For shelter, give me one silk sleeping bag liner, 1 military poncho, one "heavy duty" space blanket.a nylon hammock, a pair of thin, lw plastic rainpants, 3.5 lbs, total, and along with the proper clothing, and knowledge, it will suffice down to zero degrees. For clothing, I favor having Goretex cammies and one set of goretex socks. 2 pair eachof thermax and polypro socks, so I can wash one set and dry them while sleeping or on the move. Footwear is a pair of medium weight hiking boots. Expedition weight thermax longjohns (one piece variants are much wamer than 2 pc setups) a ball cap, ski mask, ski gloves, boxer shorts and t shirt, (one spare of each, so you can wash them out and not be chafed/rashed by the dried sweat. If it's cold when shtf, I'll have a heavy coat with me anyway. I aint going far to my BOL, and you'd better not be planning on such a thing, either. It will be too likely to get you and your loved ones shot up.
You can hang the hammock like a chair, underneath the suspended (from one point) poncho, and be out of the bugs, precipitation, wind, or sun. Very little effort, risk, or calories needed, and not much noise or visible movemnt to attract enemies or scare off game, either. I can pop one Ambien and get 6 hours of good rest, sitting up in such a "sling chair".
The space blanket needs velcro sewn all around the bottom and sides, so you can quickly fold it into a sleeping back configuration. A velcroed on 'hood" made of space blanket and a silk liner for same, with a drawstring around your face, makes for a lot of protection from wind, rain and cold. But you've GOT to have that silk liner and clothing that lets your body moisture escape, and you've GOT to, every few hours, "rip open" the velcroed bag, down by your feet, and "fluff" the bag. getting rid of the moisture laden air, and chilling you for a few minutes, until your body heat warms the fresh air inside of the bag with you.
Regular sleeping bags are much too heavy and bulky for the BOB, and their zippers jam and break. They also get torn easily and lose their stuffiing, if you are not extremely watchful about such things. Their MAIN handicap, tho, is that they get WET, and then they are worthless. You CANNOT properly dry out a soaked sleeping bag, just letting it fluff one day in the wind and sun. Wrapping it in hot rocks and changing them won't suffice, either. The space blanket is much more verstile, lighter, rolls up much smaller, and if it's torn, a pc of tape on each side fixes it pronto. It will also help "hide" you from infared or thermal viewing devices.
The space blanket will reflect the heat of the sun or a fire, at can be used to catch rain, dew, frost, seeds, or insects, when you know how and when to do such things. it's a MUCH better pc of kit than is a normal sleeping bag, but you MUST have the goretex clothing and the silk liner, and you must know to rid yourself of the confined damp air now and then.
The poncho has many uses, as does the hammock. The army survival manual says to carry 2 ponchos, but that's mostly a lot of wasted bulke and weight. The poncho lets your pants get soaked if you have to move through wet brush, so the rain pants are better for that. The pants also stay ON you much better, while you sleep.
You can hang the hammock like a chair, underneath the suspended (from one point) poncho, and be out of the bugs, precipitation, wind, or sun. Very little effort, risk, or calories needed, and not much noise or visible movemnt to attract enemies or scare off game, either. I can pop one Ambien and get 6 hours of good rest, sitting up in such a "sling chair".
The space blanket needs velcro sewn all around the bottom and sides, so you can quickly fold it into a sleeping back configuration. A velcroed on 'hood" made of space blanket and a silk liner for same, with a drawstring around your face, makes for a lot of protection from wind, rain and cold. But you've GOT to have that silk liner and clothing that lets your body moisture escape, and you've GOT to, every few hours, "rip open" the velcroed bag, down by your feet, and "fluff" the bag. getting rid of the moisture laden air, and chilling you for a few minutes, until your body heat warms the fresh air inside of the bag with you.
Regular sleeping bags are much too heavy and bulky for the BOB, and their zippers jam and break. They also get torn easily and lose their stuffiing, if you are not extremely watchful about such things. Their MAIN handicap, tho, is that they get WET, and then they are worthless. You CANNOT properly dry out a soaked sleeping bag, just letting it fluff one day in the wind and sun. Wrapping it in hot rocks and changing them won't suffice, either. The space blanket is much more verstile, lighter, rolls up much smaller, and if it's torn, a pc of tape on each side fixes it pronto. It will also help "hide" you from infared or thermal viewing devices.
The space blanket will reflect the heat of the sun or a fire, at can be used to catch rain, dew, frost, seeds, or insects, when you know how and when to do such things. it's a MUCH better pc of kit than is a normal sleeping bag, but you MUST have the goretex clothing and the silk liner, and you must know to rid yourself of the confined damp air now and then.
The poncho has many uses, as does the hammock. The army survival manual says to carry 2 ponchos, but that's mostly a lot of wasted bulke and weight. The poncho lets your pants get soaked if you have to move through wet brush, so the rain pants are better for that. The pants also stay ON you much better, while you sleep.
