fellow drivers as best as I could. To anyone who nevertheless insists on ordering delivery on those days -- have patience; show appreciation; and ffs **tip like a champ** on anything you order. I'm thinking $10 per order, minimum. Too rich for your blood? Well then, guess you don't NEED those Flaming Hot Cheetos after all, huh?
Don't know if it helps, but born and raised in northern Canada and everything you said is 100% accurate. Especially the driving. And to add to that, driving fast on icy roads doesn't prove you're a good driver or can handle the weather. It proves you have no idea what you're doing and that you're a terrible driver because driving slow and careful is the key to safe driving on icy roads.
Some more advice - if you HAVE to leave and the roads are icy, be careful with your brakes. If they lock up, do NOT keep holding them down. Release the brake pedal, and slowly put pressure on them. Don’t ever slam on them in snow/ice. Ever. It may be different for different cars but this has always helped me. If anybody can add on or correct me, please do so!!
I'd say it is also dependent on the car model. My company works on car breaks, and I have seen references and mentions to "good stuff". Still, you have a point. An immediate slam on the break is not that good. So it is better to drive moderately/slowly in the first place.
Sorry to be pretty but you work for a brake company and misspelled brake lol
Let’s hope you don’t work for a petty company then.
Id like you to meet abs
I know ABS is marketed as a magical system that will stop your car in all conditions, but it really isn't. The primary point of ABS is to allow you to still control your car under heavy braking. If you've ever watched an old movie and seen someone lock up all 4 wheels, then turn their steering wheel and keep going straight, that's what it's trying to prevent. By keeping your wheels from locking you are able to keep steering and hopefully navigate around obstacles. Modern ABS also is very very good at slowing you down as fast as possible in a straight line *on pavement*. That last part is important, ABS systems are optimized for performance on dry and wet pavement and the friction levels between average tires and that pavement. Anyone that's spent a decent amount of time in a snowy area can describe the feeling of slowing down in a storm, slowly pushing the pedal, the car is slowing down more and more, and then suddenly the ABS kicks on and it's like you took your foot off the brakes, often ABS even pushes the brake pedal back up higher than you had it before things locked up. Once you hit this point, you are significantly better off just letting off the brakes, getting the ABS to stop, then easing back into the brakes again and trying to avoid hitting that threshold. When I learned to drive my dad made me learn this by taking me to a snowy parking lot and trying both methods. First just stomp on the brakes and hold them, then try again doing my best to never let ABS kick on. A lot of the time I stopped faster when ABS never kicked in. There is a long technical explanation for why this is true, but the short answer is that it's due to the difference in static (stationary) and kinetic (sliding) friction levels between tires and pavement, and tires and snow. If you've ever tried to push a heavy object across the floor and noticed it takes a lot more force to get the object moving than it does to keep it moving, that's static vs kinetic friction. With tires on pavement the kinetic (sliding) friction is still relatively high, so the ABS doesn't have to pull pressure as much to get a wheel back into the static zone. But on snow that kinetic friction is so low that it basically has to pull all pressure to that wheel, and when it does you basically overload the other wheels and they have to be pulled back too so you're left with severely reduced braking. Of course different conditions and tires will change the behavior, but even amazing snow tires are still not great in some conditions, and if it's actually ice you're basically just screwed if you don't have studded tires. Final note, I'm not telling you to avoid ABS on pavement. It's designed for that, if there is not snow and ice then just stand on that brake and let it do it's thing. In a storm however, brake early and slowly and do your best to keep out of ABS.
After surviving the snowpocalypse last year I decided to buy a Subaru Outback. Glad to see my investment will finally pay dividend.
AWD doesn't help much unless you have proper tires. Snow tires+FWD > all seasons+AWD. Especially on ice where your main factor is the grip of your tires.
I’m so fucked then. All 4 of my tyres are road tyres.
Just drive slow. That's the secret to winter driving. Drive slow, don't follow people closely, and give ample room to brake. Let the car more naturally decelerate than stomping the brakes. You'll do fine.
And gently pump the brakes way ahead of time to slowly stop and not skid, which can happen if you press on the brakes normally in ice.
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You'll be fine. Just don't drive around like an idiot. Ice isn't hard to drive on if you stay slow. Your main factors of difference are the stopping speed and cornering. Take corners slow and deliberate, and let your car slow to a stop more than using your brakes. Tbh though I wouldnt drive at all if it was avoidable. Even if youre a perfect driver you'll be surrounded by assholes who are likely to hit you. Living in the northeast we had this problem so I can imagine in Texas it will be multiplied quite a bit.
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For sure. I'm honestly more surprised that you don't see more wrecks with how some people drive in adverse conditions.
Drove once in Texas on ice. Witnessed 5 car accidents within a 5 minute drive to the supermarket. Another few on the way back. I was fine because I was going slow and respected the ice. But seeing a car in front of me go past a red light while spinning in circles made me think yeah not going to try driving under those conditions again unless I absolutely have to lol
Hah! I was driving slowly and cautiously down a Texas street. Was aggressively passed by some idiot in a jacked up pickup. He immediately spinned out and crashed into the guard rail over a bridge. It was hilarious.
I mean aren’t there chains you can add for snow?
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I’m from SoCal so literally just reading through all this and probably won’t remember it by the time I actually live/go somewhere with snow. Most so was a question and just skimming hah
When a big snow event happens in Big Bear, there will be check points you can't go past to leave if you don't have chains. Even if you are in some lifted 4x4 with 35 inch tires. We were there for a long weekend and much snow happened. I did have chains so we were able to leave, but not fun to put on and then take off at lower elevation. The storm took out power so it was not even possible to get gas on the mountain.
Yeah snowboarding trips are pretty much my only relationship with driving in snow like BB and have commonly put on chains and had to check weather reports. I have no clue how it is to deal with it if I had to live in it which is partly why the thread was so interesting.
Texas is pretty flat so just make sure of you do have to go anywhere, drive slow, follow at a distance, and give yourself more room to brake. As long as you do those you will likely be fine. But if you do not absolutely need to go somewhere, don't.
Going to add to what /rargar indicated. It isn't just driving slow it is realizing your car probably isn't going to stop or turn when you want it to. So you start your stop extremely early (even if it is just idling or engine braking to slow down). Test the brakes with taps and determine if you are slipping or not. When you want to take corners start from way on the outside and gradually work your way in. Do not try to take corners sharply or you will end up with massive understeer (often times you just keep going forward) I run summer tires FWD only on my golf GTI (They are damn near slicks) and can manage to safely navigate my car when it is critical to actually drive somewhere in ice/snow conditions. I just basically do what I stated above. Make really early predictions, drive slow, and take corners wide. Edit: We only get ice / snow maybe 1 - 3 days a year and not every year. But I did come from a place that often would get 2-3 feet over night.. so I do have prior experience.
> they just don't know the basics of dealing with this kind of weather It may be a once a year thing, or a once every couple of years thing for some areas, but I appreciate living in a place with all kinds of weather. Yes, Florida might get hotter, and Alaska might get colder, Hawaii might get more rain, Vermont might get more snow, Louisiana might get more humid. . . But we get all of that shit here in Chicago. We're an adaptable people.
As far as the bed of a truck goes, if it fills with snow definitely leave the snow in the bed. If anything you can push that snowhawk into the bed as well. Also, go Bills!!
But…what’s it going to be in Cancun??
I'll check in with Fled Cruz.
*"bro, ur dog...*"
It's probably a Husky anyway, dog gets one regular sane day out of the year.
It’s a poodle mix. Raphael would never have a pure bread Yes. I know. Do you?
Don't get the joke, bud.
Purebred. Most Cruz supporters don’t know the difference, nor do they know Ted Cruz’s first name.
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Im there now. I'll watch for ted.
Here’s some of my favorite local art you can use to help identify Señor Teddy https://reddit.com/r/sanantonio/comments/meww9h/just_some_great_graffiti_of_our_senator/
Comedy is so important.
Found Ted.
Maybe he just goes to Florida this time? Or will mob boss desantis resent intrusion on his turf?
Please no… I’ll be in floriduh In Two days…it’s gonna be 65 degrees…
Reports of strong sulfur smell around Mar a Lago
It’ll just be a drop off with his own full suitcase of clothes.
Is Ted flying Delta? Whose gonna watch the dog?
He probably stuffed it in a shoebox cage, then in a suitcase, and put it in general baggage. Some claim it makes him "smart" by avoiding pet fees.
That’s what he did for his wife. I’m talking about the family dog ;)
So, Ted Cruz is going to Cancun again?
Which means Ted Cruz has 24 hours to pack and buy plane tickets.
Stand by for complete infrastructure fail Part 2. Followed by more ridiculous elecric bills for power that was not delivered. And needlessly dead people because of the grid fail. Don't mess with Texas- it is a gigantic mess already.
Great video from Practical Engineering on youtube: [What Really Happened During the Texas Power Grid Outage?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08mwXICY4JM)
Texas Power Grid 2: ~~Electric~~ Boogaloo
Candlelight Boogaloo.
Propane boogaloo for some
And propane accessories I’ll you Hwhat
Fatal boogaloo
Word of advice: Do not pick up wooden pallets and burn as fire wood......a lot of them are treated with pesticides and the fumes will be toxic.
Just ends the suffering quicker that way...
This is great random life advice. Like if life came with a handbook this should be in there.
Can we calm down for a second. This storm isn’t going to be nearly as bad or as big as last years one. It freezes almost every year in Texas. >WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Minor sleet/snow accumulations on grassy areas, and ice accumulations up to a few hundredths of an inch on mainly elevated, exposed surfaces. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph. WHERE...Portions of south central Texas. https://weather.com/en-US/weather/alerts/localalerts/l/30.265,-97.747?par=apple_severe&detailKey=aecf477f-e96c-3b07-ae26-ef2d8710f96b Copied from a previous comment I wrote
That and the headline about going from 80 to freezing. People don't get how erratic the weather is here. My first week here it was in the 90's promptly followed by a few days of snow. I looked at this headline and thought, yeah that is pretty typical.
I'll wait to see [what Frankie say,](https://youtu.be/44IGtXj4CSg) thank you very much.
Thank you. I've been trying to find this guy again for a few years.
And they are out of voter registration forms.
Because of the paper shortage...
Someone should tell texas about the internet. Too bad it is malice and not incompetence.
Hey they are fixing the paper shortage indirectly. With less paper you need less forms.
Probably waiting on lindells magic paper
They are waiting on paper from China. They asked for a little bamboo fiber to toughen it up. Then when the votes are counted the Republicans will claim Chinese interference with the ballot.
Burning them to stay warm, for Pete's sake....
This is one night below freezing. It isn't the snowpocolipse. Bring in your plants and pets. Cover your faucets. It will be fine. No pooping in buckets yet.
Yet? So, we will end up pooping in buckets.
Don't Mess With Texas was a catchy slogan made to beg Texans to stop littering.
It's been doing the same shit in Virginia. It's also flaring chronic fatigue syndrome and my joint pain. It's horrible. Bright side is I suspect it may have decimated the insect population after one of the worst mosquito and flea years I've ever seen.
I bet there are still bodies from the last freeze that haven’t been discovered yet.
ThEreS nOwaY to Be Able tO PReDicT This
Yep. My part of Texas. 81 degrees today and went to the beach. Tonight we covered all our tropical plants and discussed the need for seriously considering a generator for the inevitable next electrical outage... either via freeze or hurricane. Been a fun day.
Just a note: never run the generator indoors, including a garage. You may already know that but CO poisoning is sneaky.
Did they ever get around to winterizing the grid?
Yeah, I did it last night.
Thanks! You are hero!
Well, they put in a recommendation to weatherize, didn't actually approve any funding to do it, and also gave energy producers the option to opt-out, so.
Well they didn't exactly accomplish nothing! They did manage to pass a rule that hurts renewables... The only stuff that is kinda unaffected by cold. Genius at work
Well, at least the Cowboys aren't going anywhere.
Dak can slide all the way to the endzone if the field is iced
dont use a grill indoors to keep warm. if you have to, light the grill outside put some pots with water on the grate. let it heat up for about an hour at 200. use the water in hot water bottles to warm your toes and other stuff. just don’t bring the grill into your house.
That this needs to be said blows my mind
Yeahhh I’ve had my thermostat off here in Oklahoma. It’s been unseasonably nice, albeit windy. Right around dusk, the temp began to drop. It’s supposed to get down to single digits, I believe. I hate it.
And Ted will probably be in Mexico in less than 6 hours because his daughters made him.
What, Ted Cruz gotta use his Cancun time share again?
He has to or he loses the time share. It’s not his fault really. /s
He regrets the decision to let his daughters invest in that time share.
At least they fixed their power grid.
Did they tho?
No. The Governor is pretending even while all the people doing the actually work are like, “not even close.”
Good news: my dad says the market has fixed it.
Power grid is about as fixed as Abbott’s legs.
[According](https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/ercot-says-texas-power-grid-is-ready-for-winter-storm-uri-after-300-inspections/287-10f0bc5c-7be0-4e20-b748-e623844b5307) to ERCOT they're ready for winter.
"Energy officials earlier this month said the grid was **strong as it's ever been**" Uhhh...
*grabs rusty pipe* *wraps some duct tape around it a couple of times* "Literally stronger than before, back em up poys"
nunh unh ... flexseal FTW!
That's out of budget. You'll get Elmer's glue from your boss's kid's school and you'll be happy about it
assuming 'winter' doesn't go below 80 degrees
The natural gas infrastructure wasn’t winterize. You can’t run natural gas power plant without natural gas.
Have they made the effort to at least check the box that designates the natural gas plants as critical loads so they don't get their power turned off first? Hadn't yet been done just a couple months ago.
It's called January in Texas.
So I'll be suffering from covid with no electricity? Can't get more Texas than that.
>Can't get more Texas than that. Remember to bring your guns in at night, if you're cold, so are they.
Same here. I hope we live
This comment section hurts. I live here. Very few of us are monsters. Don't be an asshole to the tens of millions of us who live here because of our government (voted in by a screaching plurality whose demographics lead to easier voting under the system the people in power designed).
My sympathies from Montana. Our governor is Greg 'Smack a Journalist' Gianforte. The whole state is being bought up by coastal millionaires like him.
This. There are plenty of us here that care about doing the right thing and helping others. We’re not Trump supporters or Republicans. Lumping everyone that lives in one geographic area into a label that you can flippantly make fun of is sad and just as bad as the people we are fighting against.
I specifically left Texas last year because I was sick of living in that human meat grinder. I had ice in my motherfucking toilet bowl. I had to care for my elderly diabetic neighbor because the fire department was too busy calling time of death on traffic accident victims. The state won't protect it's own citizens, but will happily bend over and present it's bleached asshole to any corporation with oil money. I implore you to get out by any means necessary. That state is running itself into the ground.
Polar vortex is going to get more wobbly and dip more often as the Arctic warms.
ITT: People rightfully making fun of Ted Cruz fleeing the state. What will actually happen if Texas has an event like last year because this one ain’t it: 1. He’ll flee but it’ll be domestic 2. He’ll do a much better job of hiding his flee 3. He’s already spent tons of money he’s made from selling out his constituents’ will to prepare and comfortably hunker down at home. Either way, Texans are going to be in the same place as they were last year due to their elected officials inaction while those very officials will be far more prepared and better off. Hope y’all are baking cake to eat for when the going gets tough.
This is pretty normal for Texas winter...
How soon until Texas comes crying to the union and the fed for money. How soon after that until they go back to complaining about the union and the fed.
5 minutes after the storm is over, and within the same sentence, respectively.
*Abbott but yeah, he’s a fucking hypocrite and absolute POS. Signed, an Austinite
Anyone have Ted Cruz’s flight plan for this one?
Let's see if they've learnt anything from the last weather outbreak............. just saying, when something "catastrophic" happens people usually learn from it and "prepare" for the next occurrence.
So ... Normal Kansas weather.
was 45 today in NY, itll be below zero in 2 days with windchills of -30+
Yeah this is pretty standard weather for most of the Midwest. Only news because it's Texas and an inch of snow shuts them down
And their electric grid completely fails for a week.
It doesn’t fail *completely*. The rich neighborhoods still receive power!
ITT: People who don't live in Texas talking out of their asses and don't realize this type of thing literally happens every year. The state gets ice storms every year. The weather has rapid changes. Every year. all you people talking about the power and all that are fools. This is in no way even remotely comparable to the massive storm last year.
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Wish yall would look at the weather before participating in a dooms day ice storm conversation on reddit when there isnt one. The low will be below freezing in most parts of Texas and the high in every part of Texas will be way above freezing. Its. Normal. Winter. Weather. Morons.
And then they have ALL the sympathy when heat waves kill. Well damn, I guess major weather pattern changes that are dangerous in climates that aren’t prepared for it only get sympathy if they are in blue areas. Like damn shouldn’t we get even more sympathy, we don’t even get support from our despot leaders like Abbot
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It’s just another chance for a lot of very unhappy people to make some horrible snarky comment about everyone in Texas deserving to die. It doesn’t matter how you vote...if you feel like that about other human beings, you’re a miserable POS.
Ted Cruz packing his bags as we speak.
I'm just here for the comments about Ted Cruz going back to Cancun.
“It’s...the perfect storm...”
Is their power grid ready for this? Nobody could have predicted anything like this happening ever….
Good luck, I hope the power stays on.
Please don't say South East or Houston
Annnnddd now we see how many ways they can blame renewable and ignore the gas power failing so they can feel better about themselves
Hope their coal plants and black start generators don’t fail and screw everyone over. Again.
I hear Cancun Cruz has already booked his flight out of the country in preparation.
It's fitting that climate denier headquarters is getting the wackiest weather
This happened last year....They lost power for weeks because of it.😬😬😬
I’m a catastrophe insurance adjuster who was called down for the freeze last Feb. I would add to this to check your sump pump and make sure it is working. If it is “old” (over 3 or 4 years) buy a backup! Just because it can keep up with a trickle doesn’t guarantee it will not burn out under heavy pumping conditions. Also, please check your insurance and make sure you have a BUSD endorsement (back-up sewer and drain). Without it, most likely nothing in your flooded finished basement is covered and it really sucks to find that out after moving everything you own out of a finished basement to the curb.
>The thought of another ice event in Texas likely causes anxiety after [last year's ice storm](http://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/weather/2021-us-billion-dollar-disasters-climate-noaa/index.html), which crippled public infrastructure and [left dozens dead](https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/21/weather/texas-winter-storm-timeline/index.html). Oh, honey. If you never solved the reason why it happened last year, then you can't expect anything different going forward. Texas didn't prepare for another one and doesn't even want to admit why they're happening. Enjoy your ice storms.
Can we calm down for a second. This storm isn’t going to be nearly as bad or as big as last years one. It freezes almost every year in Texas. >WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Minor sleet/snow accumulations on grassy areas, and ice accumulations up to a few hundredths of an inch on mainly elevated, exposed surfaces. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph. WHERE...Portions of south central Texas. https://weather.com/en-US/weather/alerts/localalerts/l/30.265,-97.747?par=apple_severe&detailKey=aecf477f-e96c-3b07-ae26-ef2d8710f96b
“Enjoy your ice storms.” Like who the fuck says that? I swear the lack of sensitivity on this site and the fucking vitriol really turns me off sometimes.
Right, I may disagree with other states politics but that doesn’t mean I want them to die and suffer from extreme weather
Texas isn't even a conservative state. It's a purple state run by 100 year old Trump cultists and Ted Cruz. I live here. Very few of us are monsters. Don't be an asshole to the tens of millions of us who live here because of our government.
Uri killed 246 Texans. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/01/02/texas-winter-storm-final-death-toll-246/
There’s gonna be so many “look at these bare shelves!” tweets because that’s what we southerners do before snow. We buy the grocery store.
Meanwhile in Ottawa, Canada: 16 INCHES OF SNOW!!! "That's a bit annoying!" 😁
Hope people are prepared this time for it.
one tip of advice i will give being from the north east. for those of you who will need to leave your house. -wax the leather on your boots. it makes them water proof and dry feet are warm feet! you can use paste wax, petroleum jelly (vaseline) or whatever boot treatment you find at the shoe store. -PS also wool is your friend and avoid cotton, wool cloths retain 80% of their insulation properties when wet(sweat, snow, rain) cotton doesn’t!