The Woodsman's Journal Online: January 2023

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Winter Survival for Tommy...Part Three©

If you asked ten pilots when they would least like to be stranded in the wilderness, most would say winter. And remember, depending on where you are, winter, can be year round. A car or plane crash is a frightening, traumatic experience, do you know what to do? For answers read Part Three of this five parts series, Part Two is HERE – Author’s Note.

Remember, STAY close to the wreckage; it may be hard to see, but it is far easier to see it, than it is to see a single person.

A crashed plane less than 900 feet (275 meters) below, would you have spotted it? Published in Air & Space Magazine, March 2008, photograph by Michael Behar, HERE.

Third, call for help, as soon as possible after the injured are cared for and everyone is sheltered from the wind and weather.

Whether you were in a car accident, or a plane wreck, as soon as all medical emergencies are cared for and everyone is temporally sheltered from the weather, pull out your cell phone, providing it is still working, and call for help. If your phone is broken, DON’T throw it away, you can use it for other survival chores later.

An excerpt from “Survive: Beyond the Forced Landing”, by the Air Safety Institute, AOPA, HERE.

If you are in a plane crash here is the good news, 35 years ago a law was passed requiring virtually all aircraft in the United States to carry an emergency locator transmitter or ELT, this beacon is activated by a hard jolt, such as a plane crash and immediately begins to transmit. ELTs come in either the older analog 121.5 megahertz model or newer digital 406 megahertz model. Radio direction finders, carried by search planes or ground based searchers can zero-on these emergency signals.

The newer 406 models, with an optional GPS unit, can give searchers a fix on the ELTs location in 5 to 15 minutes, although without the optional GPS unit, it might take three or more hours. ELTs are installed inside the plane near the tail, where they have the best chance of surviving the crash, their exterior antennas are mounted on top of the fuselage.

Now for the bad news, a NASA study showed that in 75% of plane crashes in which an older model 121.5 megahertz ELT was involved, the transmitter or their antenna were disabled or destroyed on impact or by the subsequent fire and never activated. And now for even more bad news, even if the ELT survives the plane crash and its antenna is intact, it can’t transmit if it is upside down, underwater, or in dense foliage. Now for the worse news, 90% of all ELTs installed in aircraft in the United States are the older 121.5 models. And because of their unreliability, as of February 1, 2009, this frequency is no longer being kept under observation by the multi-national organization charged with monitoring ELT transmissions!⁹ So, in the case of an airplane crash, DO NOT assume that your ELT is working and that its signals are being received.

For more on calling for help and signals in general read “The Top Ten Wilderness Survival Skills...Number Eight©”, HERE.

An excerpt from “Improvising for Survival”, FAA General Aviation News, January-February 1987, HERE.

Fourth, once you are certain that there is no chance of fire, or the fire is out, it is time to approach the wreck to see what you can use to help you survive.

First look for a radio or a SPOT Satellite Messenger (HERE) or another similar device. If there is a working radio, or SPOT unit, use it to alert emergency personnel as soon as possible. The sooner you can get emergency services activated, the sooner they can begin looking for you.

Your second concern is shelter, and clothing has been described as “shelter close to the body”. Clothing keeps you warm by trapping your body’s radiated heat with dead air space and it protects you from the wet and wind. Extra clothing, if available, should be passed out to anyone in need, as soon as possible.

The actual survival gear found in wrecked plane or car is usually determined by its driver/pilot/owner, and the quantity will vary. However, in the case of planes flying over Alaska or the “sparsely settled” areas of Canada, the minimum survival gear is set by law. Alaska requires as a minimum, depending on the season, that an airplane carries, enough food for each occupant for one week, an axe, a first-aid kit, fishing tackle, a knife, some type of fire starter, etc., all sealed in metal containers. Additionally, for flights between October 15th to April 1^st of each year, the law requires a pair of snowshoes, one sleeping bag and one wool blanket for each occupant over four¹⁰.

Improvisation -- a Survivor’s Most Valuable Asset

Once you have found and inventoried all the survival gear in the wreck, it is time to improvise for survival!

Use your imagination, the wreckage and luggage of either a plane or a car are full of resources that can help you.

With a car wreck, the hubcaps, the car’s battery, that flashlight in the glove box, the car seats, car mats, the hood, wire, tires which can be burned to produce black smoke, gasoline, oil, wires, that Altoids® tin, etc., can all be used to help you survive.

“I used the lid from an Altoids can, reaching through an opening in the cockpit and flashing it”, Dennis Steinbock, Air & Space Magazine, March 2008

Plane wrecks are similar and are full of potential survival tools. Ailerons can be used as snow cutting tools, brake fluid that can be used as a fire starter, cables as cordage, disk brake plates as a signaling mirrors, the engine cowl as a snow shovel or fire reflector, the nose cone as a fire pot, wing sections, fuselage skin, charts and maps, doors, seat belts, vertical stabilizers that can be used as a platform or shelter support, the air filter that can be used as a fire starter, and etc.

Even a busted up cell phone can be used to create a fire by short circuiting the battery and creating a red hot wire that can ignite dry tinder, such as tampon cotton, #000 steel wool, toilet paper, or other fine and dry materials. Behind the phone’s screen is a shiny surface, which can be used as an improvised signal mirror, and the flexible wire of the headphones can be used cordage¹¹.

Oh, as you find supplies, if the weather is stormy, with drifting snow and wind, take care that they are not lost, damaged or blown away.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Winter Survival for Tommy...Part Four©”, where we will talk about getting out of the wet and the wind and finding shelter.

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site. I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

⁹ “The Search for Steve Fossett: One tough job for the U.S. Civil Air Patrol”, by Michael Behar, Air & Space Magazine, March 2008

¹⁰ Legally to fly over any of the sparsely populated regions of Canada (areas north of 52 degrees North latitude) or Alaska the pilot must have certain minimum survival supplies on board.

For information about Alaska, read “Flying in Alaska”, HERE, for more information on both Alaska and Canada read “Alaskan & Canadian Survival Kit Regulations”, HERE, by Doug Ritter, one of the elder statesmen of aviation survival.

¹¹ “Survive With Your Cellphone”, by Creek Stewart

Sources

Air Safety Institute, AOPA; “Survive: Beyond the Forced Landing”, [Frederick, Maryland], http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=57&ved=0ahUKEwjjpoab-eTYAhWMp5QKHYYIA0o4MhAWCEswBg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aopa.org%2F-%2Fmedia%2Ffiles%2Faopa%2Fhome%2Fpilot%2520resources%2Fasi%2Fsafety%2520advisors%2Fsa31.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0MXBFxEgfsS5ow6y80vbbv, accessed September 1, 2021

Airscoop; “Winter Survival”, Approach, Jan 1974, Volume 19, Issue 7, page 12 – 14, https://books.google.com/books?id=CJlUaA0_rtMC&pg=PP14&dq=snow+survival&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimj8jA-Lb8AhU0MVkFHY-YBG8Q6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=snow%20survival&f=false, accessed January 10, 2023

American Council on Exercise; “Fit Facts: Exercising in the Cold”, [©American Council on Exercise], https://acewebcontent.azureedge.net/assets/education-resources/lifestyle/fitfacts/pdfs/fitfacts/itemid_24.pdf, accessed January 12, 2023

Anderson, Ken; “How to Survive in the Desert” Popular Mechanics May 1971, page 108-111, https://books.google.com/books?id=htcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA109&dq=Survival+uses+for+car+parts&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjiuquWmen8AhVQElkFHYzdBiQ4ChDoAXoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=Survival%20uses%20for%20car%20parts&f=false, accessed January 27, 2023

Behar, Michael; “The Search for Steve Fossett: One tough job for the U.S. Civil Air Patrol”, Air & Space Magazine, March 2008, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/the-search-for-steve-fossett-24479611/, accessed January 26, 2023

Black, Marina; and Jonescu, Kaitlyn; “How to Survive a Plane Crash in the Arctic”, May 20, 2014, [© 2023 Prezi Inc], https://prezi.com/ceo1kdavlin0/how-to-survive-a-plane-crash-in-the-arctic/, accessed January 12, 2023

Calvert, John H., Jr. Colonel; “Frostbite”, Flying Safety, October 1992, Publication 127-2, Vol. 48, No. 10, [United States Airforce, 1992], pages 14 - 15, https://books.google.com/books?id=W2PU4Rad3JMC&pg=RA21-PA26&dq=survival+pamphlet&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim-sLv-cT8AhWMKFkFHf9FA184PBDoAXoECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=survival%20pamphlet&f=false, accessed January 13, 2023

Coast Guard, Department of Transportation, A Pocket Guide to Cold Water Survival, CG 473, September 1975, https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QafxNJBmiIml6O4jiudRpr2rz8pLfodQOiq-4gZNh4xa5uIN_rq05C2yAes1AYw67Ziq189QaQaFDHBHE0SJivfCxjMW1DReANLjFqw1qX6jEl2mz1HPKXj4BRQJv8zAOcO6oDE70Dcv__VE2uPh4tEqLSzMxDRiWOv3p6ssyQjE2bevJMX7-Ol2KDtIPQVcVuaJudJMLaOOuSUVs8qYS1Nlaxnm47GVOCXLR79KzL6nV3R0zZG4DxRt9hoYrIRGugXm6RVfbU2gxeix7JLKbxpvQsNB9w, accessed May 1, 2022

Combat Crew Training Wing; “Obtaining Water”, Flying Safety, October 1992, Publication 127-2, Vol. 48, No. 10, [United States Airforce, 1992], pages 26, https://books.google.com/books?id=W2PU4Rad3JMC&pg=RA21-PA26&dq=survival+pamphlet&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim-sLv-cT8AhWMKFkFHf9FA184PBDoAXoECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=survival%20pamphlet&f=false, accessed January 13, 2023

Defense Mapping Agency; Sailing Directions (Planning Guide) for the Arctic Ocean, First Edition, [Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic/Topographic Agency, 1983], page 286 - 293, https://books.google.com/books?id=dpUn0tHp7VMC&pg=PA291&dq=winter+survival+melting+snow+for+water&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVjZ2T86n8AhUEp3IEHcZyAvY4KBDoAXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=winter%20survival%20melting%20snow%20for%20water&f=false, accessed January 10, 2023

Department of the Air Force; “Snow Bound”, Driver, October 1980, Volume 15, Issue 5, page 18 to 21, https://books.google.com/books?id=gfIKIZVSao8C&pg=PA20&dq=winter+survival+car+improvised&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwisus3HiuP8AhXjEFkFHSwLDwkQ6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=winter%20survival%20car%20improvised&f=false, accessed January 25, 2023

Department Of the Air Force, Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, [Air Training Command, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., August 15, 1969], page 2-7 to 2-10

Federal Aviation Administration; “Improvising for Survival”, FAA General Aviation News, January-February 1987, Volume 26, Number 1, page 11-12, https://books.google.com/books?id=QFUNlHfp4ccC&pg=PA11&dq=aircraft+parts+used+for+survival&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj14s320df8AhWrKFkFHQA9CGwQ6AF6BAgDEAI#v=onepage&q=aircraft%20parts%20used%20for%20survival&f=false, accessed January 23, 2023

Federal Aviation Administration; “At Home in The Snow”, FAA General Aviation News, November-December, 1983,Volume 22, Issue 6, page 11 – 12, https://books.google.com/books?id=BWX3xkpPHFUC&pg=PA11&dq=crashed+plane+winter&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHn4jlr8D8AhXMGVkFHYOiCYcQ6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=crashed%20plane%20winter&f=false, accessed January 13, 2023

Federal Aviation Administration; “Airman Survival in the Big Snow”, FAA Aviation News, March/April 1989, Volume 28, Number 2, page 5 – 6, https://books.google.com/books?id=bIgsnbWISb8C&pg=RA1-PA5&dq=survive+blanket&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpjM7T0eH8AhXlEVkFHc7wDLE4ChDoAXoECA0QAg#v=onepage&q=survive%20blanket&f=false, accessed January 24, 2023

Federal Aviation Administration; Basic Survival Skills for Aviation, [FAA, Oklahoma City, OK], page 44-51, https://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/airman_education/media/CAMISurvivalManual.pdf, accessed January 12, 2023

Federal Aviation Administration; “Post Crash Survival”, FAA General Aviation News , November-December, 1979,Volume 22, Issue 6, page 8 – 10, https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0YPi63uDIcC&pg=RA5-PA8&dq=survival+snow&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiu8IfVu7n8AhW8EVkFHfW2BbY4MhDoAXoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=survival%20snow&f=false, Accessed January 10, 2023

Gray, Robert; “Staying Alive in a Montana Wilderness”, Scouting, October 1984, page 33 and 76, https://books.google.com/books?id=qD06AQAAIAAJ&pg=RA6-PA75&dq=I+am+bringing+grandma+scouting&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_i8HskOP8AhWGjIkEHbaMDLsQ6AF6BAgDEAI#v=onepage&q=I%20am%20bringing%20grandma%20scouting&f=false, accessed January 25, 2023

Hedblom, Captain Earland E. MC, USN; Polar Manual, Fourth Edition, [National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, 1965], p. 37, https://ia800305.us.archive.org/33/items/PolarManual4thEd1965/Polar%20Manual%204th%20ed%20%281965%29.pdf, accessed 12/07/2019

Miller, Alyssa J.; “Survival Mode Training For The Unthinkable”, April 5, 2012, [©2023 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association], https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2012/april/pilot/survival-mode, accessed January 27, 2023

Nelson, Morlan W.; “Cold Weather Survival”, Popular Science, November 1971, pages 123-126, https://books.google.com/books?id=PQEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA123&dq=snow+survival&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimj8jA-Lb8AhU0MVkFHY-YBG8Q6AF6BAgGEAI#v=onepage&q=snow%20survival&f=false, accessed January 12, 2023

Pinkerton, Paul; “Surviving A Plane Crash Pt3 – Using aircraft parts in survival”, December 16, 2016, [© 2023 Outdoor Revival], https://www.outdoorrevival.com/instant-articles/surviving-plane-crash-pt3-using-aircraft-parts-survival.html, accessed January 12, 2023

Schul, Dorothy; “Trapped in Hell’s Canyon”, Flying Safety, October 1992, Publication 127-2, Vol. 48, No. 10, [United States Airforce, 1992], pages 2 - 6, https://books.google.com/books?id=W2PU4Rad3JMC&pg=RA21-PA26&dq=survival+pamphlet&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim-sLv-cT8AhWMKFkFHf9FA184PBDoAXoECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=survival%20pamphlet&f=false, accessed January 13, 2023

The Air Ministry, Arctic Survival PAM (Air) 226, 1953, https://ia801909.us.archive.org/2/items/ArcticSurvival/Arctic%20Survival%20and%20Jungle%20Survival%20combined.pdf, accessed January 12, 2023

United States Marine Corps; Winter Survival Course Handbook, 2002, [Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, CA, 2002], https://ia802602.us.archive.org/22/items/milmanual-us-marine-corps---mwtc-winter-survival-course-handbook/us_marine_corps_-_mwtc_winter_survival_course_handbook.pdf, accessed January 9, 2023

Way.com; “6.5 Million Cars Are Catching Fire – Is Yours One of Them?”, [© 2023 WAY.COM], https://www.way.com/blog/millions-of-cars-are-catching-fire-is-yours-one-of-them/#:~:text=How%20often%20do%20cars%20catch,according%20to%20the%20NFPA's%20statistics, accessed January 9, 2023

Sunday, January 22, 2023

Winter Survival for Tommy...Part Two©

Here is Part Two of the four parts series. It could have been titled “Stay Warm and Dry”. To read part one click HERE.– Author’s Note.

In a winter survival situation, the most important thing to do is to stay as warm and dry as possible.

37^oF (3^oC) with rain and gusty wind is vastly different from 0^oF (-18^oC) with howling winds and whiteouts and so are the survival challenges that you will need to overcome. There is more than one type of winter environment, there is the “wet-cold” climate and there is the “dry-cold”, and each has its own dangers. Depending on the region in which you are forced to survive you might need to deal with one or the other, or both and different days!

Wet-cold climates are those in which the temperatures are always near freezing, and do not normally falling below 14^o F (-10^o C). The ground will thaw during the day and will turn to mud covered with slush and the snow will be wet, at night the ground and the snow will refreeze. It can be hard to stay dry under these conditions. And dry-cold climates are those in which the temperatures are always below freezing, and do not normally rise above 14^o F (-10^o C). The ground is always frozen, and the snow will be dry, day and night in these areas.

How do you get cold?

Your body loses heat through four processes, convection, conduction, radiation, and evaporation.

Convection or wind chill can cool you very quickly. Alan E. Course, in The Best About Backpacking, wrote “a two-mile-an-hour breeze can drag down body temperature as effectively as a twenty-mile gale if the victim’s clothes are wet”. Your body will lose between 10% to 15% of its heat through convection.

Conduction is the loss of your body heat to the world around you, to the ground, if you are sitting or sleeping on the snow or ground, to the air around you, or to water if you are swimming or immersed in it. Body heat is lost to the air at temperatures lower than 68°F (20°C), and your body will lose about 2% of its heat by air conduction. However, you lose body heat to water about 25 times faster than to the air, so you can lose body heat very quickly if you are in cold water or wearing wet clothing.

Radiation is the process of heat moving away from your body, like heat leaving a hot stove, and usually occurs in air temperatures lower than 68°F (20°C). The body loses 65% of its heat through radiation.

Evaporation of water from your skin if you are sweating, or from your clothing if it is wet will cool you. During heavy exercise, your body will shed 85% of its heat by sweating. Also, you lose some body heat through respiration (breathing). Heat loss by evaporation and respiration will increase in dry or windy conditions.

How to stay warm...

Soldier’s Handbook for Individual Operations & Survival in Cold Weather Areas TC 21-3, page 7.

Dirty clothes are cold clothes, because dirt and grease clog the insulating air spaces and reduce your clothes overall ability to insulate you from the cold. In most survival situations today, you will be rescued long before your inner and outer layers need to be cleaned, in long-term survival situations, or if you get grease and oil on your outer layers, that won’t be the case and you will need to wash them.

You need to stay comfortably cold and as Les Stroud says, “If you sweat, you die!” So, don’t overexert and overheat. I you are working up a sweat, remove some layers, before your clothes become damp.

An excerpt from the Polar Manual, page 149.

Comfortably cold is when you are neither too warm nor too cold, you’re just right, maybe a little bit cool, and you are not perspiring. You can keep comfortably cold by reducing or increasing your activity level as you become too hot or too cold. But the best way to stay comfortably cold in the outdoors is by layering your clothes, and by loosening, removing, or adding layers as you warm up or cool down.

An excerpt from the Polar Manual, page 47.

For more read “Comfortably Cold, What’s That?©”, HERE.

Layering your clothes, wicks away sweat, adjusts insulation, and protects against wind, rain, and snow. It allows you to make quick adjustments based on changes in the weather and your level of activity by adding or removing layers. It is always better to underdress and be too cool, than to overdress, be too hot.

There are three layers, and each layer has its own job.

· The Base layer or under layer is the most important as it is against your skin and keeps you dry, it should of dry fast fabrics, like wool, synthetics, or silk.

· The Middle layer, or insulating layer, helps you retain heat by trapping warmed air close to your body and it should be made of wool, fleece or goose down.

· The Outer layer is sometimes also called, the shell layer, and it is the weather-proof layer or rain gear.

An excerpt from the Polar Manual, page 30.

Also, make sure that each layer is sized larger than the one under it so that the clothes fit loosely, because tight clothes make it more likely that you will become cold or frostbitten.

For more on layering your clothes, read “The Top Ten Wilderness Survival Skills...Number One ©”, HERE.

William S. Carlson, an early Arctic explorer said that to “Keep dry is the first rule of the North”¹. That means not sweating or not getting your clothes accidently wet.

An excerpt from Naval Arctic Operations Manual: Part 1 General Information, pages 161.

During the winter, but any time really, you must stay dry to stay warm, because water will cool you between 25 to 32 times faster than air².

An excerpt from the Polar Manual, page 47.

If you don’t stay warm and dry you can suffer frostbite, immersion foot or hypothermia, and hypothermia, or exposure as it is also called, is one of the leading causes of death in the wilderness!

What is Hypothermia...

From A Pocket Guide to Cold Water Survival, by the Coast Guard, page 7.

According to the USDA Forest Service, “Hypothermia is the progressive mental and physical collapse that accompanies the cooling of the inner core of the human body. It is caused by exposure to cold, is aggravated by wet, wind, and exhaustion”³.

Hypothermia is the lowering of your body’s core temperature to 95^oF (35^oC) or below and is often caused by a combination of three factors, cold or quickly changing temperatures, strong winds, or being wet, either from rain, sweat or being immersed in cold water: it has three stages, mild, moderate, and severe.

· Mild Hypothermia is when your core body temperature falls from 98.6^o (37^oC) to between 95^o and 90^oF (35^o to 32^oC). The symptoms of mild hypothermia are intense, but controllable shivering and cold numb hands or the “fumbles”³.

· Moderate Hypothermia is when your core body temperature falls from 90^o to 86^oF (32^o to 30^oC). The symptoms of moderate hypothermia are uncontrollable shivering, confusion and movements that become slow and labored, and slurred speech -- look for the “stumbles”, the “mumbles”, and the “grumbles”.

· Severe Hypothermia is when your core body temperature drops to between 86^o and 78^oF (30^o to 25^oC). The symptoms are extremely cold skin, sleepiness or unconsciousness and a pulse that is irregular or difficult to find.

For more read “Hypothermia, It Can Happen Any Time, Anywhere ©”, HERE.

What is immersion foot?

A mild case of immersion foot or as it is also known “trench foot”, from Wikimedia HERE.

In the winter, wet feet and hands are frozen feet and hands, and frozen feet and hands spell disaster! Even if it isn’t below freezing, wet feet or hands can lead to “immersion-foot”, which is also known, “trench foot”, is a non-freezing cold injury (NFCI), that can happen either the hands or feet, but often affects the feet. It is caused by long exposure to wet, cold, but not necessarily freezing conditions, with temperatures of 32 to 59°F (0 to 15°C)⁴.

Like any cold injury, it is aggravated by wind and windchill, when wet boots or gloves and evaporation combine to cool the surface of your hands, feet, and ankles. This cooling causes the body to shut-off the blood flow to the skin surface and to the tissue just below the skin of your hands, feet, and ankles, causing them to look white, waxy, and dead. If untreated, immersion foot can lead to serious and painful complications, such as gangrene.

Survivors of accidents and others who are exposed to cold, wet conditions for days without removing wet boots and socks or gloves risk immersion foot.

For more about immersion foot, read “Accidental Lessons … Boots Freeze!©”, HERE and “Survival Tips From Jack London, Part One©”, HERE.

What is frostbite?

Mountaineer Nigel Vardy being treated for frostbite, from Wikimedia, HERE.

Watch out for frostbite, which will appear as a wooden or waxy, gray, or white patch. It most commonly occurs on the hands, feet, nose, cheeks, forehead, and ears. Frostbite results from the freezing of exposed skin and is a disabling injury but is not likely to be fatal.⁵

Four Tips for keeping the heat in

Tip 1: Huddle close with the other survivors to share body heat. Keep your huddle always moving because moving will keep you warm. If you have no warm clothing or gloves, claps hands energetically once an hour. If you are by yourself, exercise by tensing and relaxing your muscles, this will also keep your body warm and the blood circulating throughout your body.

Tip 2: The loss of heat from your body depends on the air temperature and the square of the wind speed and is called windchill. So, stay OUT of the wind, and avoid windchill. Windchill makes already cold temperatures FEEL even colder, because the wind steals away your body heat through convection. When there is little to no wind, a layer of warm remains around your body to help you stay warm. When it's windy, or breezy, the moving air blows away that insulating, warm layer, quickening your heat loss, and making you feel colder.

So, ALWAYS shelter from the wind!

Tip 3: Preventing frostbite and immersion foot is easier than treating it.

To check for frostbite, wrinkle your face, wriggle your toes, and clench your hands, if it feels like there are stiff patches, it might be frostbite.

An excerpt from Arctic Survival PAM (Air) 226, by the Air Ministry, 1953.

Remember if it hurts, it isn’t frozen, because frozen patches have no feeling, however this doesn’t mean you should ignore the situation.

To treat frostbite on your face, warm it with an un-mittened hand; for frostbitten hands slide the un-mittened hand inside your shirt against your skin; for frostbitten feet, take off your boots and socks, and slide your feet up inside your partner’s shirt against their skin.

An excerpt from Naval Arctic Operations, page 167.

To prevent immersion foot, keep your circulation moving to your hands and feet, by clapping your hands, stomping your feet, moving around, and staying dry.

An excerpt from Army Talks, Vol. III, No. 5, February 10, 1945.

To treat immersion foot, to either the feet or the hands, if your socks or gloves get wet, change into dry ones as soon as possible. Also, have a set routine to dry, warm, massage and inspect your hands and feet daily.

An excerpt from Army Talks, Vol. III, No. 5, February 10, 1945.

Tip 4: Put on a hat, since heat loss from your bare head can be up to 33% at 60^oF (15^oC), up to 50% at 40^oF (4^oC) and up to 75% at 5^oF (-15^oC)⁶. And keep your hands and feet dry and warm.

An excerpt from the Polar Manual, page 37.

Wear mittens or gloves and protect your hands, because if your hands freeze or are injured, you are helpless, and survival becomes very difficult. And don’t forget your feet, being disabled in the wilderness is remedy for disaster.

Tip 5: Protect your eyes from snow blindness. Snow blindness, or photokeratitis, is caused by UV rays sunburning the corneas of your eyes. It is very painful, and is often experienced snowfields, particularly at high altitudes. So, be prepared and always have a pair of with retaining straps. In an emergency, if you don’t have a pair UV rated, wrap-around sunglasses, you could blacken your cheekbones and your face below your eyes with Chapstick© or Vaseline® mixed with charcoal to reduce glare and the UV rays reflecting into your eyes. You could also tie a bandanna or piece of cloth, with eye slits cut into it, over your eyes, when possible, choose a dark colored bandana or piece of cloth. You could even fold a piece of duct tape back over itself and cut eye slits into to make a pair of Inuit style snow goggles.

An excerpt from Arctic Survival PAM (Air) 226, by the Air Ministry, 1953, page 54.

“Make Your Own Snow Goggles!”, by the Bowdoin Arctic Museum, HERE.

Beware of snow blindness, An excerpt from the Polar Manual, 1953, page 67.

Tip 6: To stay dry, don’t sit in the snow and ALWAYS brush off any snow or ice from your clothes, before entering a shelter or approaching a fire.

An excerpt from Arctic Survival PAM (Air) 226, by the Air Ministry, 1953, page 57.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Winter Survival for Tommy...Part Three©”, where we will talk about improvising for survival, using plane parts, calling for help and signaling for rescue.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

¹ From Naval Arctic Operations Manual: Part 1 General Information, p. 157

² Wilderness Survival states that the heat loss is 32 times and A Pocket Guide to Cold Water Survival says that the heat loss from being wet is 25 times that of when you are dry.

From Wilderness Survival, by Ministry of Forests, page 46; and A Pocket Guide to Cold Water Survival, by Coast Guard, Department of Transportation, page 12.

³ USDA Forest Service, “Exposure/Hypothermia”

⁴ “Nonfreezing cold water (trench foot) and warm water immersion injuries”, by Ken Zafren, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FAWM

⁵“Frostbite: Emergency care and prevention”, by Ken Zafren, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FAWM

⁶ Polar Manual, Fourth Edition, by Captain Earland E. Hedblom, MC, USN, page 37

Sources

Federal Aviation Administration; “At Home in The Snow”, FAA General Aviation News , November-December, 1983,Volume 22, Issue 6, page 11 – 12, https://books.google.com/books?id=BWX3xkpPHFUC&pg=PA11&dq=crashed+plane+winter&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHn4jlr8D8AhXMGVkFHYOiCYcQ6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=crashed%20plane%20winter&f=false, accessed January 13, 2023

Ministry of Forests, Wilderness Survival, [Ministry of Forests, British Columbia, 1978], p. 46

The Air Ministry, Arctic Survival PAM (Air) 226, 1953, https://ia801909.us.archive.org/2/items/ArcticSurvival/Arctic%20Survival%20and%20Jungle%20Survival%20combined.pdf, accessed January 12, 2023

USDA Forest Service, “Exposure/Hypothermia”, https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r3/recreation/safety-ethics/?cid=fsbdev3_021634#:~:text=Hypothermia%20may%20be%20a%20new,wet%2C%20wind%2C%20and%20exhaustion, accessed January 20, 2023

United States, Department of the Army; Soldier’s Handbook for Individual Operations & Survival in Cold Weather Areas TC 21-3, [Headquarters, Department of the Army, September 1974, https://books.google.com/books?id=5VssAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA105&dq=survive+hunter&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjA9Yehlc38AhXlFlkFHWuGAtI4PBDoAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=survive%20hunter&f=false, accessed January 10, 2023

United States, Department of the Air Force; Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, [Air Training Command, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., August 15, 1969], page 2-7 to 2-10

United States Army, “Baby Your Feet”, Army Talks, Vol. III, No. 5, February 10, 1945, page 7-9, 18, http://www.90thidpg.us/Reference/Army%20Talks/foxhole.pdf, accessed January 18, 2023

United States, Department of the Navy; Naval Arctic Operations Manual: Part 1 General Information, [Department of the Navy, 1949, Revised in 1950], p. 157-175,

https://ia600301.us.archive.org/27/items/navalarcticopera00unit/navalarcticopera00unit.pdf, accessed August 28, 2018

Zafren, Ken, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FAWM; “Nonfreezing cold water (trench foot) and warm water immersion injuries”, UpToDate®, October 26, 2022, https://www.uptodate.com/contents/nonfreezing-cold-water-trench-foot-and-warm-water-immersion-injuries, accessed January 20, 2023

Zafren, Ken, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FAWM; “Frostbite: Emergency care and prevention”, UpToDate®, May 26, 2022, https://www.uptodate.com/contents/frostbite-emergency-care-and-prevention?topicRef=13789&source=see_link, accessed January 20, 2023

Zafren, Ken, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FAWM; “Accidental hypothermia in adults”, UpToDate®, January 12, 2023 https://www.uptodate.com/contents/accidental-hypothermia-in-adults?topicRef=179&source=see_link, accessed January 20, 2023

About Me

I live near Buffalo, New York and have more than 25 years of experience in the outdoors. I enjoy being in the wilderness, paddling a canoe or exploring the woods, when I am not researching survival, woodcraft, camping skills or life on the Old Northwest Frontier of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I am a published author and I have been a guide for Birchbark Expeditions and an Outdoor Skills trainer for the Boy Scouts since 2014. I am also a martial artist, having studied several different combat arts over the past 30 years. Currently, I am the author of The Woodsman’s Journal Online and BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.

The Woodsman's Journal Online

Pages

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Winter Survival for Tommy...Part Three©

Thursday, January 26, 2023

BandanaMan One Minute Wilderness Tips - Aging Tracks

BandanaMan One Minute Wilderness Tip - Stopping Nylon Rope from Fraying

BandanaMan One Minute Wilderness Tip - Stopping Nylon Dry Fast Pants fro...

Sunday, January 22, 2023

Winter Survival for Tommy...Part Two©

Blog Archive