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Science of Survival:Shelter from the Snow
Survivorman Les Stroud shows you how to survive a long, cold night stranded in the snow.
A lot of desperate situations, that started out by people having spent a cold night in a vehicle. Not so bad for me, I got my snack food.
Energy bars or any high calorie foods, like candy are all great.
“My sleeping bag, and I even got a candle. If I have to, I can always start the car, every once in a while just to heat up, once I keep the windows crack opened a bit because of the carbon monoxide. And also make sure that I keep the tailpipes clear off any snow. Well, the snow is getting deep, and the hour’s getting late. Let me see. Bottom of the sun, one, two, three hand widths. It’s about three hours. From what I can see, the spot down here, the fallen over tree might make a good shelter.
Les stops in some good time to get some shelter for the night. Remember that hub cap from the truck? A key element of survival is staying calm and keeping focused on basic essentials. In cold temperatures, these are water, warm and shelter.
I’m not gonna knock this snow out of my way, because snow is a fantastic insulator. If you can use it to your advantage, then do so. It blocks out the winds and keeps in the heat.
Without an ax, look for dead wood is easier to break. Les has a neat way to snap logs to size. Driving the branches into firm snow gives a quick and easy lean-to to keep the wind off. Another essential is kindling for a fire.
These branches are dead like this, for the beetles are beginning to attack the tree. Bad for the tree, but good for a fire starter. The ability to make fire is everything when it comes to surviving the cold.
Les has some cotton wool and petroleum jelly. The cotton acts as a wick and the petroleum jelly as a fuel to make it a great fire starter. The cotton soaks up the petroleum jelly and burns just like a candle. One of the biggest problems that people have when it comes to getting a fire going is simple preparation. They want the fire too quickly; they get a little tiny flame. Then they throw on it some big hunk of wood, it’s not gonna do. You got to break it down to tiny, tiny elements, start slowly. I wanna a small fire that I can put inside the shelter and have the heat in there with me. Hub cap makes a nice fire basin, doesn’t it?
