When it comes to survival, the winter scenario belongs definitely to the most demanding situations you can get into. As on purpose, however, it’s often one of the most common, so we must not underestimate it, and secondly, it deserves even more attention, because underestimating even the slightest detail may result in you not making it till the morning.
Even though winter landscapes look romantic, in terms of rough and real survival, these conditions are simply hellish: there is fog everywhere, the water is frozen, plants practically don’t grow, animals are hibernating/migrated elsewhere,… On the other hand, in winter one doesn’t have to deal with ticks and food will endure hung on a tree practically forever
When we look into the history of humankind, we find out that it was the winter survival, that people struggled the most with. And to these days, preparing for winter in areas with a dominant winter is a traditional activity throughout the year: as in Alaska, for example, if you don't catch enough fish to survive, you're unlucky and have to fish on ice in the winter (extremely dangerous due to caverns, by the way)
In short, winter is the time of the year when most nations, peoples and all kinds of ethnic groups have fought for survival the most - one bad harvest and suddenly there was hunger in the whole tribe. Modern people, on the other hand, are used to being taken care of by the government in emergency situations when they pay taxes, which may or may not happen; in the end, winter is literally the symbol of bad logistics (e.g. Napoleon in Russia).
Why is winter survival so difficult?
Probably every child knows the basics of why winter is such an unpleasant time, but we’re still a survival magazine, so we would rather mention everything in a little more detail and discuss some winter extremes in terms of your survival.
The first issue that the winter season will bring is an extreme drop in temperature well below zero (even in the Czech Republic it is relatively common in the lowlands to have around -20°C and sometimes even less), which of course means that maintaining a constant body temperature during sleep is all the more difficult, and one has to take an active part in it and constantly feed the fire. Getting warm during the day is a little bit easier by doing some work (naturally, you generate more Watts than when you sleep).
But this isn’t the only issue with winter, the problem is that the vast majority of plants have long since entered their stage of inactivity, they have no fruits (there’s a winter mushroom growing here and there in the Czech Republic) and they cease to be useful as sources of fresh food like in summer, when virtually all plants bear seeds and fruits. Yes, it's still possible to find rootlets, but that requires a perfect knowledge of plants to prevent any confusion. It’ll probably be the easiest to eat spruce roots which everybody will recognize and in our country the spruce is immensely plentiful.
Since you’ll probably not have leafy vegetables available in winter (even if the trees do not drop leaves in autumn, they would still lose them during the first major frost), when it comes to the vitamin C intake, you’ll have to turn to fruits (rose hips, wild apples,. ..) and twigs of conifers - in the Czech Republic there are few well-known coniferous trees (stick to fir, spruce and pine trees, because a red berry between the needles signals a poisonous yew).
And we mustn’t forget that what has already been said about plants, practically the same applies to animals - most hibernate/feed from their winter fat/food supplies (squirrels, hedgehogs, bears,…) and only occasionally some of them hunt every few days (wolves, foxes, ...). Many of them may not hibernate, but they migrate for the warmth to the southern parts of the Earth (this applies mostly to birds) or at least to lower lands if they normally live in high mountains.
All in all, everything depends on two key premises: staying warm and having something to eat and drink.
Coniferous trees are an excellent source of fats, sugars and proteins, namely their roots, bark and cones. Just make sure that it is really a spruce, fir or pine tree and not some decorative conifer (such as yew with red berries, etc.), getting poisoned during a serious survival situation may almost certainly result in death (even if it just made you feel sick, it would still make all your other activities more difficult).
How to keep warm?
In our civilized world, modern technologies and gas or electric boilers are sources of heat only a button away, but they work only when there is power. A good insulation will then make sure that most of the heat will stay in our homes. The whole thing is so easy and mundane that we don't even think about it and have the greatest adventure when they turn off the power for the whole day in winter and you are afraid that the water will freeze in the heating pipes.
As for outdoor survival, this is of course a never-ending concern, as without water one can survive for a few days, without food for a few weeks, but without heat it can be all over within three minutes, if you fall under ice and don’t succeed to start a fire.
Functional Clothing
The ability to quickly start a fire even in stress and completely wet is therefore extremely important, even absolutely crucial. Even in the Czech Republic, a few people freeze in a year - no one here dies of thirst or hunger, so if you leave the can at home, nothing happens, the heat is more important.
You may have noticed that native people beyond the Arctic Circle drink something from a bottle a few times a day. And no, alcohol is not a good idea in winter time: although it has a lot of calories, it dissipates heat from the centre of the body to its edges (expands the capillaries) and thus has a completely counter-productive effect. If you drink by the fire, it’s okay, but drinking "to get warm" won’t in fact make you warm in the winter, but will cool you down instead. But back to the native tribes, they drink seal fat because it provides warmth and energy - and you should do the same, forget chocolates, noodles, instant soups, canned stew and similar junk-food crap (practically just sugars/water - usually around 60-70%) and carry at least 4-5 dl of your favourite vegetable or animal oil/fat in your backpack (of course, you can also bring fried pork skins, but unlike warm fat, they won’t warm you up ...). Fat is better than protein and sugars because it has by far the most calories per gram (about twice as much). So, in the situation when you get it inside you (and keep it there), you have the energy to survive all day and night in one bottle (half a litre of fat = a few thousand calories). If you take a sip or two of oil/fat before sleep or during the day, soon you will feel the warmth from its digestion (human body transfers 11-12% of energy from digested food into heat) and you should do this on a regular basis when outside, because digestive processes will increase both your temperature comfort as well as your chances of survival - the more, if it's cold and you sleep outside. Of course, it won't hurt to practice in advance and sometimes try a few sips, so that you won't feel sick from it when you really need it…
Following a trail may not be the optimal way out of the forest - many forest trails intertwine through our landscape with no system, they are used only for a part of the year, they lead in the opposite direction than you need to go,… Without a map and compass, any winter travel is practically impossible, even dangerous, due to the constantly cloudy sky and the impossibility to determine the direction by other means (sun, stars).
General tips for winter survival in Czech Republic
Also, be prepared for the fact that fire is a relatively inefficient form of heat without a stove, so you can easily burn 2-3 times as much fire wood as at home in a hi-tech boiler.
It’s probably clear to everyone that you need to dress warmer in winter than in summer, but there are a few things to keep in mind. The key thing is to put the clothes on in many layers and take them off according to how much demanding activities you are doing (chopping wood will certainly make you warmer than sitting on a hunting tower).
The easiest way to warm up during the day is through work, which in a survival situation you won’t be able to avoid anyway; it's not of course like a barbecuing with friends! But for work you need energy and therefore something to eat: which brings us back to the paragraph about fat above.
Winter Hats
It may not seem like it when you sit in a warm room behind your PC, but even in winter you can overheat. Then your body will sweat and you’ll need to dry your clothes. Ideally, you should even prevent this situation from happening (see layering of clothes) because it threatens your health (icy night is approaching and you are soaked in slowly freezing sweat) and slows you down (you have to get dry instead of doing something more useful, maybe look for some more food - even a few frozen rose hip buds are an amazing find!). However, when you are overheating, it's practical to at least use it to your advantage, for example to melt snow in the drinking bottle in your jacket pocket.
As far as starting a fire, have on you or in your survival kit at least three options: matches (preferably waterproof), lighter and steel fire starter and use the option you prefer the most.
If you come across a winter hunting cabin or hut, then, of course, make the most of it as an improvised shelter and then ideally leave it in the condition in which you found it. And if it will be possible, try looking for some signs of civilization using your binoculars.
Don’t underestimate a good hat, because 25 % of your blood is inside your head which is where the most heat escapes.
Your best protection from cold is fire. If you don’t have one, you will have to do with a sleeping bag or a regular movement approximately once an hour.
Don’t forget, that if the situation gets really bad, you will lose your skills or they will at least be drastically reduced. It's one thing to start a fire using flint and steel at home in your garden with dry wood and in perfect condition, but it's a whole different story when you've just fallen into a creek and shake uncontrollably. Next time when you have a flu, put up just your pajamas and go to the snow to start a fire, it will be quite similar to the experience you will have when you do this for real in a life-threatening situation, and it will no longer shock you since you will already know the feeling. You will probably also notice that when one is stressed and not in top condition due to winter and hunger, it's very easy to make bad decisions (walk some more in the evening or wait and build a shelter?) which you might regret later and pay for them with your health.
In winter, there is no problem with all sorts of flying insects, so leave at home all things that would otherwise take up space in your backpack/survival kit - all kinds of mosquito sprays, tick kits, mosquito nets,… It's really useless to find out in the middle of the woods that half of the gear you have taken comes from the last summer trip, which you forgot to take out after the season.
If you build a winter shelter from tree branches to hide away from the elements, don't forget the smaller it is, the easier it will be to warm it up with your body heat (if you have a tea candle (or more) in your survival kit, you’ll be a lot happier - you can use it for cooking a meal/tea from spruce needles and rose hips, transport the fire, dry wet matches, it gives 30-50 W of heat and light, ...).
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- Petr Hájek
- Petr is a nature lover and avid tourist. Hes keen on learning survival skills (not only in the wilderness), bushcraft. This survival gear tester loves exploring newly arriving brands. His motto: “The worst day in the woods is still better than the best day in the office.”
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