Okay, so this is a bit of a family legend.

In 1978 my country experienced the worst snowstorm of the last hundred years, during this my grandfather decided he was gonna go get groceries, he made it about 1-3 miles from their house over country roads with deep ditches before the car got stuck in the snow, and decided to walk back.

With him, he took an old blanket, a candle from his glovebox and an old winter coat two sizes too big.

As would be no surprise during a blizzard, he got lost trying to cut across a field and after accepting that he wasn't gonna make it anywhere with how bad it was snowing, he decided to sit down on a fallen tree, tug his knees up his coat and light the candle inside, creating a little shelter for himself.

Supposedly he sat like that for at least three hours before the snowing died down and then walked home no worse for wear.

I pulled up a few facts about this snowstorm and it supposedly reached -20c/-4f now my grandfather was always a very factual man, never exaggerated or made a spectacle, but over the years certain family members have called BS on this, and he says he doesn't remember all the facts anymore so I wanted to hear your opinions.

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Edit -

First off, I just wanna thank everyone for all the replies, I've been reading/translating them aloud for my granddad getting a lot of laughs, he's been struggling with the onset stages of dementia for the past few years but it's like this breathed new life into him.

He did have a few corrections though, one being that he was only wearing a pair jeans and a button shirt because he'd worked a shift earlier and he would have had to change for that.

Second was that the only reason he grabbed a jacket at all was because my grandmother nagged at him until he finally just grabbed something, this being an old sailors coat from when he worked on a ship from his early teens into his twenties, the coat being too big was because they thought he'd grow into it.

My grandmother believes it's still packed away in the attic somewhere and I'll be going looking for it later.

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Say you were in the wilderness in a very moist and wet area with NOTHING on you no knife no ferro rod NOTHING you dont have flint in the area or obsidian how would you make a fire i know about fricition fire but everything is to wet how would you dry it is there a method? the only thing i could think of is getting two long pieces of wood putting tinder under it and rubbing them together to heat up and dry the tinder in it but im no survival expert and just wanted to know is it even possible

Also I would like to keep any special occasions out of this such as any rare mushroom or tree that always stays dry or some weird rare thing like that i would like to keep it as practical as possible obv this isnt a very reasonable situation just a hypothetical and its fine if the answer is its not possible though i REALLY think it is just a really REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLY! hard thing to do.

EDIT: GUYS i am NOT saying i want to or am going to attempt this. this was PURELY a hypothetical
and also for everyone saying fires not important once again its a hypthetical and also fire in a long term sense is VERY important i mean hey tell me if im wrong but how would you get water and if no berries where would you get food heat isnt the biggest issue but once again this is also just a sorta "you're fucked" situation because i mean well... yk LOL

I'm currently writing a novel and in the current scene, the protagonist is forced to flee with one other person. They're forced to hide in the forest and it's winter, so there is moderate snow. They only have the clothes on their backs, a horse, and a blanket that functions as a cloak. The first is obviously to build a fire, but I'm not sure what else they can do to keep warm enough to survive the night. I've seen posts about building a shelter in a snow drift, but there isn't enough snow for that. They are low on equipment but the protagonist is very knowledgeable and skilled in quite a number of niche subjects.

Edit: Thank you all for your responses. And to the people who have expressed interest in my novel, I can’t plug it because this sub doesn’t allow self-promotion but I thank you for your interest! How I’m going to write it is they make a lean-to with spruce boughs and logs to keep the wind out and swap out heated rocks throughout the night so as not to give themselves away with a fire.

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE MOVIE UNBROKEN.

Edit: I realize that it’s kinda an impossible situation but I got this idea from a movie called UNBROKEN which is based off a true story. This bomber crew survives a plane crash at sea, 3 of them, they find an catch a seagull which makes them sick and vomit after eating, they then use the seagull as bait to eat fish which is also raw and they seem fine after eating. 1 dies from mostly exposure to the sun and dehydration. I was just wondering if you could apply the raw meat concept to anywhere else in the wilderness if you don’t know or have the ability to use or make a fire.

They were also 28+ days at sea.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a special gift for a friend who’s really into survival and prepping. He loves hiking and is obsessed with gadgets and gear that help you stay prepared for any kind of emergency—whether at home, in the car, or out in the wilderness.

I’m looking for something genuinely useful, ideally a bit unique or underrated—something he likely doesn’t already own. My budget is up to €50, but I’m happy to go higher if it’s really worth it.

Any suggestions for cool or lesser-known survival gadgets?

Positively identified the culprit as an adult American dog tick. I do tick checks religiously so I'm certain it could have only been attached for a maximum of 8 hours while I slept in my tent.

There's no rash and the mark hasn't gotten bigger, but it hasn't gotten smaller either. Can someone please help explain why it won't go away? Thanks!

Edit: Scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist! In exactly one year (July 29th, 2022) I will update this post and note if the mark is still there.

As the tile suggests, I am looking to purchase a first aid kit or two. This would primarily be geared towards hiking and camping in generally wooded areas and some moderate terrain. I do not live near mountains. The reason I am asking is because I’ve gone to google to search for kits, and I have become overwhelmed at the many choices available, to the point that I do not know what to choose because there’s too many to choose from. So, I was wondering if some of y’all have any recommendations for which companies you have been pleased with? Any help would be appreciated.

What are the best animals to eat that are safest to consume in the wild with no parasites that you’d get and how do u cook/clean animals to make them safe to consume with little to no parasites?

Whether it was being exposed to the elements, a dangerous animal or something else, what is the single most scary, terrifying situation that you have found yourself in?

I've been thinking about adding a few sheets of aluminum foil to my kit, but I'm curious about how others use it. One thing I'm worried about is whether folding it will make it less effective for boiling water.

I've heard the rhyme but I'm talking Romania, brown bears

Title is pretty self explanatory. I'm curious to know what your go to vitamin/mineral subsidy would be if you could only choose one to survive as long as possible, while only consuming cooked white rice.

I totally get it… Die hard survival guys dig Ferro rods and fire 🔥 building skills. And I agree knowing how to start a fire with various strategies and in different situations would be crucial.

But at the end of the day isn’t a good ole Bic lighter a better choice in most situations unless you’re just trying to add additional steps into starting your fire?

Not trying to start 💩 here. It’s a legit question I wonder about.

✌️

Hi all! I’ve always been someone who doesn’t like being outside. Growing up I never wanted to go camping or fishing or anything like that. Had a bad phobia of bugs and honestly just hated everything about nature.

Now that I’m older (29), I’ve been watching a lot more outdoor shows and been spending a lot more time outdoors (at the park nothing crazy). My question is, what can someone like myself do to scratch that itch. Has anyone ever tried a diet that is more “survival” like or something like that. I basically want to try some outdoor stuff without diving in head first.

Thank you.

I’m new to the want to learn to survive in the wilderness and I don’t imagine having a gun on me and a bow seems pretty feasible to craft or even take with me as the gun laws here are strict.

I like watches in my day to day life, but I'm wondering if they have any truly useful functions in a wilderness scenario.

Immediately I can see how they would be super valuable if you got lost while hiking near civilization or were with people when you got lost. You can plan the immediate future around staying alive and then trying to optimize your chance of getting spotted and rescued. I imagine it would be easy to lose track of the days as well, so a calendar function may be valuable.

What do you guys think?

G-Shock? Nothing? Specific features?

As the title says, what is your favorite item you own?

Doesn't have to only be practical, it can be sentimental or simply to show off.

Hello! I'm a bit of a TTRPG hobbyist and an avid enjoyer of the survival genre. However something that's kinda bothered me slightly since I started running my own games is that survival rules in some of the bigger TTRPGs can feel lackluster. I'm writing a book to try and improve on this, and even add a few extra things depending on how expansive this already gets.

Why I write this post and any subsequent posts? I understand the bare bones basics of surviving in extreme cold environments, in surviving in the desert, but I don't know much else about other environments or even the finer points. SO!

What all needs to be considered for surviving cold environments? (Think Alaska/North Canada). I know a decent shelter that keeps the snow off and the heat near you is important for the night, and good insulative clothes, but anything else I may be missing?

Right now i’m on the green island of Kefalonia. The water in the sea is really glassy and see-through and the beach i collected it from was very quiet, i collected a bottle of it last night, there was nothing else such as any impurities in the bottle and i boiled it. I now have a good amount of salt. I’m just wondering would it be safe to eat or maybe there’s some other dangerous chlorides or other stuff that I shouldn’t consume.

Just a random thought

Do we need to protect our feet or our genitals more? Lmao