The Pocket Outdoor Survival Guide: The Ultimate Guide for Short-Term Survival (7 page)

Snow Shelters

 

In the winter there are several survival shelters that can be constructed. However, shelters such as the famous snow cave take a lot of energy and skill. The hole-in-the-snow shelter is one of the simpler shelters if the snow is at least 4 feet deep.

Hole-in-the-Snow Shelter —
Find an evergreen tree that has limbs extending down to snow level, then dig out all the snow around its trunk right down to the ground. Next, trim all the inside branches and use them to line the bottom and finish the top. Since this shelter is hidden, be sure to keep your ground-to-air signals out and clean of snow.

Snow Cave —
A snow cave is an excellent cold weather shelter, but it requires a lot of energy, a shovel or similar device, and some skill. Begin by finding a packed snowdrift that is about 7 feet high and 12 feet or more wide. Then start digging a low tunnel into the snowbank. After you dig the tunnel 2 feet into the snowbank, hollow out an opening large enough for you to lie down.

Next, push a stick through the roof at a 45-degree angle to make a vent hole. In the back of the cave, build the bed platform at least 18 inches high. To conserve heat, the cave should be built just large enough to sleep, dress and undress while lying in the sleeping bag. If desired, the sleeping shelf may be walled in to conserve heat. In addition to the ventilation hole through the roof, there should be another at the door if you push snow into the opening to block the outside elements.

A hole-in-the-snow shelter can be dug in snow-covered areas by digging a pit at the base of evergreen trees with low-hanging branches.

 

 

Since they cannot be heated many degrees above freezing, life in snow shelters is rugged. It takes several weeks to acclimate yourself to the effects of living in such a cold atmosphere. You will require more food and hot drinks.

Regardless of how cold it may get outside, the temperature inside a small, well-constructed snow cave probably will not be lower than -10ºF, and with a candle, it can be heated to 32°F. Snow caves are difficult for searchers to find. Good signals are a must.

There are many other crude shelters that can be made. The secret to shelter construction is simple—use what is available to protect yourself from the elements. Construct whatever shelter uses the least amount of energy to build and, if possible, set it up where it can be seen. In most cases, the tube tent you carry in your survival kit will be the best emergency shelter.

Constructed in a snowdrift or bank, a snow cave shelter makes effective use of the insulating qualities of snow. The wall should be at least 17 inches thick.

 

 

 

Fire serves many valuable purposes in the survival camp. Can you build fire on a cold, wet, windy day with just one match?

 

You realize you are lost or, perhaps, stranded. You have stopped and calmed down. You have wisely decided to wait for rescue. Finding a nearby opening in the woods where your signals can be seen from the air, you take out your survival kit and locate your waterproof match container and fire starter and build a fire. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But, what if you didn’t have matches? What if you didn’t know how to build a fire? The unknowing might say you can always start a fire with flint and steel or with a fire drill or with a lens from your glasses. The unknowing might also say anybody can build a fire. How wrong this kind of thinking can be.

First, let’s establish how valuable a fire can be to a lost or stranded person. Most people lost in the backcountry are scared, embarrassed, lonely, hungry, often cold or being attacked by flying pests, bored and usually in poor spirits. A fire can solve many of these problems. A survival fire serves as a signal, keeps the lost person busy, drives away pests, provides warmth, purifies water, dries clothing, lifts spirits, cooks food, gives light and may be used in crafting many useful items. Fire gives a sense of security and, in a way, provides company. Flame can harden a wooden spear point. The white ashes can be consumed to overcome constipation, the black ashes to stop diarrhea. In short, fire is one of the most valuable aids to your survival.

Use your knife to get into the dry wood found in the center of a damp log.

 

Except for a handful of experts, there are few among us who can start a fire without matches or a lighter. Flint and steel, fire drill, fire plow, etc., make interesting demonstrations but seldom work in a real survival camp. Also, they use a lot of energy. Despite what many survival books say, there are few substitutes for fresh, dry wooden strike-anywhere kitchen matches and prepackaged fire starters (such as Coghlan’s Emergency Tinder or Campmor’s Fire Lighters) in a real survival situation. Make it a practice to carry a waterproof match container supplied with a fresh supply of strike-anywhere matches and fire starters with you at all times in your survival kit. This combination helps make fire starting in cold, wet, dark conditions much quicker and easier. Make sure you replace the matches every six months or so as they deteriorate over several months and become useless.

It might sound silly, but make sure you practice using them, too, and not just on nice days to be outside. Far too many people think that with matches or a cigarette lighter they can build a fire. I know a seasoned search and rescue official who tells me that each year he helps find many lost or stranded outdoorsmen who are cold and without a fire. They had matches or a lighter but exhausted them just trying to get a fire started. Seldom do we get lost or stranded in ideal weather. The survival situation is often, in part, caused by bad weather. That requires building a fire in wet, windy, cold conditions that make it difficult at best. Only people well trained in fire building can pull it off.

 

Leave primitive fire starting techniques to the experts. Use matches and a fire starter for survival purposes.

 

Take the time to learn an old Boy Scout skill—build a fire with one match in a rainstorm. It’s much tougher than many think.

In a tepee fire, the tinder and kindling is arranged in a conical shape for quick ignition.

 

A pyramid or log-cabin fire will burn downward requiring less attention at night.