Pioneer Living Survival Magazine

Beating the Cold

This is true Indian Style.

Did you ever wonder why the Indians could travel so light without freezing to death? Or why they only built a small fire?

A small fire was built so they would not attract nor be seen by others, this was for safety and also for another reason. They would only need a small amount of coals from the fire to stay warm.

They would take and dig a small trench about 10 inches deep. Then they would take the coals out of the fire, spread them in the trench, and cover them up with dirt or sand depending on the terrain. They would now spread their canvas or blanket over the trench and lay down in it and pull the end of the canvas and or blanket over themselves.

The warm coals beneath them would keep them warm all night.

Most people today would just build a large fire to stay warm. This could be dangerous for a couple of reasons, you sleep too close your bedding could potentially catch on fire and a large fire means you could be found an easy target for someone who would not hesitate to harm or kill you in order to secure their own survival.