Deep Snow and Wilderness Survival Kits
More Articles Related to BlogThe snow continues to fall in the Great Northwoods. As snow depth increases, wilderness survival takes on special requirements and considerations different from survival in other environments.
Snowshoeing in Deep Snow
In order to travel on foot through deep snow you will need a way to keep from sinking too far below the surface. This usually means using skis or snowshoes.
Breaking trail on snowshoes through deep snow is an extremely physically demanding task. It can often take an hour or more to go a single mile even in flat country, and you will feel as though you just ran ten miles. If you are traveling alone there is nobody with which to switch off in taking the lead and giving you a break so you bear the brunt of doing all the work.
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Snowshoe Trail Deer Tracks Rather than wade through deep snow, deer and other animals often choose to follow a packed snowshoe trail |
Today for part of a hike on snowshoes I traveled through the forest on a snowshoe trail made several days ago. Snowshoeing on a previously traveled packed surface makes travel much easier since with each step you do not sink in as deeply as you would in fresh snow.
In the first picture you can see deer tracks on top of my old snowshoe trail. Deer, coyote, fox, porcupines, and other creatures of the forest will follow a snowshoe trail rather than expend the energy needed to break out their own. Often a trail I just made a few hours earlier will have become a virtual highway full of fresh animal tracks as they go about their business using the ready made path I provided them.
In the second picture you can see how deeply the deer sink into fresh snow. The snowshoeing pole is planted at the bottom of a hole the deer made in the snow as they leaped through it; about 18-inches below the surface. When the deer came upon the packed snowshoe trail they decided to walk on it rather than expend the great amounts of energy required off-trail.
This gives you an idea of how difficult it is to walk for any distance through deep snow and some of the special survival considerations that travel through snow country requires.
Wilderness Survival Kit Saves Me
Broken Snowshoe
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Deer in Deep Snow When deer travel through deep snow they must expend a large amount of energy. The picture shows where deer have sunk deeply into the soft snow as they struggled toward a packed snowshoe trail |
Small situations that in civilization may be hardly noticed or easily dealt with can be disastrous in the winter wilderness. One false step leading to a twisted knee or sprained ankle, or the lost use of a critical piece of equipment could lead to a survival emergency.
Even short winter trips need planning for potential breakdowns of your physical body and gear. But because the possible ways in which your body and equipment can fail are infinite, the best you can do is provision your wilderness survival kit with the means to make repairs or create what you need while in the field.
A case in point was when one of my snowshoes unexpectedly broke while a couple of miles away from the nearest plowed road. I have been using these snowshoes hard for the last half-dozen winters and they have served me well. Vermont Tubbs snowshoes (which by the way are now made in China, like so much other outdoor gear) are high quality and excellent design but not indestructible.
As you can see in the picture, two rivets holding the toe step of the snowshoe popped off. This rendered the snowshoe ineffective and made further travel through the deep snow nearly impossible.
An equipment failure in the northern winter can lead to an emergency survival situation even if you are a short distance from safety. A broken snowshoe in deep snow country will often mean you are not going anywhere until it is repaired; wading through waist deep snow for even a few yards can be so physically demanding that you will soon become exhausted, wet, and in dire straights.
Snowshoe Repair
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Snowshoe Repair Winter wilderness survival requires proper preparation including a good winter survival kit. When I broke a snowshoe a hank of 550 paracord saved the day. |
As it was I simply sat on a fallen tree and used 550 paracord to tie the parts of the snowshoe together as a temporary repair. I could have also used survival kit snare wire but thought it might cut into the plastic parts of the snowshoe.
The key here is that I had the means to make this type of snowshoe repair (550 paracord) without even having considered beforehand this exact problem or what it might require for solution. Once again 550 paracord, which is extremely versatile in its uses and a vital part of any wilderness survival kit, saved the day. In fact I could have used it to make snowshoes should the need arise.
If the weather had been colder I may have had to resort to building a fire in order to stay warm or to provide light while working on the snowshoe; a Swedish firesteel is an excellent fire starting tool to carry wherever you go.
In addition, the extra warm clothing would have served me well. Should I have been incapacitated in some way to due an accident or equipment failure the ability to make a fire and put on extra layers of clothing would be a lifesaver in winter.
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