COLD weather emergency survival

Kifesmith, I'm sure the cops will find those hooligans that locked you in the walk-in freezer. Grab a frozen lamb quarter and tap an SOS on the door. :)

Owen, you've got a good solution there. Luckily I'd have my knife to whittle a decent grave marker. ...And people said I was inadequately prepared. Hah!
 
that little tiny lean to that you are refering to is called a debris shelter, you pack it full of anything that will insulate you and cover the sides with as much material as you can. sticks, pine boughs, etc. you can start with a downed tree, or use a ridge pole in the split of a tree. pack the insides with as much as you can. then layer the sides as heavily as you can.

this is a standard survival technique taught and written in most survival books.

takes a few hours to build, and would be pretty hard to do in the dark, always make sure that it is large enough to contain your entire body including your head and shoulders, and make a door to pull over the open end to seal out as much cold air as possible.

sorry i did not make myself clear.

alex
 
after reading this thread and the temperature being in the low twenties i took a walk with my 9 year old daughter into our woodlot, i brought along some of the various fire starting tools that i had shown her this summmer, there was six inches of snow on the ground.

after having a discussion about a fire and how important it was in the winter, i gave her some instruction about how to lay a platform, the to collect a large amount of match stick sized branches, there were a large number of pine trees nearby so these were readily available from the under branches of the pines.

gave her a vaseline soaked cotton ball and a doan tool and she was able to start the fire on her second try. as we fed the fire wood that we had gathered we talked about exposure to cold, and how to protect yourself from the elements for about two hours while we tended the fire.

all in all a satisfactory afternoon in the woods and a potential life saving lesson done in an enjoyable fashion. we will talk about a debris shelter this winter, when we get another cold and snowy day.

teach the children - the life you save may be dearer than your own...

alex
 
Well Done Alex. When they learn this young, it remains with them and their future thought processes. Good exercise too, using the vasalined cotton balls (my personal choice). I know many adults who couldn't do what the child did.

>RadioRay ..._ ._ :)
 
Originally posted by alco141
now is a good time to try out your fire starting techniques, with the cold weather,and snow, go out and give it a try, try your sparker, you dont have any tinder, make some, rub a knife blade on the inside of your sweatshirt and start to collect the fuzz, roll it into a ball, wrap that into a birds nest of dry grass, pine needles, dry leaves, matchstick sized wood slivers. try that with your sparking tool. find an old pine stump, kick it apart, the wood in the stump will be full of pitch and will burn well. its a good time to find out what works. if you can start a fire in this weather then you should not have a problem in your usual temperatures.

good time to learn,

alex
Click to expand...

Great point alco141! A downpoar (or snowstorm) is truely the best time to really find out what you know when it comes to starting a fire...particularly when the point of survival training and tools is preparing for the worst-case senerio.
 
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