Cottonwood Institute Blog

Survival Priorities: Shelter is Key!

When you head to the hills for a weekend backpacking excursion, you are not typically thinking about what you would do if you were in the middle of nowhere and your pack accidentally sailed off a cliff.

This happened to one poor student that took a survival course with an organization I used to work for in Southern Utah. It was day one of a three-day traveling solo in cloudless 90-degree heat. After navigating and scrambling through the desert slick rock alone, the student took a picturesque lunch break on the edge of a rocky cliff band. When it was time to leave, he accidentally knocked his pack off the cliff, which was much too high and treacherous to down climb, leaving him with nothing but the clothes on his back. Because it was day one of a three-day traveling solo, nobody would be looking for him for at least another 2.5 days.

Whether you are in the desert or in the mountains, there are some crucial survival rules that come into play. Some refer to it as the Survival Rule of 3’s, which says that, in general, you can live three minutes without oxygen three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food.

Knowing your survival priorities can help save you precious time, energy, and calories in a survival situation. Some people panic and immediately start thinking of food. If you spend the first few hours of a survival situation looking for food, you could neglect other more important priorities like shelter and water and go down on the books as another search and rescue statistic.

Whether it is –20 in the mountains during the winter or 100+ in the desert heat, shelter is #1. It is easy to see how you could freeze to death in 3 hours in the winter without shelter and warmth, but even in the summer heat, shelter is key. With water being your next priority, you need shade to conserve your energy, slow the speed of dehydration and conserve your fluids, and to stay out of the relentless heat of the sun until a cooler part of the day to begin your search for water. Look for a natural rock outcropping, build an impromptu lean to with sticks or other debris, or weave a sun hat out of Yucca leaves, but find shade as soon as you can.

The mountains of Colorado can be much cooler in the summer depending on your elevation, so you may not be seeking shade like you would in the desert. Many people think of the classic debris shelter as the perfect 3-season survival shelter, but this can be a very labor/calorie intensive shelter to build if you don’t have adequate water to stay hydrated and maintain your energy. The last thing you want to do is “bonk” in a survival situation when your life is on the line.

If you are caught out in the mountains alone before dark with nothing but the clothes on your back, you may consider making a pine needle bed to make it through the night. You can then continue to improve your shelter and convert it into a debris shelter if your survival situation is prolonged over several days.

To make a pine needle bed, scan the environment to find a good location, taking the direction of the weather, the depth of pine needle duff on the ground into account, the proximity to your water source, widow makers towering above, and creepy crawlies into consideration. You don’t want to spend a lot of energy on a shelter and realize you built it over an underground hornet nest or on an ant pile or you will have the most uncomfortable night of your life to say the least. 

Begin by piling up pine needles so you have at least 1 foot of insulation between you and the ground. This is important so you don’t sleep directly on the ground and lose heat through conduction. Then continue to pile up pine needles on both sides so you make a bathtub the length of your body. Crawl into your pine needle bathtub and start covering your feet, legs, torso, and the rest of your body with the pine needles you piled up on the sides. You want to have 1-2 feet of pine needles on top of you because this is your insulation that will trap your body heat the same way your cushy down sleeping bag works.

Pine needles are not quite as comfy as down feathers, but they do the trick. They will trap your body heat, keep you warm, will shed rain, sleet, and snow, and will even keep you warm if it gets wet. If you get caught in a survival situation, remember the Survival Rule of 3’s and remember that shelter is key!

Dreamin' About 98.6 Degrees

You head up to the mountains after work with your pooch to explore a new trail and to relieve some post-work stress. After a mile or two, you let Sparky off the leash, like you always do, and then…Sparky bolts after a rabbit and you find yourself frantically chasing after him. After hustling to keep up, you finally track down your “best friend,” but realize that you are miles from the trail. You are very lost, it is getting dark, the wind is chilling you to the bone through your thin sweaty cotton t-shirt. Your core body temperature is plummeting.

There is a great survival book written by a friend of mine named Cody Lundin called “98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive!” The key take away from this book is the importance of regulating your body temperature at 98.6 degrees during a survival situation. At the Cottonwood Institute, we refer to this as the “Game of Thermoregulation.” The game is to keep your core body temperature constant, warm, and comfortable. If your body gets to warm, you can get hyperthermia and your body can get too hot and shut down. If your body gets too cold, you can get hypothermia, you shiver uncontrollably, you get the umbles (mumble, stumble, fumble, etc.), and eventually your body shuts down.

If you find yourself in a survival situation, it is key to insulate yourself from the elements to maintain your core body temperature at approximately 98.6 degrees. Here are a few ways to insulate yourself from the harsh conditions you can encounter in a survival situation:

• Proper Clothing. As they say, “Proper planning prevents piss poor performance.” Having appropriate gear with you in the backcountry is key. It helps to have a next to skin long underwear layer, an insulation layer, and a water/windproof layer, depending on the conditions. Synthetic materials work great, but I prefer natural materials like wool. While wool is a bit heavier than its unnatural counterpart, wool keeps you warm even if it gets wet, it is durable, it does a fantastic job of blocking the wind, and it will not melt to your skin if a coal from your fire happens to pop on to your shirt. Proper clothing is your first line of defense from the elements because it helps trap your radiant body heat and can make or break you in a real survival situation. Steer clear of cotton, because it looses its insulating properties when it gets wet and accelerates hypothermia.

• Natural Insulation. If you do find yourself in a survival situation without the proper clothing and a plush down sleeping bag to snuggle into, there are several natural materials you can use for insulation in the Rocky Mountains. Remember, as human beings, we survived without modern conveniences for hundreds of thousands of years! People have survived falling through the ice in freezing conditions because they were able to think and act quickly. They stuffed leaves and pine needles in their clothing and began to run at a moderate pace. The heat generated from exercise is trapped by the natural insulation between their skin and their wet clothes. Dried pine needles are great insulators, but less comfortable. Other alternatives are dried oak, cottonwood, or aspen leaves, dried grass, dried cattail down, etc.

If you get caught out in a survival situation with less than ideal gear, equipment, or conditions, remember the Game of Thermoregulation and that insulation is key to keep your core temperature comfortable at 98.6 degrees!

Anyone can be Caught in a Real Survival Situation

With reality shows like Survivor, Man Vs. Wild, and Survivorman, survival has become a buzzword synonymous with crazy people willing to risk their lives on national television for the sake of entertainment. But with survival stories of missing families stuck in their cars and the climbers on Mt. Hood dominating the national headlines last November, we are faced with a sobering wake up call that survival is not just for outdoor enthusiasts and that anyone can be caught in a real survival situation.

Having a little knowledge can go a long way in a real survival situation. If you scan the headlines of survival articles that show up in the media, there are a few common mistakes that everyone can learn from:

• Plan Ahead – Most survival situations occur because people are not familiar with the area in which they are traveling. Bring a map and compass, but more importantly know how to use it. Otherwise your map is just tinder for your fire and your compass is just a paperweight. If you are driving in the winter, know your route. Don’t travel on roads that are closed for the winter or that are not maintained in the winter. This may sound like common sense, but you would be surprised how many survival situations occur because people don’t plan ahead and are unfamiliar with their environment.

• Tell Someone Where You Are Going – Before traveling in the backcountry, make a quick itinerary that has some basic information. Tell people where you are going, what trailhead you are starting from, what your destination is, when you plan to be back, and what your friends should do if you are overdue (such as call search and rescue). Have two copies of your itinerary and give one to a friend, family member, or roommate and put the other copy on the dash of your car at the trailhead. If your itinerary changes, make sure you tell everyone who has your itinerary. Don’t forget to call people when you get back from your trip so they don’t send out search and rescue.

• STOP – Should you find yourself in a survival situation, it is important to remain clam and think through your situation. One way to do this is to STOP: Stop, Think, Observe, and Plan before you spring into action. If you don’t stop and think about your situation, it is easy to make some crucial mistakes that could greatly reduce your chances of survival. Take a deep breath, try to meditate, or do something that does not take a lot of energy to take your mind off of your situation. Calories are precious in a survival situation and it is critical to maintain your energy and a positive attitude. Think about your situation, where you are, how far you are from a trail, road, or trailhead, what direction you are traveling, etc. Observe your environment. What resources in the environment can you use for insulation, making shelters, making fires, or finding water. What resources do you have on you that can help you get through your situation?  Everything from your clothes on your back to your belt to your shoelaces can used to help you get through your survival situation. Once you have stopped, thought about your situation, and observed resources in your environment, make a plan and stick to it.

• Survival Priorities – There is a simple general rule of thumb called the Survival Rule of 3’s that can help you focus on the priorities that will keep you alive. In general, you can live 3 minutes without oxygen, 3 hours without shelter/warmth, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. Therefore, food is not your most important priority, which is a common misconception. Shelter, fire, water, rescue, and food are your most important priorities in any situation, whether it is in the dead of winter or the middle of summer.

• Carry a Survival Kit – Survival kits are nominal insurance policies that could help save your life. The contents of this survival kit are designed to help you survive a short-term survival situation between 1 and 7 days. This survival kit is not a substitute for proper planning, good judgment and decision-making, and sound backcountry skill. The purpose of survival kits are to supplement essential gear that you should already have with you on any backcountry trip. Survival kit materials should be lightweight, durable, serve many purposes, and address the most critical survival priorities, including: shelter, fire, water, rescue, and food. The Cottonwood Institute sells a survival kit with field tested materials that are perfect for day hikes, overnight backpacking trips, or for putting in your car next time you drive into the mountains. To find out more information or to purchase a survival kit, Click Here. Please Note: All proceeds from the sale of our survival kits go to support our General Scholarship Fund.

You never know how you will perform in a survival situation until you are actually in one. Your first instinct may be to panic, and that is ok, as long as you can snap out of it. Having some basic knowledge, training, and supplies can help make survival situations inconvenient adventures, rather than life or death situations. Always practice survival skills in perfect, safe, warm conditions. As you become proficient in your ability to make shelter, water, and fire in good conditions, practice these skills in cold and wet environments. Always practice your skills with a safe exit strategy and never create a REAL survival situation when practicing survival skills!

One of my mentors, Paul Van Horn, always told me that you should have enough skill and knowledge if you ever find yourself in a survival situation to make a shelter, start a fire, find water, and make a cup of hot pine needle tea to offer to your rescue team. After all, they probably had a long day looking for you and they will need to rest and relax before hiking you out!