Survivalists sometimes are a solitary bunch of people. Many don’t mind being alone or, even, being sort of like hermits in their quest for self-sufficiency and independence. With that in mind, along with the benefits of being in nature and not dependent on municipal utilities, it’s not uncommon for survivalists to decide to move to more rural areas of the country, many of which are in colder climates, such as Alaska or North Dakota.
Living in a colder area has it’s own unique challenges, one of which is the higher possibility of falling through ice into freezing water. Why would this happen? Possibly because a person is trying to get fresh water or because they have gone ice fishing. Regardless of the reason, though, handling this type of fall is knowledge that is useful to have if you live or plan on moving to a colder climate.
Joe Alton has a few bits of advice which make a lot of sense for preparing for this situation:
- Keep a change of clothes handy that is kept in a waterproof container
- Have a firestarter that works when wet
- Have blankets
- Look for the clearer blue areas of ice (thinner ice tends to be darker)
- If you fall in, try to stay calm and slow down your breathing to prevent panic
Alton continues his advice for what to do if you fall in:
Start by holding your breath and getting your head out of the water. Once you’ve done so, inhale deeply and bend backward. Turn your body in the direction of where you came from; you know the ice was strong enough to hold you there. Tread water and quickly get rid of any heavy objects that are weighing you down. Keep your clothing on, though. It has air pockets between the layers that are helping you stay buoyant.
Now, try to position your body as horizontally as possible and lift up out of the ice using your hands and arms. Keep your arms spread in front of you to help distribute the strain on the ice. Kick with your feet to gain some forward momentum. At the same time, try to get more of your body out of the water. The more of your body that’s out of the water, the better. Cold water drains body heat much faster than cold air. Allow a few seconds to let water drain from your clothes; it’ll make you lighter.
Some of the ice may crack but keep moving forward. An ice pick would help gain a handhold (another good reason to have one handy in icy conditions).
Lift a leg onto the ice and then lift and roll out onto the firmer surface. Do not stand up! Keep rolling in the direction that you were walking before you fell through. This will spread your weight out, instead of concentrating it on your feet. Then crawl away until you are sure that you’re safe.
Start working to get warm immediately by removing wet clothes and getting out of the wind. Extra clothes from your or a party member’s backpack should be put on immediately.
Alton also recommends working with someone else instead of trying to make a go of it alone. There truly can be safety in numbers.
Have you survived a fall through ice into freezing water? Tell us below how you survived it.
Out on a small lake with my 85 lb dog. I go in, he comes rushing to see what the commotion is, and joins me in the water. I thought the water was shallower, and thought I’d just step on the bottom and walk to a piece of nearby (30′) dirt poking above the surface. Wrong, I dropped down and hit…nothing. My first mistake was to try and get Jake out first. The combined weight kept breaking the edge. I let go of him, and dragged myself onto the ice, head first, keeping flat as mentioned in the article. Second mistake was trying to reach behind me and pull him up, breaking more ice. I finally succeeded by getting myself out, then rotated 180 degrees where my head was facing the hole. Grabbed Jake by the collar, and slid us backwards.
Jake is part lab, didn’t seem to be affected by the cold much, was just scared at the sudden dip and commotion. I had a half mile walk back to the vehicle, got home, stripped the wet clothes off and got in a warm bath, was still shuddering all over the rest of the evening.
I’ve always stepped hard on ice to test it before going forward, didn’t work out well this time. I probably didn’t spend more than 45 seconds in the water. More time in the water, or not having home nearby, could well have been more serious than it was. No people anywhere nearby, also could have been worse.
So, be extremely wary of ice that isn’t known for a fact to be thick enough. Flatten out. If a child or animal is in with you, get yourself out of the water first, then help them. Trying to get them out first, or both at the same time, just keeps breaking more ice. I walked as rapidly as I could back to the vehicle, to generate some body heat.
Bonus tip: As soon as possible, take the battery out of your phone. I did this as walking back to the vehicle, and placed it near, but not right next to a heater, with the back off. Did this for 24 hours, and it’s worked great for over a year now, thank you Samsung Galaxy Note 4! As I’d been taking pictures right before the fall, it took some pictures of me in the water all on it’s own!
For a number of years I volunteered in Search and Rescue in Northern New Mesico. One of the fundamental principles we learned was that “cotton kills” because cotton, being a plant fiber, absorbs moisture leading to rapid body heat loss. Wool and synthetic fibers do not absorb moisture, thus if you got wet, you could wring out your clothing to significantly reduce the water content and put it back on allowing your body heat to help your recover from the chilling experience. I agree that it’s not as good as a change of clothes but it’s much better than dying.
I agree with what you have presented and thank you for providing the information.
Good info. Lucky me I found your site by accident
(stumbleupon). I’ve book marked it for later!
Hey would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re using?
I’m planning to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a difficult time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs
and I’m looking for something unique. P.S Sorry for getting off-topic but
I had to ask!
Thanks for finally talking about >How To Survive Falling Into Freezing Water – Survival Institute <Liked it!
Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was wanting to
know your situation; many of us have developed some nice methods
and we are looking to swap techniques with other folks, be
sure to shoot me an email if interested.
Thanks for another excellent post. The place else
could anyone get that kind of info in such an ideal
way of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and
I am at the look for such information.
Greetings! This is my first comment here so I
just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I truly enjoy reading through your
articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with
the same topics? Thank you!
I just like the helpful info you provide to your articles.
I will bookmark your blog and test again here frequently. I’m reasonably certain I will learn plenty of new stuff right right
here! Best of luck for the following!
You’re so interesting! I don’t suppose I have read through anything like
this before. So wonderful to discover another person with original
thoughts on this issue. Really.. thank you for starting this up.
This web site is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with a bit of originality!
It is not my first time to pay a visit this web site, i am browsing this web page dailly and take good facts from here every day.
Hi, I do think this is an excellent website. I stumbledupon it 😉 I’m going to come back yet again since i have bookmarked it.
Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you
be rich and continue to guide other people.
I’m not certain where you are getting your information, however great topic.
I must spend some time finding out more or working
out more. Thank you for fantastic information I was looking
for this info for my mission.
Magnificent beat ! I would like to apprentice even as you amend your website, how could
i subscribe for a weblog web site? The account aided me a acceptable deal.
I had been a little bit familiar of this your broadcast
offered vivid transparent idea
Hi there, everything is going perfectly here and ofcourse every one is sharing data,
that’s really fine, keep up writing.
This post offers clear idea in favor of the new visitors
of blogging, that genuinely how to do blogging and site-building.
Superb, what a web site it is! This webpage provides valuable information to us, keep it up.
I’m really loving the theme/design of your weblog. Do you
ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems? A
few of my blog audience have complained about my website not operating
correctly in Explorer but looks great in Safari. Do you have any solutions to help fix this problem?
I’m gone to say to my little brother, that he should also pay a quick visit this blog on regular basis to take updated from hottest information.
Hi there friends, its enormous paragraph concerning teachingand
entirely explained, keep it up all the time.
Hi there would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using?
I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a difficult time deciding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different
then most blogs and I’m looking for something
completely unique. P.S My apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment
is added I get several emails with the same comment. Is there any
way you can remove people from that service? Many thanks!
I know this site offers quality based posts and other information, is there any
other web site which offers such things in quality?
I’m not that much of a internet reader to
be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up!
I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later on. All the best
Thanks to my father who stated to me about this blog, this weblog is actually awesome.
Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am impressed!
Very useful information specifically the last part 🙂 I care for such info
much. I was looking for this certain info for a very long time.
Thank you and good luck.
hello!,I really like your writing so much! proportion we be in contact more approximately your post on AOL?
I require a specialist on this area to solve my problem. Maybe that’s you!
Having a look forward to look you.
Hi just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly.
I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same outcome.
Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really well written article.
I’ll be sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post.
I’ll definitely return.
Thanks again for the article.Much thanks again. Cool.
Enjoyed every bit of your blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Will read on…