Imagine it is January, and the sun is going down, it
is 35o Fahrenheit now, but you know that it will drop into the 20s tonight. It is starting to snow, a wet heavy snow and
the wind is picking up. You need a
shelter and you need a shelter now…
How do you make an emergency shelter from your poncho
or a garbage bag?
Before you start, you need to find shelter from the
wind and build a bough bed to insulate you from the heat robbing ground.
You can find a video on how to make a bough bed on my
YouTube channel at Bandanaman Productions [HERE]; also, you can find an article
with more in depth information on how to build a ground bed at the Woodsman’s Journal
Online [HERE].
I always bring a poncho with me when I go into the
woods, unless I am already carrying a tarp.
Also, I always have two heavy-duty contractor-grade garbage bags with me
in my minimum item survival kit.
While sitting next to a log, rock, tree, or other
shelter from the wind, put on your poncho, button it up, pull the hood up, snug
it down, and then sit down on your bough bed.
Now tuck the bottom of the poncho under you to reduce the
“chimney-effect”, as the body-warmed air escapes up through the hood and draws
in cold air from below. Bring your arms
in and button up the arm slits, if there are any, to prevent heat stealing wind
and weather from entering.
I am wearing a trash bag-shelter bag and another trash bag over my legs |
If you don’t have a poncho, you can use a contractor
grade, heavy-duty 55 Gallon, 3.0 Mil, 38"W x 58"H, trash bags. These are great because they are large, thick,
strong, and puncture-proof and they fold up into a small package and only weigh
5 ounces.
Children and small adults will only need one, however
if you are an adult, you might need two garbage bags; one for your legs and one
for torso, which should go on over your head and over the bag covering your legs.
They tell you not to put a plastic bag over your head,
and rightly so, so how do you make a trash bag-shelter bag?
First, cut or tear a slit or hole just big enough to
pass your head through if you get too warm.
The slit should be about 5 inches below one of the bottom corners of the
bag and it needs to be about 5 to 10 inches long, depending on if the trash bag
will be worn by an adult or a child.
Often small children’s fingers are not strong enough
to tear a hole in a heavy-duty trash bag, so before placing a trash bag into a
child’s minimum item survival kit, pre-cut the face slit, and then carefully
re-fold the trash bag.
This face slit makes a hood out of the corner of the
trash bag and provides protection and warmth for your head. Remember, your face should always stick out
of the bag, so that the water vapor in your breath will not condense inside the
bag.
You may consider cutting or tearing arm slits into the
bag, so you can use your arms without uncovering your head and torso. Arm slits are cut or torn through the trash
bag about 10 inches below the bottom center on both sides of the trash bag and
should be about 5 inches long.
Making arm slits |
After making your trash bag-shelter bag, put it over
your head and body, and over the bottom bag covering your legs, if you are a
large adult, and while sitting, tuck the bottom of the bag beneath you. This will reduce the “chimney-effect” as the
body-warmed air escapes up through the face slit and draws in cold air from
below.
With either the poncho or the trash bag-shelter bag,
you can put an insulating layer of debris or branches over your shelter to stop
the loss of heat due to radiation and the wind.
That is the basics of using your poncho or a trash bag
as an emergency shelter.
However, before you decide to practice this outdoors, first
let us talk about safety.
The first time that you practice this, you should do
it in a controlled setting, like in your back yard or just off the trailhead within
100 yards or so from your car. In
addition, whenever you go into the wilderness you should always take a buddy
with you.
The most important thing to remember when sheltering
in the wilderness location, location, location: always check the wind, the water,
the widow-makers and the wildlife.
At night, the winds will reverse and will flow
downhill and down valleys and gullies. Whenever,
possible, find a spot that has a windbreak on two sides one to protect you from
downhill breezes and one to block down valley winds.
It is never a good idea to shelter in valley bottoms
and low spots since they can flood.
Always try to build your shelter half way up the valley wall or the hillside
as the cold air will settle in valley bottoms and other low spots at night and
hilltops can be cold as well. If you
have to shelter near creeks or rivers, look for grass and debris caught in the
branches of shrubs, as this is evidence of past floods. Also on the trunks of trees near the creek or
river, look for chipped bark and other damage, as this can be an indication of
ice jams and flooding.
Always look up before you set up your shelter, to make
sure there aren’t snags, broken limbs or other widow-makers hanging in the
branches above you that can come crashing down on your shelter.
Use common sense when it comes to wildlife, don’t camp
on a game trail, near beehives or near mosquito breeding grounds, or you might
have unwelcome visitors.
A video presentation of this article can be found
[HERE]. Look for me on YouTube at
Bandanaman Productions for other related videos [HERE].
That is all for now, and as always until next time,
Happy Trails
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