1. Get your de-icer ready
De-icers, such as rock salt and calcium chloride, are best applied before the snow falls or as soon as it starts falling. But if you plan to clear your walk and driveway in several sessions, which is possible, then wait until you?re done to apply the de-icer. There?s no sense in laying down de-icer, scraping it off when you clear snow, and applying more. Using too much of the stuff can also hurt your lawn, because when you scrape it off the driveway and onto the lawn the salt has a chance to enter the ground.
2. Get your snow shovels ready
Tighten loose handles and replace loose or damaged screws. Remove a ragged edge from plastic shovels by paring it off with a sharp utility knife. If snow plows leave hardened piles of snow around your home, use steel round-nose and square-nose shovels to remove them.
3. Prep your snow thrower
If you can, stock up on fresh fuel (with fuel preservative added) and have spare parts on hand, such as an extra drive belt and shear pins.
4. Properly coat snow throwers and shovels
Coat your snow-thrower chutes and shovel blades (and their sockets) with a heavy-duty exterior-grade nonstick coating. I like Snow Jet (find it here, as well as in some local hardware stores), but if you can?t get that, use spray lubricant containing Teflon, which is sold just about everywhere. Be prepared to reapply this kind of lubricant, though, because it doesn?t form a film the way Snow Jet does.
5. Keep bottled water at the ready
You need to stay hydrated if you?re shoveling snow by hand. And while you?re at it, got ibuprofen?
6. Don?t forget rubber gloves
De-icers can tear up a good pair of leather or even synthetic gloves, especially when you?re working in wet conditions. If possible, handle de-icers with heavy-duty exterior-grade rubber gloves while wearing glove liners underneath so you don?t ruin your good pair.
7. Prepare for the mess
You?re going to need to put snow-crusted work boots and gloves on something. So dig out your old towels, or some floor mats, garbage bags, or flattened cardboard boxes.
Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/survival/tips/7-tips-for-surviving-nemo-15075877?src=rss
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