If you’re a Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra fan, this week’s Blog title may have you humming a little tune - while others of you are probably channeling your inner Bruce Willis, remembering the song’s association with ‘Die Hard’. (Meanwhile, the younger generation are probably getting confused with the ‘Frozen’ theme song ‘Let it Go’!)
Whichever is the case, today’s as good as any to start thinking about survival in the snow. As the south-eastern States finally start finding some relief from some of our hottest summer conditions on record, before long we’ll be shivering and - at higher altitudes - potentially digging ourselves out of snow-drifts. Or worse.
In a survival situation in snow conditions, accessing drinkable water is just as important as at any other time. While survival principles provide that you can last three days without water, this is not a uniform truism. How much water you need will be affected by factors such as the weather conditions, your level of movement, and your state of health.
The bottom line is that hydration is essential for survival. So, what do you do if you’re surrounded by water - but it’s all white and frozen? Eating snow is a sure way to increase your risk of dehydration. This is due to the process that your body has to go through to heat and melt the snow once you eat it. Eating snow can also lead to hypothermia.
Instead, you need to try to melt snow before consuming it. But heating water can take quite a lot of energy. Think of your house-hold 2200W kettle. It’s one of the most power-hungry appliances in the kitchen using in the vicinity of 160Wh to boil water around 1.5 litres of water.
While you may not always be able to boil water in a survival situation, you can certainly get snow back to a consumable melting point without too much difficulty. And a good way to passively melt snow is to put your water bottle in the pocket of your jacket, or under your arm pit. Thigh pockets are another good option. This way, your own body heat will melt the ice in time. Alternatively, if you’re in sunny conditions, place your water bottle in the sun. And, if you’re moving, strap the bottle to your pack where the heat of the sun, combined with the swaying motion of your gait, will help to melt the snow more rapidly.
Whichever approach you take, be careful. Don’t place the bottle directly next to your skin or you’ll start to steal energy from your own body. Instead, capitalise on the body-heat trapped in the layers of your clothing. Another quick tip is to leave a small amount of unfrozen water in the bottom of your bottle rather than letting it run dry. When you fill it with snow again, the unfrozen water will accelerate the melting process.
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