Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Surviving a cold wet night

A huge piece of the puzzle seems to be whether you intend to be above treeline or below.

Below treeline; screw it! You have ample wood to burn. 2 Mylar space blankets and cordage offer excellent shelter during the worst of the night.

Above treeline requires a fuel supply and a w/g stove, imo.

Clothing is conditional to the above contexts, but hardshells really aren't that hard to come by. Insulated layers are prerequisite and supported well by a decent fire.

Sir, Re. Celox, see Tratical Response Gear, under their Ventilated Operator Kits. Celox is available from them. Their VOC's might not be a bad addition to your emergency medical stuff as its lite, compact, and probably the best pre-made kit available to manage GSW type injuries (airway compromise, tension pneumothorax, and severe bleeding, the things that can kill you before help arrives). Designed for the street, it seems to me that they would be even more applicable in the back country. Regards, Jim

Those sparkers are available in a small plastic container with tinder tabs from backpackinglight.com.

I got to thinking once about the conditions under which you might need a kit...some of which might occur without a backpack (e.g., after an unexpected fall in a river that meant shucking your pack to swim, or after a bear has destroyed your pack and generally buggered up your day). And so I have started to look for sheaths that have a loop for a ferro rod, and I put together a very small kit (3.5"x5"x1.1", bigger than an Altoids tin, but not a lot) with:
spare eyeglasses
signal mirror (to be replaced with Mylar tape on lid)
quart Ziploc bag for water, etc.
sandwich size Ziploc for food, tinder, whatever.
prophylactic for water (seriously, now)
butate lighter with duct tape, needle, and forcep blade under wraps. O-ring under fuel lever prevents accidental discharge.
thin whistle
some floss
button Brunton compass
sparker/tinder kit in box (backpackinglight.com, fourseasonssurvival.com)
small Kershaw knife
Potable Aqua chorine dioxide tabs (7 or more)
two larger needles, sealed in tape, for repair.

The container is aluminum and can be cooked in. The lid is o-ringed. It was not cheap ($25), but it's a great size, and I don't want my core gear crushed or wet. I got it from some aviation survival gear company on the Internet.

On the outside I have rubber bands securing a very thin plastic painter's drop cloth, a contractor's trash bag, and about 30' of a thin, waxed, braided nylon cord I got from an arborist supply house.

This rig easily slips into a pocket and is always on my person in the backcountry. I carry additional stuff (first aid kit, ID sil poncho, mylar Space Blanket sleeping bag, food, better compass, better knife, better water purification, ferro rod, more cord, wire saw, shell clothing, hat) in my fanny or back pack, but unless badly hurt I'd be in pretty reasonable shape with the small one. Bug dope, headnet, and half flare are only carried in specialized conditions.

This is all mildly anal, but I've spent a few unplanned nights out. The ones during which I could get good sleep were a lot easier and, I suspect, safer.

I like the sound of that Celox. I do carry Liquid Bandage or whatever they call that Crazy Glue stuff. Another item I really like in the med kit is 3M Micropore paper tape. It has replaced both cloth tape and moleskin and would certainly serve in some repairs. Good stuff. Some of my climbing and high mileage friends like something called Leukotape P better. I found some on the Internet and got it, but I haven't used it yet.

You got some good stuff there, jockc.

I have been thinking of doing a small, take anywhere kit- I will give your set up a good look.

Oh, I forgot...I've got both a LED headlamp and a bigger, brighter, but low weight, Fenix (the Fenix is incredible, particularly the ones that work on CR-123 lithium cells; search on e-bay)flashlight in my hunting pack, but I'll probably slip one of those tiny button LED lamps in the small case. The ability to put one of them on SOS at night for aircraft is something that could save my injured butt sometime...And the post about marathoner's gel has me thinking about slipping one of those little packs in, too. I can think of a number of hunts gel really would have made a difference to my young son.

You guys would like this. We were watching "March of the Penguins" in a theatre in Missoula three or four years ago with some other kids and parents, including a woman I was seeing at the time. The scene of the winter blizzard came on--male penguins huddled together, balancing their eggs on their toes, shoulders and heads covered with snow. Too much time on the outer perimeter meant death, and the congregation was surrounded by dead individuals and abandoned eggs, rapidly disappearing in the snow accumulation. Very dramatic, and the movie theatre was silent...until my boy leaned forward and hissed, "Hey, Caroline! That's what elk hunting with Dad is like."

The front half of the theatre erupted in laughter.

When I first saw this topic post the first thing that came to mind
was keeping my body core temperature up.

As far as I know nothing beats wool in surviving a cold wet night.

Ya gotta love that one!

agreed to a point, I love my wool long johns, but prefer fleece or synthetics on the outer layers. gonna get some spark holes but oh well. If I get really soaked and it stops I can take the stuff off wring it out and be dry pdq. plus it's not as heavy as wool.

but if I was gonna do the marathon i.e. gonna have to spend 10-12 days walkin out, wool would be high on my list, but most of my wool has long been replaced with stuff that drys faster and is lighter

I'm with TENTMAN here, we both hunt the wettest forest in the world as far as I know, and NZ hunting is all backpack hunting, you more or less have to be mentally prepared at least for a night out whenever you go. Ive done it and most everybody else has as well.

You guys seem way over geared. Just my impression.

Your hunting gear IS your survival gear.

As others have said - Wool clothing is the best. Even when its wet its still warm.

No cotton, and for me - no fleece.

Take a small flysheet, (I use the small one off a hennesey hammock sometimes. A fire kit for me is matches, lighter, the same strips of inner tube rubber that Tentman mentioned, and half a candle.
Build as big a fire as you can. Make a cup of tea. I carry a tin cup tea and suger in my dayback. One must have ones tea you know...

But as he mentioned, you have to decide early that your out for the night, stumbling around in the dark limits your ability to do anything, and you shouldnt be doing it, thats when you break your ankle, or fall over a bluff you can't see, and get in real trouble.

A wet night out is no big deal unless your hurt, or get so stressed you get silly and you park up in a stupid place. Apart from the uncomfortable boredom and misery, but it doesnt matter what you do your going to have that.
All you do is sit there and bear it and wait for the dawn. They will be the longest nights of your life.

If I had a flysheet and teabags and were hunting goat up high in the tundra of Montana's Beartooths, come the next thaw I'd be a tea flavored popsickle for some grizzly.

Taking minimal gear is nice and romantic, but as they say, "an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure". I'll be prepared for anything and be a bit overgeared thankyou. You might end up with sub zero temps or a freak storm and your screwed. Why risk it?

like a rifle or handgun, most of the time really not needed, but when you need it......priceless



don't think what's in my little daypack is overkill, but one man's junk is another's treasure.


I got what I need, if you got what you need.....we're squared away.

Your wettest forest in the world must be warmer than mine...we only average 13-15ft of rainfall per year, but a wet night out can be a very big deal. You won't be bored....

No. Wool is not the warmest, or the best. I've used wool alot longer than any of the synthetics I use. It is warm when wet. But it has only 50% of it thermal effeciency when wet. What's even more important is that it dries no where near as fast as the best synthetics. Try using a quality wool base layer and then try a Patagonia Capliene base layer in it's place. You'll notice that wool of the same thickness is a bit warmer, but it dries out no where near as fast as capliene.
When it come to insulation layers, it also depends on whose synthetics you use. Just like the base layer. I've used quality wool as an insulation layer literally all my life. But nothing comes even close to Patagonia's Regulator series when it comes to warmth and ability to dry quickly. In otherwords, there is a wide variation as to how well fleece does the job. I've got several Polartec and Cabela's Fleece items. None of them dry nearly as fast or stay warm when really wet like wool.
Like many have said, you need to stay dry. That means you need to deal with both the inner storm and the outer storm. The outer storm is far easier to deal with than the inner storm. E

+1 to Bro. Dave

Here it can rain, sleet or snow at literally any time of the year. (Granted your winters would be much harsher.)
And when I say forest we are talking mountains and so forth - look up Himalayan tahr sometime...
Maybe you guys should harden up or get out more...theres no need to be excessively cautious, or you'll never leave home

Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that your hunting gear is your survival gear. You dont drag all this extra crap along 'just in case'.
(And BTW - teabags are certainly an essential lifesaver.)
I dont know about 'romantic' just practical. You can fill up your bag with excessive amounts of useless gear that will never be used.
I tried to find a photo on an 'evil' weather day but cant at the moment, so a pleasant one will do. (Operating here would include a bivvy bag and thermerest pad)

I expect the wettest forest in the world, while formidable in its way, is also a lot less windy than some of the plains and mountains we hunt in. That wind...

I ran into a friend yesterday who was wading a river earlier this year, took a bad step, and had his whole quadriceps tear away from his knee--old sports injury, I guess. Put a hitch in his giddyup, but he's a calm guy and it worked out fine. I had another hunting friend have an Achilles go, and his whole calf rolled up behind his knee. Those are strange stories, but I'd hate to die of a broken or badly sprained ankle just because it took me three, four, or five nights to get out. That's why I carry redundant fire starter, water purification tabs, enough shelter to break the wind and stay dry from above and below, and some way to signal. The whole kit can be pretty darned light and make a huge difference.

Carlsen Highway sure is right about picking the right spot, though, and others nailed the importance of giving yourself time to find and prepare it. I've slipped through some pretty grim situations that way. I had my son in a grass-lined and grass-covered pit under a rock overhang in Idaho's Salmon River Breaks in January snow a couple of years ago. No tree cover in that country, and lots of air was moving. He was fine. Since I didn't have enough time to gather sufficient grass for myself before deep dark in that dry, cliff-filled place, my own night was a lot less pleasant.

Theres obviously vast differences between the way we hunt and the terrain, and I dont really mean to sound as condescending as I suspect I do above. But you guys should recognise what this kind of country is all about.

You know, it's funny. My New Years Resolution was to quit being such a prick on these forums but you make it really hard.

I'm not sure what gives you the idea that anyone really benefits from your bravado, but your cup doesn't really hold a whole lot of water since you aren't here doing it. I think you should go to Alaska with minimal gear during a "cold, wet night" and then tell everyone how overly cautious they are.

The particular forum you are spouting off on, happens to be replete with people who have set benchmarks in "minimalist". Nice pic of a real pretty day....

That cuts both ways, laddie buck.

For my part, hearing how other people do bivy hunts, both in terms of technique and mindset, is of occasional interest to me. Claims that you are tougher than I, or Kiwis are tougher than Yanks and Canadians, aren't my idea of conversation.

Nice looking country. Nothing we haven't seen before though.

I'm sure it was a nice helicopter ride....