Winter Surivial at -40 F

Thanks, Pentlatch. Great link! Read the journal and watched one video segment, I'll be going back for more! :)
 
Unless one has experienced deep cold say -20F and lower it is hard to relate to how just the simple tasks are fraught with danger. I'm no cold weather survival expert , I did get a taste of it while working on a survey crew in Alberta -27F 30 MPH wind , you had to keep moving to keep warm, frostbite would show up as white patches within 20 seconds. Your body would crave fat and burn it up to keep warm. Taking a piss was not fun :(

In his video Les Stroud doesn't say how much weight he lost but I would guess he lost 10 pounds anyway , he did take a little food with him but not much. His sleeping bag must have been very good.

Anyway it was quite a well done show not particularly exciting but very real.
 
http://www.survival.com/art1.htm will tell you about building a firebed which is a good idea especially if you don't have a sleeping bag .

The amount of wood you need to keep warm without a sleeping bag is enormous when the temperature is below freezing , if you don't have an axe then you will not survive more than a couple of nights at best. Just getting enough wood each night is going to take hours each day and a lot of energy to collect. During the night you will have to feed the fire every half hour or so which will make for a less than restful nigh. During the daylight hours ( which may be quite short above 55 th parallel ) you should be setting snares or deadfalls , working on a shelter, maybe keeping the fire going , keeping an ear open for rescuers and trying to be careful so you don't sprain an ankle or get hurt some other way. Anybody want to try it for more than one night? :eek:
 
I think I'd perfer a Swede saw to an ax, at least as far as making fuel goes.
 
Back
Top