Cold Weather Survival Guide

Would you know how to survive on your own in the kind of extreme environment faced by the Ice Road Truckers every day?

Cold weather survival is a challenge now matter how you slice it, but this cold weather survival guide, prepared by survival expert Greg Davenport, will get you moving in the right direction.

First things first: Knowing these three key steps to survival will give you the best possible chance of staying alive.

1. Avoid Exposure Injuries -- How well can you meet basic survival needs with frostbitten fingers, swollen painful feet or hypothermia? Odds are, not very well. You must avoid exposure injuries at all cost. Staying dry and creating a barrier between your body and the wind and cold is essential. Wearing appropriate layers of clothing (a base wicking layer like silk or polyester, an insulating layer like wool or fleece and an outer protective layer like Gore-Tex, as well as a hat, insulated gloves, wool blend socks and boots); seeking shelter (using your vehicle or creating one with a tarp or from trees, tree boughs and/or snow); and buildling a fire (to warm up by, dry clothes or create a warm drink) are the foundation of avoiding cold injuries.
2. Stay Hydrated -- Without water, you'll die in approximately two to five days. In addition, dehydration will directly affect your ability to make logical decisions and handle any problems that may arise. In cold weather, fluids are lost when the body works to warm itself. Prevention is the best way to avoid dehydration. To accomplish this, drink at least 2 quarts of water per day during minimal activity and 4 to 6 quarts per day during more intense activity. Obvious water sources include surface streams, lakes, ponds and precipitation. Remember that eating snow will cause your body to lose heat, so melt and warm it up before drinking. To do this, use a fire or put it in a container (preferably with some water already in it) and shake the container or put it between the layers of your clothing to warm it.
3. Signal for help -- Without a signal, how will anyone know you need to be rescued? There are two basic types of signals: those that attract rescue and those that pinpoint your exact location.

   Signals that attract rescue include aerial flares (these flares shoot 800-1,200 feet into the air and burn a bright red color for 8 to 12 seconds as they fall back to the ground), cell phones and a personal locator beacon (a satellite system that gives your coordinates to a base station that in turn alerts the appropriate rescue organization of your general location).

   Signals that pinpoint your position include a signal mirror, whistle, smoke flare and a ground-to-air signal. If you are going to create the latter, make sure it is at least 18 feet long by 3 feet wide, with sharp angles, and made out of a material that contrasts with the surrounding ground.

   Become familiar with the proper use of all your signals in advance, as time will be of the essence. Avoid wasting any one-time use signals, like an aerial flare or smoke flare, by making sure that a potential rescuer is close enough to see or hear the signal before setting it off.

Five Myths of Cold Weather Survival

• Myth # 1: Blowing on your fingers will help warm them. -- Never blow on your hands to warm them since the resultant moisture (present in exhaled air) may cause the skin to freeze or re-freeze, increasing your risk of frostbite or making it worse. A better choice is to place cold fingers in the armpits or groin area, where your body heat will slowly re-warm them.
• Myth #2: Drinking alcohol will help you stay warm. -- Alcohol causes blood vessels to dilate, which increases blood flow to the surface of the skin and away from your body's core (brain and vital organs). Heat is then quickly radiated away from the body.
• Myth #3: Eat snow to stave off thirst. -- Although snow breaks down into a liquid when eaten, it should be melted first. If snow is eaten, your body uses energy to break it down to a liquid, and heat is lost in the process. Better to melt and warm the snow before consuming it. This can be done by adding it to a container (partially filled with water) and shaking the container until the snow melts completely or placing the container BETWEEN the layers of your clothing (allowing radiant body heat to melt the snow). If you have a stove or fire, melting snow is that much easier (provided you have a container to do it in).
• Myth #4: Snow is always safe to drink. -- Although snow can often be safe to drink (be sure to melt and warm it first), it's better to purify it first. A fresh blanket of snow may hide an animal's tracks and could be contaminated by animal waste. Of course, if you can collect snow in a clean container directly from the air, consider it safe to drink.
• Myth #5 Bundle up or you'll catch a cold. -- How well you bundle up has nothing to do with catching a cold or not catching one. Viruses and bacteria cause upper respiratory illnesses, not cold air. These illnesses are spread through the air. In other words, colds are caught when you are close to someone (who has a cold) that coughs or sneezes and not because you are cold. You are far more at risk of a cold weather injury when in a cold weather survival situation than you are of catching a cold.

10 essential items needed for cold weather survival

1. The Right Clothing: Clothes are your first line of personal protection. They help keep you warm (and cool) during harsh conditions. Pack layers, so you`'l have the ability to regulate your body temperature by adding or removing a layer of clothing. Carry a base layer (polyester or silk thermal long underwear), an insulating layer like wool or fleece and rain gear. In addition, pack a hat, work gloves, wool-blend socks and a sturdy, warm pair of boots.
2. Shelter: A shelter is the second line of personal protection. Ideally, a shelter should protect you from both wind and moisture. Good options include (listed in order of preference and performance): a tent, a Bivy bag or a tarp (8 foot by 10 foot). Regardless of which option you choose, make sure to pack aluminum stakes and parachute line.
3. Heat: An adequate heat source makes a big difference in cold weather survival Options include heavy-duty windproof and waterproof matches, a lighter or a sparker. In addition, pack tinder (material that lights from a spark or small flame). There are myriad commercial tinder products available and any will work. You can also make your own tinder by putting 100 percent cotton balls and some Vaseline into a zip-topped bag and massaging the bag until the Vaseline saturates the cotton balls. A heat source and one bag of cotton-ball tinder is all you`ll need to start a fire. Make sure you build your fire on a properly prepared site (minimum 3-foot bare ground fire circle located away from debris that might catch from a spark).
4. Signaling: Without a signal how will anyone know you need to be rescued? At a minimum, always carry a cell phone (with extra batteries), a signal mirror and a whistle. Other items to consider include smoke and aerial flares, strobe lights and glow sticks.
5. Water: You can't survive more than two to five days without water. Be sure to bring water along whenever you might face a survival situation, but don't stop there: You should also have a means of purifying more. Iodine and chlorine tablets are both good options.
6. Food: Food is less important than water (you can survive three weeks to several months without food), and your body needs water to digest food, so don't eat if you don't have enough to drink. Lightweight items like dehydrated foods and energy bars are great options. Remember to bring a pan to boil water in if you bring along dehydrated foods.
7. Navigation: In the majority of survival situations, stay put! Rescue will come. There are, however, rare instances in which you may need to find your own way out. Without a map and compass (and the knowledge of how to use them), this may not be possible. Other items to consider are a GPS or a Personal Locater Beacon, which will send a signal, via satellite, to a ground receiving station that in turn alerts an appropriate rescue agency of your location.
8. Medical Kit: Purchase a pre-packed kit, or make your own. Include bandages, antibiotic ointment, mole skin, splints, iodine, alcohol swabs and chemical hand warmers. Another item to consider is a Sam splint, which will be very useful in the case of an arm or ankle injury.
9. Basic Tools: Tools that will help facilitate daily tasks--from preparing a shelter to repairing torn clothing--include a multi-tool unit like a Leatherman, a pruning saw, large and medium fixed blade knives, a folding knife and a sewing needle and thread.
10. Light Source: A headlamp will allow you to see at night without tying up one hand to hold a traditional flashlight.