Surviving a -36° Night – No Tent & No Sleeping Bag



This is the coldest outing I have been on to date. The temperature dropped all the way down to -36 degrees Celsius by the morning. All that was brought with me is what you see… 5 simple items. This was certainly a test of my abilities in the outdoors but enjoyable nonetheless. Thank you to everyone who watches! God bless.

Extra info/FAQ:

Location:
Northern Alberta, Canada

My Clothing:
Outer layer – Waxed cotton
Insulating layers- Wool & Cotton
Base layer – Cotton

I get criticized a lot because I choose to wear cotton in the outdoors. Argue about it all you want but if you keep it dry it insulates almost as good as wool. Keep your clothes dry and they’ll keep you warm. Don’t ever depend on wet clothing to keep you warm… even if it’s wool. Keep. It. Dry.

Are there wild animals in this area?
Yes. There’s a variety of big game (moose, deer, grizzly bears, black bears, cougars, wolves) in this area. They tend to avoid humans for the most part though and don’t pose much of a threat. I do carry a form of protection just in case.

How did I manage to sleep in such cold temperatures?
Simply put: my fire. Having a large, hot fire is the reason I was able to stay comfortable throughout the night despite not having any bedding. The fire I made was as simple as it gets in terms of long fires. I probably should have built it differently to conserve the wood but it was still an effective fire that did it’s job.

My gear:
Knife – Helle Sigmund
Kettle – 9 Cup Aluminum Percolator Kettle
Ferro Rod – Made by Uberleben
Axe – 2 1/2 lb german-made boys axe. Bought used then restored it.
Boots – Sorel Pac Boots
Fingerless Gloves – Fox River Ragg Glove

If you have any other questions or comments please let me know in the comments section down below.

source

You May Also Like

About the Author: Kusk Bushcraft

39 Comments

  1. Mid-winter, I once drove 8hr to a mountain, hiked 35km to the top and back to my car through a blizzard, then drove back 8hr without stopping. Water? Frozen. Food? Frozen. All I had was candy. No tent, no fire. 5/7 don't recommend.

  2. Him: Year old leftovers and sleeping next to a noisy, smelly fire at 30 below zero.
    Me: Warm bowl of freshly baked mac and cheese at home in bed 72 degrees watching you tube.

  3. Too much salt in that diet. He could have heated up the area with a big bonfire. Plenty of wood available. Look at the outdoor boys. That’s how it’s done.

  4. In watching this video i realized there are 3 seperate hikers in Oregon currently lost off the trail and its rainning hard and probably snowing in the high mountains. 2 of the hikers did not plan on getting lost and rescue teams are still looking but its completely dark. I hope they watched this video before their trek very good video. Its currently 22* in the foothills.

  5. always love seeing outdoorsmen who are humble about their situation and the dangers rather than acting overconfident and thinking they're the master of the domain
    on a bit of a tangent, nice thing about hard tack too is that if you've got enough of it, you can crush it up and cook it in water over the fire to make a simple porridge base

  6. One of the key things on survival it's to make sure you don't hurt yourself and save your energy as much as you can…in case you need to be there for 2 or 3 days. Even a twisted ankle can give you hard times to be able to gather firewood.

  7. Hey, you live a lucky life camper NO SECURITY???? At least have your axe & knife within reach next to your sleeping area. in case a wolf pack comes along. I also notice the open area at the bottom of your wood shelter at least fill the openings with snow or brush.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *