hasty shelter question

A

adfprpusn

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Oct 27, 2005
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I know how to make a debree shelter in wooded areas and I know how to dig a snow cave. What can I make when there is about 3'' of snow on the ground and I'm in a harvested corn field?
 
If the snow can be packed , scrape it up and make an igloo. If you have a tool dig a hole in the ground. Dig up corn stumps for a fire.
 
Tracks? :cool:

But seriously, if you are in a corn field, chances are it has closeby boundaries, and therefore most likely fencerows, which will have grasses and possibly trees/shrubs. Don't know of many fields that stretch for miles and miles.
 
Not an outlandish scenario at all. I have seen lots of hunters out in harvested corn fields. Weather could change suddenly. They are clearly NOT carrying large survival kits.

I think the answer is given above. Assuming that you can't get to a building or vehicle, you need to get out of that field and into the field margins where there is more likely shrubbery and grasses. (Some places in Iowa, it did look like miles.)

Making a snow wall is problamatic if there is strong wind. You only need an 18-24" wall, but snow can behave like sand - hard to get to take a shape. Further, if you could make a wall, you would likely lose lots of heat to the cold ground. No foam pad. Dry grass at the field margin can supply needed insulation under your body and otherwise. (I have stuffed dry grass into a wind-breaker to increase insulation.)

(Best solution is to beat feet outta' there when the sky starts getting black to the west. You do not need that last goose the license allows.)
 
if you are in the middle of a corn feild, surrounded by snow. and cant get to shelter, you dont deserve to live much longer :) no, just jokeing.

i would go with the igloo.
 
My point was ... if you stay put in the middle of a harvested corn field with 3" of snow on the ground ... without appropriate gear YOU will end up as fertilizer.

I've lived in Iowa, and even the biggest of corn fields can easily be exited with a little walking. Start walking in a straight line and you'll eventually get to an edge. How do you walk in a straight line without a compass? If you can't see a landmark on the horizon, one way would be to turn around once in a while and use your footprints in the snow to assess your direction of travel and adjust accordingly.

The edges of fields are often lined with large rocks (removed from the fields) and shrubs which can be used for shelter. If you see power lines or fences there is a better chance of trees & shrubs since birds deficate the seeds while perching. Large rocks and shrubs could be your salvation - shelter and by winter the shrubs, brush, and grasses should be dry enough to burn.
 
thatmguy said:
Tracks? :cool:

But seriously, if you are in a corn field, chances are it has closeby boundaries, and therefore most likely fencerows, which will have grasses and possibly trees/shrubs. Don't know of many fields that stretch for miles and miles.
Click to expand...

Ever been in south western Kansas?:D
 
Making an igloo as in using blocks of snow is very time consuming and unless you know what you are doing is very frustrating, an without proper snow it won't work at all.

One of the best examples of this is watching "survivorman" try to make one and fail horribly and spend a massive amount of time and accomplish little besides waste a lot of time and energy.

To make a snow shelter with minimal snow, make a huge pile then go round it and poke sticks in about a foot and a half. Then dig it out from one side, making a tunnel in and then widening it until you hit the sticks.

This is really fast if you have two people as otherwise it can be a bit difficult to get rid of the waste material.

-Cliff
 
adfprpusn said:
I know how to make a debree shelter in wooded areas and I know how to dig a snow cave. What can I make when there is about 3'' of snow on the ground and I'm in a harvested corn field?
Click to expand...


WHAT in the BLAZES are you doing OUT THERE? I think this is a trick question.
 
Not a trick question. My wife drives an hour to Omaha every day. She would stay in the car if it broke down, but I often wander what if I was out hunting. The 3" of snow is often frozen. You know, not powdery.
 
adfprpusn said:
Not a trick question. My wife drives an hour to Omaha every day. She would stay in the car if it broke down, but I often wander what if I was out hunting. The 3" of snow is often frozen. You know, not powdery.
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Gotcha. Be a real good idea to start carrying a small tent and a -20 bag.
Food of a high calorie nature too. Make certain also that you can build fire in any conditions, meaning carry it with you and be able to burn what is at hand, corn stalks. Prep for one hellasious fire to signal passerby(maybe a mile away) that someone is in trouble. Anyone that sees a fire in the middle of a corn field is gonna call the fire dept. It aint natural and will get there attention.
 
It's not highly volaclized, but here in Iowa, and out to the west in Nebraska, and North to the Dakotas, it can get NASTY. The wind alone can tear you up physically, but add sub zero cold, and it can get deadly.

Here in Iowa, there's almost always a farmstead with a mile or two, but I sure would say the same about Nebraska or South Dakota. Your best survival tool for this kind of weather is awareness and avoidance.

Local AM radio is pretty tough to beat here (1040 AM, WHO) but that sure wasn't available to hunters of the Armistice Day Storm of 1941. My Grandpa told me about that one in great detail. A lot of duck hunters died on the Mississippi River on that day.http://www.usgennet.org/usa/wi/county/eauclaire/history/ourstory/vol5/storm2.html
 
kenk said:
How do you walk in a straight line without a compass?
Click to expand...
Follow the corn rows.

For those who haven't walked a harvested cornfield, walking perpendicular to the direction of the corn rows is an exercise in frustration. You are forced to high-step over the broken-over stalks again... and again... and again... Well, you get the idea. ;)

If you simply walk between a couple of the rows, all you have to deal with are the occasional errant stalks that fell a bit sideways as they were harvested.

Re: building snow caves Do a Google search for the word QUINZEE. It takes a lot of energy to dig out a quinzee and will get you wet, either from snow coming off the walls/ceiling as you dig or from sweat. So if you aren't already in appropriate wet-weather clothing, making your shelter could further endanger you. Also, it can take several hours for the snow pile to "set up" enough to dig out the interior. That may be a couple hours you don't have, depending on weather conditions and your circumstances. Nonetheless, a quinzee is one of a rather limited number of shelter options you have in open country.

In flat (prairie) farm country, fields are often bordered with ditches. If getting out of the wind immediately is your concern, you could simply lay down in the ditch to let the wind stream above you. Unless the county is incredibly conscientious about their ditch mowing program, ditches often will be lined with long'ish grass, albeit brittle, brown, and bent over from the snow load on it.
 
Avoiding sweating it a factor regardless of what you are doing survival wise, it is a matter of working at the proper pace. Of course if that pace is problematic for other reasons then you have to make hard choices. if it is decently cold you won't get wet because of snow because it won't melt on your clothing. If the snow is melting that readily then exposure isn't a real concern so you can slow way down. It would be problematic though if you were not already well dressed depending on the temperature.

-Cliff
 
Re: building snow caves Do a Google search for the word QUINZEE. It takes a lot of energy to dig out a quinzee and will get you wet, either from snow coming off the walls/ceiling as you dig or from sweat. So if you aren't already in appropriate wet-weather clothing, making your shelter could further endanger you. Also, it can take several hours for the snow pile to "set up" enough to dig out the interior. That may be a couple hours you don't have, depending on weather conditions and your circumstances. Nonetheless, a quinzee is one of a rather limited number of shelter options you have in open country.

....if you're gonna build a snow house carry a shovel with you when you are Pheasant hunting. The snow house is a great skill to know ifn yer in snow country, but it takes a fair bit of time to produce. In the big prairie country you should be able to see bad weather coming and get the heck outa there.
 
I honestly think that if you have an idea of the evironment that you will be in, you can properly plan for it. I happen to carry an OR Basic Bivy with me when I go into the middle of nowhere. It seemsd the easiest way of protecting yourself is not relying on the scarsity of the resources in an open cornfield. I have camped in them several times. Take the right equipmet.
 
Save your sweat efforts and get to a better area then build a better shelter.

What the hell would be doing in the middle of an empty field anyway :confused: :D

Skam
 
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