I have a fantasy project in which two groups of multiple characters are traveling in -10 C weather or so, maybe a little colder. At night, the temperature would drop, of course, so I was wondering if anyone had recourses that would be useful for describing night and day travel in winter? Both groups are financially okay, so money isn't a huge concern.
Not sure I understand your question. You have Canada listed as your location, so I assume you're well familair with winter and what it's like to move through the cold. -10 C is cold but not spectacularly so. Wind exposure is the big one. And snow obviously.
Oh, sorry. I probably should have explained it better. I meant along the lines of long-term travel, surviving in a fantasy world during the winter. I have a house, and don't participate in winter camping, and frankly, I don't particularly like going outside during winter, so I'm admittedly at a bit of a loss as to how one would, for example, sleep amidst the snow. Questions such as "are tents needed or not" or "how to dry wood for fires" come to mind... Just curious if anyone had any resources they found useful for this
Are your characters traveling by coach and staying at Motel 8 along the way, or riding horses/walking and camping each night? Makes a big difference to the answer. Without wind in our dry climate, -10 C (14 above F) is pleasant, albeit brisk, snowshoeing weather, as long as one is dressed for the occasion. Sleeping on the ground at those temps can be a problem without sufficient padding between one's body and da col' col' groun'. The only time I managed to morph myself into low level hypothermia was sleeping (or trying to sleep) on an air mattress in the back of a pick up truck. I have never been so cold in all my life as that night, and no good-looking male around to clasp me to his naked chest and restore my body heat. Edited: I finished the above just as the explanation more above was posted. Still need to know if this is a medieval sort of fantasy or one in which folks have access to Gor-Tex. In any era, one can dig snow caves, use tents, snap dry dead wood off trees, carry in one's pockets tinder and a means of starting a fire, dress in layers, and sleep pressed against one's companions to share body heat. Just please don't include a scene where a horse has to be slaughtered so someone can crawl inside its body cavity to keep from freezing. Ha. I love figuring out details of other peoples' stories. So much fun. Thanks for sharing.
It's hard to say unless you explain what type of technology is available, what kind of roads they travel on, do they use animals or take animals with them, is it snowy or windy, do they have access to energy sources to burn in a fire, etc.? My guess is that without tents or some type of shelter you'd probably need a fire, ideally with a fire reflector (like a big rock) to survive through the night. I'm no expert, so assume that's probably wrong, but if you find something contradictory then you've still learned something. But a lot would depend on the people in the group, are they accustomed to this climate and have experience with dealing with the harsh conditions? The Inuit survived in worse conditions but they knew how to make well insulated clothing and shelter with materials available to them. My impression is that in antiquity, the more technologically advanced and civilized a culture was, the less likely they were to travel or do much in winter. But that doesn't mean some of them couldn't do it if the need arose.
Oh, gosh, I can't believe I forgot to explain that this is a medieval setting, yes. I knew I was forgetting something, didn't think it would be that obvious, though Some of these characters certainly are experienced in the ways of travel, and they all know what winter feels like as they live through it on a yearly basis. The winter also gradually worsens, temperature and visibility declining as time passes. It never drops to a ridiculously low temperature, but certainly cold enough to kill without the proper precautions. Animals include foxes and wolves, because it's fiction and I'm allowed to do what I want with the animal sidekicks, haha.
I would let them stay in an inn, if available. Or do they have to go through uncharted territory? If so, why in winter and are there people already living there? Some hunter-gatherers or reindeer herders, maybe? Are sleds an option? Drawn by horse or other beast?
Yeah. A lot of these early explorers who went exploring places like the poles and Greenland left journals that detailed the dangers they faced, the wonders they saw, and the hardships they endured. But be warned, it can get graphic.
As far as I know, the Mongols are the only people who successfully invaded (what is today known as ) Russia in the winter. It might be worthwhile to read about how they accomplished this impressive logistic feat. One thing I remember is that the frozen rivers made for easy travel between cities. Their horses were also trained to dig through snow to get to grass and other herbage below. If they had to travel across a large frozen area they gave their horses felt "shoes".
You might want to look into the weird genetics of Inuit and Native Americans that allow them to tolerate cold better than Europeans or Africans: Here's Why the Inuit Tolerate Cold Better Than You Do I remember reading somewhere that Native Americans were known for sleeping on the ground in winter with nothing but a single blanket. I don't know the specifics, or if it's more legend than fact, but the sceince does seem to support it. I'm not saying your party should necessarily be capable of this kind of feat, but maybe they encounter a tribe that can and does. Or maybe one character in the party doesn't need to take the same precautions the rest do.
I would check out YouTube...there are a ton of bushcraft channels dedicated to winter survival https://www.youtube.com/c/josephallen19 that is one of my favorites
Well, the thing is, people in the medieval period would avoid travelling in winter, preferring to wait for the spring thaw to set in. The longer the journey, the more perilous it was. Much also depends on the terrain they are travelling through as well. Are we talking about uncharted wilderness or are they riding along the King's highway, where they can expect to find coach inns and post towns along the way?
In the settings of said story, characters would be travelling both through uncharted forests and whatnot, and at other times be moving down well-travelled roads, so it's a combo. The characters would much rather wait to travel, but there really isn't much of a choice in the context of the plot.
You said "uncharted forests and whatnot" - it matters. Do they have any sort of shelter to take with them, like canvas or animal hide tents? There are a number of temporary shelters one can easily construct in a forest or decently wooded area; check out YouTube for "emergency shelters". Not so on something like North America's Great Plains. One trick that native plains tribes used was to build a fire in a trench, then cover the coals with dirt and sleep on top. Care must be taken to get the right amount of dirt else one's backside may get too warm. The teepees of the plains natives used fur coverings in side them, particularly around the edges, with a central fire. Of course, baggage animals must be used to bring something like that along on a trip.
Canvas tents or wool tents are where I was leaning, yes. The only problem with wool is that it obviously gets very heavy when wet, and with snow everywhere...Although I'm not incredibly well educated in medieval customs and survival techniques, so I could be wrong about a variety of things.
Canvas, like for use in tents, was not really a thing until after the middle ages. I think if you want them to have a tent, it would most likely be leather--even today there are people living in remote parts of the steppes who still live in hide yurts. A small rolled-up leather tent could be hung on your pack...it could be as simple as a large hide that could be draped over a branch. Wool is probably the best material if you have to get wet during winter...it is basically engineered to wick moisture away from you and as it is hair, it does not absorb water. In the military, we have a saying "cotton kills" because if you wear cotton near your skin and it gets wet from the environment or sweat it literally makes you a prime candidate for cold-weather injuries. If you get wet in wool the best thing to do is walk around briskly to keep your body temperature up and it will self-dry. You won't be pleasant during the process but you will live. If it is a garment you can shed, you can take it off, then smack the ice out of it with a stick once it is frozen to crystals. Wool is amazing stuff for winter. One technique I remember well from doing winter survival stuff as a teenager in Northern Michigan was using rocks heated in your fire. You get them warm and place one in each armpit, one in each elbow, and one behind each of your knees. These locations are near arteries and help keep your blood warm in freezing conditions. If you are in a buddy situation and are able to, rock paper scissors for who is the big spoon and who is the little spoon and cuddle--double body heat is better than trying to stay warm alone.
I have definitely heard about the rock technique. Not really related since potatoes aren't exactly intrinsic to the plot, but I wonder if potatoes would also work, knowing their ability to retain heat... I've heard that since wool was so itchy, a common practice was to wear a softer, also moisture-wicking (but not sweaty) fabric next to the skin, such as linen? Then stack wool or another warm layer on top. I could totally be wrong about this. The goal is to trap air in between multiple layers, which you can strip off if the need should arise to prevent sweat, all while being as comfortable as possible? That's what I've gathered from research into medieval times, but maybe I'm just not as sharp as I thought I was Leather tents are an interesting idea to me. I'll admit I didn't know it was used at all for that purpose, which, thinking about it now, makes perfect sense. Would a wool tent be another option, considering its natural water resistance?
Potatoes would work but depend on your setting, potatoes are from the Americas so if it's a pure fantasy world, they can have "taters" like Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings but if you are wanting a European setting, they wouldn't be a native plant. Wool is itchy but your skin can get used to it and you can wear linen undergarments but you would want to strip them off quickly if you get wet. For me, I would just get used to a little itch and be done with it. And yes, you want to layer, but there is definitely a limit to how many clothes you can wear/pack for comfortable foot travel. For my current book, I have done a ton of research on the Scythians who are a little more ancient, but they would make winter pants of inverted sheepskins with the leather on the outside and the wool inside. Wool would not make a good tent material for the same reason it makes such a good winter garment--namely that it does not hold moisture. Snow would probably settle on it but anything melting would just drip through the hair. Leather...especially if it was well-worked and rubbed well with tallow is nearly completely waterproof.
Canadian as well, in Manitoba. Use Google to search some eskimo/inuit/innu stories. Farley Mowat is a Canadian writer who has written about the north a few times - "Never Cry Wolf" and "Lost In The Barrens" are two that I remember reading and thoroughly enjoying. To answer your question: Travel dog sled - husky dogs are specifically adapted to survive in the Arctic. Try about 10 to 12 dogs per team to pull one person. Hunt seals and snowshoe hares for food, plus pack food. Worse comes to worse, you can eat the dogs. I haven't heard of any eskimo/inuit/innu domesticating caribou or any other hooved animal in the Arctic but there is a tradition in the European north of the indigenous population herding reindeer and using them as pack animals and to pull sleds. I *think* it's a tradition in Finland and Northern Russia but I don't remember the name of the people. Modern times, snowmobile/ski-doos (they're the same thing, ski-doo is slang) but keeping it working can be an issue - oil, fuel, lubricants for the machinery. Have you ever visited the Manitoba Museum? They have some equipment on display from Bombaider - airplanes and snowmobiles. You can travel by air in airplanes that have skids in place of pontoons or wheels. One professor (Barry Prentice) at the University of Manitoba keeps writing editorials about the possibility of airships such as blimps for travel in the north. https://canadiansailings.ca/cargo-airships-poised-to-take-flight/ This is another company that popped up: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/flying-whales-schedule-1.5973192 The History Channel has a show called "Ice Road Truckers" where people drive big 18 wheeler semis down frozen ice roads to supply remote and isolated communities. Shelter igloos (snow is an insulating material), place fur "rugs" on the floor, sleep in clothing, have an oil lamp (blubber from seals/whales for fuel) Modern times, there are houses similar to houses anywhere but they need to go up in insulating material. You can google for photos of housing on Baffin Island or visit CBC's website and take a look at "High Arctic Haulers" which are really big cargo ships that visit isolated communities in Canada's North and look at the houses people have there. Baffin Island - https://www.airbnb.ca/baffin-island-canada/stays Food You either bring it with you or you hunt it or you buy it. If you buy it, expect to pay BIG bucks. 4 litres of milk in Winnipeg, Manitoba is about $4 right now. The same 4 litres in Northern Canada is probably between $15 and $20. Forget any fresh produce. There have been attempts to grow fresh foods but they have not been successful to my knowledge yet: https://www.sudbury.com/around-the-north/future-of-food-is-fresh-and-green-for-manitoulin-first-nation-2589436 There was a pitch on CBC's "Dragon's Den" in 2019 for shipping container greenhouses: https://obj.ca/article/ottawa-startup-growcer-triumphs-dragons-den https://www.thegrowcer.ca With regards to storing food, given the cold I don't think spoilage is an issue but..... I think the big issue will be finding fuel to cook with. You might have to develop a taste for raw meat....lol. But....so you know....you can burn your own feces/shit to produce some heat for cooking. Plus if you have a dog sled, those dogs produce waste. Supplies You bring them with you, hunt for them, or buy them. In terms of fuel especially if you're able to plan ahead, you would set up caches of supplies. Like you would take XXX amount of food/supplies and travel to stop #1 where you would cache your supplies there. You would return home and resupply, then you would go out again to cache #1, rest, then continue on to stop #2 where you would establish cache #2. Rinse and repeat, replenishing any supplies that need to be replenished such as food and fuel. Build a stone cairn and stash them inside. Make sure they are packaged carefully so the wildlife can't sniff them out and raid your caches. Or you could have other people set up caches. Sometimes when hunters kill a polar bear (for example) they can't bring back all the meat so they cache some of it. (PLEASE!!!!! If you do use caches, plan it out and foreshadow it in the story!!!! Don't have your characters wander around and then through sheer blind luck, they "find" a cache. Any book that does that, I throw it in the garbage.) Hygiene. Forget bathing and showering. You'll be using what water you can melt for drinking. You'll probably have to brush your teeth with your finger or a toothbrush alone without toothpaste - toothpaste will freeze. You won't be washing your clothes. Safety According to some nature documentaries I saw during COVID-19 lockdowns, polar bears can smell prey from 40 kms away. They can also run and swim faster than you so you need to be cautious with your garbage, scat (feces) and cooking plus keep an eye out. If you have dogs with you, they can be protectors. Now.....a polar bear is BIG. I suggest a high powered rifle and a .357 Magum If you don't have access to that, then bow and arrows, anything that lets you attack from a distance, the farther, the better for your safety. A pole ax or some type of pointy, sharp thing that helps keep the bear away from you. Throwing stars and throwing knives are NOT suitable. They simply won't be able to penetrate a bear's hide. That fur is THICK. And....apologies to animal lovers, but this is a fictional book. If you want your characters to survive against something like a polar bear with a bow and arrows, I suggest you dip the arrow heads in poison. Those animals are FAST. They're probably going to reach you and start mauling you before you put enough arrows into them. You may end up having to sacrifice your slow friend or any pack animals you have such as your dog sled team. What's the joke....you don't have to be faster than the bear, you just have to be faster than your friend. While the bear eats your friend, you can escape. Health Simple. Don't get sick or hurt. I know that I have taken first aid courses where they discussed first aid for frostbite and hypothermia and the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in Canada also offer merit badges (or they did) for members that participated in this training. Most of that stuff was just for what to do, UNTIL the ambulance arrived. If no ambulance is on the way, you end up changing bandages every so often, drinking lots of fluids There was one instance on Reddit in r/thenextfuckinglevel about a medical doctor at the South Pole that operated on himself when his appendix burst. You could google that, there is precedent for someone to survive some serious stuff but I really don't think it's very common.
I have been to the Manitoba Museum, actually, and I might know what you're referring to..It's been a while. Since the story I'm working on is set in medieval times (with what will end up being a few inaccuracies regarding technology, but I'm sure I can think up an excuse), I don't have a .357 Magnum haha, but a bow and arrows are definitely an option. In fact, I was already planning to include their usage, so the poison-dipped arrows are definitely an interesting concept worth considering. Ideally, the characters will be gathering and hunting, but picking up whatever supplies they need from any towns they happen to come across. In said story, I'm taking some creative liberties that involve wolves and/or dogs, so that could certainly work out as well. I doubt the temperature would be quite as cold as even a Manitoba winter at its worst, which I've experienced. Canada has one heck of a climate, that's for sure. I haven't been that far up north, unfortunately, so aside from Canadian climates closer to the American border, I lack personal experience. It shouldn't hinder me too much, though, because of the exposure I do have to chilly winters.
Another idea if you're near a river or some other body of water that you can travel on is kayaks. EDIT!!! I can't believe I forgot these - SNOWSHOES!!! This might give you some more ideas: https://www.aptntv.ca/yukonharvest/ The aptntv.ca website has a bunch of other shows that you can mine for information.
