Author: Minimum
Survival Shelters – What Works?
There are many types of survival shelters, but they mostly serve one basic purpose, and it isn’t to have an attractive home for the night. There might be some psychological value to certain styles, and there may ocassionally be a need for protection from animals, but the primary purpose of a survival shelter is to keep you from losing body heat.
Hypothermia (loss of body heat) is the single biggest cause of death in a survival situation. A shelter prevents this in the following ways:
1. It blocks the wind.
2. It keeps you dry.
3. It creates a space that can be heated by your body heat itself, or with a fire or other means.
Sometimes people with no skills survive in circumstances where others with survival knowledge have died. Why? Often it is because they have knowledge or intuition of the principles involved in survival. It can be a great help to know how to build a lean-to shelter using natural materials, but it is also possible that a lost hiker with no skills might be more likely to survive by burying himself for the night in a pile of dry leaves. He might simply recognize that it is easier for his body to heat the space under those leaves.
In other words, a little understanding of the principles involved and a willingness to think is more important than specific skills. Of course, best of all would be thinking, understanding and having Continue reading
A guide to ultra light hiking – Part 1
In Alaska, if you want to have fun in the summer, it means that you are probably hiking to it. Most every incredible area involves some form of a hike or backpacking trip in order to get to it. You could take off road vehicles, but even then, you generally have to hike a great deal of the way. But if you are going to do it, you have to make sure that you are doing it right or it could potentially cause you or someone else their life.
The most important thing to remember about light hiking is that if you are doing it, you aren’t meant to go a long distance. If you are planning on traveling for more than 5 hours, especially in Alaska, Montana, or other areas with a great amount of wilderness, then you are going to want to backpack. This is just in case you get stuck somewhere and have to make camp. Anything under 5 hours, then by all means, light pack Continue reading
Backpack weight reducing tips
The most important rule when packing a backpack is never taking an item that “you may need”.
You will hate it if you have to carry something you are not going to use. Every little bit of weight counts.
When you pack a backpack, it is not like packing a car with every possible thing you may need.
I spent two and a half years walking across the United States to show what you can do on faith in God. I was on the walk for about a year when my brother wanted to join me while I was in the Mississippi Delta. His bus arrived in Greenwood, Mississippi. I went to pick him up at the bus station and when he got off the bus with his Army backpack, he was wobbling back and forth under the weight of the pack. I had been staying with a local family who had taken me to the bus station. We went back to their house and i began to unpack my brothers pack to see what all he had packed. His pack weighed over 100 pounds. It was full of stuff that he felt he “might” need. He did not like it as i Continue reading