VE6AB Technical
The Survivalist
If you have an interest in surviving while being stranded out in the cold through the winter months in snow country, one of the best ways to take shelter with the tools at hand, is to build a snow shelter or an igloo type shelter as seen in my photo with my daughter scanning our surroundings with her binoculars.
As a kid growing up in southern Saskatchewan, my friends and I spent hours building what we called snow forts not realizing we were aquiring skills in how to build a snow shelter that will keep you from freezing to death once you retreat to the inside.
In fact all it takes is a lowly candle to keep the inside of a snow shelter above the freezing mark. If a person carry's a survival kit, a survival candle carried in your car or on your person while hiking can pay dividends when the going gets rough and you'll end up spending a night out in the cold. As most people know that live in the northern hemisphere, a survival candle will keep you reasonably comfortable in the interior of your vehicle if it quits in the winter months.
Wind swept snow is the best for building shelters, as snow blocks are easily cut from the snow that has been hardened by the wind. I carry a small snow shovel that breaks down to easily fit in a pack, and has a snow saw incorporated as part of the handle.
If your not sure how to build a snow shelter, there are books on survival that can instruct you in how to proceed, or you can turn to the internet to source the subject, or you can head out to an area with the required ingredient being snow, and learn how on the job.
Another way to build a shelter if the snow is not wind-blown, is to create a pile of snow by piling snow up with a shovel. Once the snow hardens, you can tunnel in to it hollowing out the interior. If lighting a candle inside of any shelter, make sure to cut a vent hole in the roof preventing carbon monoxide from gathering, endangering your life.
If you don't want to learn on your own on how to build a snow shelter, you can also check in the area you live in for someone who teaches survival skills, who will teach you, with a night spent sleeping in the shelter you created once complete.
Expand the photo for a closer look.....
