Shelter

The art of survival contains a set of priorities, the first of which is exposure-prevention. In order for it to function at peak performance, the average adult human body must maintain a body core temperature of 98.6 degrees fahrenheit. This process is known as thermoregulation and is key in surviving any venture in the wild, be it for three hours, three days, or three months... and the importance of proper clothing is paramount! The main reason people die in wilderness settings is due to "exposure" to the elements. It takes no time at all for someone to become hypothermic. We lose heat a number of ways -  it occurs through conduction, convection, and radiation. Conduction, is losing heat to the ground. The Earth is a huge mass compared to our tiny bodies in comparison, and is always drawing heat away from the heat's source. Convection is losing heat to wind and water (water pulls heat away 25x's faster than air!) And the third, radiation, is where our heat is simply radiated away. 

Insulation (clothing/shelter) is the most significant factor in wilderness survival. The goal being to create a micro-climate that will enable you to maintain your body core temp. This is accomplished by choosing proper clothing that will prevent any body heat from escaping by creating a dead-air-space chamber within your clothing by capturing and containing a "bubble" of body heat. One of the most effective ways of trapping your body heat is to properly layer your clothes by wearing a base layer, an insulative layer, and an environmental layer. The goal is stay as dry and comfortably cool as possible. Becoming sweaty will result in you becoming hypothermic. It's wise to run at a 60% energy-output level. And that's slightly different for each person... it will be that point when you just feel your skin beginning to tingle with the onset of perspiration.

The base layer should ideally be a tight, "hydrophobic" under-layer, such as underarmour, that has a wicking effect. The second layer is your "dead-air-space layer", which, I feel - hands-down, should be wool!! Wool is an excellent insulator - it retains about 80% of its insulative properties even when wet! Also, it's durable, easy to repair, is naturally fire-resistant, quiet, self-extinquishing; and fuzzy, so it breaks up your outline and therefore is camouflaging; (I'll speak more on the reasons for so much camouflaging in later blogs). The third and final layer, your "shell", should be gore-tex or rain gear, etc., Or another wool shirt, parka, and pants with a tighter weave to prevent soaking of outside moisture. Waterproof shoes or boots, such as rubber/neoprene muck boots, and wool socks are excellent footwear. Wool or gore-tex-type gloves and cap will finish your protection from the elements.

If you're caught out and don't have these layers on you already, you have another option, called, "scarecrowing". Scarecrowing is simply the act of stuffing your clothes with debris from your surrounding area, such as leaves, mosses, grasses, etc. to effectively create that dead-air-space that's so crucial for maintaining your body core temperature. Even if the debris is wet - it will soon warm up from the trapped body heat.

Primitive shelters can be constructed in a fairly short amount of time based on this same concept: thick layers of insulative materials. The most effective being natural huts made of deep debris. A natural survival hut can be made by building a skeleton-like frame by propping up a large ridge beam to serve as a spine, then tightly ribbed with sticks for walls, and finally covered and stuffed with as much debris as possible. A primitive hut with walls two-feet thick will keep the occupant warm at twenty below!! I will go into more detail regarding this process in my classes.

interior of primitive survival hut 

                                               
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