Critique this blizzard camping method

[hank_rearden]

Read this from a short story by Bayard Taylor. To those not familiar, Taylor was an American writer and traveler. He has written a lot about traveling in Europe from Russia and Sweden to Greece. Anyway, he was once traveling through the woods via one-horse sleigh with a young boy who owned the sleigh. While in the forest, they got caught in a blizzard and had to camp for the night. The boy knew just what to do:

1) Park the sleigh under a tree (is this smart? I've seen and heard enough accounts of accumulated snow from branches falling onto one's tent or in this case, sled.)
2) un-hitch the horse and let it roam. It could fend for itself in a blizzard (is this correct???)
3) on the sled is a big roll of canvas and a bale of hay. I'm guessing travelers always have these two items when it's snowing.
4) spread the hay on the sled and cover it with the canvas. Next, spread your coat over the hay (underneath the canvas of course) and then crawl under it.
5) tuck the canvas in
5) loosen your clothes to prevent stifling, and create an air pocket for yourself.
6) fall asleep.

He said that, despite the intense cold and weariness, he suddenly had the feeling he was lying in the most comfortable bed in the world. He quickly fell into a deep satisfied sleep. He even felt he was talking while asleep.

 

[Mikel_24]

Hay is a great insulating material so It will keep you away from the cold ground. If the hay is even on top of the sleed, even better. The canvas on top of you will provide protection from the wind so you will not loose heat through convection or evaporation. However, if there is no insulation between you and the canvas, other than your coat, you will probably be cold. Better off to pile some hay on top of your coat so you are creating a hay filled sleeping bag. And if you can use some poles, branches or whatever and creat some space between you and the canvas, you will be golden.

Anyhow, I think the system described is what it is... and definitely outdated.

Mikel

 

[Hanne762]

Branches can and have fallen on tents, killing and injuring the occupants. It's a good idea to find another form of windbreak, like a large rock, boulder or other feature that cannot be moved by mere wind. The hay sounds cozy and if you're properly dressed probably not itchy. As to the horse I have no idea but releasing your load (and you) hauler is probably not a smart move in the snowy wilds. You should build a fire large enough to warm an area and deter predators. The horse won't get so close that it burns itself but it will hover by the fringes of it. Putting a blanket over the horse at night is also a good idea. The horse likely wouldn't die from most cold temps but it WILL consume calories and require a larger load of food you have to transport- I would assume the hay is taken along to feed the horse, who can't forage enough in the snow.

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.457.7635&rep=rep1&type=pdf

 

[gadgetgeek]

Another thought, the local area would really determine how dangerous the trees would be. Some areas are more prone to wet heavy snow than others. For example, growing up we never were all that concerned about branches breaking from normal, even heavy snowfall. The greater risk was getting lost in the whiteout, so you take your chances, rather than hope for a shelter that you'll never find. In other areas I've lived, the snow conditions would change very rapidly, and thus a greater risk of falling trees. They also had faster storm movement, so you would likely find a patch to hunker down for a couple hours, then move on. Its why there are no hard and fast rules and local knowledge rules all.
Another factor is that the boy would not have had all that much experience and so to avoid him being lost far from the road, he would have likely had very explicit instructions for just that situation, as his parents would have weighed the risks. They probably thought that a child near a road sleeping in a pile of hay would be much safer than a child lead by his horse far from home. Lastly as far as the weight of snow in a tree, it would hurt, break a tent, but if you were already warm and cozy under your heavy canvas, it probably wouldn't do all that much, given how much padding would be involved, and since in areas like that, they don't tend to have tall trees with massive branches, like say the Eucalyptus Grandis which are near my house and a single limb could easily be my body weight.