SF Fieldcraft

[AF IDMT]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Now, without a watch I'm betting you could "guess" the hour of the day with a high degree of accuracy.

You assume much, kind Sir.

Seriously though, I see your point.

[Dozer523]

Originally Posted by Broadsword2004

So I'm curious, how does one manage to survive in minus sixty degree weather?

Staying dry (avoiding environmental water and sweating)
Insulating to maintain body heat,
Eating a lot to generate and maintain core heat
Finding shelter and not goofing around thinking this is a situation that can be sustained over the long term because it can't.

http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html

[Last hard class]

Originally Posted by Broadsword2004

So I'm curious, how does one manage to survive in minus sixty degree weather?

In Feb of 85' 1st of the 5th did our winter training in the Utah mountains. Survival week turned out to be one of the coldest in the continental U.S history.
-60 or -70 if I recall.

Being desert oriented our cold weather gear was 10th group hand me downs with Korean war era Mickey Mouse boots.( can you say sucks?) Before you went to bed you would put your canteen next to your body inside your clothes, all five layers, and then crawl inside your sleeping bag. In the morning the canteen would be frozen. Of course our canteens were plastic so you could not heat the frozen water.


The upside: The next week watching 150 camouflaged idiots who couldn't ski barreling down the black diamonds was almost worth the trouble.

Anyone here remember that trip?

Back to the thread:
Dehydration is commonly overlooked in the cold. You have to work slow. If you start sweating it may come back to bite you when the sun drops.

[Diablo Blanco]

I was in the field, in Utah, in January a few years back and had to use a trick I learned in Korea. Not the smartest thing for long term but it worked. I think it was either -17 or -40, I don't remember which (I took a knock on the head while there)

Anyways, our op wasn't as mobile as I expected so we ended up standing and laying around a lot. I got cold real quick. My feet had the sharp pains and it sucked. The wind wasn't helpful either. I donned my wet weather gear including the wet-weather/MOPP boots and stayed nice and warm. I'd have to wiggle my toes noe and then to get the blood flowing but overall was good to go.

One problem though, when we got out of the field my boots were soaked through with sweat and black from the boots. Took awhole to get them cleaned. Saved my toes though!