Winter Prepping

Prepping means being prepared for the unexpected. But some things are entirely predictable – and your prepping has to reflect events that are going to turn up as reliably as clockwork.

You can be certain, for instance, that winter is coming around. You can be just as sure that winter means bad weather. The winter prepper turns into a different creature as you batten down the hatches and prepare for whatever the coming season throws at you.

Medical issues in Winter

The hostility of Winter creates a very real and present danger of potentially life-threatening medical issues.

Hypothermia

St John Ambulance (SJA) explains that hypothermia occurs when a person’s body temperature drops from its normal 37ºC (98.6ºF) to less than 35ºC (95ºF). SJA warns that the condition can very quickly become a matter of life or death so must be treated straight away.

In an emergency or crisis situation, you may not have a thermometer with you, so you’ll have to learn to read the signs of someone on the verge of hypothermia:

• they may be shivering, for example, and have skin that is cold and dry to the touch;

• they will usually appear fatigued, confused, and act irrationally;

• normal response levels are likely to be reduced;

• breathing will be slow and shallow; and

• they will have a slow, weak pulse.

The patient is likely to need professional, emergency medical help as soon as possible. In the meantime, try to get them indoors – or to some form of shelter if you have to stay outside.

Take off any wet clothing they might be wearing but don’t use your own clothes to keep them warm – since you need them yourself if you’re going to be any help – and take particular care to keep their head covered.

They will stay warmer if you manage to raise them above the ground – on piles of bracken or heather, for example – and wrap them in a blanket or, even better, a sleeping bag.

Keep the person warm and as comfortable as possible while you wait for the medical team to arrive.

Tips on preventing hypothermia

Prevention is better than cure, of course, but you might be harder pressed to ward off the initial stages of hypothermia during an emergency. Tips include:

• maintaining a sufficiently warm temperature inside your home or shelter. Your ability to do that will depend on the means by which you can keep the warmth inside. In favourable conditions, for example, you should be aiming for a temperature of between 20º and 21ºC (68º to 70ºF);

• you’re more likely to rely on further layers of clothing – or wrap-around blankets or a sleeping bag – to keep yourself warm. Keep clothing loose fitting so as to trap layers of insulating air;

• when venturing outside, you’ll need a hat, scarf, and a coat or jacket that protects against the wind and the rain – always aim to have at least one other person with you when you venture out. If possible, avoid taking young children and babies outside;

• drink cold water rather than eating snow or ice;

• make sure to eat enough food – your body will be using up more calories in your fight against the cold – while body fat will help insulate your vital organs; and

• avoid alcohol – which will make your blood vessels open up and lower your body temperature in the process. The effects of the alcohol might also reduce your ability to know whether or not you are too cold.

Frostbite

Exposure of the skin or other body tissue to freezing temperatures – typically anything below -0.55ºC (31ºF) – can cause frostbite, which usually first attacks the extremities like your feet, fingers, ears, lips, or nose. The longer you are exposed or the lower the temperatures, the more severe your possible frostbite.

The NHS website explains that there are various levels of frostbite – from relatively mild frostnip, to intermediate or superficial frostbite, to advanced-stage frostbite.

The damage is caused as the skin and underlying tissue freeze and painful blistering occurs when they begin to thaw. In serious cases of frostbite, the affected limbs or tissue may need to be amputated to prevent more serious infection.

Tips on preventing frostbite

Since frostbite occurs in sub-zero temperatures the key to prevention is keeping warm. Most of the tips for avoiding the condition are, therefore, similar to prevention of hyperthermia, namely:

• several layers of light, loose-fitting clothes that trap pockets of insulating air, advises the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD);

• pay particular attention to keeping extremities warm – since fingers, feet, and toes are the most likely to be afflicted;

• the NHS recommends that you wear thick socks and well-insulated boots, a hat with ear flaps to keep those extremities warm, and mittens (that do a better job than gloves in keeping your hands warm);

• if any clothing does get wet, remove it as soon as you can and dry yourself thoroughly;

• both alcohol and smoking are likely to increase your vulnerability to the cold.

Bunker down

Given the increasingly hostile – and potentially life-threatening – environment you are likely to encounter when you venture out, it is clearly much better to bunker down inside your home or other place of safety.

Prepping that space for winter conditions, therefore, must focus on keeping the place warm and preventing the loss of any heat you can generate. As The Prepared website puts it: Heat is the key to surviving winter emergencies. Naturally, the earlier you start to prepare your home and insulate it accordingly the better position you will be in when winter arrives.

The Prepping Guide suggests the handy “credit card test” to measure whether gaps around your door and window frames will be letting in freezing draughts and your precious heat out – if you can squeeze the thickness of a credit card into those gaps, make sure to plug them well.

The last thing you’ll want to be trying when the worst of winter weather hits is scrabbling around sourcing essential materials, supplies, and stores – get them all in before there’s the first sniff of wintry weather.

If you’re stuck for ideas about the kit that’s likely to prove most useful, take a look at the list of 21 survival items suggested on the Urban Survival Site.

Winter driving tips

If you are forced to venture outside, you might be tempted to start up your car in order to travel any distance. Remember that driving in the worst of winter’s conditions calls for a completely different set of skills to those when it’s sunny, warm, and dry.

There are any number of courses that aim to teach the techniques you’re likely to use. The Advanced Driving courses offered by Drivers Domain UK are run throughout the year – so, although the experience will obviously prove more relevant in the autumn or winter, you can still take a course of instruction at any time of the year.

The motoring organisation, the RAC, has also published a series of articles about driving in winter. This comprehensive series covers everything from driving safely in ice, snow, high winds, heavy rain, and floods to advice on starting a cold engine, some of the most common winter driving myths, and what to pack in your car’s emergency breakdown kit.

Winter fuel-saving tips

During any emergency or crisis, of course, fuel for your car is likely to prove extremely difficult to come by – you’ll want to make every drop in the tank count and save fuel in any way possible.

This at a time when wintry conditions already mean that more fuel is used in heating up a cold engine, the increased friction and wear of the engine in cold weather, and the energy required to power the demister for the windows and to heat the interior of your car.

The Motoring Research website offers some fairly obvious but simple and straightforward tips to saving fuel:

• if stuck in stationary traffic – or stopped for any other reason – don’t leave the engine idling but switch it off;

• avoid short trips – each of which will use the extra fuel that is required simply to warm up the engine – and instead, combine necessary journeys;

• you might be surprised by the sheer number of ancillary devices powered by the engine of your car, all of which will be consuming fuel when you run them – heated seats and steering wheels, for example, the heater itself, headlights, rear window heater, and wing mirror adjusters. The fewer you use, the more fuel you will save; and

• as ever, ensure that the tyres are inflated to the correct pressures for the road conditions – this will not only improve traction but also save fuel.

Summary

Although mild in comparison with many other countries, winters in the UK can bring their challenges at the best of times. If you are also prepping for those unexpected and unpredictable additional crises and emergencies, winter is a season that demands the greatest respect and attention to your preparations.

Cold, ice and snow, rain and flooding will all pose particular threats – some of them risking life and limb.

As always, the serious prepper can stay a step or two ahead of the game by completing some careful advance research, give thought to the particular perils likely to be encountered in his or her neck of the woods, and accepting whatever advice may be gleaned from experts – in the real world or online.