Comments by "Harry Mills" (@harrymills2770) on "Surviving the Night - Camping in -30° Weather" video.

  1. The skeptics are out on this one. Maybe force him to throw a bowl of water into the air to prove it's cold. As for the steam or lack of steam, that isn't always picked up by the cameras. But it frequently is. Lars on Survival Russia has said he gets lots of doubters saying there's not enough steam visible. He insists he doesn't lie about how cold it is. If Kusk is sitting underneath that reflector and he's got a good hot, tall fire going with those 10- or 12-inch rounds, which he does, he's probably quite cozy cutting vegetables in that little micro-climate. And I bet the brief camera shots of him sawing and so on might be in half-gloves, because he's fiddling with the camera. I've worked on my truck at 20-below, Fahrenheit, and I agree, he didn't saw up all that wood in half-gloves. But that is a big fire, he's set up just out of scorching distance, and he's got a nice reflector and wind-break at his back. I can see where it could keep him warm for a couple hours at a stretch. I don't know exactly where he's set up. In the mountains, the air is quirky, but it's generally up-canyon during the day and down-canyon at night. People are skeptical about the gear he's wearing. I imagine he's wearing wool, underneath. My experience in extreme cold was exposed skin and an outer layer that stops the wind. As long as I'm moving and working hard enough, that's all I need. This guy didn't really stop until it was time to build that big fire of his. I know people who wear down on top of fleece and they carry a spare fleece, so they always have something dry to put on. I never understood that. My parka is for when I stop moving and there's no big, toasty fire around. Hiking or working in the cold, I've never had much more than long underwear and a warm shirt under a wind/rain shell. Working on a vehicle is the worst, because you're out in it AND you have to stand still! If there's one thing Gunnison taught me, it's the importance of a heated garage. Anyway, he doesn't look like he's dressed for wet, but you're not worried about wet at -20 Fahrenheit. He might be faking it, but I think it's definitely possible to camp like this, with that fire build and that size of wood. Still, he doesn't show how it looks as it starts to burn down to a smoky mess.
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