[samthedog]

Ok, winter is coming and we are all dilligent preppers. We don't have the opportunity to choose when a disaster or SHTF scenario will occur so we need to be prepared for all occasions. One thing I often see people overlook is their planning for winter. This oversight has cost people dearly in the past. even such such careful planners like Napoleon and Hitler overlooked preps for cold conditions and this wiped out millions. Winter is occurs in every environment so it's important to be prepared even if your in the city / country or bugging out / in.

Here is your chance to contribute a tip or piece of equipment that will not only make people's lfe easier but may actually save it in a cold snap or an overly cold winter.

Here are my tips:

1- Buy a winter sleep system or bag that is rated for at least 5 - 10 degrees C colder than you think you will need. Couple this with an adequate sleeping pad so that you don't lose your warmth to the ground.

2- Always have spare warm clothes. This includes socks, beanie, longs and gloves. Wet clothes will give you hypothermia and will greatly reduce the thermal efficiency of your sleeping bag. Change into dry clothes before you crawl into your bag.

3- Be prepared for WCS and have first aid designed for winter. This will include a thermal blanket, a couple heat packs and a first aid kit that is easy to open. When cold your fine motor skills suffer and this is greatly compounded by blood loss / shock. Don't have a first aid kit that you can't open.

4- Have shoes designed for winter conditions. Summer shoes will not cut it and nothing slows you down like frostbite.

5- When cooking your hearty-before-bed-meal, boil up some extra water and make hot chocolate or some other high energy drink (avoid coffee). Pour this into a small thermos and put that along with a pee bottle in your sleeping bag. If you wake up cold, drink the hot drink and have a pee in the bottle. Don't waste your energy keeping the pee warm. The bottle will make cold toilet trips avoidable (for us men at least). The extra calories from your drink will help you stay warm. If you have extra hot water you can pour this into a platy or nalgene bottle and keep this inyour bag so you don't have to work harder trying to melt snow for your cooking in the morning.

6- Before bed put your over garments between your sleeping bag and pad. This will give some extra insulation from the ground and will keep your clothes warm. When you get dressed in the morning you will be slipping into warm clothes.

I have more. Now who else has some tips?

Paul.

 

[Chops249]

Know how to make winter shelters.
Keep practicing fire making, especially in the wind & rain.

 

[AKpredator]

Always drink lots of water.

Layer up with loose fitting clothing that doesn't restrict movement. Gore-Tex gloves or mittens, not too tight. Windstopper fleece liner inside.

 

[Purdy Bear]

Use newspaper to insulate your clothes if your cold.

Get patchwork quilts, they are brilliant and very warm.

Get the heating sorted in the Summer, and don't wait for it to go off in the middle of winter.

Have at least two sources of heat (ie gas, electric).

Get plenty of thick soups in tins, in the cupboard.

Hot water bottles are a must, and if held against the stomach will help ease off Hypothermia (the cold one).

Eat and drink hot food regularly. Cold creaps up on people and they dont realise it. If your shivering, your cold.

Always have a dry set of clothes.

 

[samthedog]

Hot water bottles are a must, and if held against the stomach will help ease off Hypothermia (the cold one).

This is a useful tip. You can also use water bags if you are out. It's easier to heat a sleeping bag than it is a whole house.

I would also recommend stocking up on protein like cheese and meat. Before bed a protein and fat rich meal will keep you warmer much longer than a carb rich meal. Keeping some cheese or meat handy in the sleeping bag is also good to scoff with your hot chocolate drink. The carbs in the hot chocolate will give you instant but short lived warmth while the protein will last much longer.

Paul.

 

[ranger69]

i advocate good whiskey

 

[Wheelgunner]

Dehydration from alcohol

i advocate good whiskey

Whiskey is not a good method to use to keep warm in a survival situation when dealing with cold conditions.

However, if I am ever really cold again I hope I have some whiskey to alleviate the symptoms.

Short term, whiskey is good for my morale and can give me a short term edge.

So, ranger69...I agree with you. Especially if I'm about to freeze to death.

I'd rather have whiskey and freeze to death more comfortably than shiver to death whimpering and shivering.

 

[lone squirrel]

Look to how the animals in your area survive the cold. Most know where the trees are that will protect them from getting wet, which is the biggest thing you need to not do. Squirrels stay warm by making a nest, which is a large bundle of insulated material that they then squeeze into. In an emergency you can do the same thing-bring a large table near to you best heating source and cover it and surround it with mattresses, then pile every insulative thing you have onto to this or in it, blankets, towels, clothing, toilet paper, paper towels, anything that has some insulative value-then crawl into your "nest". If you have several family members they all crawl in together. No one needs to freeze to death in a house unless they would rather freeze than have a mess.

Never over work yourself in winter unless you know you can get to a warm place before you cool down. Drink lots and lots of water. Your cells need to be hydrated to conduct heat and thick blood tends not to travel very fast. Also winter (at least up here) is the dry time of the year so the air itself is robbing you of moisture. Pee everytime you feel the need. You body uses heat to keep your urine sterile inside of you. Emptying your bladder will let that heat circulate throughout your body. Most people feel the urge to pee whenever they hit cold air anyway, so do what your body tells you to do.

 

[New England Jim]

This is going to sound a little silly but always wear a hat to bed in severe cold. Most of your body heat will escape from your head.I always did this while winter camping in severe cold conditions.
I plan on staying put in a shtf scenereo but I'm still planning on a back up shelter. You never know when a chimney fire or something could go wrong leaving you without your primary shelter.I also think back up preps are a good idea. A small shed with a stove might be cramped but it will keep your family alive if you lose your primary dwelling. It's always good to have a backup plan.

 

[DANKELLY125]

Pour this into a small thermos and put that along with a pee bottle in your sleeping bag. If you wake up cold, drink the hot drink and have a pee in the bottle. Don't waste your energy keeping the pee warm. The bottle will make cold toilet trips avoidable (for us men at least).

DO NOT confuse the 2 bottles.

 

[samthedog]

Layer your clothing. Having layers is more effective when trying to trap air pockets. Even a space of 2mm can have an air current that will allow the heat to escape so make sure you have the air trapped properly. any open zippers or collars can allow 'pumping' of warm air which will result in heat loss and the clothing pumping in cold air.

Avoid sweating in winter. If you are starting to warm up then strip off a layer of clothes. This is important as wet skin will lose much more heat than dry skin.

The same can be said about your feet. If you have to hump it long distances and it's cold, you can start prepping by spraying your feet with antiperspirant or rub them with alum. This will close the pores and help them to stop sweating. this trick will lower your chances of frostbite.

Paul.

 

[AZBrowncoat]

Talk to anyone involved in winter sports and they will tell you to stay away from cotton and go with wool or the modern fabrics for your layers of clothing. Cotton takes forever to dry out when wet.

 

[neversummer333]

I live in the mountains of CO, in addition to all my normal survival gear, which is mostly cold weather stuff, I have a pair of spring loaded snowshoes made by atlas(amazing), ski poles, backcountry shovel, and my main snowboard, two extra boards, two extra sets of bindings, a pair of cross country skis, an 80lb crossbow, I also recently bought a used yurt for just under 500 bucks, now I need a wood burning stove for it. Im not going into everything I have but those are possibly a bit out of the ordinary for some

 

[BOBtheBUTCHER]

If you fall through ice and get wet or even wet from sweating then strip off and roll in powder snow to dry off quicker, make sure you have a good fire built before doing this.
Do not eat snow to quench thirst, this will lower your core temperature and you will die, melt snow over fire or in a container in the day time.

 

[MEGAHAMMER]

Share my double sized sleeping bag with a lovely, understanding lady who understands sharing body heat on a cold winter night.:

 

[Azreal]

there's a great article from a day or two ago on www.survivalblog.com

 

[keeber]

I advocate the purchase or construction of many dry bags in several sizes. Not only can you keep vital survival supplies (tinder, matches, lighters...etc) dry, but always keep at least one complete set of clothes as well as several sets of socks and underthings in them dry. The most important thing I can think of in the cold is staying dry.

 

[MainerMan]

This is going to sound a little silly but always wear a hat to bed in severe cold. Most of your body heat will escape from your head.I always did this while winter camping in severe cold conditions.

Nothing silly about wearing a hat to bed in the winter, Jim; it was standard procedure to wear a nightcap back in the olden, pre-thermostat days, when the fires would burn low overnight.


If you want "silly," try this if you are cold; close your eyes.
A considerable percentage of the heat which your body loses goes out through your head, and much of that through your eyeballs.

 

[samthedog]

I'll add to the tips...

if power goes out and you are relying on wood, sleep as high as possible. If you have bunk beds, move them into the same room and sleep everyone together to conserve the warmth. Have people sleep on the top bunk. The hot air rises and the difference between the floor and the ceiling temperatures is quite substancial. In the old Scandinavian homes the beds were often 3- 4 feet off the ground. It does not sound like much but the average ceiling height in the old houses is about 6 foot.

Paul.

 

[lone squirrel]

http://www.healthline.com/blogs/exercise_fitness/2009/03/do-you-lose-most-of-your-heat-through.html