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

Sounds like that impresses you, but it's nothing new to some of us.

You sound more like a newby or a wannabe, impressed with what you think is 'edgy'...

uh dave, am thinking that spotting scope prolly didn't get there by helo, though who knows maybe that's legal transpo there.


have spent the night out with minimal gear and made it, but twas the lesson that prompted me to always go with the fanny/daypack gig.


I can be tough if need be I'm thinking, but it just seems stupid (to me) for when a few ounces more, I can be a whole lot more comfortable.


tis one of the real joys for me in life that when the unexpected happens I've taken some precautions that ensure me and those close to me some comfort.


no sense in any of us gettin in the long weiner competition, we each do our preparation to how we see fit, gear choices, weaponry, and kit and live with the consequences.

I've read and played around enough that I could probably get by a nite or two without capability to eat or make a fire, but I get just a real kick out of having a small kit that makes even those unexpected siwashes a comfortable affair.

heck there's even a tea bag or two in my kit!

Helicopter access is a common method of tahr hunting there. Whether he hops flights or not, I have no idea.

That it can rain or snow on his head, any time of year, undoubtedly impresses someone, somewhere....

tis why I moved to the temperate zone, I don't do weather!


dang they can use choppers to hunt!

the rich guys gotta love that, guess I'll just stick to hoofin round on shanks mare.

In my opinion, the most important part of surviving a cold, wet night is making fire. The best training is making fires in all sorts of conditions. I think one of the best things to do, particularly with kids, is to make it a game. Look outside on a really miserable day and say, "I bet I can get a fire going." Or take a break while hunting and make a micro-fire. The more you build fires, the more you build confidence. Some guys will pack gear for years and never actually use it. The most important survival tool is the one sitting between your ears. The most valuable gear is confidence tempered by experience.

Honestly, guys, most of us are not going to end up like Robinson Crusoe having to trap to survive for weeks. The most likely scenario is we get "boogered up" by getting lost, hurt or trapped by weather or some combination thereof. Our job is to stay alive and give rescuers every possible edge in finding us. My approach is to plan to make fire, make shelter and make do. As for my one "trick," I pack Gaines burgers dog food. I only will eat them if I am pretty darn hungry... unlikely more palatable survival food. They will sit in my pack until the end of the year and then the dog gets a little bonus.

Alligator mentioned Celox clotting agent in a post above. Here's the direct link if anyone's interested- Celox

used to carry a power bar for the same reason, only going to eat if I'm starving, and after 5-6 years ended up throwing it away.


love the idea about making building fire a game.


fortunately we live in a place where fire making materials are abundant. Birch bark, spruce pitch, old man's beard and a little time and care spent gathering some dry wood and tinder and it's pretty hard to go wrong.

We've got a fire pit outside, and I'll often send the boys off to get stuff and get the fire going.

cause theirs a 5 year age difference in them there's natural competition. lil guy thinks he has to outdo big brother.

it is a good way to teach youngsters fire making skills, like playing ball, if you practice it enough taking the shot at the buzzer in the big game comes easier.


good advice Hampstead

Yeah, kids love making fires and it's a valuable learning experience.

Good post Hampstead. Hard to overstate the importance of a fire. My personal survival plan for unexpected nights out here doesn't include one, but they sure nice...

I'm always interested in people's fire-starting tools and techniques. It's really, really difficult to get a fire going here sometimes, due to everything being soggy. There are times when it's either beyond my ability, or I'm just not willing/patient enough to do what it takes.

Today is one of those days, the rain has a life of it's own...

What you are displaying is not new to many of us. I can walk you to place like that in my own back yard. Weather like what you describe is also nothing new.
I do like your basic point, that your clothing is your survival gear. There are lots of high quality items out there that can do double duty. I'll just add that a few simple items, like a light piece of 5/16th's ensolite foam and some tear open chemical hand warnmers would make a big difference. You are only talking about 4-6 ozs. here.
BTW, if you get injuried, you may not be able to make a fire. Then a bivy sack, a tarp, or even a light poncho to roll up in can make a big difference as well. Ditto with having an ACE bandage along. Just the thing to split a broken leg. Again, just a couple of ozs. E

Hampstead--
Gainesburgers?!? Now, THAT is tough...I'm in awe. Guess I'll have to harden up some. Now, Milk Bones I have experience with, but they come from the better rendering plants.

Great post. I read somewhere a breakdown, by region, on lengths of time people were out before a SAR team got to them. I can't remember if it was broken down by successful and unsuccessful (that is, corpse extraction) exercises. Anyhow, in almost all cases they were really short term events; not many over 24 and damned few over 48 hours. The longer ones you read about in the paper. And they tend to be unsuccessful.

Pretty good justification for the focus on warmth, shelter, water, and signalling. First aid for emergencies. A very small amount of emergency food as a nice option. Everything else is just gravy.

Dave, while not spending much of any time in SE, I can see where you are coming from.

I'm sure it can be done if a guy needs to, but building fire there vs. here is a whole nuther kettle of fish.

have spent a fair amount of time in SW and there are places like that too, though in some ways even worse, there's not much timber to burn in some places and when the storms come thru, sometimes lasting weeks, things get pretty danged soggy.

a guy adapts to his environment.

Boy you guys sure do like to fight a lot. I made no claims to being 'tougher' nor was I comparing US against Kiwi or canadian, it was you guys that did that and I just thought you had made a mistake and picked up on the wet warm thing you guys mentioned. Some people think that becasue its in the south Pacific it must be all palm trees, thats what the picture was for.

I'm sure your all very tough mountain men types indeed. Now that we have all acknowledged that we are all collectivley tough hard mountain men we can speak as normal people

And no I didnt chopper that spotting scope up there. Never been in a chopper in my life in fact although I would very much like to. Too expensive for me, I have to walk up.

I just was trying to make a point about being overly 'gear focussed' although I suppose I screwed it up with my enthusiasm.

We have some pretty miserable weather on our coast range during elk season and it takes some serious effort and time to get a warming fire going and maintain it.

In Eastern Oregon there is generally some way to get a fire going and maintain it.

FWIW In either case we encourage new hunters to go to 1.Gather their materials together, 2. Use their garbage/space bag or other shelter and then make a fire while in it. Intent is to avoid getting chilled.

My dad used to say we kids could break an anvil with a rubber hammer. Well, we could melt an anvil with a couple of matches. Lord, we loved to make fires. Maybe it's being kids or maybe we're just wired for it. As the oldest, it was my job to start and keep the fire going in the basement. Of course, it's an easy job with dry tamarack and good kindling. It's a little tougher when it's raining in buckets out in the woods... but even in the wet woods a savvy woodsman can rustle up a little of this and a little of that. And as with most things, the more you practice the better you get.

The thing about fire is not only the heat and the light, it's a sense of mastery. A man with a fire is a man with possibilities, with hope. And a man with a Gaine's burger for dinner... we'll he's just a dog.

lmao


that was funny Hampstead!


god but we do all get thinskinned at times don't we?

myself included mind you


it's good to be able to laff at ourselves on occassion!

it's healthy

That was a long pissing match, but it was worth it all for the Gaines Burger tip, Hampstead. I believe I'll go buy some today.

...to have with my afternoon tea, perhaps.

I loved making fires when I was a kid, in the interior. Seemed easy then.

I just got in from a (little) trapline...it's blowing hard enough that I probably shouldn't have been in the skiff, raining sideways, and generally miserable. Tough fire making conditions today, but while thinking of this thread, I poked around enough to find some relatively dry starter materials. Trouble is the next size up..that stuff is soaked, for the most part.

I don't post often on the backpacking forum, but I have always found it to be the most civil, helpful and "grounded" place around the Campfire. I think that when a guy straps his rig to his back and walks a piece, it renders some of the nonsense out of him.

As for a fire, it is and will always be one of the elemental pleasures of the woods. As for Gainesburgers, I suggest trying the ones with cheese.

dave,

I'm not there, so am only postulatin

but am thinking if I was stuck out in your locale, I'd spend a fair amount of time getting that starter stuff together, then get finger size dead limbs from downed trees and standing dead ones, break them to get to the dry stuff inside.

throw my poncho or space blanket over the small end of a downed tree, find a rock and wipe it with my hanky and put my fire makings on it under my shelter that I've weighted down to fight the wind.

lot's of prep work needed but then I'd find progressively bigger stuff a ton of it about wrist size and lay as much of it against the tree under my tarp/poncho.

I think a guy would have to have a ton of wood around that was dead to make it work, but i'd go get bigger stuff even if it was wet on the outside.

once I got my fire blazing (if that's what a guy wanted) I'd remove the tarp and just add fuel.

or keep the fire small and sit under the tarp next to the fire and keep feeding it and drying stuff as I moved it closer.

it's good stuff to do when you don't NEED to, just for grins and to build some confidence that you can.


then after doing all that they could come and drag my dead hypothermic azz outa there. grin

Dave,

Let me add a few thoughts. Your standing wood is generally going to be drier and is often less rotten (or as we used say, "punky.") There's often dry stuff at the base of a heavy old spruce and it can be a decent place to make fire if the situation calls for it. When I'm hunting slow, I keep an eye out for tinder. I also look for old healed scars on pines that might yield some good, dry pitch. I keep a little plastic bag full of pitch for special occasions. Sure, the vaseline cotton balls work well (in a little tin) and I have them, but I am a fiend for pitch. There's plenty in Montana where I hunt, less here in Maryland. Once a guy gets a little fire going, I use the best, dry wood to get her strong and then stack the wetter wood both to reflect heat and dry the wood. Sometimes you just have to keep a small fire putting along until you can get the bigger wood ready. It's easy to get impatient and try to build a bigger fire too fast. Sometimes a fire just needs time to sort itself out. As for a real squall, that's hard on making fire. I have had mixed luck with the poncho deal because sometimes the wind is just too much. What I will look for is a root wad or something else massive to form a windbreak and the basis for a hasty shelter. I think of fire as a little baby... and you don't want the baby sitting out in the rain and wind and cold. You want the baby all tucked in someplace quiet.