SNOW JOB:  A summer or summary of what's to come. Brrrr!

Snow in and of itself is probably the LEAST THREATENING weather
condition. In fact a 20 degree day with snow on the ground will seem
noticeably warmer than the same day without snow. The same insulating
qualities that make a snow filled forest so quiet will also make it
feel warmer.

Snow can actually be used to protect oneself against the dangers of
cold weather, because it is abundant, easy to work with and entirely
effective for manufacturing windproof walls and roofs.

The MOST SERIOUS DANGER from the snow is its BRIGHTNESS, which causes
a debilitating -if temporary- affliction known as "snow blindness"
escpecially in bright sunlight. Snow blindness should ALWAYS BE
GUARDED AGAINST BY WEARING SUNGLASSES or a brimmed hat to shade the
eyes. If neither is available, fashion emergency goggles by tying
around your head a broad stip of Birch bark with narrow slits cut into
it. ** see pix ?

On the other side, the sun can be as dangerous as any other weather
condition. Prolongued exposurre to a hot sun can cause dehydration,
heat exhaustion and finally heat stroke. Just as hot is the opposite
of cold, so are the requirements of a hot weather shelter the opposite
of the cold weather shelter. Where the cold weather shelter needs dead
air to retain the user's body heat, the hot weather shelter needs to
breather and have as much air circulation as possible. 

HOT SHELTERS:

An effective hot weather shelter can be made simply by erecting a
sloped lightproof roof over a frame, leaving the sides, front and back
open to allow any air currents to pass unobstructed. The space blanket
works very well here. The roof should face south to keep out as much
sun as possible, and travelling throuhg open country MUST be
restricted to the hours betwen dusk and dawn.

The shade provided by the roof will be aproximately 10 degrees cooler 
than the outside temperature and should be comfortable enough to allow
the survivalist to sleep throughout the heat of teh day.
Perspiration wastes water.

COLD SHELTERS:

A thick, insulating bed is ABSOLUTELY VITAL IN COLD WEATHER and is
even a good idea on a summer night. The earth is the world's best heat
sink and it will absorb a human's body heaet faster than it can be
generated, resulting in hypotermia that can range from mild to life
threatening.

WINTER BEDS:

They need not to be fancy or difficult to make. My own favorite winter
bed is made from lenghts of dead poplar or cottonwood logs. When these
short-lived softwoods die the tops break off in the wind, leaving
sections of the trunk sticking above the winter hard-pack. These dead
trunks are easy to break off and several of them laid side by side on
the snow with a thick covering of pine boughs will provide as much
insulation from the ground as possible. 

WINTER FIRE OFF THE GROUND:

Building a fire on a similar platform next to the bed will allow you
to keep warm while sleeping outside in clear weather. If one is
traveling and can avoid building a shelter at the end of the day's
trek, why waste the effort?

FIRE HARNESSING & REFLECTORS:

Fire is one of the survivalist's best friends. It allow him to cook
his food, light the darkness and most important to keep warm. But
there is more to keeping warm than just lighting a fire. you need to
harness as much heat from the flames as possible. Sitting in front of
blazing fire in subzero weather will keep only the front of teh body
warm.

To BE AS EFFECTIVE a heater as possible the warmth of the flames needs
to be focused throuhg the use of a reflector, either a natural feature
or one erected by the survivalist himself. A rock cliff or dirt bank
makes an excellent reflector as does a space blanket suspended
vertically on two poles.

Place your body between the reflector and the fire. Direct heat from
the flames willwarm the portion of you body facing the fire while
reflected heat from behind will warm the pther side. (The principle is
the same as that used in convection oven). 

For maximum heat reflection, place reflectors on 3 or 4 sides of the fire.
Additional reflectors can be made from a dense latticework of branches
stood on end to form a wall & stationed a minimum of 4 feet from the flames.

A fire used to heat a shelter should be positioned directly in front
of the shelter entrance, about 4 feet away, and surronded on 3 sides
by reflectors. The reflectors will impede the circulation of cold
outside air and focus the heat from the fire directly on the door of
the shelter. With this configuration, the stranded woodsman on a thick
insulation bed inside the shelter will be comfortable even in a
subzero blizzard.


