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In cold snowy regions the survival trench is a hasty shelter that will protect the user from wind chill and preserve body heat. I built one to gain experience and to see how fast one could be constructed. The job breaks down as follows:
#1-Locate a proper site. The site should have a deep bank of firm, wind-packed snow and also have evergreen trees nearby for materials.
#2-Cut and transport a large amount of evergreen tree limbs to site.
#3-Cut boughs from half the limbs, keep bare limbs for roof supports.
#4- Dig trench about 2.5 feet deep, 2.5 feet wide and 6.5 feet long. Place snow on windward side of trench.
#5 -Line bottom of trench with 1 foot or more of evergreen boughs to keep body from contacting frozen ground.
#6- Place limbs for roof support and cover with remaining evergreen limbs. A tarp may be placed over the roof and weighted so that it does not blow away.
#7 dig a small opening into one end of trench, crawl inside and close the opening with snow or grear.
I experimented with a number of tools; virtually any saw or hatchet would cut the 1-2" thick limbs I gathered and a small knife would strip off the boughs. I layed the cut limbs together and tied them together then dragged them some 200 yards to the trench site.
At the site I used several tools to dig snow, a hatchet, a german mess kit and a broken shovel, the mess kit was the hardest to dig with. During digging my fleece mittens (Wal-Mart, $3) were my most valuable tool. When they became soaked with ice cold water I would just wring them dry and they were quite warm again!
Construction of the shelter took about 90 minutes.
#1-Locate a proper site. The site should have a deep bank of firm, wind-packed snow and also have evergreen trees nearby for materials.
#2-Cut and transport a large amount of evergreen tree limbs to site.
#3-Cut boughs from half the limbs, keep bare limbs for roof supports.
#4- Dig trench about 2.5 feet deep, 2.5 feet wide and 6.5 feet long. Place snow on windward side of trench.
#5 -Line bottom of trench with 1 foot or more of evergreen boughs to keep body from contacting frozen ground.
#6- Place limbs for roof support and cover with remaining evergreen limbs. A tarp may be placed over the roof and weighted so that it does not blow away.
#7 dig a small opening into one end of trench, crawl inside and close the opening with snow or grear.
I experimented with a number of tools; virtually any saw or hatchet would cut the 1-2" thick limbs I gathered and a small knife would strip off the boughs. I layed the cut limbs together and tied them together then dragged them some 200 yards to the trench site.
At the site I used several tools to dig snow, a hatchet, a german mess kit and a broken shovel, the mess kit was the hardest to dig with. During digging my fleece mittens (Wal-Mart, $3) were my most valuable tool. When they became soaked with ice cold water I would just wring them dry and they were quite warm again!
Construction of the shelter took about 90 minutes.
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