One of the biggest problems in dealing with an emergency situation is simply staying warm when you have to leave your home. We take for granted the shelter a roof over our heads affords us, from cold and wind and wet. And few things can disable or dispatch us faster than Of course, you have both shelter and some sort of blanket or bag as part of your 72 hour kit, but how do you maximize their efficiency so that you and your family stay warm and comfortable, even under the most trying circumstances. And it’s important to remember that you can die from hypothermia a lot faster than lack of water or food.
Let’s look at the ways your body can lose heat:
Radiation: This is simple. When we stand out in the cold in just a shirt, our body heat is radiated out into space, and we get cold. It’s also the easiest solve. Blankets, a space blanket, or a sleeping bag will insulate you from heat loss, as long as you don’t have to worry about…
Evaporation: When your clothing or insulation becomes wet, your warm and cozy covering becomes a swamp cooler. This can be helpful on a hot sunny day, but not in the cold of winter, or in the rain. Find a way to keep your covering dry. Space blankets, since they don’t absorb water, don’t have this issue, but you do have to be extra careful with them to avoid losing heat by…
Conduction: Or, the direct transfer of heat by contact. Space blankets reflect your body heat; they don’t trap it like a blanket does. This is why your rear gets cold sitting on the cold ground, even if you have a blanket or bag wrapped around you. Often, what you have under you to insulate you from the ground is as important as what you are wearing. The answer here is something that does not compress, like a piece of foam. An closed cell foam pad will keep you warm, but is not very soft. An air mattress usually does not have insulation (you can, however, buy ones that do), so you will eventually get cold. Self inflating pads are both comfy and warm, but take up more room in your emergency kit. A decent compromise that works for me is a foam stadium chair. The final way that you can lose heat is by..
Convection: In practical terms, this could mean jumping in the water, or being exposed to a cold wind. Try not to jump in the water, and especially if you are a wet, rig a tarp or tent to keep the wind off of you. Being wet AND having the wind blowing on you is the worst case scenario in an emergency. If you find yourself in this pickle, change ASAP into dry clothes.