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

good points Hampstead, agree with all of them.


just like finding your material, the proper site is just as important.

a downed tree by a rootwad would be about the best a guy could hope for imo, unless he finds a cave.

Ive been considering getting one of those catalitic handwarmers that run off lighter fluid. I usaly carry a poncho and sitpad. Im thinking that the handwarmer might make a bit of difference if i had to spend the night leaning against a tree.

I would rather have a great big Whiteman's fire. Going to but off alot more BTU's than a hand warmer.

I bought one of them last winter and finally tried it last month. Mine is the smaller model from jon-e. It lights up OK by following the instructions, but once I place it back in the little red Crown Royal bag fire will got out if I close the top at all. It does this just sitting on my coffee table while watching the tube, so I'd imagine the performance will be even worse when I try to stick it inside my coat. I intend to call the mfg and find out what's wrong.

While I love gadgets and gizmos as much as the next guy, I'm not a big fan of anything that runs on butane (lighter fluid). It doesn't do well in extreme cold. I'm not a big fan of the heating things with sticks. They feel heavy to me for the amount of warmth. If I wanted "canned" heat, I'd toss some tear-and-use chem heaters in my fanny pack. I'd probably use them by tucking one under each arm to help my core temperature.

The best way to have a "white man's fire" is to build your fire at the base of a good dry snag. Under the right (or wrong) conditions, you can get a 40' tall campfire. Don't ask me how I know this.

If you get a fire going, you can heat stones to act as body warmers. They can work pretty well and toss off a good amount of heat over the course of a cold night. I also think some guys neglect building a reflector. This not only throws more heat but it helps draw the smoke. (Some guys never figure out why smoke follows them.)

I suggest the rules of "three" when it comes to making fires. Always carry at least three separate ways to make fire. Always carry three separate tinders. Always carry firemarking supplies in three different places. Continuing on the theme of "Don't ask me how I know," but it is possible to tear off a fanny pack and scatter its contents over a hundred feet of steep mountainside. It's also possible to tear the pocket off a wool shirt or to fall in such a way as to empty one's pockets. It's also possible that a container that starts out at the beginning of day as "waterproof" can, through hard work and amazing luck, become "waterlogged." You may never need three ways to start a fire, but when you do, it's good go have them.

I'm with Hampstead, and have begun to carry a firestarter on my neck knife lanyard occasionally when I'm bowhunting.

Those tear-open chemical packs are fantastic, and light. A really nice feature is the ability to shut them off for later use by sticking them into a Ziploc bag. I'm not a big treestand guy, but I can stay in one all day in subzero temps and wind with the use of them. I even found a velcro pouch belt in a drugstore that places a large pack over each kidney...unbelievably effective.

A trick that a friend showed me might come in handy for you Copenhagen users. The wax that impregnates the cardboard portion of the snuff can will smoulder and burn for a while 10-15 minutes with the lid on, giving you a little pocket handwarmer. I'll keep my firestarter kit in a Copenhagen can for that possibility. Once all the wax is burned out after 2-3 relights, the cardboard makes for a good fire tinder.

Don't try this with plastic skoal cans though!

Lighter fluid is more often naptha (or similar) and not butane. Butane is a gas @ normal pressure, even in below zero temps.

90% of the time that Im in the woods its day hikeing in areas that that a large fire would be inapropriate. Though I like a good blaze a much as anyone, I would rather maintain my comfort zone for an unplanned bivioak, leaving no trace and choose who I fess up to than get "rescued" bye the fire department. Having a can of lighter fluid along with my other fire making stuff wont hurt If its time to start burning logs.

Well, I haven't carried a Zippo (naptha) lighter since my Navy days. Are guys still packing them? Nowadays, I think most guys carry Bic lighters or the fancier "storm proof" refillable lighters based fueled by liquid butane under pressure. Personally, I haven't had good luck with butane at very low temps and high altitudes. I did a little surfing and it looks like isobutane burns down to about 15 degree F. I also found a number of complaints about butane lighters that failed to work at above 9000 feet. I have a nice lighter as part of my gear (Christmas present years back) but I don't count on it.

As for large fires, back when I worked in the woods in NW Montana things were a bit more relaxed. When I am packing, I don't mind treading lightly and leave little sign of my passing. If I am jammed due to weather, an injury or other circumstances, I don't care if I have to clearcut a thicket and burn a cord of wood. The trees will grow back. As for 'fessing up, I agree with the line in the cheesy movie where the guys get caught in the Alaska bush. Shame will kill a man. If I need to be rescued, I'm not overly particular about who does it... as long as it gets done.

I'm a confessed gadget lover, and have wanted to try the little jon-e pocket warmers since I was in about the second grade, freezing my azz off helping my dad with farm chores in the cold, wet Willamette Valley winters. I don't need one now, but bought it out of curiousity, and as a possible option to keep my wifes mitts toasty should I be able to con her into coming outside with me. BTW, I'm not sure what the magic jon-e fluid is, but it kinda sticks while the warmer is burning.

I agree with having multiple means of starting a fire. I'm almos overboard with my "what if" thinking, but the only down-side to that is the additional gear weight. I gladly exchange that slight discomfort for the knowledge that I'll live like a king if I'm lost or otherwise hung up.

Quick-drying is nice, but not much use if you're in conditions that don't give the chance to dry out.

Good info Hampstead but I feel like I ought to say that building a fire against a tree and especially against a snag is dangerous. The fire will eat at the base of the standing tree and undercut it to fall toward you, right across the fire. That nearly killed a good friend of mine one night. It is tempting to build a fire against the base because it is such an effective reflector and fire sustainer. Old timers warned me about that.

Well, I wouldn't normally build a "white man's fire" on a snag and then bivvy out. For an unexpected night out, I like a fire about the right size that I can feed it by hand without getting up and losing thermal energy. Burn a snag and you might have to set back 20' to get comfy.

Years ago, I was moose hunting up near the NW Territories. The tracked rig meant to get us to base camp broke down. I made a nice little fire and slept in my woolies pretty comfortably. One of my best memories of the hunt was waking up to stoke the fire and seeing an artic fox looking at me.

Ah, the ol siwash. The last time I did this was above treeline on a walk in sheep hunt a couple years ago. We got a ram a couple drainages from our tent and it got dark on us before we could get back. Blowing, raining, cold. No way to build a fire. I just hunkered in next to a big ol rock, put on all my clothes, rain gear, wrapped up in a foil type survival blanket, laid down on my pack and curled up inside my extra large OR pack cover that doubles as an emergency bivy bag/tarp. If you have the right clothing and something to keep the rain off it's not that big of a deal. Oh, and there are better alternatives to Gaines burgers- I had salami and cheese for breakfast after that siwash.

I will eat cheese and salami when I'm hungry. I'll only eat Gaines burgers when I'm down to brass tacks. As making camp, a good way to teach woodscraft is to play "hunker." You walk for a spell in the woods with a kid and then you ask, "What's the best to hunker down that you've seen so far"? I've seen guys that don't think about a camp until its nigh on dark. It's an old habit, but as I hunt I always think about what might make a particularly good spot. It's a little mental game that helps me slow down in my hunting, feel the country a little better and once in a great while, it's nice to have seen a good spot because you need it.

When it is cold and wet I prefer to concentrate on the shelter aspect as a priority over the fire.

It is too easy to get hypothermic trying to get a fire going.

Bundle up first then pile some wood up in a sheltered place. If you then pull on an emergency bag and sit on your sitpad with your back against a shelter tree you can usually do ok.

It is a lot easier to start that fire without your teeth chattering and if you can't you can usually get by.

I got in a rain sleet storm one time and kept trying to start a fire a little too far out in the wind and got to shaking so bad I couldn't manage it or much else. I'm mnot sure what would have happened but it blew over and I got in the lee of some rocks and the sun warmed me up.

With properly vented outer clothing, your own body heat will dry them out. That means a parka with pit zips for starters. E

I've been in some pretty heavy weather and there haven't been many times I have given up on making fire. I like to find a little hidey-hole where I can hunker, get out of the weather and at least get little blaze working. Fire just isn't about heat. There's something that just makes a guy feel like anything is possible when there's a little fire working. As for body heat drying out clothes, sure, but I'm awful fond of fire.

Ya boy ain't that the truth!