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Survival Guides – Shelters Placement is Important

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Survival Guides - Shelters Placement is Important

Shelter will mean the difference between life and death during a survival situation, then the importance of a shelter can’t be stressed enough. However, your shelters location is just as vital, and it’s something that must be carefully considered.

Your shelter will defend you from cold winds, the scorching rays of the sun, from rain, snow, from insects and from predators that prowl the night as well. Mother Nature is unforgiving and she can implement close to perfection when it involves the location of your shelter.

1. The term “widow maker” or fool killer is usually related to logging operations. A widow maker could be a broken or detached limb that’s caught in the branches of a tree. When loggers using a chainsaw, ax, or crosscut saw, for instance, try to bring down a tree, any detached limbs will fall as the tree is cut down and strike anyone underneath.

The broken limbs can in fact fall at anytime on anyone, and one may fall on you or your shelter. If given a alternative, your shelter shouldn’t be placed below any giant trees that might cause this hazard. Even healthy limbs can break off and fall in high winds, or come down due to heavy snow or ice buildup.

2. Flash flooding will happen at any time without notice. Significant rains miles upstream will cause any creek or watercourse to overflow their banks. These can be creeks, or rivers that you could also be miles faraway from that may overflow and make flash flooding where you’re. Fast snow melt also can cause flooding without notice.

Previous flooding will leave proof, but a lack of proof doesn’t mean it cannot happen at any time. Study the terrain and look for the high ground. This doesn’t mean you have got to climb the highest cliff within the area to perch on top however study the area. Are you in a depression, or down slope from a large outcropping as an example, or close to a dry wash? Stone outcroppings of any size can act as rain gutters during heavy downpours that will direct water into your camp.

3. Rockslides, mudslides and avalanches are a danger as well thus camping at the foot of any cliff or hill will put you within the danger zone. The debris field at the bottom of any cliff can give you a sign of the risks.

4. North and South placement. In cold weather face the opening to the south and of course in hot weather face north to take advantage of Mother Nature’s good nature.

5. Should you build your shelter as near a body of water as possible? It depends, lakes and huge ponds will act as a defensive barrier against predators four legged and different wise, and in heat weather it’ll be cooler close to massive bodies of water due to the evaporative method. You should not camp near stagnated bodies’ water however, as a result of reptiles and insects, mosquitoes in particular.

Moving water is noisy thus your hearing are compromised, and you’ll not hear predators prowling at nighttime. In addition, as stated earlier rivers and streams will overflow their banks while you’re sleeping.

Other Considerations

Heat transfer are a few things that you always have to be compelled to think about in any survival situation. Heat conducts to cold, a hot mass to a chilly mass. In the winter, your body is the hot mass and also the cold ground, snow bank and also the cold air around you is the cold mass.

Conduction works each ways so in the winter you want to contain body heat, in different words prevent it from conducting to the cooler mass. The reverse is true in the time of year. the hot air around you’ll conduct to the cooler mass, your body, therefore you need shelter to prevent this from happening. you would like protection from the sun.

Even in the summer time you should attempt to build an elevated sleeping platform. Because the sun sets infrared emission can rise toward the cooler atmosphere if there is not an important cloud cover.

It will rise from vegetation, rocks, the ground, and from your body, thus cooling you off at nighttime, so having an elevated platform allows for air circulation under your body that will facilitate cool you. This method often times creates ground fog and will cause condensate to make on cooled exposed surfaces in the early morning hours.

Natural Shelters

Caves, overhangs, and also the depressions made of down trees build ideal shelters. Readymade means that less work for you, but some other mammal, or reptilian could have already got signed a lease on the property, and trying to evict the current tenants might be hazardous to your health.

You cannot rush in, and in some elements of the country or world some terribly dangerous reptiles or mammals may be snoozing inside. Keep in mind just because the shelter is empty doesn’t mean the resident isn’t returning. They may be out search for food, and when they drag the kill back to the cave it’s a secure bet that they would not be inclined to share.

The point is watch out when selecting natural shelters because an obvious shelter to you is simply as obvious to the creatures that live in the woods year around.

John Turner
John Turnerhttp://www.patriotdirect.org/
Dedicated to upgrowth, developement and prepared for the "worst" to come... Simple guy, simple skills, simple attitude. Just an ordinary guy who tries to survive!

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