Can't get it started

My experiences have not been as dramatic. Most have given me plenty of stinky warning, to shut off everything I can. But I have been stranded a couple of times.
One time,was in winter, at -15*C( Calculator says -5*F). Not that cold unless you are bent over a fender, in the wind,and strippin wires and twisting them together,bare knuckled. Thankfully I found a knife in the car, and rigged a bypass to get me home; I stole the choke wire, all 18inches or so of it,and folded it into about three lengths. By good fortune there was still good wires left on either side of the link.I turned around and went 4 miles straight home.