bladeforums won't let me post the full thing, so here is a link to the videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe9k_7OU6mg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe9k_7OU6mg
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Nearly a Success
- Thread starter siguy
- Start date
after getting alot of great feedback in my other thread that i posted about friday night, i decided to set a more concrete goal for myself with last night (saturday night).
my goal: using as little as i could from my kit, last until sunrise in relative comfort (ie: not a Simon-sicle). I came pretty close to reaching both goals, but didn't quite make it. I did learn alot though, which is good :thumbup:
I headed out at about 12:30, got up to my spot at about 12:45. since my bed was mostly set up, that reduced my set up time greatly. i also had about 3 more hours than friday to get ready. when i got there, it was about 23 degrees F.
my shoulder bag kit contained a tarp space blanket plus this:
my goal: using as little as i could from my kit, last until sunrise in relative comfort (ie: not a Simon-sicle). I came pretty close to reaching both goals, but didn't quite make it. I did learn alot though, which is good :thumbup:
I headed out at about 12:30, got up to my spot at about 12:45. since my bed was mostly set up, that reduced my set up time greatly. i also had about 3 more hours than friday to get ready. when i got there, it was about 23 degrees F.
my shoulder bag kit contained a tarp space blanket plus this:
i didn't use the water at all, or the rice, or the tea and honey. i only ate the package of poptarts. so if i left the food home (i would keep the water no matter what), that would have been a pound or two off my shoulder.
i mentioned i almost reached the first part of my goal, which was to use as little as possible from my kit... well, i brought along a bag with a bunch of extra goodies just in case, and dipped into that for an AMK space blanket (gets :thumbup::thumbup: from me by the way). i figure it balances somewhat since i didn't use some of the kit that i intended to pull from, but if i had actually been carrying my kit and nothing else, i would have had alot harder night.
here are some shots of my shelter. this provides a wind break mostly, and i was hoping it would seal in some heat. it didn't really, but i felt quite a bit warmer just being out of the wind:
the leaf bed was a success, no cold spots from the ground at all :thumbup: the plan to use a bunch of boughs to block off the ends and seal in heat didn't really work :thumbdn: in the future if i use this setup again, i will build up more boughs and leaves on the closed end and make a larger door bundle.
i moved my fire pit away from my bed, since i closed up the shelter anyways. i wanted somewhere to sit and be warm after dark for a few hours, and maybe do some whittling.
i brought along my fiskars slide saw, which i almost always have on my belt or in my bag anyways. this made wood collecting much easier, because i could cut up the bigger stuff instead of just breaking up smaller pieces.
i mentioned i almost reached the first part of my goal, which was to use as little as possible from my kit... well, i brought along a bag with a bunch of extra goodies just in case, and dipped into that for an AMK space blanket (gets :thumbup::thumbup: from me by the way). i figure it balances somewhat since i didn't use some of the kit that i intended to pull from, but if i had actually been carrying my kit and nothing else, i would have had alot harder night.
here are some shots of my shelter. this provides a wind break mostly, and i was hoping it would seal in some heat. it didn't really, but i felt quite a bit warmer just being out of the wind:
the leaf bed was a success, no cold spots from the ground at all :thumbup: the plan to use a bunch of boughs to block off the ends and seal in heat didn't really work :thumbdn: in the future if i use this setup again, i will build up more boughs and leaves on the closed end and make a larger door bundle.
i moved my fire pit away from my bed, since i closed up the shelter anyways. i wanted somewhere to sit and be warm after dark for a few hours, and maybe do some whittling.
i brought along my fiskars slide saw, which i almost always have on my belt or in my bag anyways. this made wood collecting much easier, because i could cut up the bigger stuff instead of just breaking up smaller pieces.
a big problem once i got my fire going was that it was so windy that the fire was constantly whipping in every direction. also, being the only person standing or sitting by a fire creates a vacuum in front of you (due to small air currents moving around your body) so most of the time i was getting a faceful of smoke. this meant that i ended up spending 2-3 hours standing off to the side while i watched my fire burn...:grumpy: it looked pretty though, and it did throw a little heat my way
once it had burned way down i was about ready to douse it and climb into my shelter...but instead i sat down next to it and soaked up some heat. i opened up my space blanket around my shoulders/behind me, and it threw a ton of heat at me, finally warming up my toes of all things.
once that was mostly burned up (about 45-60 mins later) i put several rocks on the embers to keep them from blowing away and to keep blowing leaves from landing on them and bursting into flame..
once it had burned way down i was about ready to douse it and climb into my shelter...but instead i sat down next to it and soaked up some heat. i opened up my space blanket around my shoulders/behind me, and it threw a ton of heat at me, finally warming up my toes of all things.
once that was mostly burned up (about 45-60 mins later) i put several rocks on the embers to keep them from blowing away and to keep blowing leaves from landing on them and bursting into flame..
i considered trying to dig a stone out and bring it into the shelter with me, but decided i might light my bed on fire with the heat. it is also pretty cramped in there, so i wouldn't have had much room to move around it. i then considered piling the embers into my coffee can billy, but again worried about heat. it wasn't until a few hours later when i was laying in my shelter cold that i figured out that i could have sectioned off a corner with sticks, that would be leaf-free, and set the heat in there...oh well, live and learn 
by the time i got into my shelter from the fire, my feet were already getting chilly again.
i actually climbed into my shelter at about 7 pm and got cozy under my space blanket since the shelter itself wasn't really holding any heat. i used my shoulder bag for a pillow. i used my zippo under the blanket (with my hand held above the flame to keep it from melting the blanket) to warm up the space pretty quickly, since i didn't have a candle in my kit. my feet are getting slowly colder.
i mostly laid there in the dark for a few hours until i dozed off at about 9:45. i woke up again at around midnight with cold feet, but rub some feeling back into them. i spent about 2 hours shivering and trying to get back to sleep. i fell asleep at 2 and woke up again at 3 am. when i tried to wiggle into a more comfortable position, i realized that i had no feeling left in my feet. this is when i decided that it was time to head in.
except for my feet, i would have been fine to finish out the last 3.5-4 hours until dawn. i probably could have finished the night even with my feet in the condition that they were, and have been none the worse for wear, but i was worried about doing damage or losing a toe
so i came in, playing it safe. when i got back to the house, the temp was about 17 degrees F, without counting windchill. pretty chilly!
i spent a few hours surfing bladeforums until it went down, then started the long process of uploading the many short videos i took over the course of the trip...
YouTube Vid
haven't been to sleep yet, looking forward to my bed tonight...
in order to solve my problem, in the future i will carry those little instant heat packs in my kit in the cooler months. i will be able to stuff those in the toes of my shoes to keep my toes warm.
while i spent several hours lying in my leaf bed wrapped up like a baked potato, i realized how nice a backpacking quilt would be, and how much i want one
so, in conclusion, i learned even more about my kit, and will be much better prepared in the future. i didn't quite match either of my goals, but i came alot closer than i did on friday. i am starting to feel pretty good about my kit.:thumbup:
by the time i got into my shelter from the fire, my feet were already getting chilly again.i actually climbed into my shelter at about 7 pm and got cozy under my space blanket since the shelter itself wasn't really holding any heat. i used my shoulder bag for a pillow. i used my zippo under the blanket (with my hand held above the flame to keep it from melting the blanket) to warm up the space pretty quickly, since i didn't have a candle in my kit. my feet are getting slowly colder.
i mostly laid there in the dark for a few hours until i dozed off at about 9:45. i woke up again at around midnight with cold feet, but rub some feeling back into them. i spent about 2 hours shivering and trying to get back to sleep. i fell asleep at 2 and woke up again at 3 am. when i tried to wiggle into a more comfortable position, i realized that i had no feeling left in my feet. this is when i decided that it was time to head in.
except for my feet, i would have been fine to finish out the last 3.5-4 hours until dawn. i probably could have finished the night even with my feet in the condition that they were, and have been none the worse for wear, but i was worried about doing damage or losing a toe
so i came in, playing it safe. when i got back to the house, the temp was about 17 degrees F, without counting windchill. pretty chilly!i spent a few hours surfing bladeforums until it went down, then started the long process of uploading the many short videos i took over the course of the trip...
YouTube Vid
haven't been to sleep yet, looking forward to my bed tonight...
in order to solve my problem, in the future i will carry those little instant heat packs in my kit in the cooler months. i will be able to stuff those in the toes of my shoes to keep my toes warm.
while i spent several hours lying in my leaf bed wrapped up like a baked potato, i realized how nice a backpacking quilt would be, and how much i want one
so, in conclusion, i learned even more about my kit, and will be much better prepared in the future. i didn't quite match either of my goals, but i came alot closer than i did on friday. i am starting to feel pretty good about my kit.:thumbup:
siguy, you'd benefit greatly by adding a genuine USGI poncho liner to your bag. That would have kept you warmer through the night. They weigh nothing, and roll to a size similar to the 32 oz nalgene. If you had that coupled w/ the USGI poncho, you would be really rolling. Alot of versatility there.
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The fire would have served you better if you had woven up some sort of reflector from the sticks around and put the that behind it. A small fire and a reflector at the open end of your nest could have pumped heat in.
You also missed a trick by not letting your water work for you. Sounds like your feet would have been grateful for a hot water bottle.
You also missed a trick by not letting your water work for you. Sounds like your feet would have been grateful for a hot water bottle.
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Simon, I love this post, I found myself reading it eagerly to hear what happens next, like a good short story. I went for a hike yesterday and had in the back of my mind the thought that I'd do an impromptu overnight with just my $6 Coleman tube tent and $1 space blanket, but since I didn't have any dog food with me or any food at all, I didn't think it fair to force my dog into spending a cold and hungry night out in the woods. Well, actually that's not true, I just pussed out I look forward to reading your next chapter and am off to watch your vids.
I look forward to reading your next chapter and am off to watch your vids.
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- Jul 31, 2007
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Siguy, awesome job! Thanks for taking the time to do some videos.
Do you think you would have been warmer if you would have had one side of your shelter open towards the fire? I know you said it was windy, but I wasn't sure if the tarp would have caught and reflected the heat enough to make up for the added wind and radiation heat loss?
Was your shelter oriented against the wind?
My favorite winter trick is to put boiled water into my nalgene (let it cool a bit), and then take it into bed with me, I put string on it, and pull it up my body a little. In a sleeping bag this works wonders for my feet. Not sure how much extra heat this would have given you. I've also peed in one, which gave me a good amount of extra heat... if you don't mind cuddling with your pee bottle (it helps to aim well ).
Maybe a trash bag around your feet, and a water bottle in there?
Congrats man! Shelters in the winter is something that I haven't done much of at all, so I'm looking forward to getting out myself. My problem will likely not be freezing temps, but rain and wet ground.
Again, AWESOME!
Do you think you would have been warmer if you would have had one side of your shelter open towards the fire? I know you said it was windy, but I wasn't sure if the tarp would have caught and reflected the heat enough to make up for the added wind and radiation heat loss?
Was your shelter oriented against the wind?
My favorite winter trick is to put boiled water into my nalgene (let it cool a bit), and then take it into bed with me, I put string on it, and pull it up my body a little. In a sleeping bag this works wonders for my feet. Not sure how much extra heat this would have given you. I've also peed in one, which gave me a good amount of extra heat... if you don't mind cuddling with your pee bottle (it helps to aim well
).Maybe a trash bag around your feet, and a water bottle in there?
Congrats man! Shelters in the winter is something that I haven't done much of at all, so I'm looking forward to getting out myself. My problem will likely not be freezing temps, but rain and wet ground.
Again, AWESOME!
baldtaco, excellent suggestion, i don't know why i didn't think of that! i have read of doing it several times... my feet weren't really that cold until i was laying in the shelter, at which point i really didn't relish the idea of getting back out. i will certainly keep that in mind in the future...
the fire was whipping around so wildly though that i wouldn't have been shocked to see a stick reflector burst into flame.
the fire was whipping around so wildly though that i wouldn't have been shocked to see a stick reflector burst into flame.
theo, thanks. i was also thinking about you recommending i get a dog to come out in the woods to act as a heater for me...and wishing that i had a dog...
naked, on friday i tried to do that with my space blanket, but i don't think it helped much if at all. also, the wind was blowing in hard gusts from every direction
but i had my shelter wall oriented in the direction of the main steady blowing.
overall, i was very pleased with my shelter. as long as the bugs aren't out, this shelter will keep my off the ground (minimize loss of heat through conduction) as well as protect me from wind, rain and snow.
naked, on friday i tried to do that with my space blanket, but i don't think it helped much if at all. also, the wind was blowing in hard gusts from every direction
but i had my shelter wall oriented in the direction of the main steady blowing.overall, i was very pleased with my shelter. as long as the bugs aren't out, this shelter will keep my off the ground (minimize loss of heat through conduction) as well as protect me from wind, rain and snow.
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You needed a wind screen for your fir badly huh? Maybe a stack of lumber placed right would create a screen and a reflector for you. Also - I would place your fire closer to your entrance - so you can get out of the wind and stay warm to your shelter.
I think this is excellent. I am envious of you - at your age you are doing what most of us were to too lazy, scared or busy to. Good for you man - keep it up - we are all learning from you.
TF
I think this is excellent. I am envious of you - at your age you are doing what most of us were to too lazy, scared or busy to. Good for you man - keep it up - we are all learning from you.
TF
naked, i remember someone mentioned a technique a while ago for fast, stealthy travel:
sit against a tree wearing a poncho. in between your knees dig a hole about 1 foot deep and maybe 1 foot wide (not sure on the dimensions). put a fire in the hole and cover it with your poncho. this would keep you warm and unseen for the night.
i was thinking i might be able to do something similar, with a hole in one corner, but i was thinking it would be really dangerous in a bed of leaves. i think i will probably bring some candles next time, and try to seal the ends better, so that the heat will stay in the shelter. with candles, i can safely set them on a flat rock in the corner and keep them away from the leaves.
i might experiment some with digging a proper "pit" instead of just having it on the bare ground. i will have to be careful about starting underground fires with roots, as there are alot in this area. i could line the hole with stones to try to block that though, as well as line it with turned over dirt.
sit against a tree wearing a poncho. in between your knees dig a hole about 1 foot deep and maybe 1 foot wide (not sure on the dimensions). put a fire in the hole and cover it with your poncho. this would keep you warm and unseen for the night.
i was thinking i might be able to do something similar, with a hole in one corner, but i was thinking it would be really dangerous in a bed of leaves. i think i will probably bring some candles next time, and try to seal the ends better, so that the heat will stay in the shelter. with candles, i can safely set them on a flat rock in the corner and keep them away from the leaves.
i might experiment some with digging a proper "pit" instead of just having it on the bare ground. i will have to be careful about starting underground fires with roots, as there are alot in this area. i could line the hole with stones to try to block that though, as well as line it with turned over dirt.
Codger_64
Moderator
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You see that large rock outcropping behind your shelter?
That is your fire reflector and windbrake. Maybe if you built your fire againt that and oriented your shelter facing it you could block more wind and gain more heat. Alternately, look for a location more sheltered from the wind.
I am very glad to see you getting back out there so soon and trying again. Improve one thing in your kit, one thing in your method each time and before you know it you will have it down pat! :thumbup:
That is your fire reflector and windbrake. Maybe if you built your fire againt that and oriented your shelter facing it you could block more wind and gain more heat. Alternately, look for a location more sheltered from the wind.
I am very glad to see you getting back out there so soon and trying again. Improve one thing in your kit, one thing in your method each time and before you know it you will have it down pat! :thumbup:
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+1 for Codgers observation. Perfect.
TF
TF
codger, i thought about trying to do it there, but unfortunately the slope ahead of that sharp face is too steep for a bed, unless i felt like taking a slide down the hill when i layed down.
i do see your point though, and there are similar outcroppings all over the mountain. next time i get out i will look for a better reflector like that.
i was looking at the outcroppings mainly as one wall of a lean-to type shelter, but i had neglected to think about a solid reflector.
i do see your point though, and there are similar outcroppings all over the mountain. next time i get out i will look for a better reflector like that.
i was looking at the outcroppings mainly as one wall of a lean-to type shelter, but i had neglected to think about a solid reflector.