The Four Horseman of Wilderness Death ©

 

 

Last week we talked about some general winter survival tips, so this week I thought a brief introduction to the “Four Horseman of Wilderness Death” was in order.  The four horsemen, from right to left, are Windchill, holding a bow in his hand, Hypothermia, swinging a sword, Dehydration, holding scales, and Panic, shown as a decaying body¹.

 

Hypothermia, windchill and dehydration...

 

The first three horsemen, Hypothermia, Windchill and Dehydration work as a team, and you defy them at your peril.  They’ll gang up on you and kill you fast!  Windchill cools you and makes it easier for his brother Hypothermia to cut you down.  And Windchill, with his wind blowing on you, helps his buddy Dehydration, to dry you out.  Remember when you are dehydrated, it’s harder for your body to regulate its temperature, and that’s when Hypothermia moves in for the kill!

 

Windchill

 

The first horseman, Windchill is a thief, armed with the wind, his bow.  The first thing to do in any survival situation is to take shelter from Windchill’s wind, and your first line of defense is your clothes.  Dress for the worst weather you will face.  Layer your clothing, so you can take off and on insulating layers as you warm up or cool down.  If it’s windy or wet, wear a windproof/waterproof outer layer.  And always bring a knit hat and wear it if you start to get cold!

 

And stay dry!  Because when they are wet, your clothes will conduct heat just like water, which because of its greater density conducts heat as much as 240 times faster than air.  So, Windchill will steal your body heat much, much faster when your clothes are wet, than when dry.

 

Also, always carry a heavy trash bag, or two, when you travel in the wilderness.  If you get caught out in the wet or the wind you can make a quick shelter by cutting or tearing a hole about four inches (10 cm) from one of the bottom corners of the bag and pull it over you, sticking your face out of the hole.  If you are more than petite, sit inside the second bag and pull the top one down over it.  A shelter like this will protect you from Windchill, even if you are wet, by stopping him from stealing your body heat with evaporation and convection.

 

Hypothermia

 

Windchill’s brother Hypothermia, is a killer.  Armed with his sword he kills year round, even during the summer.  As Jack London wrote in To Build a Fire, that “Freezing was not so bad...There are lots worse ways to die”, but as Keith McCafferty wrote in the December 1999 Field & Stream “there were none more common”!² 

 

Normal human body temperature is 98.6^o F (37^o C) and if your temperature falls below 98.6^o (37^o C) you will begin to shiver and as your core temperature continues to drop your shivering will become more intense and your ability to perform complex tasks will become impaired.  At 92^o F (33^o C) you will no longer be able to save yourself, at 87^o F (30^o C) and you will become unconscious, and at 75^oF (24^o C) it is too late for anything except candles and flowers.

 

Every year many people die of hypothermia, which used to be known as exposure or freezing to death.  But it isn’t just a winter or a northern problem, in fact, according to the CDC the top ten states are Alaska, Illinois, Alabama, Arizona, Virginia, North and South Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee².  Factors that increase your risk for hypothermia are severe winter cold, such as in Alaska and Illinois, shifting weather systems with rapid changes in temperature, typical of Virginia and the Carolinas, and high elevation, with plummeting overnight temperatures, found in New Mexico and Arizona.

 

To beat Hypothermia:

 

1)  Dress for the worst weather conditions you MIGHT encounter.

2)   Know when it is time to stop and seek shelter.

3)   Be able to build a fire and keep it going.

 

Dehydration

 

Dehydration, the third horseman, will creep up on you slowly and by the time you notice you are thirsty you’re already 1% dehydrated.  For a 150 pound (68 kg) person, this means you have already lost about 1-½ pounds (.7 kg), or almost a quart (almost a liter) of water!

 

Dehydration of less than 2% of your body weight does you no harm and many people are this dehydrated regularly; in fact, right now, as you read this article, you might be this dehydrated!  With a loss of 2.5% of body weight, about 2 quarts of water, work efficiency decreases by 25%.  When this happens, for example, you will only be able to walk ¾ as far and as fast, work only ¾ as hard or lift just ¾ as much, as you could if fully hydrated. 

 

As survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt says, “When you're dehydrated, your ability to function efficiently degrades rapidly.  Then you make mistakes”, and in survival situations, mistakes kill. 

 

So, always bring water with you when you venture into the wilderness and know how to find and disinfect more when you need it.  Try to limit your sweat, don’t ration your water.  Too many victims of dehydration have been found with water in their canteens, so if you are thirsty, drink! 

Panic

 

Panic, the last big bad, is the deadliest of the horseman, because he is one who lives in your head!  Panic whispers about loneliness, pain, cold, thirst, hunger, fatigue, boredom, and fear in your head until you become irrational, lose control, and attempt to escape by running!  Panicking only makes things worse and running will lead either to your death or to you finding yourself exhausted and in a much situation than before.

 

Staying calm and conquering Panic is 90% of survival.  Conquering Panic is simple, but it isn’t easy!  To keep Panic away remember these four things:

 

1)   Fear is normal, just don’t give into it.

2)   Recognize dangers and dangerous situations and then plan to avoid them.

3)   Subdue your fears by keeping mentally and physically busy.

4)   Think positively, pray, be realistic and don’t let your imagination run away with you.

 

I hope that you never meet the Four Horseman of Wilderness Death in person, but if you do, remember how to defeat them.

 

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

 

¹ In Dürer's wood print, four horsemen are from right to left; the Epidemic holding a bow in his hand, War holding a sword in his hand, Famine holding scales in his hand, and Death, which is depicted as a decaying body.

 

² Keith McCafferty, Field & Stream, January 2000 and Don Colburn, “Hypothermia's Top Ten May Include Your State”, Washington Post, January 1, 1996

 

Sources

 

Conover, Keith, M.D.; “Hypothermia: Killer of the Unprepared”, https://sites.pitt.edu/~kconover/ftp/Hypothermia%20Basics.pdf, accessed February 10, 2024

 

FAA; “How Strong it Blows, How Low it Goes: Windchill”, FAA Aviation News, Volume 7, February 1969, page 6 to 7, https://books.google.com/books?id=-iy2jQh-enAC&pg=RA9-PA7&dq=windchill+survival&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjdt_jz8ZKEAxXQkYkEHZ6ABsYQ6AF6BAgKEAI#v=onepage&q=windchill%20survival&f=false, accessed February 10, 2024

 

Holzer, Ricky; “How to Dress For Winter Hiking in the Midwest”, February 7, 2019, https://www.nocoastbestcoast.com/article.php?url=how-to-dress-winter-hiking-midwest, accessed February 9, 2024

 

Lauffer, Brian P., and O’Bryan, Bob; “Baby It’s Cold Outside!” Maintenance, Volumes 9-11, October/December 1984, page 12 to 13, https://books.google.com/books?id=HiFN5OQiSvAC&pg=RA3-PA13&dq=windchill+survival&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_kM_l9JKEAxUyhYkEHVQeD2c4HhDoAXoECAwQAg#v=onepage&q=windchill%20survival&f=false, accessed February 10, 2024

 

McCafferty, Keith; “Death by Degrees, Part 1”, Field & Stream, December 1999, page 40 & 42, https://books.google.com/books?id=TMK7ROgAJKEC&pg=PA42&dq=survival+hypothermia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipt4yklZOEAxUBhIkEHRCyCAc4FBDoAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=survival%20hypothermia&f=false, accessed February 10, 2024

 

McCafferty, Keith; “Death by Degrees, Part 2”, Field & Stream, January 2000, page 78 to 79, https://books.google.com/books?id=8Gj0yRugg3MC&pg=PA78&dq=%22death+by+degrees,+part+2%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUgsGk1qGEAxV34ckDHVv_CfUQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=%22death%20by%20degrees%2C%20part%202%22&f=false, accessed February 10, 2024

Nelson, Janet; “How Cold is (Damn) Cold”, Skiing, January 1972, page 12, https://books.google.com/books?id=zL-h_HP9DXQC&pg=PA140&dq=windchill+survival&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVpNqA95KEAxXzjokEHfYiCTA4KBDoAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=windchill%20survival&f=false, accessed February 10, 2024

 

Robel, Robert J., Sgt.; “Survival Working For You”, Aerospace Safety, Volume 35, December 1979, page 25 to 26, https://books.google.com/books?id=ZL9_FhZV2_EC&pg=RA11-PA24&dq=layering+clothes+survival&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvz83znZ2EAxUklIkEHRYeDGUQ6AF6BAgEEAI#v=onepage&q=layering%20clothes%20survival&f=false, accessed February 9, 2024