Surviving a cold night with minimum survival kit.

[Wise Old Owl]

Mid October - Alaska - Surviving a cold night

He is using vapor barrier and Mylar Space blankets....

I am looking to see if this is something you would do? Thought's on this....




I am seeing a huge problem with sweat and moisture with this technique. I am betting at 4am it would be raining condensation inside this shelter.

[hunter63]

Hard to say......But yeah, a lot on non-breathable stuff over the top....warmed up boughs give off moisture.

Have done similar with canvas tarp....but am a big fan of folding over....so you have kinda a moisture barrier top and bottom.

Them freaking pine boughs...always seem to have one stick, that goes into into the back....no matter what.

Guy is kinda long winded....but does bring out some good points.
Remember your boots and heavy leather gloves.
Thanks for posting.

[Rick]

At 13:10 he says it's a very humid environment so wear a minimum of clothes so you can put your dry clothes back on.

[kyratshooter]

I would prefer to use the plastic as a shelter with the debris on top to hold it in place, the greenery for floor insulation, the Mylar blanket as a fire reflector and snatch naps while keeping the fire going in front of the shelter.

He is going to wake up soaking wet half way thought the night and everyone here that has worked with plastic and space blankets knows it from experience.

Too many people worry about getting a "good nights sleep" sacked out warm and cozy in a survival situation. Forget that! It generally is not going to happen so don't expect of plan for it.

Plan for a big pile of firewood and catnaps between feeding the fire.

Or take Crash along, he never sleeps anyway and I have never seen him let a fire die!

He also has the advantage of being retired Navy, which means that if he was trapped anywhere on earth he would manage to find a can of Chock Full Of Nuts somewhere in the bush and have a pot of coffee going when you woke up!

[crashdive123]

I am looking to see if this is something you would do? Thought's on this....

Not on purpose. Knowing how is one thing, but going unprepared is the thing that "I want youtube hits" is made of.

[Wise Old Owl]

I would prefer to use the plastic as a shelter with the debris on top to hold it in place, the greenery for floor insulation, the Mylar blanket as a fire reflector and snatch naps while keeping the fire going in front of the shelter.

He is going to wake up soaking wet half way thought the night and everyone here that has worked with plastic and space blankets knows it from experience.

Too many people worry about getting a "good nights sleep" sacked out warm and cozy in a survival situation. Forget that! It generally is not going to happen so don't expect of plan for it.

Plan for a big pile of firewood and catnaps between feeding the fire.

Or take Crash along, he never sleeps anyway and I have never seen him let a fire die!

He also has the advantage of being retired Navy, which means that if he was trapped anywhere on earth he would manage to find a can of Chock Full Of Nuts somewhere in the bush and have a pot of coffee going when you woke up!

OK I have three ideas - but they are not solid... how would you improve what he did?

[NightSG]

Too many people worry about getting a "good nights sleep" sacked out warm and cozy in a survival situation. Forget that! It generally is not going to happen so don't expect of plan for it.

Here in Texas, a "good night's sleep" while warm and cozy in a survival situation usually means you passed out from heatstroke and didn't regain consciousness until morning.

I want to learn survival origami so I can fold that plastic and mylar into an air conditioner.

[hunter63]

...........
I want to learn survival origami so I can fold that plastic and mylar into an air conditioner.

I would settle for just being able to refold those cheapo "survival blankets".......

[Loneviking]

That looks uncomfortable, those boughs can't be thick enough to not feel a rock under you. Then, you have the branches poking into your back, and the condensation. Even worse, you spent two hours to get your rocks hot. After covering 10 miles in rough country with a ruck I darn sure don't have the energy or patience for that.

[hunter63]

If you are tired enough you will sleep........anywhere.
It's the waking up, cold, damp, shivering ....and having to pee....that's the hard part.

[Wildthang]

I use to put up a tarp shelter with one side open, put the mylar on the top and back side of the tarp shelter, and build a fire with a reflector wall of rocks, wood or whatever I could find on the back side of the fire. I built the fire long so that the radiated heat could warm as much of my body as possible. This set up will keep you warm as long as you keep the fire going! And no moisture problems!

[WalkingTree]

I dunno...looks like by the time you put this together trying to make it work, just go ahead and do a more conventional configuration with debris and plastic and the other stuff, and be a bit better off.

I get what's happening in the vid though. Might not be so bad. Is basically a really quick minimal approach. Using hot rocks to make warmth, turning yourself into a sandwich with brush, and some plastic to hold it all in. A way to have almost nothing on your person...just the plastic and space blanket, ones that fold up into almost nothing...but be able to cuddle up for a night.

Too many people worry about getting a "good nights sleep" sacked out warm and cozy in a survival situation. Forget that! It generally is not going to happen so don't expect of plan for it.

I'd sure be trying like heck though to be able to get good sleep. To put something together so that I could, if I were going to be somewhere awhile. Or competing with History channel folks, for example. I'm pretty good with roughing it, catnapping, etc. Able and willing. But I'd sure try to do better. Over the long haul, regular good sleep seems like would be as important as having enough safe water.

If you are tired enough you will sleep........anywhere.

Very true. But myself, I always thought that I'd want to not have to worry about any hungry curious critters messing with me while knocked out. I want a little more between me and them while unconscious. Or get the response time from it. Without having to sleep with one eye open all the time.

I want to learn survival origami so I can fold that plastic and mylar into an air conditioner.

I think I saw one of Harry Potter's pals do that once.

[hunter63]

Might want to just stay home then.....

No one says you need to be warm, cozy and safe......all you have to do is ...Just make it thru the night...alive and with most of your body parts still attached.

[kyratshooter]

Distinct and complete difference between staying alive until you are rescued and running off to live in the woods.

I know from my own experiences living off grid that in mid-winter I am going to be up feeding the woodstove several times each night.

And in summer there will be times when it is absolutely too hot to sleep, especially if you live in the south.

So even with good walls and a roof overhead a "good nights sleep" is not a Constitutional right.

If it were I would not be on this keyboard at 3am.

[crashdive123]

Had to pee again huh?

[kyratshooter]

Had to pee again huh?

Nope, that is not the problem.

When I lay down to sleep my mind takes off at 90mph and every plan, every detail of the day, everything that pi$$ed me off or even a catchy tune will go through my heard in complete perfect detail.

Been that way since I was a kid.

Spent most of my adult years sleep deprived. You have to go to work even if you did not sleep.

[crashdive123]

My problem (other than peeing too much) is that the arthritis in my hips gives me fits. About 4 or 5 I've taken about all I can so I get up and tackle the day.

[edr730]

I understand sleep deprivation. I can't think as clearly. I've had it most of my life as well. There is a natural substance called melatonin that works if you take it religiously every night. Helps the bears sleep in the winter time and helps us sleep too. Kinda resets the clock. There are drugs if you prefer that route. Not good sleep deprivation. I think you know that.

[Wise Old Owl]

Here is a rare, well thought out video take note the layers on top of the shelter and the layers on the side - not sure why there was daylight slipping thru the back... also - found he used a vertical rock to draw the smoke away and used the rocks to heat up then moved them away for a longer fire for the night...

[WolfVanZandt]

Y'know. If you want to learn how to sleep in cold environments, find a homeless person. We have a lot of them in Denver and I've had the opportunity of talking with them.

One thing is, if you have to pee, do it. Holding it in uses up heat resources you need to survive. There's a lot of insulative materials out there - crumpled paper, while being rather uncomfortable, being one of them. A healthy body can take more abuse than many people think. You can stay warm by working but, when you finish and quieten down, you've burned up a lot of resources. There's a point where working to build a warm shelter becomes diminishing returns. Don't overtax yourself in the cold.

I've noticed when I do these winter endurance hikes, one of the after effects is that I have a hard time staying warm. Normally, I am a biological radiator. People sidle up to me to get warm. But after one of those hikes, I have to (yech!) wear cloths at home where, normally, I can ran around naked with impunity.