Cold Weather Survival

Cold Weather Survival

Author: nomad solicitor on Tue, 2010-11-09 21:30

INTRODUCTION

Cold weather can be difficult to deal with even in a normal survival situation, but with the added risks of a Zombie Apocalypse these dangers can be greatly amplified. Even if you don't live in an area in which you experience extremely low temperatures it is important to know some basic cold weather survival skills, as you never know where you will be when Z-Day occurs. With a little preparation and prior knowledge you will be able to survive in the cold for some time, and experience the relative safety of the cold wilderness which may likely be unkind to zombies. In this brief article I will attempt to give some brief pointers as how to survive in a cold weather scenario. For the purpose of this article I will cover mostly snow and tundra conditions while only spending a short while on mountainous survival.

PREPARATION

The first consideration that needs to be made in any survival scenario is what gear will be useful for survival. Despite the large amount of information regarding Bug Out Bags(BOB) already available on the site, I will provide a brief list of items that are necessary in a cold weather survival scenario:

Warm Clothing: Loss of body heat is one of the biggest killers in a cold weather situation. As such, be sure to pack lots of warm clothing. The best way to retain heat tends to be to wear many thin layers as opposed to one thick one, so dress accordingly. Furthermore when choosing your garments, consider the material. The three major materials are synthetic, cotton and wool. Wool and synthetic will keep you warm, however cotton will not. Synthetic and cotton dry easily, but wool will take a long time to dry. Wool and cotton will more fire resistant, but synthetic will melt, stick to your skin and leave horrible scarring. As such choose your gear accordingly, and for cold environments I would suggest a mix of woollen and synthetic gear.
Water: Often ignored in the cold, water is still vital to bodily functions. Ensure you have adequate supplies of fresh, clean water, or at least some form of purification such as iodine or chlorine tablets.
Food: When you are in a cold weather environment your body will burn a great deal more energy than usual maintaining its body temperature. As such, any food you bring should be calorie dense and nutritious; no need to worry about your waistline. Freeze dried foods are good for long term storage, however they have comparatively little nutritional value weight for weight with other forms of food. Canned goods are generally calorie dense, however they tend to be quite heavy and come with the problem of expiration dates. Also if your canned foods contain a considerable amount of liquid it can burst when the water inside freezes, thus ruining your entire pack. As such I would suggest packing lightweight, long-lasting foods and supplementing your diet with fresh ingredients from the wild.
Sunglasses, sunblock, hat with a brim, and lip salve: Although often overlooked, exposure to UV radiation in the cold can still cause sunburn and associated injuries. Furthermore, the reflective nature of snow can amplify the effects of the sun. Lip balm is a necessary in dry cold conditions to prevent chafing and cracking.
Knife: A small folding knife is perfect. You do not need a gigantic blade unless you plan on hunting dangerous prey.
Waterproofed matches and fire starter: Fire is the biggest morale booster in the entire world when it comes to cold weather, and as anyone who has spent any time in the outdoors can tell you, a hot meal and a steaming cup of coffee is worth a million dollars after a couple of weeks. In the cold and wet a fire will need a little help starting, so invest in some fire ribbon, candle stubs, or hexamine tablets to use under adverse conditions.
First aid kit
Torch(Flashlight) and extra batteries: A small hand-held light is adequate.
Map and compass: If possible these are invaluable for ensuring that one does not become geographically embarrassed.
Whistle and/or mirror: To attract the attention of or to signal to other people, an often underestimated method of communication.
Large plastic bags, tarp, or emergency space blanket: To build a shelter and collect water.
A tent, preferably a low profile roman legionnaire model if possible, or a bivvy bag if you want to conserve space.
A sleeping bag: I always prefer synthetic sleeping bags as they continue to keep you warm even when wet, but down bags are also acceptable.
A small spade or entrenching tool: useful for entrenching and establishing latrines and caches
Ice axe: a very useful piece of kit if you are moving through mountainous terrain, however it is up to your personal preference whether to include this item, so I suggest you decide whether you want the extra kit or the extra space in your pack. Just make sure you get some training in mountain and ice climbing before you consider investing.

In an extreme survival situation, often small things such as insect bites, scratches and sunburn are left untreated, and often can accumulate and result in death or incapacitation of a person. Thus it is important that even something as trivial as band aids is included in a BOB. ^iv

SHELTER

One of the most important aspects of cold weather survival is shelter. If you are inadequately protected from the cold YOU WILL DIE. No ifs. No buts. Stone cold dead. As such, establishing some form of shelter should be one of your first priorities if you are forced out into the wilderness during a cold weather survival scenario. If you can take advantage of natural shelter, such as overhangs, pines (dig under the snow into gap created by the overhanging canopy) and caves, do so, but beware of animals that may have already taken up residency. If unable to use natural shelter you can build your own shelter, of which I will provide four basic examples:

The lean-to: lash some branches together to make a suitably large rectangular frame and then layer the frame with foliage or a tarp if possible. You can then lean this against a tree, cliff, or similar hard object to provide some basic protection from the elements. It is perhaps the simplest and easiest to make, yet it provides the least protection.
The snow dome: Fill a tarp with foliage to create a large ball. Cover the ball with a thick layer of snow, gently compacted, leaving a small hole in which to climb into and wait for the snow to harden. once the snow is hardened pull the foliage out of the tarp ball piece by piece until you have an empty dome. Use the tarp as a floor covering, climb inside and block the entrance behind you with your pack, however ensuring you have at least one ventilation hole at all times. This form of shelter is very good, however it can be fairly time consuming to make and frustrating if you don't make the walls thick enough or make the tarp ball too big, and the whole thing collapses on you.
The snow trench: Dig a body length trench and line it with foliage. Place thick branches as struts across the trench and then create a roof using foliage. Gently compact snow over the foliage to create a solid roof, thus creating a low profile and fairly protective one person shelter. If you have no foliage you can create the roof from snow, but it is liable to collapse on you during the night.
The snow cave: A word of warning: DO NOT make a snow cave if you have had no prior experience. Get someone else to show you how to make one and have at least a couple of friends nearby to dig you out when your first snow cave comes crashing down on your head and buries you alive. All I will provide here is a basic outline of what a snow cave is. To build a snow cave find a suitably deep snow drift. Begin cutting blocks of snow out of the drift to create a small cave, big enough to contain yourself and your gear. Seal the entrance behind you, leaving a small ventilation hole, with your pack. Although quite time consuming, the snow cave provides perhaps the most effective form of shelter out of all four of these models.

If you do build a fire, make a shallow pit in which to light it, as this will protect it from the wind and the rain/snow. However, don't light a fire inside a snow cave/snow dome as it will compromise the structural integrity of the shelter and bring it down on your head. ⁱⁱ

DEALING WITH THE COLD

In the cold weather scenario your biggest enemy, even surpassing zombies, will be the elements. If a person is not adequately protected from the cold they can often fall victim to hypothermia as the cold leeches their body warmth. Symptoms can include: shivering, loss of coordination, confusion and in severe cases the person will stop shivering, become rigid, lose consciousness and die from heart failure. To treat hypothermia a shelter should be set up if possible. Wet body clothing should be removed and replaced with warm, dry clothes. If possible build a fire to dry clothes and warm the victim. The victim must be warmed from outside sources; when the body is no longer producing heat, placing the body in a sleeping bag will do no more good than placing a rock within. A most effective method is person to person contact, so climb inside the sleeping bag with the victim, rotating between people every 15 minutes to minimise the chance of the person treating the victim falling ill as well. Warm stones or bottles full of warm water may be used if care is taken to avoid burning the skin. The best way to treat hypothermia is to avoid it, so remember to wear the correct clothing and use ground covering, whether it be foliage or a tarp, to prevent the ground from leeching away your body warmth.

Even if you manage to keep yourself warm enough to stay alive, your extremities may suffer in the extreme cold, and as such lead to amputation and death if left untreated. Frostbite is when localised tissue damage is caused by extreme cold. The tissue will begin to blacken and blister and eventually die if left untreated. The best way to treat frostbite is to prevent it, but if an area is already affected by frostbite it is best to treat it by rewarming the area with external heat sources, such as warm rocks or water. However, do not let the tissue refreeze as this will cause further damage to the tissue. Do not massage, hit or cause excessive movement the area, as this may cause more tissue damage. Splinting an extremity to prevent movement is suggestible in this case. ^v

WATER & FOOD

Due to the type of clothing you will be wearing in cold weather conditions, as well as the often dry air in mountainous and polar regions, if you are traveling by foot you will dehydrate very quickly. As such you need to ensure that you are drinking water regularly so as to avoid dehydration. If the area in which you are traveling has snow make sure you melt the snow before ingesting it as otherwise you will be sapping your own body warmth and thus compromising your survival chances. If you are going to melt ice for water, choose ice which is rounded ice with a bluish tinge, it tends to be more palatable than most. Furthermore, as mentioned above, do not drink water without first purifying it with either tablets or boiling, if possible both. In a pinch drink water from fast flowing streams, as it is unlikely to have as many contaminates as still water.
Food can be difficult to locate in the cold environment, and it is important to ensure that when finding food you are not expending more energy getting it than you are gaining from eating it. The best places to find food will be around coastlines, streams, rivers and lakes. Here you will find a great variety of energy and mineral rich foods such as clams, crawfish, mussels, snails, crabs, fish and seabirds. Just be sure to prepare you food well and cook it all the way through otherwise you can end up sick or full of parasites. Also, beware of eating bottom feeder animals or high level predator animals in and around industrial port areas, as they can contain high levels of heavy metals which can be detrimental to your health. Inland a good source of food is the starchy bulbs which can be found in the root systems of most cold weather brush and the sweet roots of grasses. Animals can be found and hunted in these regions, however surviving off the land this way can be difficult if you are untrained in hunting. ^iv

TRANSPORTATION

If you are going to be using vehicles in the snow, there are two suggestions that I can make. Firstly, attempt to use a vehicle with broad tires, as more narrow tires will not dissipate the mass of your vehicle and can result in you getting bogged in snow. Furthermore, it is important to make sure that your vehicle's tires are fairly new, as the extreme temperature will destroy the tires quickly if they are old. Secondly, invest in a set of snow chains to add extra grip to your vehicle; the twin dangers of black ice and snow drifts will be your major enemy when driving. If you are traveling via the shanks mare you will suffer in terms of mental fatigue, often being more powerful than physical exhaustion. A good way to overcome the 'wall' is to break up long legs into small achievable distances with designated rests. A good way to do this is on the fly, challenging yourself to reach certain terrain features in the distance so as to give you a visible goal. ⁱ
Do not travel at night, as this is when the temperatures are coldest, and also it can be extremely dangerous to traverse mountainous terrain at nighttime. If possible, try to stay in the foothills of mountains or only stay in the high regions of mountains for short periods of time as they are usually quite barren and lack the food which you will need to survive. Also, these areas have the most treacherous terrain, such as glaciers. If you are forced to cross a glacier do so early in the morning while the ice is still at its most firm. If you are traveling in a group ensure that everyone is roped together, allowing for 25m of rope between individuals. Ensure that the rope is taught at all times so that if someone falls down a crevasse then the rope won't whip and pull the rest of the group down. If someone falls, the rest of the group should start moving backwards and fall on their haunches to take the strain, before pulling the member back to safety. ⁱⁱⁱ

If you are traveling through an area with thick snow and a slope of more than 25 degrees, you are at risk of falling victim of an avalanche. If you are crossing near an area which has avalanches make sure that you undo all straps on your packs and items, so that they do not drag you down if you are caught in an avalanche. Also, fasten and zip up all the loose fittings on your clothes to prevent snow from getting inside your layers. If you are traveling in a group, try to cross danger areas one person at a time. If you do trigger an avalanche, head for the nearest solid ground, be it a tree or a protruding rock, for safety. If you get caught up in the avalanche, swim breaststroke as though you were in water and try to keep as close to the surface as possible.^iv

CONCLUSION

The above article has introduced you to some of the basic points of surviving in the context of a cold weather survival scenario. Remember that although the above points are useful, they are but a starting point to help you with your survival training. There is plenty of literature on the subject floating around and many experienced guides who are willing to teach you how to survive in such an environment. As such remember the basic rule of cold weather survival: STAY WARM. I hope you have enjoyed this article and it kick-starts your enthusiasm for the subject, so get out there and learn as much as you can, prior preparation prevents poor performance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Australian Army: Land Warfare Procedures - General LWP-G 0-2-4
FM 31-70 Basic Cold Weather Manual
Aircav, Basic Principles of Cold Weather Survival, http://www.aircav.com/survival/asch15/asch15p02.html
A. Stilell, Crisis Survival, 2010
P. McKie, Active First Aid, 2006