Field and Stream - Shelter RSS

Modern Day Family Foxhole

Online Editors — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:32:53 -0500

by Chad Love

So what would your family do as the world is being vaporized by mutually assured thermonuclear destruction? Well, if you were lucky enough to be a proactive Popular Science subscriber in 1951, you'd probably be cozily hunkered down in your "family foxhole," where you’d be blithely going about your business, cheerfully and wholesomely preparing for Armageddon as untold megatons of radioactive hellfire rained down from above. Because that's just how make-believe families in the '50s-era rolled... Cool stuff, sort of a "Leave It To Beaver" meets "On The Beach" mash-up ...via BoingBoing.

What do you think would be the modern equivalent of the family foxhole? How would you build it, what would you put in it, and if you had to use it, would you be nearly as happy and nonchalant as the family on the cover? And just how good are those Russian guns?

Lost Newfoundland Couple Uses Fresh Moose Hide To Fight Cold

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:51:15 -0500

--Chad Love

Remember that scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Han Solo and Luke Skywalker are trapped on Hoth, so Han uses Luke's lightsaber to cut open a dead Tauntaun and hollow out the body cavity to use as an overnight shelter from the freezing temperatures? If not, see below...and since it's kind of a sin to have never seen Empire, you get the dubbed version.

In recent news, a pair of Canadian moose hunters trapped overnight in the freezing wilderness didn't follow the script to the letter, but they came pretty darn close.

From this story on cbcnews.com:
A western Newfoundland couple used the hide of a freshly killed moose overnight Tuesday to keep warm after getting lost in the woods during a hunting trip near Gros Morne National Park. Stephen and Sheila Joyce said they lost their way after wounding a young moose and began following the trail of its blood. Shivering and soaking wet, they eventually caught up with the wounded animal.

Backyards Become Oases For Wildlife During Drought

Online Editors — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 14:26:37 -0400

--Chad Love

As the drought afflicting the southern part of the nation deepens, wildlife is moving out of the woods and into our yards in search of what little food and water is available.

From this story in the Houston Chronicle:
The rat looked dead. It was face down, arms splayed, in the big shallow pan of water placed near the fence as succor for the wildlife suffering in adjacent woods left blistering hot and deadly dry by Texas' ongoing drought. Every morning, we'd fill the pan with clean, cool water and then watch as a steady parade of wildlife trickled from the woods to slake their obviously considerable thirst or nibble at the mix of millet, sunflowers, shelled corn and other food we scattered for them. There were cat squirrels, swamp rabbits, possums, coons and all manner of birds. It was an all-day procession, a sure sign the deepening drought was causing wildlife that normally survived by living wary and crepuscular lives to do something they normally would not do - abandon the cover of the forest and expose themselves in a wide-open yard during the middle of the day to get a drink of water or a bite of food...The rat, it turned out, wasn't dead at all. It was simply floating in the water, trying to keep cool and hydrated.

An Emergency Shelter in a Cube

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 08:37:38 -0400

--Dave Maccar

As a natural pessimist who assumes everything could go south at any given moment, this video piqued my interest. Take a look at the LifeCube emergency shelter, a tent system with an integrated hard floor that serves as its own heavy plastic shipping container when not deployed. The cube has detachable hoop wheels so it can be moved over uneven terrain. Once the whole thing unfolds, it forms a raised 144-square-foot platform.

Check out the video of it’s 5-minute deployment, and try to ignore the corny music if you can.

Jim Baird’s Arctic Adventure: How to Cross a Pressure Ridge

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:10:09 -0400

I like swimming, but it’s more of a summertime thing. I don’t want to do it when I’m trying to cross a pressure ridge in the Arctic. That’s why I listened closely to tips I heard in the community of Delene before venturing out onto Great Bear Lake. Combining those tips with my own ice safety knowledge got me past many nasty pressure ridges safe and sound.

When you drive up to a pressure ridge, land can be miles away on either side. You first have to decide which way to go. You may have to follow it all the way to shore if you can’t find a place to cross. While following the ridge, you constantly get off your snowmobile to walk up to the ridge and check out promising-looking spots. When that spot is no good (and it usually isn't) it always looks like there is a good spot just at the next bend in the ridge.

Most of the time, when you get there you find a pool of slush or a deep crevasse and not a place to cross, so you keep moving. The search goes on like this for a couple miles or more, unless you’re lucky. Every time you check a possible crossing spot it’s important to be safe and keep these tips in mind.

Jim Baird’s Arctic Adventure: How to Get Your Snow Machine Unstuck

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:50:47 -0400

Before we left the tree line, Ted and I experienced very deep-powder snow in the bush around Great Bear Lake. We were not used to riding snowmobiles in that type of powder and got stuck badly a few times—luckily we knew how to get ourselves free.

How It’s Done: Getting stuck in deep snow happens when you cannot keep the machine level while moving. It’s very important to center your weight and turn by shifting your weight from side to side. You also get stuck when you don’t go fast enough through the powder, which causes your skis to sink in deep and the front of the machine to bottom out. After that happens the snow doesn’t provide enough grip for your track to push your front end through the jam. Your track will just kick all the powder out from underneath it, and your machine just sinks deeper. Reversing is futile at this point as well.

Jim Baird’s Arctic Adventure: How To Rope-Rig a Toboggan for the Open Ice

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:29:17 -0400

At the beginning of my snowmobile expedition in the communities of Tulita and Delene, Ted and I learned that the tow bars on our Equinox Boggans probably would not last for the duration of the expedition. We saw a graveyard of broken steel tow bars in Tulita. It was recommended that we use ropes to tow our toboggans, because the steel tow bars would have broken when pounding along on the hard packed snowdrifts of Great Bear Lake. So that’s exactly what we did.

How It’s Done: First, you’ll need to drill holes in the steel brackets on each side of the toboggan —just in front of where the tow bars hook into them. Clip a carabiner to each hole. Next, tie the ends of a 60-foot-long length of rope to each carabiner. Then, tie the middle of the rope to the hitch of your snow machine. Make sure each side of the rope is an equal length (as shown in the video).

Jim Baird’s Arctic Adventure: Why I Did The Trip

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:45:41 -0400

Why did I do this trip? That’s a question that I don’t actually have a solid answer for. There are several reasons, but I always find myself sputtering when asked. I know that sounds a little odd. I traveled 755 miles through the frozen Arctic by snowmobile while camping out in sub-zero temperatures with polar bears, dangerous ice conditions, and blizzards all constantly looming, and I can’t think of a solid reason why.

George Mallory said it beautifully when he was asked: “Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?” His reply: “Because it’s there.” Mallory died attempting to climb the mountain. I am not a mountain climber and I can’t relate to his fate. It does remind me to stay safe. I can relate to his answer, though, and I’m going to roll with it.

Speed Splitting: Can You Dismantle a Log this Fast?

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 13 May 2011 13:04:01 -0400

--Dave Maccar

Do pride yourself on your timbercraft skills and your aptitude with an axe? Maybe you do...but can you split wood as fast as the guy in the video below?

It’s a heck of a technique and doesn’t require any more than a fairly short length of chain, a small, sturdy rubber belt, a fastener and a hefty-headed maul. Has anyone ever tried this or seen it done before? Thanks to Sports Illustrated, who turned us on to this clip.

After you check out the vid, click here and test the rest of you timbercraft knowledge with our “Could You Chop Down a Tree With An Axe?” quiz and see how you stack up against other F&S readers.

Jim Baird’s Arctic Adventure: Reflections From Back Home

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:09:47 -0400

Now that Jim Baird is back from his two-week-long Arctic adventure, we thought we’d catch up with him to talk about the highs and lows of his trip and hear about how it feels to be back home.

F&S: What’s been the toughest part as far as readjusting back to “normal” life?
Jim Baird: Seeing so many people around me. I felt a little claustrophobic at first. Also, it’s a different mindset when you only have to focus on regular daily activities—and not on your survival. This makes you feel complacent to things that may have seemed stressful before. That’s a good thing.

F&S: Ten years from now, what memory of the trip do you think will stand out as the best?
JB: When I was driving on the smooth ice of the Amundsen Gulf in awe of the scenery and I first got the feeling that we were going to make it. Sometimes it’s the scary memories that stick with us. This way we learn from them and are safer next time. It’s a survival instinct. In the future a dangerous moment from the trip may end up being the “best” memory because it could end up saving my life. It is also often an exhilarating feeling to have survived something dangerous. I learned from being chilled to the bone as the sun rose over Prince Albert Sound. I learned from realizing there was only an inch of ice under my feet at a pressure ridge on Great Bear Lake. I definitely learned from coming close to driving off a canyon wall as we traveled in the dark. I will remember these things as part of the adventure and cherish them—but at the same time remember not to let them happen again.

Jim Baird’s Arctic Adventure: Cliffs in the Dark at 40 Below

Online Editors — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:58:29 -0400

With the trip winding down, Ted and I knew we’d have to make a long push through the night to reach Ulukhaktok in time to spend a few hours with our friend Pat and, more importantly, catch our flight home. Fortunately, the weather was good enough for such an aggressive travel plan, and Ted and I left Rymer Point and headed straight overland, northward for Prince Albert Sound.

Jim Baird’s Arctic Adventure: Miserable Night in a Cold War Base

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:20:40 -0400

We left Kugluktuk late in the morning despite our 6 a.m. wakeup. The previous evening I marked the route we would be following in my GPS. We planned to make it to Lady Franklyn Point on Victoria Island, about 80 miles away. We wanted to go fast, but the ice formations and abrupt drifts in the Coronation Gulf were not easy to navigate, especially on our big crossing to the island. It would be the roughest ride we'd had so far. We were careful to make our crossing before venturing into the Dolphin and Union Straight, where we knew the ice conditions were unsafe.

We reached Lady Franklyn Point at 10:30 p.m. and I was surprised at what I saw: a couple of buildings were marked on my topographic map. I thought they might be old trappers’ cabins where Ted and I could stay, but when we got there we found what looked like something from a James Bond movie.

Jim Baird’s Arctic Adventure: Crossing the Arctic Circle

Online Editors — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:56:42 -0400

Jim Baird's Arctic Adventure Diary: Ulukhaktok or Bust!

Online Editors — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:40:43 -0400

The adventure has begun! Well, kind of…

My brother Ted and I are stuck in Deline.

First, we were waiting on the auger to arrive. When that got here, we thought we’d be ready to hit Great Bear Lake, but then we had a slight glitch with one of our snow machines during the first leg of the trip. Now we’re just waiting for the mechanic to make the repair and then, fingers crossed, we’ll be on our way.

This delayed start gives me a chance to show you the route Ted and I will be taking. We’ll travel across a few different landscapes: spruce forests, massive Great Bear Lake, mountainous northern shield country, treeless barren lands, and the frozen Beaufort Sea ice finishing the trip in the stark but beautiful landscape of the Arctic Islands.

Here’s a breakdown of our trip, stop by stop:

Video: How to Build a Quinzhee Shelter (a.k.a. Snow Cave)

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:02:23 -0400

Here’s a scenario for you: The wind is howling. It’s 20 degrees below zero. And a blizzard destroyed your tent.

What do you do for shelter?

Build a quinzhee, of course.

The word “quinzhee” comes from the Dene language, and for the first stretch of my journey across Great Bear Lake to the tree line I’ll be in traditional Dene territory. So I think it’s a good bet that a quinzhee should do the trick.

Survival: How To Make A Coal Bed

Online Editors — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:45:17 -0500

Our survival expert learns a valuable lesson by spending a night in the woods with a former survival school instructor

Camping With An Electric Bear Fence

Online Editors — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:39:29 -0400

Portable bear fences—electric wiring used for protection, particularly when camping in the Alaskan wilderness—have come a long way in the last several years.

Fact Or Fiction? Top 8 Survival Myths

Online Editors — Sat, 15 May 2010 17:53:20 -0400

On water from a cactus, moss on trees, drinking urine, and playing dead to avoid a bear attack.

Montana Hunter Lost for Two Weeks Found Alive in Big Horn Mountains

Online Editors — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:23:04 -0500

From the Billings Gazette:
Lost in the Big Horn Mountains, presumed dead by family and friends and hallucinating because of too much wind and too little food, Travis McMahan, stumbling up a creek, found a dead fish.

“It looked all rotten,” he said. . . . “I cut its head off and skinned its back,” he said of the fish. “And there was good meat in there, so I ate it.”

Chad Love: Cut Down a Tree with a Ten-Dollar Knife

Online Editors — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:38:32 -0500

So say you're stuck in the woods, the temperature's dropping fast and you need shelter and fire, quickly. There are trees all around but you have neither saw nor axe. All you have is your knife. It's not even a big Rambo-inspired, serrated-edge survival sword with a picatinny rail, but a twelve-dollar plastic-handled mora with a little four-inch blade. Hey, no problem.

Merwin: Avoid Hypothermia With a Mustang Survival Jacket

Online Editors — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:07:42 -0400

Staying alive. Personal safety is high on my fall fishing list. The water temperature this morning on one of the big lakes I often fish is 51 degrees. Normally dressed, if I fall out of the boat there’s a good chance of death by hypothermia.

Discussion Topic: Emergency Beacons and “Yuppie 911”

Online Editors — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:58:22 -0400

What would it take for you to summon Search and Rescue? Lost for a day? Mauled by a bear? Fell out of your treestand? How about, tasted some salty water?

Build A Survival Fire With Condoms and Underwear

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:58:22 -0400

The author tests readers’ fire-starting and tinder tips and picks the winners.

Discussion Topic: On Hunting Pythons in Florida

Joe_Cermele — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:33:20 -0400

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s request for a massive hunt of an estimated 100,000 pythons roaming the Everglades in Florida has been approved by Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist.

Crist has asked wildlife officials to start trapping pythons immediately. This comes a couple of weeks after a 2-year-old girl was strangled by a pet Burmese python in central Florida.

Chad Love: Locked & Loaded in Parkland

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:28:51 -0400

There's already been a boatload of bloviation expressed on the recent reversal of the ban on loaded firearms in our national parks, some of it sensible but most of it (predictably) bordering on hysterics.

This column from the Huffington Post is a perfect example:

"In fact, the new rule is likely to make national park visitors less safe around wildlife. Packing heat could give some people a false sense of security and make them more likely to approach bison, elk, moose, and grizzly bears, rather than keep a safe distance which is better for both people and animals."

But the most certain outcome of this congressional action is that it will promote poaching. The National Park Service warned in its fiscal 2006 budget submission each year for the past several years ... The data suggests that there is a significant domestic as well as international trade for illegally taken plant and animal parts." Poaching, the agency said, "is suspected to be a factor in the decline of at least 29 species of wildlife and could cause the extirpation of 19 species from the parks."