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Cold Weather Survival

It’s a new year and a new semester, so I’m taking this blog to a new level. While I touched on some basic wilderness survival skills in previous posts, I mainly focused on various aspects of emergency preparedness. From now on, I’ll look at more specific survival techniques, starting with cold weather survival. I don’t expect myself or anyone else to become a survival expert from this blog, but I do hope to at least compile some useful information that you can have in the back of your mind if you ever encounter one of these situations.

As hard as it is to survive in mild weather, it becomes much more difficult when the temperature drops. Let’s take a look at the important things to know during this season of wind and snow here at Penn State.

Priority 1: Secure Shelter 

The largest danger of cold weather survival is pretty obvious: it’s cold. There’s a second, equally deadly factor, however, which is wind. Since the human body is poorly equipped for the cold, it is critical to shelter yourself from the elements if you ever find yourself stranded during winter. This will help you avoid the top 3 cold-weather medical threats:

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  Photo Source

  Frostbite

  • Defined as “the freezing of the water molecules in your skin cells,” causing cell death and irreversible muscular and nervous system damage (Source). Frostbite is highly dependent on exposure to wind, hence the importance of securing shelter immediately. Warm your hands up to prevent frostbite by placing them in your armpits, which is often the warmest part of your body. Don’t rub your skin or use hot water! You might fail to gauge the temperature and burn yourself.
• Hypothermia
  • Unlike frostbite, which usually occurs in extremities (nose, ears, fingers, toes), hypothermia sets in when your core body temperature drops from 98.5 degrees to below 95 degrees. This condition is very dangerous because your organs will shut down if they’re not at the right temperature and you can die.
  • Initial signs of mild hypothermia including shivering and lack of coordination. Slurred speech and stopping shivering are bad signs, indicating severe hypothermia. Ideally, you should remove all wet clothing, get out of the cold, and drink warm beverages. Jumping jacks can raise your body temperature by getting your heart rate up.
• Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
  • Occurs because you use a lot of energy to stay alive in the cold. The combination of cold weather plus the stress of a survival situation burn through your body’s energy reveres very quickly. Always keep energy dense foods in your backpack (such as granola bars or trail mix) if you’re hiking in winter.

If you can’t get back to civilization, you must build a shelter. Luckily, snow is an insulator. You can make a relatively simple shelter by packing down the snow next to the trunk of a pine tree (provided that the snow is deep enough). This creates a walled-in space protected by the overhanging branches, which provides a convenient temporary shelter.

Priority 2: Stay Hydrated

Drinking water is often overlooked during the winter months because we don’t feel thirsty, but it is critical to keeping healthy. Although it might seem like a good idea, you should NOT eat snow in a survival situation because it causes loss of valuable core body heat. A better option is to put snow in a water bottle and warm it under your jacket until it melts.

My Top Tip

If you’re ever outside in the cold for an extended period of time, I highly recommend HotHands handwarmers. With the variety of types (hand, feet, and body), what’s not to love? These have saved me on many an outing and pack a surprising punch of heat… be careful not to burn yourself! Other than that, I’d also encourage you to check out this Car Emergency Kit because you never know when your winter travels might be interrupted by an unexpected storm. I hope you’ll keep a few of these tips in mind this winter, catch ya next time!