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Old 07-09-2013, 6:16 AM
speedrrracer speedrrracer is offline
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Portable survival shelter -- look to the Bedouin tribes, who have been doing this since before the pyramids were built. Dress as they dress, live as they live. Add in a couple of lessons learned over the last 6000 years and you'll have as good a shot as you're going to get.

Shemagh, total clothing coverage, sunblock for any areas not covered, coupla gallons of water each day, minimal / maintenance only food intake (requires water to process food).

You need not just something to provide shade, you also need either an insulating barrier between you and the sand or you need to dig down to cooler temperatures. Keep in mind in the sandy desert that if the air temps are 120 then the sand temps can be 140. You simply cannot remain on the surface, so go up or go down. The conductive heat from the sand on which you are laying can bake you even worse than the hot air.(http://www.aircav.com/survival/asch13/asch13p01.html
http://faculty.unlv.edu/landau/desertgeography.htm)

If you have the night before to work, dig as deep as you can -- even a foot below the surface and you'll save 20 degrees or more. Here's a simple trench shelter you can make with just a tarp:
http://cleversurvivalist.com/2013/04...r-temperature/

It also works in reverse -- at night, many deserts get dangerously cold, so you must still avoid contact with the surface. Insulate yourself from the surface, or dig deep -- the temp remains more stable the deeper you get.

If you have a truck, then it's all gravy. With something like a ditch witch, you can excavate a completely comfortable space each night, add in swamp coolers and refrigerated beverages -- you might even have a good time
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