Staying Warm Without Heat

How do you stay warm in wintry weather without a working furnace or fire?  Many events, unforeseen or as part of your daily life, may put you into situations of extreme cold in which you risk life-threatening hypothermia and/or frostbite if your aren't prepared.  Over the years, I've tried wool, down, fleece, and synthetic materials as I've gone on winter Klondikes with the Boy Scouts, or skiing & other winter activities with my family.  I've slept in tents and snow caves and camp trailers.  In most circumstances, those winter nights were miserable tests of endurance.  My wife & I zip our down sleeping bags together and have been much more comfortable.  However, recently we've discovered the benefits of foam clothing & sleeping bags.

Everyone should know by now that in wet winter weather, Cotton Kills!  It may be great and breathable in warm weather, but cotton sweatshirts and socks are your worst enemies in winter, especially as they get wet, even from just your own perspiration.  Many people find wool uncomfortable, although newer merino wool blends are as comfortable as cotton.  It even retains some insulation capacity if it gets wet.  Down is the ultimate in warmth, but is totally useless when wet.  New synthetic down or water-repellent down are great improvements and still very lightweight, but also very costly.  Regardless of the material, eventually it will absorb moisture and lose the ability to insulate you from the cold.  After 3-4 days, or even a full week, most of these need aired out so they can dry.

Foam, on the other hand has so many benefits.  For one, it can take the cold day after day for indefinite use.  You can jump into a frozen lake, squeeze out the water, go to bed under a tarp and not only stay warm, but wake up drier than when you went to bed.  Every year, groups of people spend an entire week on top of the mountain pass above Logan, Utah, in blizzard-like conditions, without any tents or campfires in clothing they made themselves from polyurethane foam.  They all remark how amazingly comfortable foam clothing & sleeping bags will keep them.

Jim Philips is the pioneer in developing this simple technology and has a lot of great resources on his website www.safeharboralliance.com.  He offers classes on how to make your own clothes and even offers ready-made clothing sets.  He explains that in an emergency, you can find foam in a lot of places that can be stuffed inside your clothes or wrapped around you and may just save your life if stranded away from home or are suddenly without working heaters at home.  Your carpeting has an underlayment of 1/2" foam.  Your car seats have thick foam as well.  If your alternative is to cut up your carpeting or car seat which will need replaced later versus freezing to death, from which you cannot recover, what will you do?  If you have time to plan ahead and secure a full set of foam clothing and sleeping bags before an emergency arrives, how much peace of mind will that provide you and your family?

Local entrepreneur, John Arbon, has taken these concepts even further with high-quality clothing under the brand Fortress Clothing, and four-season sleeping bag systems called Pakanuni.  Be aware that there is a waiting list for his sleeping bags.  You can find the clothing sets at some emergency preparedness conventions and online.  You can have these custom made or download patterns and just buy your foam and material from John (much cheaper than you'll find it anywhere else).  You can email him through his website, or contact me for his phone number.

Read the links below and watch the videos that demonstrate how foam out-performs even the most advanced winter sports gear on the market.

http://www.safeharboralliance.com/palstrade/

http://www.fortressclothing.com/

https://pakanuni.com/

Prepared vs. Primitive

One principle of life that we all can agree on is that tomorrow always comes and that bad things do happen. 

With that in mind, we can plan our preparedness efforts according to what is the worst case scenario that we might face given the likelihood of risks around us.  The level of that preparedness will determine whether we will face the unexpected event as an adventure or resort to dealing with the problem in a more primitive method.

Take a couple simple common occurrences for examples.  Do you have a jack & spare tire in your car for the unexpected flat on the highway?  (Is that not a form of emergency preparedness?)  Do you know how to use the jack and other tools to change the tire?  Is the spare tire inflated?  If you are properly prepared, you deal with the flat as an inconvenience and get back on the road.  You might even use those resources to help someone else in need that was less prepared.  On the other hand, if you are not adequately prepared, and nobody else comes to your rescue, you are left with the most primitive mode of transportation: namely walking (what sort of shoes are you wearing right now?).

In February, 2015, a bitter snowstorm left over 160,000 residents of Georgia without power for several days.  How often does that happen in the Deep South?  Depending on your resources, you might have a generator to restore at least some lights and run the furnaces, perhaps even the refrigerator.  A kerosene heater or wood stove might heat one room where everyone can huddle together for warmth.  A solar generator could provide some lighting, and run a radio or a couple small appliances.  A camp stove would enable you to heat some soup.  If you are less prepared, you may only have a few candles, a flashlight with no spare batteries, and inadequate winter clothing to enable going outside for more than a few minutes before risking hypothermia.  Your day may begin and end with the rising and setting of the sun just like it did for the Pioneers.

Can you afford to be wrong in your emergency preparations & planning? Some people have the attitude that nothing serious is going to happen, at least not to them. If that is your belief, you had better be absolutely certain that you are right, because if you are wrong, you are in big trouble.  However, if you plan for the worst and you are wrong (ie. nothing happens, or only minor problems arise), No Problem! You have your gear and resources for another day or for a great camping trip!  Can you see the difference?  On one hand it’s OK to be wrong, while on the other hand there is only disaster and tragedy.

The Principle of the Parachute says:

·         You must have a parachute before you need a parachute

·         You must have your parachute with you when you need it

·         Your parachute must be in working condition when you need it

·         Your parachute should be made of the highest quality materials

·         You need to know how to use your parachute and have practiced using it before hand so that you can use it properly during an emergency

·         Your parachute needs to have been packed by a trustworthy parachute packer

Emergency Preparation Baby Steps

Baby Step #1:  Plan for a short-term emergency

·        Build a 72-Hr Emergency Kit

·        Get a 2 week supply of fresh water

·        Build up a 3 week supply of food that you eat every day

·        Buy a water filter

·        Build an emergency supply of cash, in small bills and even coin

Baby Step #2: Prepare your vehicle

·        Put an emergency kit in your car

·        Don’t forget the water

·        Get in the habit of keeping the tank full, never let it go below half-full

·        Keep decent tires on the car

·        Can it get your family where you need to go in an evacuation emergency

·        Do you need 4WD?

Baby Step #3: Get smart about potential disasters

·        Do a disaster inventory of your community, 5 mile radius, 10-20 mile radius, 50 mile radius

·        Weather events

·        Natural disasters

·        Manmade disasters

·        Socioeconomic disasters

·        Political crises

·        Personal catastrophes

Baby Step #4: Get home, no matter what

·        Have an emergency Get Home kit at work

·        Include good walking shoes

·        Plan for the worst inclement weather you might face

·        Who will pick up the kids and care for them if you can’t get home?

Baby Step #5 Develop a survival mindset

·        Become familiar with the prophecies

·        Study the scriptures and warnings of the latter-day prophets

·        Be willing to obey the prophet with faith, no matter what, but not blindly

·        Be aware of current events, even those not in the regular news, and how they fit into fulfillment of prophecy

·        Work toward getting out of debt

·        Gradually build your food storage to 30 days, 90 days, 6 mos., 1 yr.

Clothing: the Personal Shelter That You Wear

November's Mapleton Ready class was all about Staying Warm in Winter, featuring Jim Phillips.

Everything you have learned about staying warm in winter may be wrong!  Layering works great, while you are active & moving. What about when you stop moving?  Moisture builds up between these layers and rob you of your body heat.  Is there a better way?  Is about more than just the right clothes, but understanding the principles of staying warm.

For almost fifty years Jim has been a pioneer in outdoor living, winter camping and arctic survival.  With his broad technical background he has developed proven methods and equipment for surviving the harshest climates on earth.  In 1989 he was awarded Popular Science Magazines "Best of What's New" for his arctic clothing technology designs.  He has since been featured in a variety of magazines including: ThermoSphere , Camping Journal, The Mother Earth News, Boys' Life, Scouting, Alaska, Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated and Fortune.  He's also the only man I know of that's cut a hole in a frozen lake, jumped in, then survived without fire and shelter for several days, twice!

This YouTube video on Weather Happens is essentially the presentation Jim gave in class (it's over an hour long, but full of great information).

Sadly, there are few resources for getting outfitted.  However, there are a couple local people offering custom made winter clothing using the Phillips Arctic Living (PAL) principles.   You can also make your own with some creativity.  Among the links is a DVD for sale that teaches you how to make your own.  Keep checking back on this blog for updates on group purchase options or classes that are in the works.

Here are some other links on information from Jim's years of research, including notes and videos.

Safe Harbor Alliance

Winter Without Worries

 

Thermal Johns

Thermal Johns Freezer Test

PALS Mukluks

How to sew foam clothing DVD

“If you’re prepared, emergencies turn into an opportunity to have an adventure.” That was the message given at November ‘s Mapleton Ready seminar on cold weather preparedness.

“Winter is an ally, not an enemy,” said Jim Phillips, a nationally-recognized expert on cold weather clothing and survival. “If there’s ever an emergency or a pandemic, don’t go to a warm place – quarantine in an igloo. In winter, there’s plenty of water. Cold weather tends to eliminate hazards such as street gangs, flies, and mosquitoes. And it slows the spread of disease.”

Winter brings dangers too, of course: discomfort, hypothermia, frostbite, to name a few. But the good news is that these dangers can be minimized with proper preparation. “You can’t guarantee that you’ll always have a source of heat,” Mr. Phillips said. "But you can prepared by understanding how to conserve heat; having a source of backup heat; reducing the need for heat; and most important of all, having the proper cold weather clothing. In a cold weather emergency, don’t expect to continue the same lifestyle you’re used to. It won’t be practical to heat your whole home indefinitely. But there are ways to keep warm.”

To conserve heat, you can prepare your home now by adding insulation, insulation, storm windows, etc. In an emergency, you can cordon off rooms with plastic sheeting and duct tape so that you only have a small area to heat. “Now is the time to get the plastic sheeting. Look for clear, 4 mil plastic.”

Sources of backup heat include various fuels such as wood, propane, white gas, etc., plus alternative options such as solar heating. “Be very aware of safety issues, especially if there are children in the home. Combustion poses hazards such as burning and carbon dioxide poisoning. Understand the fuel you are using and how to use it safely.”

“Auxiliary heating isn’t really practical for the long-term, and sometimes not even for the short term,” said Mr. Phillips. “The most practical, affordable, and reliable solution isn’t to try and keep your house warm – it’s to keep yourself warm. You can do that with the right clothing. Clothing is your personal portable shelter. To use it effectively, you need understand how to stay warm and dry."

“Layers have their advantages, but they will fail in extreme weather, partly because moisture is trapped between the layers. A monolayer system is best for extremes.”

He then went on to explain Phillips Arctic Living System (PALS) clothing – foam clothing with a synthetic shell. “You can make winter clothing that will outperform anything you can buy. You’ll need 1/2″ or 1″ open cell polyurethane foam for insulation, and polyester or nylon fabric for the outer shell. Never use cotton – it becomes death cloth in cold weather, because it traps moisture. Also, never use coated or sealed (waterproof) fabrics – they keep water out, but they also keep water in.” There are various ways to make the PALS clothing, but in a pinch, you can even “roll and stuff” the foam behind your current clothing.

“Just having the right ‘stuff’ isn’t enough,” Mr. Phillips concluded. “You need to also have experience and confidence. Test whatever emergency solution you’re relying on ahead of time. For example, dress in your winter clothing and then go spend the night outside on a lawn chair. If you can’t make it, then come back and change your solution. Practical experience is key.”

 

Also, a quick re-cap on LDS underclothing options for staying warm in the winter.

100% Nylon Mesh will keep you the driest.

100% Nylon Drisilque because of it's very tight weave slows moisture passing through and will also feel more "clingy" when wet.

100% Polyester Thermax as the name implies is the warmest feeling when dry, however,  because of its thick dense weave it will retain and hold more moisture longer.

Dri-Lux 85% Polyester / 15% cotton and Carinessa II 91% polyester / 9% spandex retain some moisture but dry much quicker than cotton so if you can't live without the cotton feel either of these may work better for you.

Any of the 50/50 cotton blends retain even more moisture and of course 100% cotton is the most absorbent of all and should not be worn in cold weather.

Bottom line, your underclothing is to help you stay dry by keeping moisture away from your skin.  100% Nylon Mesh is likely your best bet but before you buy a whole bunch you may want to just try one to be sure you can live with the feel.  Many find they love it and wish they had been wearing these all along, but it may not work for all.

Incidentally, the same applies to warm weather and will help you feel drier instead of moist and clammy.

Hope this helps.

Derek Haynie

derek@MapletonReady.org

+1 (801) 491-1111

Life's an Adventure . . Are You Ready?®

 

Turbo Tents

We have an opportunity to get discounted pricing on Turbo Tents.  These can be set up within 2 minutes by just one person.  These tents were purchased at places like Costco and returned for some reason.  They may be slightly used, have a blemish or scratch & dent type of defect.  You may need to make a minor repair.  Most will be Grade A quality and even brand new open box returns with no problems at all.  We estimate that the quality is between that of Springbar and Kodiak canvas tents.

Visit the website for Turbo Tents to see the styles and sizes.  The Deluxe Canvas 4- and 6-person tents are their most durable for all seasons.  Their polyester fabric tents are lighter and thinner, but also cheaper.

Look at the MSRP.   We can get these for about 50%  (or more) OFF the original price depending on how many we order.

Contact:
Grant & Delia Madsen