Cliff B. lives in Alaska. He travels about 40 miles each day to the city of Nome for work.
Most people who live in Alaska are prepared for harsh winter weather, but Cliff wasn’t as prepared as he would have liked.
While driving one day outside Nome, Cliff’s pickup truck veered off the road and into a snowdrift. His truck was stuck, and temperatures plummetted to minus 17 degrees.
Unfortunately, Cliff wasn’t ready to deal with the situation.
He was wearing jeans and a thin coat. He knew he didn’t have enough clothes on to dig himself out without getting frostbite.
He didn’t have any food or water other than three cans of beer.
His cell phone couldn’t pick up a signal and his wife and kids were out of town. No one at home would wonder why he didn’t show up.
Cliff knew he would have to wait for his co-workers to call the police when he didn’t show up for work the next few days.
He kept warm in a fleece sleeping bag and by wrapping his feet with a bath towel.
He would turn his truck on occasionally to run the heat. He also stuffed rags inside his clothes to add insulation.
He told local media that he ate the beer from the cans. “I cut the lids off and dug it out with a knife,” he said.
Cliff added, “I shouldn’t have been out there by myself unprepared for what I knew was possible.”
He said the cold was more unbearable than hunger.
During the time he was stuck, Cliff didn’t want to sleep. He was worried that he wouldn’t wake up.
“When I was just sitting there in my coat in the sleeping bag liner I would pull my arms inside my T-shirt to try and utilize my body heat as much as I could. That worked fine for some time, as far as keeping my torso warm and my arms. But my legs and feet were getting pretty cold.”
When Cliff failed to turn up for work the next day his co-workers went looking for him. They notified police when he failed to show up for a second day.
State police joined the search for Cliff. They used planes, helicopters, and people on the ground to search for him.
A fire department spokesman said, “When we get called on situations like this, it’s a needle in a haystack.”
Three days after he first became stranded in the snow, rescuers pulled up behind Cliff’s pick-up.
Thankfully, he was okay but very hungry.
Cliff was lucky he was able to stay warm long enough for help to find him.
When it comes to survival in the winter, food, water, and staying warm are the biggest priorities.
And when it comes to survival food, certain foods can help you stay warm in the winter better than others.
While the average person needs between 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day, in cold weather, you typically need more calories than normal.
In extreme cold, more calories can make a difference between life and death. But in a survival situation, more calories can be hard to come by.
So, here are a few different foods that you can make part of your winter survival gear if you’re heading out on a trip.
High-fat nuts:
When calories are a priority you need to be careful what you eat. You should consider calorie-dense food such as nuts.
They are easy to pack and can be consumed throughout the day. Ideally, you should eat cashews or macadamia nuts as they have the highest fat content.
When adding these to your gear, make sure to get ones with low salt. Salt will make you want to drink more. This is counterproductive in a survival situation.
You want low-salt high-fat nuts.
Trail mix:
Trail mix is perfect for your bug out or car survival gear. It’s a combination of peanuts, raisins, and M&Ms. Of course, you can find different varieties and even make your own.
For example, you can use cashews instead of peanuts. Or cranberries instead of raisins. Make it something you like.
These types of foods provide a good blend of fat, sugar, and fiber. They can all help keep you going in the cold.
Plus, they can be eaten at any temperature and won’t freeze in the cold. Some survival bars freeze and can be hard to chew.
Finally, trail mix can be consumed slowly throughout the day. You can eat when you feel hungry and not worry about cooking or preparing a meal.
Pemmican bars:
One of the oldest types of food used to stay warm is pemmican. This is a food that many people won’t be accustomed to eating. And to some, it’s an acquired taste.
Pemmican is essentially a mixture of dried meat and dried berries. It’s a calorie-rich food. The drawback to pemmican is that it can have an odd consistency.
Yet, you can find plenty of options for buying pemmican online. Brands such as Tanka and Epic both sell pemmican bars online.
These are great options to add to your survival bag for the winter.
And no matter what food you have in your survival gear, make sure you have plenty of water.
One of the biggest issues with winter survival is the lack of water consumption.
We drink less when it’s cold. But this can lead to health problems.
Remember to force yourself to drink water even when you don’t think you need it.
