Winter Bug Out! When Hell Freezes Over!

I was editing some photos for the site today and decided to do a article about bugging out in winter and how winter time can literally become a frozen nightmare.

Winter  Wonderland Gone Bad

Imagine a disaster or military occupation occurring during winter time. History has shown even for modern military troops winter can become very challenging if not flat out deadly. Military troops condition themselves by being physically fit and becoming acclimated by training for such conditions such as schools like the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center (MCMWTC) and the United States Army Mountain Warfare School (AMWS). Plus equipment and clothing are way more advanced now than they were during the time of Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia and the Soviet Union blundering into Finland unprepared for prolonged arctic war. Hitler sent the Wehrmacht into battle wearing only summer-weight uniforms during WW2, the outcomes of all three were disastrous.

But What About A Prepper?

Have you truly prepped for winter time emergencies? What if you have to bug out in the winter, will you be properly equipped? Have you considered winter weather during a disaster? Have you thought about clothing, sleeping gear, keeping items from freezing such as water, food, weapon malfunctions, vehicles not wanting to start or run properly? Winter time creates a plethora of problems for logistics as well as physical limitations and Injuries caused by cold conditions.

Preparing and preventing hypothermia and frostbite with proper clothing, sleeping gear, heat sources, shelters and proactively prepping vehicles will save you a lot of misery and grief. Unless you have a bug out cabin or bunker don’t expect to be too toasty in a shelter or tent in winter. You may stay alive, but you will not be comfortable! Just trying to keep your shelter above freezing in super cold weather will be a challenge. If you practice and experiment then you just may have some tricks to keep you somewhat warm and not hypothermic.

Learn The Skills To Survive!

All the preps in the world may not be enough! What if your prep’s get destroyed, damaged or looted? What if your bug out location gets overrun and you have no choice but to leave and bug out. Do you have a plan B and the proper gear and skills to not become a victim to weather? Check out the reblog for COLD EXPOSURE EMERGENCIES AND HOW TO AVOID IT By Tess Pennington and Jack Valentine. And our post for TIS THE SEASON! PREPARING FOR COLD WEATHER EMERGENCIES! for tips and tricks to help prepare and treat emergencies relating to cold.

Tactical Considerations

If something happens and you are having to bug out and fight off whoever then you need to make sure you are properly geared up for spending long amounts of time in the snow and cold. Layered clothing, headgear, gloves, proper footwear and socks, face protection. If you can’t carry it, cache it in a safe place incase you have to abandon your location. You will have to sleep eventually and you will want to make sure you have sleeping gear that will be adequate, because you may not have the convenience of building a fire if you are being pursued.

Keep in mind cold weather can affect everything from your radio equipment, batteries, weapons, fogged lenses of goggles and masks. If any of your equipment or gear has a weakness the cold weather will find it. Your water canteens will freeze unless you have a way to warm them. Stick them against your body in a sleeping bag or under your coat to keep them from freezing. Avoid sitting or laying on the ground as your body will lose heat. Actually you lose the heat from your body into the ground through conduction or heat transfer, so laying in the snow on your belly watching for pursuers will cause you to quickly become hypothermic if not insulated from the ground.

Be Aware, Prepare and Survive To Live and Tell About It!”