By Buck Tilton

Not all snow is created equal—it can be soft and dry, heavy and wet, hard as rock—but most snow can be shaped into a quick shelter and, in an emergency, a shelter may save your life.

Make Use of What the Terrain Offers

Buck Tilton

A simple fact towers above all others: if you aren’t prepared to survive an unexpected night outside in winter, you probably won’t. In ideally bad conditions, cold will suck out enough body heat in a couple of hours to disable you—and chill you off beyond recovery in three.

How did you get in this situation? You were backcountry skiing, or hunting, maybe hiking on a pre-snow, cold afternoon. Your story could be like CNET reporter James Kim’s whose drive in Oregon mountains with his family on a winter day, almost exactly four years ago, turned fatal.  You didn’t anticipate the snowfall, or the blinding wind—and wasn’t the sun supposed to be up at least another hour?

Labor Day Weekend, just before the kids go back to school, is typically the last gasp of camping in many parts of the country. But the unofficial end of summer doesn’t mean the potential hazards that exist in the outdoors at the start of the season are any less of a threat. In the second of his two-part piece on camping safety, AMK’s wilderness safety blogger, Buck Tilton, tackles bears and the basics – starting with how to choose the right campsite.

Timing is Everything

Here’s an interesting question that came in over our blog today:

Q: I’d like to make a vest out of the SOL Thermal Bivvy-  should the seams be sewn or will an iron work to weld seams?

A: My advice is to sew the seams, rather than trying to weld them.  If using an iron to weld seams, I would be worried about excessive heat weakening the fabric or causing the two layers of the fabric to separate.

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Spring boating season may be here, but water temperatures are still cold enough to cause problems for boating enthusiasts. Adventure Medical Kits’ marine medicine consultant Dr. Michael Jacobs provides tips for surviving cold water immersion.

AMK's A Comprehensive Guide to Marine Medicine inlcudes tips for treating hypothermia.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking the cold water you sail over is dangerous only when it contains pancake ice and glacial runoff; you could be dead wrong. In fact, water temperature as high as 60ºF can kill you just as easily. Fall into cold water without a personal flotation device (PFD; see sidebar below), and you could drown in the span of a few minutes, often within 10 feet of safety. Statistics indicate an incapacitating response that is rapid in onset and prevents individuals from swimming 10 feet to save their lives. Swimming ability does not improve survival.

A satisified Sarah Tantillo at finish line of the NYC Marathon. Hey, is that a Heatsheets blanket?

AMK employees, Sarah Tantillo and Kyle Peter, enjoyed their NYC marathon experience.  Sarah breezed thru in 4 hours and 9 minutes, about 7 minutes faster than her goal time of  4:15. Sarah is hoping to break 4 hours next. Kyle blistered the first half in 1 hour and 30 minutes and jogged home the rest of the way to finish in 3:44. Kyle said if he saw any outdoor stores on route he was going to  stop in and check them out.  Next year we are going to challenge him to do it in under 3:30 while writing 3 orders on route.. That would be a productive marathon!

When a company is the first to bring a new product concept to market, the brand name can become so well known that it becomes synonymous with the product itself. Xerox® did it when it invented the copier, Kleenex® did it with tissues, and Band-Aid® is known the most for bandages. In the outdoor industry, some might consider the “Space® Blanket” brand to have managed this same feat.

While the Space® brand may be the name people use to refer to this line of products, there are remarkable differences between the Space® brand blankets and AMK’s line of Heatsheets® Emergency Blankets.

Comment:

I took an Ultralite .5 First Aid kit and added these Adventure Medical Kit items: 1 person HeatSheets Blanket, Signal mirror, Firestarter, & Whistle.

It is compact, fits easily in a pocket and weighs about 7 oz. Plus it looks cool!

My two cents. Kurt

Response:

Thanks for the comment Kurt! Our Product Development team loves to hear feedback from our customers about how they use our products.  Keep the ideas coming….

If you have a story or product idea to share with us, you can submit the info using this form.

Comment:

My medical background ranges from First Responder, Medical Missionary,HAM Radio Operator and Special Operations Medicine First Responder (Civilian).

I bought several of your Heatsheets Blankets to put into my medical kits and bug out bags.  I have used them and they have not let me down.

I bought your SOL kit and added it to my bug out bag and getting a few more to put into to put into my travel bags.

Thanks for great kits and products.
Jerimiah G.

Question:
Regarding your Heatsheets and like items, how durable are they?  I was thinking of using them as a ground sheet.  I do ultralight backpacking and it would be a unique option if it was durable enough for more than one use.

Thanks.
James

Answer:

Hi James-