Prepping for a winter evacuation and an outdoors existence requires specialized planning, because a harsh climate is unyielding, and preppers can't make any mistakes in getting ready to do battle with Old Man Winter. (and yes I know its 100 degrees outside where I live, but we're preppers so you have to get ready for what's coming)
This is as relevant to a major natural disaster in winter as it is to simply driving off the road down an embankment in icy conditions.
Baby, It's Cold Outside
Hypothermia is the number one killer of people in the outdoors, defined as a drop in your body's core temperature to less than 95 degrees F. That's the part where you feel colder and colder, and suddenly you start feeling warm inside.
At that point, prepare to meet your maker, as hypothermia at that stage can quickly lead to death.
Great advice in prepping for cold weather survival is this: it's easier to stay warm and dry, than to get warm and dry. In other words, avoid getting wet if you can.
Staying dry allows your body to do what it was designed to do best in survival mode - convert body fat into heat.
Keep Dry Or You Could Die
That is exactly why a plastic tarp is such an important part of your bug out bag; you can use it for both keeping the elements at bay and collecting rainwater.
However, when your body is wrapped in wet clothing, it takes 25 times as much body heat to keep yourself warm.
That goes for any form of moisture, including sweat. When you're surviving in the outdoors, perspiring has nothing at all to do with glowing. You don't often read the grisly details in the newspaper, but a good deal of fatal hypothermia is caused by sweating.
In a perfect world, sweating is an extraordinarily good thing. It lowers your core temperature and also cools you down as the sweat evaporates. But preppers aren't preparing for a perfect world, and in bulky clothing sweat makes you feel uncomfortably cold and damp. Nobody likes cold and damp.
Don't Perspire Or You Might Expire
So pace yourself during those initial 72-hours, and anytime you feel yourself starting to sweat, take a breather, brother. Remember that evacuating after a catastrophe is hard work and a full time job.
Activities like building a shelter, starting a fire and hiking are strenuous so stop and rest when your sweat glands tell you to.
To keep dry, stay under a ledge or large shelter tree and use whatever's clever to dry yourself off.
Where Do You Start?
In colder weather, what you do first depends on Mother Nature. If it's cold and dry, you'll need to build a fire first for warmth. But if it looks like rain is imminent, build the shelter first.
If you've ever gone skiing, you may remember how long it takes for wet clothes and boots to dry by a fire. Preppers would be wise to keep one change of clothes in a waterproof bag. The giant zipper-lock plastic bags sold at most hardware stores are perfect for this.
Layer Upon Layer Of Warmth
The key to staying warm outdoors when the temperature dips is dressing in layers of clothing. That way, you can adjust easily to changing conditions; if it gets colder, you can add additional layers; if you start to overheat, you remove layers. Besides being layered, winter survival clothing should also be loose-fitting, allowing the air trapped between layers to insulate you from the cold.
An ideal outfit for men and women would be a base layer of long johns, followed by a layer of loose-fitting trousers and fleece, topped off with a water-repellent jacket.
The Crowning Glory
My grandma used to say that 110% of your body heat escapes through the top of your head...but she also thought that televised wrestling was 110% real, so maybe her percentages were off.
In any case, a diligent prepper must try on many hats before choosing the right combination of cold- and wind-protection features.
Never wear a full ski mask like the type used to rob liquor stores; it makes you look like a novice prepper; it can obstruct your vision when you need a clear view the most; and it can trap sweat from your brow.
Relax, It's Just Old Man Winter
Old Man Winter is a cruel master, but you can beat frigid temperatures by taking deep breaths and relaxing. This will slow down your metabolism and - as every Canadian knows - make the cold a lot more tolerable.
