You’re in the woods. It’s cold, but above freezing. You’re wearing sneakers, socks, jeans, a t-shirt, and a coat.
You have:
a lawn and leaf garbage bag
a sopping wet blanket
a pile of dry leaves
trees from which you could pull green leaves or branches or twigs
You cannot start a fire.
How could you keep warmest?
Wring out the blanket as best I can…build small lean too and drap blanket over it to block the wind…a damp blanket would allow less wind to penetrate than if it were dry. Then I’d find as many leaves as I could that were perfectly dry, a nice white pine tree would be nice. The bristles are silky sift. I’d grab a few boughs of that lay then down very thick and proceed to make myself as comfortable as I could. Possibly dig a small trench to lay the boughs in. Long and deep enough to fit my body. My body heat would warm the closest pine boughs enough to keep my moderately warm for the night…
*Phlosphr - graduate 4 summers in a row…Montana/Arizona outward bound.
Heh - I didn’t even need the trash bags…But the only place I could think they would be of use is between me and the elements. The ground - if not previously frozen - can be a great insulator and warmth generator. Placing the plastic bags over it could impede that anyway.
I think I would stuff the bag with the dry leaves, take my shoes off and jump in.
IANAGS (I am not a Girl Scout) but I would
or
or
The garbage bag will block the wind better than anything else, and stuffed with leaves it’s nearly equivalent to a parka. Punch a hole in the top for your head, or wrap it around your legs when sleeping, and follow Phlosphr’s advice for the rest.
UGH. Must. Remove. Image. From. Brain.
I’m pretty self heated. I could see myself wringing the blanket as much as possible, putting the plastic bag between me and the blanket and just sleeping on some leaves against a tree.
So, what exactly is preventing a fire? If we’re trying to avoid detection I’d find some good exposed tree roots and sleep/hide between them covered in leaves.
This is what I would try:
I would clear a post on the ground. Then pull live leaves and foliage from the woods and pile them on the ground to make a “bed”, then drape the wet blanket over them. Then I would put the garbage bag on top of the blanket. Then lay dry leaves over the garbage bag. Then I would lie down and cover myself from head to toe with any remaining dry leaves.
My thought is that the living foliage will quickly decay under the wet blanket, creating heat but the garbage bag will protect you from the moisture and the dead leaves will help you trap heat.
If that didn’t work then I would just lie in a fetal position and cry.
Dammit! This was supposed to be **spot ** not post
I would clear a post on the ground.
:smack:
Well, since most of the body heat loss comes from your head, you should do your best to cover that completely.
I reccomend using the plastic trash bag for this purpose. Tie the opening firmly around your neck, as you don’t have a scarf, and the neck must be kept warm too.
Then, stuff your clothes full of leaves. This will increase their insulative ability, and add padding for when you lie down. Put leaves in your shirt, put leaves in your pants. Put leaves in your coat. Put leaves in your socks, and leaves in your shoes. Fill your pockets with leaves. Put leaves in your undergarments. Be sure to fill all available nooks and crannies with leaves… don’t forget, the armpits and crotch have substantial leaf storage space! Every bit helps.
Finally, wrap the wet blanket around yourself as tightly as possible (to prevent further heat loss) and lie down underneath the tree.
Then wait.
In about ten minutes, you won’t even notice the cold anymore!
Serious answer so I don’t get banned if some idiot actually takes the above suggestion:
Ditch the blanket. If it’s not freezing, that water is gonna evaporate, and evaporating water is COLD.
Of course, if you’re thinking very long term, just hang the blanket from a tree. In a few days it will be dry, and then you can use it. But overnight? Dump it.
The OP doesn’t mention if it’s raining, or if rain is likely. I’m going to assume that rain is expected.
In this case, your primary goal is keeping yourself and your clothing dry.
So, keep yer clothes on. Put the coat on over them. Assuming the coat is not waterproof, poke a hole in the garbage bag and wear that over the coat. DO NOT poke arm holes. You won’t use your arms… they’ll be huddled up in your coat, keeping you warm, and armholes are just more places for water to get in. You’re gonna get wet enough through the neck hole, you don’t want any more wet than you can avoid.
If you really want to, you can stuff your coat with dry leaves for a little more insulation. It won’t help much, if the coat is any good at all. Do this on the outside of your shirt to avoid itching.
Since the blanket is gonna stay wet a while, you can try to fashion some kind of shelter with it by hanging it from the tree or whatever. It couldn’t hurt.
Then, you need something to sit on, unless you plan on standing all night. The ground can suck the heat right out of you at night. A pile of sticks and leaves makes a passable bed. More leaves on top can keep some of the wind off, and function as a blanket of sorts.
If you survive, find Prometheous… if the coat is a good tough leather, he might just trade you for some matches!
Facetious answer:
strip off all clothes, place wet blanket over shoulders and dry it with tummo yoga. Then look for more wet blankets.
First off, what’s that blanked made of? Wool and many synthetic fibers will still insulate quite well while wet.
If it was one of those, I’d probably put the trash bag on like a vest/shirt to keep my underclothing dry as best I could, and then wring out the blanket and wrap up in it.
Otherwise, I’d probably use the blanket as a windbreak, and try my best to get inside the trash bag or wear it with just a head-hole.
Huh? What kind of ground have you been camping on? I’ve done a fair amount of cold-weather camping and I’ve found the ground to be a very effective heat sink, as Phnord Prephect mentioned (“The ground can suck the heat right out of you at night.”). Insulation between one’s body and the ground can be at least as important as insulation from the surrounding air.
DAOP :rolleyes:
Why did/would you go into the woods with all that crap and still be unprepared?
I’ve done this at Boy Scout camp. How much time do we have before nightfall, and how long do we need to survive? If it’s just one night, I wouldn’t even bother sleeping. Just keep active, and get back to civilization (and a nice soft bed in a centrally-heated room) in the morning.
If I have time before nightfall (say, four hours or so), and I’m going to be out for a while, I’ll build a shelter. Lean a long tree branch against a stump, log, rock, or other slight raise. Lean other shorter tree branches along the sides, to form a lean-to shelter. Cover the branches with pine fronds, leaves, and mud, to weatherproof it. If I have a garbage bag, I’ll cut it open along the sides to get a longer sheet, and use that on the upwind side of the shelter, too (along with the mud and foliage, for insulation). If I have a wet blanket too, that’ll go on the downwind side, outside of all of the insulation. The inside of the shelter should be just barely large enough for me to squirm into, and I’ll fill in the gaps with more dry leaves. All clothes stay on, though I might take my shirt off my body and wrap it around my head, leaving just my jacket on my upper body (unless, of course, the jacket has a hood, in which case that’s unnecessary).
The next morning when I get up, the blanket gets hung over a tree branch; the next night when it’s dry, it’s going inside the lean-to too. Ideal location for the shelter is on the downwind side of a hill: The top of the hill will be too exposed to wind, and the bottom will accumulate water if it happens to rain. If I’m with someone else, the shelter is going to be just barely big enough for two, not one. We’re going to spend the night snuggled together. Regardless of who it is; there’s nothing untoward intended here (what do I look like, anyway… a lonesome Yeti?).