Not as I do

One of those imaginary light bulbs appeared over my head as I stood at the pumps last week, filling my TrailBlazer with 87 octane. It was brutally cold, a stiff wind driving single-digit temps well below zero.

I shivered uncontrollably. For all of my high-toned blogging about layering, there I stood -- woefully under-dressed for the conditions.

Since making a professional move indoors I've been ignoring much of my own advice, wearing no base layer and just a thin insulating layer. I've accommodated the steady 54°F in my basement office by sitting next to an electric space heater. When the time has come to run errands, I've thrown on a jacket and headed outdoors.

Obviously, an important chunk of my preparedness mindset lapsed. Another lesson learned.

Wintertime is, in my experience, the best season for learning. I now know to keep an expanded survival kit -- supplemented with insulated overalls, snow boots, a small shovel and extra food and water, among other things -- in my truck. I tuck my lap belt under my bulky parka and stow an extra pair of Thinsulate-lined ragg-wool gloves (the kind with rubber "grip-dots") in the console. I always carry a firesteel, ideally in a compact fire kit. Little stuff.

A half-century of trials and errors also has taught me things perhaps less apparent -- for example, that using fabric softener when washing wool and fleece will cripple their ability to insulate.

Most lessons, like the one I learned at the gas pump, are as valuable as they are cheap. Once survived, the key is to apply the knowledge -- or, in my case, the embarrassing reminders.