Primitive Survival Bed in the Desert Sand

In the winter the temperature in the Colorado Desert can drop to near freezing at night. Having a warm shelter and blankets is crucial to survive the cold nights but there is another way to stay warm without a shelter. In this video I create a warm bed by burying hot coals in a trench I dig in the sand and then cover the coals with a layer of sand that quickly becomes very warm and the rising heat keeps me warm and comfortable for several hours.

Also (not shown in the video) I periodically fed the campfire next to me and warmed rocks in the ashes and then placed them under the blanket. This technique doesn’t allow for much sleep but is a much better option than shivering all night. I imagine that humans in the past often spent many nights only achieving very short periods of sleep while they maintained a fire at night. Survival isn’t comfortable especially when men went out on hunting expeditions or nomadic tribes moved from one location to another. My goal through these experiences is to learn and feel what life was like before the modern era and to train my mind and body to adapt.

The high temperature of the day was about 70˚ F (21˚ C) while the low temperature at night dropped to about 38˚ F (3˚ C). I stopped recording for the night when the temperature was about 41˚ F (5˚ C) which was a little before midnight.

Turn on captions for description of what I am doing in the video.

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Camera: Nikon D7200
Sound: Zoom H4N
Editing: Final Cut Pro X on MacBook Air
Location: California, USA

Music credits:

Drums of the Deep by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1400021
Artist: http://incompetech.com/