Survival Bags: Yes or no?

by ICE Education

Opinion is divided on whether D of E groups should carry survival bags on their expeditions.

If your group is caught out on the hill and needs to wait until help arrives, they may to seek shelter from the elements. It could even be useful for an injured person. If it is necessary that Mountain Rescue are called, they may take quite some time to arrive, and so a bag maybe useful for shelter in this case. Once you stop walking your body will generate less heat, and when it's cold or wet you are unlikely to be able to generate the same amount of heat that you are losing to the external environment. Losing heat over a prolonged period of time can result in hypothermia.

However the cheaper version of the survival bag, usually orange in colour and available for a couple of pounds from most outdoor retailers, are cumbersome to carry and should a person get inside them, uncomfortable and as they are only plastic, no moisture will get out. Soon the person inside will get wet from their own perspiration anyway.

A survival bag will however slow the onset of hypothermia and in that respect is an useful piece of kit for all trips to the hills. A breathable one is preferable of course, should you be able to stretch to it. As regards the bags being cumbersome, especially once you have opened the cheaper variety, they could be used as a rucksack liner, and therefore be somewhat easier to pack away.

Foil type blankets

These blankets work by reflecting body heat back to the body. However, used by themselves they will not keep the person out of the wind or keep them dry, so any reflected heat can quickly be lost to the external environment. Using one inside a storm shelter or in combination with a poly survival bag will be more effective.

Foil bags

These bags are waterproof and wind proof means so the casualty will be protected from the elements. Heat should be reflected back to their body. There are no actual thermal properties, so the colder you get the less effective the bags become.

Blizzard Survival Bags

At the top end of the survival bag range is the Blizzard Bag. Blizzard Bags come vacuum packed and are mainly intended for use in emergencies. They are made from a material which reflects heat back to the body, and traps warm air inside the bag wall. They are closed at the bottom and have a draw cord.

Blizzard Bags are a significant step up from poly bags and foil products and could be carried year round when venturing into mountainous areas the Lake District, Snowdonia, the mountains of Scotland or any other upland areas of the UK.

Spending an enforced night out, or many hours wait for rescue, will be made much more comfortable in one of these, owing to their thermal properties, meaning that chances of survival are much increased.

Some stories related to the use of survival bags

Posted Monday, 13 January 2014