You’re out hunting on a snowy and cold fall day. The sun is hidden behind the clouds and visibility is less than a quarter mile. Its getting dark and your watch reads 6:15 p.m. Walking back towards your vehicle, you realize sense of direction is worthless in these conditions.

What should you do? What could you have done? Where should you go? These questions were answered, along with others, at David Cronenwett’s winter survival course at Elko campground. Cronenwett has years of experience in outdoor and winter survival. He exampled many techniques such as fire and shelter building.

An important thing to remember is to always prepare for the worst. Cronenwett says most of the people who find themselves in survival situations tend to be people going out for the day. They often will not see the need to tell anyone where there’re going.

A great way to prepare is to wear the right clothing. According to Cronenwett wool is by far the best thing to wear in the winter. Not only for its warmth, but because it has great breathe ability. Another quality of wool is the fact that if you have synthetic clothing articles on you are a walking fire hazard. Wool is almost flame retardant, which is helpful when you have a raging fire going in the middle of the night.

Another thing to remember is the survival kit. Some of the most important things to bring along are non-perishable food items, water proof matches with material to strike them, rope, tarp, and knife. Every survival kit will be different depending on the person’s specific needs.

Towards the end of the class he gave each participant one match to build a fire in eight minutes. Although they used the techniques he demonstrated, no one got a fire going. This was probably because he had not shown us how to make a fire using low hanging tree branches and tree sap. Most everyone got a good fire going in around fifteen minutes.

For the final demonstration Cronenwett made a shelter next to a fire out of wood, tarps, and strings. The maximum temperature we got was 65 degrees inside while the weather was 15 degrees outside. As you can see, knowing how to build shelter is a great way to stay warm.

Cronenwett teaches classes across the state, but lives in Choteau. If you are interested in taking a course you can reach him at dcronenwett@hotmail.com. His courses are definitely a must for anyone planning on participating in outdoor recreation.

By: Henry Jorden