Winter & the War in Ukraine - Who is better prepared for winter conditions?
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- čas přidán 18. 05. 2024
- Description:
The 2022 phase of the war in Ukraine began in the closing weeks of winter, with a February offensive rapidly coming to face the onset of mud and thawing conditions.
Now, in December, Ukraine prepares for a full winter of full-scale, conventional conflict.
Winter conditions are extremely demanding, both on manpower and materiel, and in this episode we look a little closer at what is involved in operating in cold weather conditions, how cold Ukraine gets, and how prepared both sides seem to be for the onset of their winter war.
Patreon:
/ perunau
Caveats:
Getting a holistic picture on the quality of supply and training for Ukrainian and Russian units is difficult. Social media and visual evidence are useful sources, but will only ever represent a small sample of overall units. Analysis is based on, and limited by, the available information.
On second listening, this video includes some wording that could have been tightened up. For example, I think I say efficiency regarding battery performance in cold word when 'capacity' would have been more accurate.
When I suggest that both sides are likely to launch offensives, I do not mean that both will likely launch operations at the same scale, simply that both will identify local opportunities to exploit conditions.
Comments on recent publicity around certain sponsors on YT towards the end of this video simply represent me restating what I have heard, and do not constitute an accusation of any wrongdoing by any actor.
Sources/Extra Reading:
ATP 3-90.97 Mountain Warfare and Cold Weather Operations
irp.fas.org/doddir/army/atp3-...
ATP 3-21.50 Infantry Small-Unit Mountain and Cold Weather
Operations
armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pu...
Supply of winter equipment:
www.reuters.com/world/europe/...
www.telegraph.co.uk/world-new...
mil.in.ua/en/news/latvian-com...
www.reuters.com/world/canada-...
UD 6-81-7 E
INSTRUCTION IN WINTER SERVICE
USE AND MAINTENANCE OF EQUIPMENT
www.forsvaret.no/en/organisat...
Ukraine has enough gas for winter, prime minister says
www.reuters.com/business/ener...
Credit to relevant Twitter aggregators referenced in this video, e.g.
/ 1
/ 1555002181509586944
/ 1595788630206849024
/ 1595515700810027008
Order of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation dated November 4, 2022 No. 547 "On approval of the List of information in the field of military, military-technical activities of the Russian Federation, which, if received by foreign sources, can be used against the security of the Russian Federation
publication.pravo.gov.ru/Docum...
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - OPENING WORDS
00:02:54 - WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?
00:04:14 - HOW COLD IS COLD
00:04:34 - Categorising Cold
00:05:17 - Wet Cold
00:06:33 - Dry Cold
00:07:18 - Intense Cold
00:08:05 - Extreme Cold
00:08:54 - Hazardous Cold
00:09:54 - How Cold Does Ukraine Get?
00:11:12 - TACTICAL LEVEL
00:11:24 - Concealment and Movement
00:13:57 - Protecting the Person
00:16:30 - Equipment Issues
00:17:46 - Mounting Requirements
00:19:35 - Training and Discipline Premium
00:23:14 - What Does it Mean?
00:25:23 - OPERATIONAL LEVEL
00:25:42 - Not a Time to Stop
00:27:25 - Historical Engagements
00:28:42 - Enabling Movement
00:29:48 - Pushing Logistics
00:31:12 - The Aerial Dimension
00:32:55 - HOW WELL PREPARED ARE THEY
00:33:17 - Not Their First Winter War
00:34:56 - The MOBIK Problem
00:36:39 - Gearing Up for Winter
00:38:09 - The Russian Situation
00:39:34 - The Full Spectrum
00:40:58 - Real Solutions
00:41:20 - The Role of Volunteers
00:42:39 - Are They Ready?
00:45:25 - Leadership at All Levels
00:47:18 - Operational Concerns
00:48:40 - The Fuel of War
00:49:38 - So, On Balance?
00:51:10 - WHAT TO EXPECT?
00:51:24 - Objectives
00:53:23 - Operational Tempo
00:54:13 - Realities at the Front
00:55:31 - STRATEGY LEVEL
00:55:43 - Winter Economics
00:56:22 - Russian Comfort
00:57:02 - Threats
00:58:45 - The Will Go On
01:00:23 - CONCLUSIONS
01:01:55 - CHANNEL UPDATE
For any Americans watching - all mockery of Fahrenheit is in good jest, I promise.
In any case, I wanted to do an episode without a sponsor this week to instead take a chance to thank a few very important groups of people:
All of you watching, obviously, for making the incredible growth of this channel possible.
My sound guy and subtitle writer, for making this content more accessible and easy to listen to.
The Patrons, of course, for their immense support (and making it possible for me to think about improving the audio qualities of the room I use and things like that)
And all of you who have voluntarily put up with my questions and offered your assistance when it comes to preparing these episodes. Each episode generates even more contacts with even wider ranges of expertise to call on.
I have a huge backlog of Patron messages that I hope to burn through this week, but I did want to take a week to say thanks properly as we move into December and the run towards the end of the year.
Cheers all, and thanks for making this comment section (and my email) one of the most remarkably civil places I've seen on the internet.
forsen
Vegemite 😋😋😋
Your welcome mate. Might not be able to help with Patreon. But the least I can do is watch the ad’s. Keep up the great work.
Oh, let me take a WILD guess here and predict that this is ANOTHER video filled with the usual anti Russian hate and BS propaganda!?
I'm just curious,..
How much do you get paid for this dogsh!t?...
And is it too late for me to jump on this BS, gravy train bandwagon?? 🤔
Man, your analysis on "wet cold" and "dry cold" is spot on! People just assume that colder = worse. Where I live most winters are wet cold, with occasional dry cold spells. Going outside without gloves is much worse in a moist -5 to 5 celsius environment than a -15 to -20 dry environment.
This is why Canada is sending uniforms to Ukraine and Australia isn't…
Australia could send a bunch of deadly spiders.
@@stc3145 can't send our snakes, the spiders killed em 🤣
Hang on. We get bad winters here in Queensland. Last year it was both Saturday and Sunday in July… 😉
But more Bushmasters?
Yeah we'll give the Canadians this one...
Finnish reservist here and can confirm that wet cold sucks more than the colder colds.
At -30C your clothes are dry and working as designed.
Having wet socks/gloves in a c. 0 Celsius environment with several hours until you can get dry ones absolutely destroys your will to live.
It is still worse slightly above zero with soft, muddy soil covered by some wet snow.
Rubber boots are the miracle item to save us there but taking cover on the ground is still nothing less than miserable. Properly cold is better than almost cold.
Thats why I hate UK winters probably more than any other European country.
Very humid and just above freezing. So breathing 1C air full moister because it constantly rains in the winter. Peak chest infection weather.
Also it never drys out till summer because always just around freezing or bit above with all that rain.
finns just arent built for cold ;)
Yep, German here and I agree, most of November and December are like that here.
And overlapping with it is what some of us call "Erkältungswetter" (roughly "'getting a cold weather") which is that annoying range between 0C and +10C where you never known just what to wear.
Some of the stuff is too warm and you sweat a lot, but if you wear lighter stuff you are too cold.
Add to that a near constant drizzle and overcast skies for sometimes over a month straight (no I'm not joking), which reduces Vitamin D production and you have a perfect recipe for the sniffles season.
It's also the time everyone has the Winter Blues.
Also wet cold is the most penetrating cold, you feel it right through to your bones.
Dry cold at -10, -20 or lower is just peachy in comparison, although that's becoming rarer these days.
Also at that cold range most of the precipitation in the sky has fallen to the ground as either snow or rain and the skies are clear again and you get sunlight.
Which is a MAJOR morale boost after sometimes one and a half or two months of solid overcast.
Edits:Typos, damn phones!😉
@@murphy7801 pretty much the same here in the very west of germany, I'm jealous of my buddy living just 20-30km away, yet 300m higher in elevation. It's regularly snowing there while I get 1-2°C and rain or muddy sleet.
“In a thousand different ways humans don’t like cold temperatures, but engineers don’t like them either”
As a technician, I always knew engineers weren’t also human
Mate, at the risk of sounding corny, these videos have kept me sane. My mum died 6 weeks ago, my dad is in palliative care with a brain tumour and is expected to die any day now. I'll have to fly from Australia to the UK (where they retired to) to sort out their wills and everything soon. These videos are so interesting to me that it takes my mind off things, and I find myself re-watching them for relief. You're worth your weight in gold. Edit: Holy moly, thanks for the support everyone. Not only does Perun's channel have the best host, but it also has the best viewers. I cannot thank you all enough for the suggestions, advice, and words of encouragement.
You can do this. Settle their affairs, and then focus on your future.
Hey man, best wishes. I hope you get through this.
Hi mate,
I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through. Losing a parent is so incredibly difficult, and I can't imagine how you must feel going through it all right now.
Making a video seems like such a small thing when compared to something so life changing, but I am so thankful it helps in some way.
I wish you and your family all the best, and if we around here can help in some way, let me know, even if it's just more bad jokes in these weekly videos.
Sorry to hear you're going through this, reach out to someone if you need.
Why on Earth would anyone retire to the UK from Austrailia? Usually people retire to places with _better_ weather, not the most miserable weather on the planet.
Swedish soldier here. Wet cold is fucking awful. Everything is miserable, everything is wet, everything takes more time and energy. Dry cold is fine. I'd much rather have -20C dry cold than wet cold. I'm much less likely to freeze to death in -20 than in +2C because my insulating layers actually work instead of becoming a soggy mess as soon as I need to hit the ground.
"Sounds like you're talking from experience." Me reading this comment in my tropical country while drinking milk(I'm lactose intolerant.)
From Canada here we also consider the wind chill factor.
@@arrielradja5522 no risk no fun
@@franceyneireland1633 less annoying than being wet, muddy and cold
@@SuperEHEC But being wet, muddy, and cold, and then it gets windy is how you die.
As a Norwegian who had the pleasure of experiencing -50c *combined* with a storm, it's *unexplainably* cold. But after that, -30 was like a nice summers day. And -30, as long as the air is dry and there isn't much wind, is *much* better than +2 with rain.
There's literally only one recorded temperature below -50 in Norway after 1986, and that was in 1999 (-51.2 in Karasjok)
I was in cold like that before. It felt less cold than a lack of anything, but still felt like a heavy or oppressive nothingness.
@@MrFrexxia Well, I don't know, the officers said it was -50. Maybe it was -48 or something like that. You felt like you were dying every time you took a breath either way
As a native Californian who has lived in Norway, I can confirm. Many times I walked my daughter the roughly 2 km to school on a -20° morning, pass the rows of prams in front of cafés ( baby parkeren I called them; much to my wife's horror) and felt much invigorated. This past week, back here in the North Bay, working outdoors on a -3° morning crushed my will to live.
You’re right everything is comparative. As a Canadian, I will complain about a week of -40 then when it goes up to -20. We’ll say how nice and warm it is.
My father survived the Korean War’s Chosin Reservoir disaster (an 18 year old Marine infantryman). I remember when it’d get below about 40-45*F his hands would start to hurt and he’d say, “my lifetime supply of tolerance for cold ran out a long damn time ago”.
Me a hard-core cold loving Canadian who like polar bear diving. This is where the fun begins.
I'm Brazilian and a skinny one at that. I absolutely hate any weather lower than around 12C°. 25C° or more is what makes me happy.
I ruined my fingers by just having wet work gloves a couple of winters. Usually just above 0° C. Seldom lower. It's enough!
Mark huge respect for your father.🇨🇦🏒
yeah, every time it snowed an inch in tokyo, people would put chains on their tires and inevitably a kid would die falling off a roof having a snowball fight. as a kid who grew up in kansas and now lives in colorado, i know what cold is. i still have one toe i can feel go numb when it gets cold too. people have different tolerances for cold, and some of those people have a reason.
Good video! I say this as a retired Canadian Army officer with extensive experience in winter conditions. What was particularly good was the discussion of the logistical effects of winter.
One thing that the video overlooked was some very real advantages of winter.
1. Insects. No mosquitoes, black flies, etc. This is a very real advantage in places, such as Canada, where these insects can make life hell for the unprepared.
2. Camouflage. The standard solid white winter camouflage is extremely effective. A platoon lying down in a field can be almost invisible, particularly in the low-light conditions which are common in winter.
3. Increased mobility. Ski troops can move very quickly. The Canadian Army has a tactical load-bearing toboggan that a half-section can harness themselves to like human sled dogs. This enables a lot of supplies to be moved very quickly.
4. Mines. The video did mention that mines were less effective when covered by deep snow. I will further point out that when troops are using skis or snowshoes their weight is spread out over a much larger area, significantly reducing the probability of triggering a mine.
There are a couple of further problems that were not mentioned in the video.
1. Snow blindness. Sunlight reflecting off snow can cause snow blindness.
2. Gas-operated weapons will not work at temperatures below -50. This is why the Canadian Rangers were recently re-equipped with new bolt-action rifles, replacing their Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifles.
K40 592 576
Captain (retired) Kevin C. Love, CD
The Royal Regiment of Canada
Another thing people tend to forget is the effect on powder. Any weapon must be sighted in again come winter as the burn rate is effected quite a lot. Doing that while rotating is key.
/Swedish Arctic Infantry
@@903lew Very true. And not only the powder is affected. A bullet's trajectory is slightly changed by such factors as the relative humidity and density of the air. This is very important for snipers. The average infantryman will rarely shoot at anything over 300 metres. But any opportunity should be taken to confirm the zero of a rifle as the average infantryman is also in the habit of bashing his rifle on things that will change the zero.
@@903lew It's worth mentioning that _all_ heat engines (which includes firearms, internal combustion, steam, whathaveyou) are more efficient as the temperature drops. Mind, running a heater and especially idling to keep that heater operating will cancel out the fuel savings in your typical vehicle.
@@kevinlove4356 What on Earth could possibly replace the finest military bolt action rifle ever created?
Great insights!
That is a good point, that it is hard for an Australian to imagine European winter. On the other hand, we Europeans can easily imagine the Australian conditions, by going to a Sauna infested with giant Spiders.
"European winter" is mostly mild since about 1988. Global warming should have invalidated your image of winter, it simply isn't there anymore.
Except thanks to winter we mostly have no effing giant spiders here. Most dangerous things in nature here(Finland) is dangerous only if you are allergic.
@@henriknutsson8500 Or animals spreading diseases. Got to watch out for those ticks.Also eating unknown mushrooms is very bad idea.
all i can picture is a Koala fighting a 2 foot diameter spider in a sauna, and im here for it.
it's still totally different living in that condition day and night, when some weeks in europe summer have 30C day, 20C night and not good AC in house.
From the American Midwest and I can tell you there are actually only 3 levels of cold:
1. Wet Cold - If you let the dog out in the backyard she coming back wet and muddy - need to wipe with a towel
2. Dry Cold - If you let the dog out in the backyard she coming back clean and dry-ish - no towel need
3. Too Cold - Dog isnt willing to go outside - need to put the piddle pad down in the garage
most midwest thing i’ve ever read
American Midwest here. Committed to walking the dog twice a day no matter the weather. Oofduh what a dumb thing to teach my dog. I can confirm your 3 levels.
I'm currently dealing with a poodle puppy, and we are at level 2.02 -- wrestle the little dog feet into Mutluks so the dog will actually poop OUTSIDE rather than in the spare bedroom on the sly. We are almost at level 2.03, which is "strap wiggling and reluctant puppy into a coat as well as the Mutluks so that the dog will even consider going outside at all for any reason" cold.
I
@@jrochest4642 Despite the overabundance of energy, comments like this remind me why Huskies are the best bois.
Saint Joseph MI cold: lake effect snow, dog vanishes in 5 feet of snow and needs to be dug out with a shovel
"Humans might not like cold temperatures, but engineers aren't exactly fond of them either"
This nearly went over my head. As an engineer myself, I'm simultaneously offended and impressed 😁
As a Canadian, we humans LOVE winter. I guess our engineers probably think like you though. And the state of our road network shows its hate for the freeze/thaw cycles, as much as I hate cream of spinach soup (it's a childhood trauma...)
We need CONSTANT repairs and maintenance on all of our exposed public infrastructure.
Going from -45C in February, to +35C in July is harsh on things... But people, just add layers... And have fun playing outside, ice-fishing, camping, going to carnivals, raves and canoe races on 1/2 frozen rivers... I even polar dipped once on a dare.... Never again. Talk about SHOCK!!
_"Humans... but engineers aren't... either."_ Does that mean that engineers aren't "humans"? Or just not "normal" humans? The second would then raise another question: _"Are engineers sub-human, or are they super-human?"_ I'm just joking.
[Edit] To anyone who's been operating in extreme conditions and experienced that it was engineers who made their equipment functions, I guess the answer would be "engineers are super-human".
@@TheJimprez Ah yes. Spring thaw and roads. Fun for the whole family. Provided they don't bounce out of the car when you hit that sneaky pothole or bump that wasn't there last time you passed. What we in Sweden call "Ice-Bark" is fun too. For anyone that's unfamiliar - Think Icy Washboard that, depending on light conditions, you fail to notice until your wheels start spinning and/or you're sliding and the steering does f*** all if you're in the "wrong" vehicle.
Or when more trafficked roads end up with ice troughs in the most commonly driven path if the road grader is not called out in time. Black Ice.... * trails off *
Genuinely happy my car decided to end itself last year tbh. All things considered. Entirely unrelated my late father had a similar reaction to Fishcakes (Soup thing). They had some "interesting" ideas about proprieties and children years ago for sure.
Pardon the rambling and Greetings from Northern Sweden :)
Why offended? After all, it's well-known that engineers are... _different._
@@RonJohn63 Engineers aren't "diffrent". It's just the rest of the world is odd for reasons that can't be explained.
As someone who lives in Northern Germany now but grew up in Western Siberia I can confirm that +2°C with a drizzle and wind is absolutely more miserable than even -40°C when it’s dry and sunny.
Well, i live in canada and i would take +2 any time over -40c , i'd rather be damp than freeze to death!
@@Paezuzu You're missing the point. It's VERY easy to freeze to death in +2°C weather, if you can't stay dry. And you can't stay dry, if it rains for days at a time, and you've got no place to get indoors. I've been doing service in the Danish Home Guard for more than 20 years, and we get this kind of weather regularly here in winter. Dry, snowy winters are rare now.
Having done the winter thing as a infantry officer in Germany, what still rattles me is how much food is consumed in winter battles… calories easily double, and if you cannot provide those to your fighting force, things get ugly, and fast.
I can tell you from own experience we had weeks of exercise in winter conditions we really, really appreciated our commander that could see to that rations was increased enough. Literally ordered food for twice the men we actually where. All was eaten!! .. 😂 well fed troops are happy troops!
I just live a normal life and I already eat twice as much lunch and a bigger dinner in winter compared to summer, and all I do is bike through it for about 15km a day
Major reason why the Russian front utterly collapsed in WWI
There's a wonderful TV series about McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The kitchens are incredible. They plan on feeding 5,000 calories a day to everyone. Minimum.
.. Will always remember when Gunde Svan, Swedish cross county skier in -80 and -90, said in an interview that the worst part of training was he had to eat so much.. 😂 He said he ate 10.000 calories per day during he’s active career.
"To the Americans... your Freedom based temperature unit"
I dont know but it kept me smiling for a while.
His language skills are very very good. Kept actually LoL:ing the entire corruption video due to this.
Yes, Aussies will take every opportunity to bag Americans about that 🤣
As n American I too found it funny
worst mythical fantasy units ever. Miles, inches, furlongs, barleycorns, hands, chains, shackles, feet, paces, links, sticks, poppyseeds, fathoms, cables, leagues, spindles, fingers, palms, digits, nails, spans, ells, skeins.
WORST MEASUREMENT EVER. You Americans and that other country who use this fantastical mythical measurement scale, figure it out.
@@paddington1670 but I pressume the older Paddingtons used those mythical fantasy units.
As a former Canada Post letter carrier, we delivered on foot up to -40 C. Vasoline on all exposed skin, and burning pain. But if the wind picked up, you were done. -38 with a gentle breeze is unbearable; you have to walk backwards.
👍 wind is the killer.
Yup, my dad was a postie and did the same. What's worse, those days were when he could collect the most overtime because a lot of the other guys would take the day off.
That's literally a freezer lol
@@hydroaegis6658 A deep freezer only goes to ~-20C, this is much colder
A small tale from my time as a conscript in the Finnish military in the winter:
During our first week of training we were marching out to the gun range for the first time at 5am, in FULL combat gear. This meant 30+ kilos of equipment, and all the winter gear had to be worn; 3+ layers of clothing, all in -30 degrees Celsius.
The march itself lasted for what felt like an eternity (it was under an hour, but your first time carrying all that gear to an unknown location made it feel so long), and when we arrived, my body was drenched. Especially my hands. But because of the cold, I didn't feel it. And then came the waiting: arrangement into firing groups, adjustment of guns, etc. By the time we started firing, my hands were borderline hypothermic, but the adrenaline of firing a rifle for the first time in my life kept the feeling at bay. But when we waited by the targets for the NCO's to judge our scores, my hands were burning so badly that I was literally crying.
My mistake? In the Finnish army, you get handed pretty damn good winter gear; however, among them are small cotton gloves, officially called "mechanic's gloves", that are your basic threadbare white cotton gloves that you can get from pretty much supermarket. I'd made the mistake of wearing the damn things underneath my issued leather mittens during the march, out of fear of the -30 degree weather.
What you were supposed to do was wear just the mittens for the march, and then use the cotton gloves at the range for the operation of the gun so that your skin doesn't stick to the frozen metal and potentially tear off. Because I'd worn the cotton gloves during the march, they got soaked in sweat, froze up, and essentially accelerated hypothermia in my hands. Fortunately I didn't get frostbite thanks to keeping my hands inside my armpits during those breaks, but I'll never forget that burning sensation in my life.
And yes, despite my hypothermic experience in -30 Celsius, I'd rather fight in dry, freezing temperatures any day over the wet cold. From personal experience, there's literally nothing worse than staying overnight in a bunker/trench in the wet cold. I did it only once in an overnight exercise in early April, and it messed up my knee joints so badly that I couldn't walk for a week, despite sleeping inside of a winter sleeping bag. The dampness and cold concrete of a bunker is absolute murder.
Good example of simple mistake becoming dangerous. This is where discipline and training make the difference.
Did you ever tell anyone higher up the chain of command? They really need to add a mandatory warning not to put the cotton gloves on along with the mittens, no matter how sensible it may seem, and use your story as the example of why.
they should seriously start giving winter gloves you can shoot with, in todays high intensity war you dont have time to start switching the gloves while bullets are flying at you, you need to be able to return fire and suppress the enemy immediately as the enemy wont just decide not to shoot while you kindly ask them for a time out, of course its been a while since i served and i dunno if they have actually changed them
@@lattekahvi1298 is it possible that it was so cold that there's really no glove that can fit both criteria of "keep your hand from completely freezing at rest" and "allows operation of firearm"
@@SovietReunionYT I'm not sure if it ever got implemented, but I wasn't the only one who'd made this mistake at the training. Pretty sure the NCO's who witnessed all of us making this mistake passed the info along to the officers supervising the entire training, though whether or not that resulted in any official protocol changes is anyone's guess. 😅
I remember during my conscription service in the Finnish Air Force that I quickly learned never to complain out loud within the instructor's earshot that it's cold - The instructor usually has ways of keeping the entire platoon warm!
"My fingers are cold"
"What's that?"
"My fingers are cold"
"Well now they'll be cold and your back will be sore because you just pulled landscaping duty! Anyone else's fingers cold?....didn't think so"
We learned that too. Best warmth comes from within 😐
@@jeremyt7722 So he has to mow the lawn and trim the hedges?
Work is the warmest jacket!
@@wom_Bat Rotate the snowbanks so it all gets some air
A massive problem often overlooked in freezing temperatures is SWEATING. Hard combat and physical activity makes people sweat, and the thick layers of clothing worsens the problem a LOT when physically active. It's great for light activity, but bad for intense physical performances. Now, what everyone who has ever done anything in the realm of military/militia training or service knows, is that military is all about rushing to wait. Short intense bursts of action followed by tense waiting/hiding/taking cover in between. So basically, you're drenched in sweat after a minute or two of going cray-cray, just to then having to stay mostly still for 5-30 minutes, maybe even more. And those times waiting is when cold reaps. Sweat can freeze, especially when it has seeped through a few layers of clothing. And that's how you can be seriously fucked even if you technically have enough clothing to stay warm in the given temperature.
Also, cocooning can be deadly. If you are cold, you grow sluggish and want to cocoon to preserve heat and stop moving. But that only aggravates the situation. Say you're on guard duty in a small trench, staying still for a prolonged period of time. You're cold, but not necessarily dangerously cold, yet. You grow more and more sluggish, and sleepy. Your performance drops along with your body temperature, and you can even suffer from frostbite in your fingers or toes or god forbid, you fall asleep and may even die. So constant movement, even slight one is very much required.
Awful times, winter. All this comes from my personal experience during conscript service. Greetings from Finland!
another point is also drinking. I would imagine thousands of soldiers are drinking every night. There is always a possibility a soldier will pass out in the cold without dressing up properly and never wake up. I bet there are deaths like this every day now
And Russians drink significantly more than Ukrainians.
@@artyomarty391 Drinking in the sense of rehydration is also an issue. The sense of thirst is not intense enough to intuitively make you drink so dehydration in the dead of winter is surprisingly big issue. Had to constantly remind my privates to drink between meals during the winter to ward off dehydration.
Modern Winter equipment fabrics are breathable, and allow for ejection of moisture, this area of advanced fabrics has advanced tremendously in the last few years and the Main patent of the famous Goretex is over and many producers and armed forces are making their own solution, many actually waited for this, the Portuguese army has new uniforms(from the 60s ones) with this new Materials from our own fabrics industry, we dont have Winter uniforms because none of the Cold conditions reported actually happens wet cold doesnt happen because those low temperatures only happen in dry days during the Winter, if there is moisture in the Air temperature will be well above 10C during the day, and dont go below 5C at night.
@@pedrorequio5515They help, but just a little. They don’t hold as much moisture and are lighter than traditional clothing, but once wet, they are as cold as any other jacket.
@@pedrorequio5515 Technology is indeed rapidly progressing, but it is still relatively expensive. In a "scramble-to-outfit-wartime-armies" situation in Ukraine the technological qualities of the clothing would not be the most high end in large scale. Smaller speciality units/individual soldiers maybe. And even then, as an avid hiker and having dealt with conscription in Finnish winter, those materials are not magic, they help but don't prevent the problems.
I have trained in -30 to -34 C here in Norway. Its more about survival and not doing stupid errors. Like not swapping out your wet socks may cost you a leg. Or skipping a hot meal or not setting up a good camp. Its painful and easy to get wounded by exposing skin. In these scenarios its important to have good buddies, shelters and food. Some nights you had to find a hilltop to walk slowly up and down to generate warmth, even though there was 50cm snowfall.
Hm9.9h
Waste removal at -30 and below isn't fun. Freeze your peepee and bum ya do
Estonian here, did my mandatory military service in recon. Wet cold is the most miserable weather for operating in that I have experienced. The only bright side to being cold, wet and miserable was that we were mostly used to it when compared to mortar-men and infantry so we amused ourselves by messing with their perimeter security and stealing things. This was peacetime exercises and we never took anything vital, but some chocolate bars and smoke grenades and the like were appropriated.
Dry cold is much easier to deal with, provided you have the appropriate kit, but I've never been at the extreme end of the spectrum, don't really want to imagine trying to conduct operations in that.
what was the wind like? depending on where you are, that can be a huge factor.
@@mmm-mmm changed day by day, didn't have many blizzard days and we were far inland, so fortunate not to have to deal with sea air.
Also an Estonian here.
In all this crap one thing No-ONE here mentioned is how umbelievably important is being properly hydrated in the cold.
The cold sucks out all the moisture from your lungs.
Served with Logistics Battallion. Got to enjoy a lot of sitting around but also a lot of "light infantry" duties.. And holy crap... there's nothing worse when slowly getting hypothermic you are also getting dehydrated, because you forgot your canteen in your harness (instead of inside your jacket) and it is completely frozen solid. You need to hydrate to stay at optimal calorific burn rate.. but you would have to sacrifice body heat to stay warm.
It seems logical.. but it isnt much discussed. You REALLY need to keep your water supply warm in these conditions unless you really want to play roulette with the elements.
The man, the myth, the powerpoint
One important part about keeping dry in cold weather is to not sweat. This paradoxicaly means that if you are about to do a physical task it is important not to over dress. There is a huge difference between how much heat your body generates between standing static and doing physicaly excerting things, like for example combat, or even a foot march. So if you are dressed to keep warm when you are manning a trench you could get soaking wet from sweat doing a long march. The solution is having layers so you can alternate how much clothing you wear. This does mean that you have to carry clothes you are not currently wearing with you to adapt to your current task.
All about that mid layer optimisation
This. I climb mountains in the winter and couldn't agree more. When your moving and working hard you want to dress cold then layer up when your stopped.
Yes, very true. But I think a better solution would be "smarter" clothing, like my ski jacket that has vents with zippers on the armpits to prevent overheating. Actually, also stuff like those snow protectors or whatever they're called that close around the waist could be a godsent when sitting or working in the snow.
@@guywholikesplanes They're called snow locks.
This is precisely why we have this thing called "rättitauko" (direct translates to rag break) 30-45 minutes from the start of a march to take the extra layers off. Back in my army days we would have this thin long sleeved undergarments, a thick long sleeved wool undershirt and pants, regular camo and winter camo when stationary to keep warm. but when ski marching basically everything but the camos and t-shirt + boxers would go.
P.S all the Finnish army gear has really descriptive names but basically none of them translates to anything comprehensive. I.E the thick long sleeves has a familiar name of "nallepuku" translating to teddysuit. thin long legged underpants for some odd reason is called "tykit" translating to cannons for some odd reason.
The worst part about cold is sweating when working outside. Nothing like having a thin layer of water over your entire body with the constant wind mercilessly chilling you. I have to put extra time into deciding how to balance my exertion with the right amount of gear. Its best to be cold but dry than too warm and sweating which can quickly turn into a hazardous situation.
Moisture wicking base layer is very important. Perfect? No. Better than not having it? Absolutely.
I hate cold sweating sooo much, it doesnt dry either like it would in summer. Absolutely miserable
Yeah I worked as a tree surgeon for 16 years and it's so physically demanding but working in cold weather can affect ur concentration etc and no matter how hard I try to stay dry and warm, I regularly end up drenched in sweat and freezing cold
I am a Russian and even a theoretical possibility of being drafted (I am legally exempted but who cares about legalities in Russia) and sent to fight in these conditions is very scary. There are talks of a new wave of mobilisation in January. I doubt there will be many willing to go now that people know what awaits them. Being cannonfodder in summer is one things but being cannonfodder in winter is a whole new level of nasty.
Just gtfo of Russia before the borders are closed and exit visas are reintroduced. There's going to be a mass-mobilization soon and the economy is going to collapse to early-90s levels.
Take flower seeds in your pockets Ivan if you are drafted to the Ukraine. Cause when you die a miserable death at least your corpse will fertilize nice flowers.
You sound like the military would be better off without you.
@@crabluva I wish it were that simple. Here I have a job and a home and a car. If I run - I'll be reduced to nothing. I'll have to start all over. And with Europe and other countries overflowing with refugees both from Russia and Ukraine it's not going to be easy. But if push comes to shove and they move to either arrest me (because I'm pretty vocal about the whole thing, it's the least I can do - say openly what I think of this war) or draft me, then I'll run.
Good luck out there. This is terrible for everyone involved, and it's never as easy as "just leave your home." This has been sickening to watch from afar, and I can only imagine what it's like to live it every day
One of the things that gets underappreciated thinking about cold weather combat is the effect of how it just never ends.
Its easy to put on my coat, gloves, boots, and hats with the kids and go make a snowman for a few hours. But at the end, I go back inside, dry off, and warm up. But in backpacking or military field work, there is no relief. There is no escape. Its cold when you wake up. Its cold trying to make breakfast. Its cold trying to do a patrol. The field rations for lunch are hard and cold. The warmth from the hot dinner is temporary. The socks are wet after trudging all day. But even pulling the boots off to put on fresh socks is dreaded for how cold it is all the time. The new socks are still damp from yesterday, and are just freezing. Putting the boots back on are wet too, its just so cold changing out socks. But you have to, to avoid trench foot. And the winter blankets keep you alive, but they don't keep you really warm. Its hard to sleep when its so cold. And its going to be facing you again the next day, and the next day, and the next day. There is just no relief from the cold for weeks at a time. It just drains the energy, the sleep deprivation, the psychological effect of constant misery. I just can't convey it in words, its just grinding. And if its a conscript that doesn't want to be there, the irritability with the comrades and officers can just explode.
Yeah it’s completely different, and if you spend time outside without respite for more than about 3 days, then you get pretty sick of “ohhh pretty winter!”
Having grown up in a hot climate (I'm Australian too) without any air conditioning or insulation, I can testify that extreme heat is the same - it's one thing to spend a few hours in it, another thing to spend days in it with no relief with it too hot to sleep at night. The morale effects are real and at least as big a drag on your effectiveness as the physical effects - I suspect cold is the same.
As a Canadian, wet cold is actually more dangerous and annoying than anything else that's not extreme low. When snow falls, but melts instantly, it can soak through any part of your clothes that aren't waterproof. And once it does, it's so uncomfortable. Fall in a mud pit, you just might die if you don't have somewhere to dry.
Cold isn't a problem if you wear correct clothes until you hit around -28 Celcius, then your eyelashes start to freeze, cars stop working, everything with moving parts freezes shut. Cold only scares me once it reaches -30, then you can't do anything, unless you wear so much clothes it's seriously heavy. I can't imagine fighting below -40.
As a Canadian i can attest to snow falling and melting into a hard packed awful heck. Slip and slide terrain with te texture of mars
Dear Perun,
Two things. First, I don't mind ads during your presentations. Mostly because of the QUALITY of your work. The content, the preparation, the research, etc places you at the very top of the heap. I did not previously know that some ad money is used to support Ukrainians, but now that I do it makes it even easier to not mind the ads.
Secondly, I have never noticed any deficiencies in your audio quality. Quite the contrary, your audio is better than 95 percent of all CZcams content. I especially appreciate the fact you keep the recording VOLUME up, which most don't. Your voice is always clear.
Cheers from Minnesota USA
Former Swedish infantryman here. The ability to sleep exactly anywhere given half a chance is something every infantryman will learn. Even if that is in the snow, under a pine tree, speaking from personal experience.
During basic training when we ran out of space in our tent I asked my NCO if I could sleep outside(-15) he was clearly surprised and denied me, scared that i would freeze. He was form a warmer part of Norway than me and clearly not used to sleeping outside. It's all about what your used to / conditioned to
If someone told me a year ago I will be listening on regular basis to 1h+ analisys of very perticular military topics I would laugh... not laughing now.
Thank you for all your hard work!
Sława Ukrainie 🇵🇱❤️🇺🇦
He should make and sell a Private Conscriptovic, General Oligarkov T-shirts
@@allamasadi7970 other channels are already using said private
@@Goulmy86 like who
After leaving my desk job for a more physical one I *NEVER* thought I’d be looking forward to PowerPoints on the weekend 🚦
Same!!!!!!
Dude, don't obssess about the audio. You're more than clear enough for me to understand even at the 1.5x speed I listen at. I'm sure the majority of us feel the same way. There are a ton of content creators out there with fantastic audio but have nothing of interest for us to hear. Content is king and you have it.
Polish-Australian human here based in Brisbane, appreciate your analysis greatly!
Perun jest Chorwatem z pochodzenia.
When I did my military service, we were out in a forest for a few days during a real bad winter storm. Trees were falling during the storm, and while it was only about -5c, the wind and snow made it horrible. When we brought up the bad weather warning to our captain, his response was ”War does not look at weather reports”
But generals do, or should.
Well he clearly doesn't know much about strategy, imagine if the navy overheard him he would never hear the end of it.
They sure looked at weather reports for Operation Overlord.
@@bernadmanny his superiors in the Army would still shout at him for that. Ground forces are still very much affected by bad weather
"sir, that might be true, but YOUR the one whose command decisions are going to be scrutinised if we suffer avoidable casualties form a training exercise."
"If people aren't allowed to talk about problems there is indeed no problem"
Reminds me of communication habits in some companies.
@CipiRipi00 this is what Russia is currently doing with it's population.
As an American, hearing Perun use freedom temperature units warms my heart
"Nonsense alternative temperature units used in the United States" 😂
It’s spreading. Slowly. Extremely slowly. But the freedom is spreading 😂
I am deeply impressed. That´s what i call real journalism. Just facts which are thoroughly investigated and backed up by sources which are also mentioned in the context. All journalists (especially german journalists) should watch your channel to see how real journalism and scientific essays should look like.
Thank you
Another challenge in cold weather is to have drinkable water. I worked through three winters as a bike messenger in Germany in wet cold conditions. Often my water bottle turned into slush after a few hours, which is very difficult to drink a lot of and it will also lower your core temperature.
Additionally, the cold air has low absolute humidity and you lose more water by breathing. You also still sweat if you are physically active in winter clothing. Last but not least, you will pee out more water because the blood vessels in your extremities will contract and increase blood pressure and water volume in your core. This will make your kidneys remove water from your body to normalize the pressure.
Respect. I cycled the Canadian winter in Winnipeg for transportation. Takes planning , gear, and good discipline.
Wow I didn’t know that thanks
Agree with this 100%. I used to use bicycling for exercise, and I'd even go out when it was snowing. Clothing is vital. It must breath to get rid of sweat, but it still bust provide enough insulation against heat loss. Add snow that melts when it lands on you, and it gets very difficult.
When i was at finnish conscript training we put our drinking bottles under our shirts
The Canadian Army issues a thermos as part of its winter kit. Warm water is good to drink on a cold day.
“Winter conditions reward the well trained, disciplined, and well equipped.” Great quote! I would like to add a key ingredient to western training. And that is that team building is at the center of this training. And teamwork builds compassion for your comrades. And when each teammate looks out for their comrades, they more evenly distribute “the suck.” And when a team is able to “embrace the suck,” they create motivation exponentially.
'looks out for their comrades' .... you got that right friend - it is always someone else who sees that you are getting hypothermia, you don't see the symptoms so well in yourself.
General winter isn't a Russian citizen, he's a Chechen merc who will work for the highest bidder
very true!
I think that equality fits the Russians more than west, thatßs my personal experience.
@@markobucevic8991 How do you figure?
Perun, I don't think most of us care about the sound quality. It's the quality of the content that we care about and you've been doing an outstanding job on that front. Your dry sarcasm still makes me laugh, your objectiveness and unbiased nature of your presentations is refreshing, and your comprehensive analysis is amazing. Thank you for all your hard work.
If a video starts with a documentation about the sources consulted, you absolutely know that there is quality to come.
Thank you Perun for all the hard work you put into your slideshows. :)
Hello from Ukraine. I'm currently halfway through your video, but i want to clarify something. Temperature is not an only factor here, you need to include humidity. Donbas is a very dry region, especially in the last couple of years, which puts it in a dry cold weather level. Soil is sufficiently frozen to continue our counteroffensive op - experts state, and it's only a start of December
Slava mate 😀
I would have thought the Black Sea would keep the region in the cold wet, that's why talking to locals are the best way to dispel such assumptions. Cheers!
@@johanmetreus1268 It might very well be the case for Azov region (southern region). We'll probably have to wait till January for a good condition, but here's hoping
@@johanmetreus1268 good point... climate obviously is more than proximity to water... the (left?) Side of the dnipro River famously is a desert to those who have been following the war... I should have put 2 and 2 together on that!
@@johanmetreus1268 The Northern Anatolian, Caucasus and the south coast of the Caspian Sea in Iran are kept very wet by the water brought by the Black Sea. Not much anywhere else though.
As a former bike messenger in Vienna (10 years all weather), I can attest to the effects of different temperatures - and the video brought up very uncomfortable feelings. I know how physically and morally exhausting it can be to be outside all day even in low positive temperatures when you are soaked wet. I know how extremely uncomfortable frozen clothes are, how painful frostbite can be. And yet, at the end of each day, I came home to warm myself up. Those poor bastards in the trenches never can do this for weeks and months. With some experience under remotely comparable situations, it is doubly inconceivable to me how they can endure. Empathy here brings a lot of pain.
But we're you able to deliver messages faster than the speed of light?
@@kalacaptain4818 Probably they delivered for the post office, those are hard jobs honestly.
The Russians don't seem to rotate troops much; the Ukrainians do. But still, even just 5 days in a freezing trench would be rough.
Another biker here: totally concur. And what wind chill can do when you’re cold and wet is beyond describing. Absolutely fearsome and can put you in a really bad place, mentally and physically, which means extremely dangerous. The mind really can start to shut off…
@@cuntontheweb2657 It's a rapid courier service, i.e. customers directly call to have stuff delivered from A to B, often within less than an hour from call to delivery.
I love how Perun talks about the sound qwollaty at the end.
Perun, hit us with Kelvin units. It makes so much more sense than Celsius. Fahrenheit is excellent for human body temperature and the human experience of the environment. Celsius arbitrarily is excellent at measuring the chemical state of dihydrogen monoxide. But I think what we all really want is how far are we actually from absolute zero.
Eeeeeyyy, Norway!!
I'm meant to go to a Scandinavian event and you're making me rethink...
@@PerunAU you survived Australia for more than a week. You will be fine...
That makes sense.
@@PerunAU Do a DNA test. If you’re mostly British you’ll be fine in any climate. Those buggers in the 19th century fought on top of mountains, in the desert, in the jungle, in the middle of the ocean - literally everywhere
@@PerunAU really depending on where and when in Scandinavia. You rarely get those really low degrees except in the very north. I can attest to the very highest degree of suck at +2 to -7 celsius. And I haven't done any real fighting in those temps. -7 to the -20/25 range can be real comfortable. Atleast when shit isn't blowing up around you.
My Grandfather was in Frozen Chosin in the Korean war, and he was standing guard, an officer came by, looked at him, and told him to go inside and someone will replace him, my Grandfather said he felt fine, but he was not, he was borderline hypothermic, so the whole bit about checking your men is 100% correct
As an American born and raised in the mountains Appalachia I can confirm the "wet cold" is far worse to deal with then just simply extreme cold. We get rain here deep into January sometimes. A couple years ago we had a cool rainy day snap into a -10f night that froze everything solid. I'm talking inches of ice on everything, then it dumped inches of snow on top of it. The power was out for near a month and even emergency services completely stopped. All this is pretty common here. I understand what it takes just to be prepared for it in a civilian sense and I can not even imagine what it would take for soldiers in a trench in similar conditions.
This might be the best channel ever.... haven't seen a toxic comment, everything is fact based and explained in a way almost everyone can understand it. It's just amazing. I always tell my girlfriend; "He posted anther one!! Those PowerPoint presentation videos!" She always laughs and thinks it's cute, but they're so informational and easy to follow. Every time I talk to someone and they say that they want to know more about the situation in Ukraine, I always recommend this channel to them. Keep going, we love you Perun! Sorry if my English isn't correct, it's a second language for me.
Your English is better than most native speakers. Just relax, you're doing fine.
The winter of 1986-87 was the coldest since WW2 in northern Europe, and that happened while I was doing my military service. We were out in the forest in 50 cm of snow and -27 degrees C for over 72 hours, sleeping in squad tents. The last day was a balmy -16. Our equipment was basically 1950s level. The important thing when staying in a tent is to cover the outside base of the tent walls with snow, thus avoiding cold draft. Cover the tent floor with freshly cut spruce branches, creating a layer between the icy ground and yourself. See to it that the tent stove is lit at all times (might be harder these days with thermal imaging being more common). That week out in the freezing cold wasn't too bad, but I wouldn't want to experience it for any longer time.
Was smoke from the stove an issue that you had to manage somehow?
@@chooseyouhandle His name is a very typical Swedish one.
Never slept as good as in the army. -20 in a sheltering built of spruce branches sleeping bag on 30cm of spruce twigs.. 😉 The army has warm sleeping bags. Roughest was waking up from the sleeping bag and then getting dressed in -20 ..😂 (easy to take the clothes of in the sleeping bag but to get them on again..)
Wait, only -27? We've reached -40 - and regularly hit -30 over here in Canada.
I sympathize though - thats some miserable bloody weather.
@@simoncejka9121 Dry wood and a stove (correct name..?) thats burning all the time does not produce much smoke. Starting a fire does.
Thermal imaging is a modern problem.
Readiness of two armies can be summed up like this: when Europe and Canada started sending winter gear to Ukraine, Russian politicians were complaining that somebody stole milion of winter uniform
Which never existed, btw. They stole the money and signed off the uniforms.
@@LMB222 I would believe that.
"The easiest way to stay warm is not to get cold"
What insightful insight Perun, I never would have known
what the quote means is that it much more difficult to warm up again if you get cold than to avoid getting cold in the first place.
During 2009 in Chicago being a dumb kid I wanted to feel what -40° windchill felt like... after my shower. It was awful and eventually i had to tell my mom why i was crying. My ear and right pinkie finger were in agony. I was dry heaving from the pain. My right pinkie finger is shorter and fatter than the left because I grabbed snow for 10 seconds before throwing it. That little bit of water on my finger prevented my hand from growing properly. Respect the wind and the cold friends.
My ears are still extra sensitive to the cold, after frostbite in 1995.
Australians are built different man. As a Canadian that experienced the (literally lethal) 2021 summer heat spike up to 40, I can say I’d much rather get through a month in -40 than a week at 40.
Georgia, US. Gimme the +40 any day.
Come to NZ where it is usually in the middle. Just be ready for earthquakes.
You can dress for the cold, not so much for the heat
Turkish person here, just chilling under 45°C
Most Australian houses have air conditioners. I write this from bed, with the air conditioner on, and it's about 30*C at the moment.
Best winter temps are -5C to -10C. Water stays frozen and as long as you are semi properly dressed you will be fine. If anything sweating followed by the cool down is your worse enemy.
Not at all. -5 feels much worse than -15. I bet humidity is to blame.
Ice and slush is the worst. Let it snow ones and let it stay until April.
I'd imagine the worst is not the temperature, but the wind. After living in Siberia, I'd rather be in -30 but with no wind, than at -5 but with strong winds
other than that, tbh, I dont think theres not much difference between -5 and -30, aside from the fact that its probably so much easier to die at -30 if you're drunk. You have to remember that we Russians love to drink (ukranians too, but to a lesser extent), which means many drunk soldiers will just pass out in the snow, and die by sunrise. I bet this happens every day now
totally agree OP, -5C is cold enough for winter to exist, yet not too cold like -20c and lower. Just plain miserable when everywhere you go have to be bundled up like an astronaut. lol
I'd rather -20 then -5. At least the snow is dry powder then and not wet or slushy.
As a former conscript from Finland, I can confirm that living in a snowy forest is MUCH more comfortable in -10 degrees celsius than in around 0.
Hell, even -20-30 is much nicer. After all, equipped with a stove, a tent can be warm and cozy. Around the freezing point however, EVERYTHING is constantly wet. Clothes are soaked, water drips through the tent roof and body heat melts the snow underneath.
Having all physical comfort taken away from you for extended periods of time truly sucks ass way more than having to withstand blistering cold for some time (which can be greatly alleviated by adequate clothing).
Thanks for pointing the issues with “Wet Cold”. As a Canadian, I try explaining how winter is different, and way more pleasant than the typical French or German definition of cold. As per the batteries, I remember pulling out my iPhone during a -30 Polar Vortex and watching the battery % fall like a countdown timer, 80% to zero in 2 minutes. 😂
This is why we cant have electric cars. XD (ok there are other legit reasons)
@@wh0_am_152 Amen! Which is ironic considering our insane hydroelectric potential.
@@MarcinMoka1 you could make hydrogen with that, and use that for cars
@@sjonnieplayfull5859 Some wise tuber once said talking about hydrogen. "it does not need to be as good or better than EV:s. It only needs to be better than gasoline." So could someone please make hydrogen cars mainstream already so they would be reasonably priced and actually give competition to EV:s.
edited to add also infrastructure.
Boys, electric cars work in the cold. The modern ones.
You can get somewhat less range, but they’re engineered to handle it. 👍
I worked on batteries, studied Electrical Engineering.
Technology evolves. EV’s aren’t iPhones. ^^ 😃
Alaskan here. Worked north slope oil drilling facility, located on an artificial island in the arctic ocean. Can confirm that it's more difficult to stay warm in the spring and falll, when you have just above freezing temperature fog covering the entire island. Doesn't matter what you wear; you WILL get cold and wet.
Oh, and have fun trying to dig a whole in frozen dirt with an aluminum entrenching tool. The ground may as well be concrete.
Great analysis mate, well done. I served near Kerch in Crimea and one winter night it was just around 0 degrees Celsius, but 100% humidity and windy. I wanted to fetch a kettle with hot water and since it was just 70 meters away or so, I jumped out in my uniform, with bare hands. It didn't feel like much cold, but once I was back bringing the kettle to my fellow soldiers who were waiting for me to finish their dinner, I couldn't unbend my fingers clutching the kettle handle for a few minutes.
Those were great times lol
I live in Australia now, I never missed cold and snow, and I rather enjoy hot weather; never wore a hat.
When you put a tarp on the ground use rocks or sticks to keep it in place in the wind . removed Snow push it asides your body heat will heat the ground up in a half hour. When you pick everything up it should look like a animal was sleeping there an the snow melt under it.
I am from a cold country and have military training for cold environments. During this I never practiced digging or staying in trenches, but from my experience trenches just seems like a nightmare during cold weather. Cold air sinks and will concentrate in trenches and foxholes while any heat you generate will escape. We did practice building iglos and there was a focus on always having a level below where you stay of significant size where cold air could sink into.
Yup, to my knowledge cold sinks have been a part of native igloos basically forever.
That is more in line with Artic training
Fascinating stuff. Also from a cold country with military training, they never taught us about cold sinks per se. Granted, local strategy didn't involve sitting in trenches for months on end, but still.
I'm curious, how did you make the place where cold air sinks to and how does it look?
Strangely enough (?) there are pictures of Soviet soldiers freezing to death in their foxholes during WW2 for that reason. Although they had warm winter uniforms, they had never been trained to cover their foxhole and have a lower part for the cold air. From what I recall, the commentary had been that if the foxholes had been constructed properly the soldiers would have been warm enough to change out of their uniforms to dry them.
"..humans might not like cold temperatures, but engineers aren't exactly fond of them either."
As an artistically minded individual who grew up in a familly of engineers, I feel so validated!
I'm an engineer and I feel discriminated against. But also kind of agree 🤔
As an engineer who grew up in a family of artists, I'd be offended if it wasn't so true. And if I had human feelings.
I'm just sitting here thinking about the implication that engineers aren't humans...🙃
Agreed that it could have been an implication that engineers are not human, but I think 'humans don't like a thing, and neither do engineers', doesn't necessarily mean that engineers can't also be humans. It does appear like a redundant statement if you knew that all engineers are also human, but even then I think the true intention in the statement was that humans dislike the cold on a biological level, while engineers (who may also be human) dislike it on a design/ engineering level.
I'm an engineer who is at times very fond of colder temperatures because I deal with battery service life issues (batteries perform poorly at cold Ts but the service life is great)
As a fellow Melbourne Aussie that scandi comment about freezing point of gasoline as serviceable temperature, made me chuckle
Alaskan here, US troops in Alaska train VERY extensively in cold weather survival, they test all the cold weather kit here.
Training for cold-weather survival is a huge part of life as a Canadian infantryman. So is learning to walk in snowshoes, which are standard issue. That's like riding a bike, once you know, you never forget.
Second that! First time you loose balance and fall over in deep snow on snow-shoes, specially with gun, gear, and pack.... You learn to avoid it.
Since you troop for the Canuckistani, What do you do to deal with the "freeze,thaw, freeze" issues that the AR-15/M-16 system, everything I see shows that this is a real problem.
Plus don't forget Moose riding which all Canadians learn in school at age 8. It doesn't matter if it's -30 on the ground if you're not on the ground. 😉
@@nvelsen1975 : not all Canadians -- some of us learned caribou riding instead.
Never seen any snow shoes, never used any, we latvieši use skijs.
When you were going over the documentation you read about winter fighting I, as a Canadian soldier, felt slighted you didn't read our manuals. But then I remembered we don't either. So good show.
No worries. As a former US servicemember, I can confirm that neither do we.
He also said peices of equipment when it was sets of personal winter clothing.
Great video Perun. If you would have told me 12 months ago that I would be looking forward to a weekly 1 hour PowerPoint presentation on various aspects of military effectiveness, I would have told you your off your rocker. The detail and research you do, the effort to put forward balanced and unbiased content, is a massive credit to you.
And I think I speak for most for the almost 300k subscribers you have in that we would listen to you under water. You content is so great.
Really appreciate all you do
As an American, I appreciate your humor regarding the use of Fahrenheit; definitely got a couple solid chuckles out of it. Suggestion for next time: "Moon-landing units" and rough conversions to unrelated items, ie: 'carrying a pack that weights 30 kilgograms (for you Americans, 5 frozen turkeys)' or 'If you have to travel a couple of kilometers (that's about 18 *American* football fields for my Yank viewers)' etc. ;)
Your work has been superb. I know others might be whining about your audio quality, but maybe I'm one of those "good gameplay over good graphics" dudes and just don't require perfect audio when the powerpoints and narration are just so damn strong. You're doing brilliantly, while while you glow about the great journey you've been on, I assure you likewise it's been truly a marvel to see it unfold. "Cheers mate!" ;)
I live in a relatively cold country. In winter it can get as low as -25C, with temperatures about 0C to -5C being normal at that time of the year. However the air is dry in winter, there are no strong winds and the sea is far. One year I spent autumn and winter in the north of England, close to Scottish border. At temperatures rarely dropping below 5C, I constantly felt cold and uncomfortable because the air was so moist and there were constant winds. Not to menton that British seemed to have no concept of insulation for buildings and windows. My perception of what cold means changed drastically after that.
That’s the British for you 😂
Yes I live in Scotland and I much prefer genuinely freezing temperatures where it's dry compared to our typical wet cold when it hovers between zero and 6 degrees.
The British won’t even put a coat on in that weather
My sister moved from an area in Alberta Canada where it was a dry cold and exposed skin would freeze. When she moved to the coast of BC Canada where it is a wet cold she complained how cold she was thru out the first winter.
@@artnull13 Harsh, but fair... 🙄
From a historical perspective, they told us at the Mountain Warfare school that in a cold/high altitude environment, the largest casualty producer is the weather. Just by surviving, you will be doing better than less trained/equipped opponents.
Maybe the key reason Russia did not train their first recruits after the mobilization: they would die anyway but keep Ukraine occupied, if not by fighting, then by distracting them with frozen corpses
@@sjonnieplayfull5859 it's a mistake to think Russia is homogeneous. The majority of conscripts and casualties will be with ethnic minorities that are beneath the Russia Boot. The irony is that Russians as a demographic are dying out. We will see how everything shakes out in May 2023.
Your comments on Fahrenheit were hilarious! 😄 And I'm a Yank.
The higher humidity of wet cold means that heat is sucked out even if clothes aren't actually wet--it has to be experienced to be believed. Here in AL, USA winter temps average around freezing to just above (mid-20s to 40s F) and the chill is pervasive; it just seems to gnaw through you.
..."nonsense alternative temperature units..."! You are hilarious, sir! I check nearly every day for your long form presentations. I have learned tons from you. I haven't watched the whole presentation yet, because I stopped it to leave this comment (I didn't want to forget). This is excellent work. Please keep them coming. Cheers! Slava Ukraini! from Utah, USA.
Hey Utah! Provo here. I love these videos.
I've been through Provo and Nephi, hunting mainly. One night we, (4 of us) came back and the tree branches unloaded on our tent. All spread out sleeping bags were soaked. We drove into town and a nice lady at the laudromat stayed open several hours while we dried our bags and it only cost about five pounds worth of Quarters. She even gave us an excellent tip; to which her son objected, strenuously!
During army service i had spell in hospital (back injury). In bed next to me was soldier that had his foot in danger of being amputated. He had not removed his boots for 5 days during winter training (😳 :facepalm:). He had one leg/thigh swollen about double, so that skin was cracking and puss flowed out. They did push IV antibiotics into him at max rate. Nurses changed his bandages every 6 hours.
"He had not removed his boots for 5 days during winter training (😳 :facepalm:)."
This is why good and disciplined junior leaders/NCOs are so important. Their adherence to troop well being checks. Troop well being is not matter of being "soft" or "nice", it is matter of losing combat effectiveness. Well cared troops are effective troops, badly cared troops end up as casualties even before the fight starts.
With regular health checks "oh you have foot problem, medic! Check this guy" and regime of some surface antibiotic cream, other skin care, medical wrapping, some extra socks changes and regular medic checks until the thing is handled keeping the person in fight. Versus not doing the check regime, problem going unnoticed couple days, festering and now when medic is finally called verdict is "medical evac immediately to hospital immediately, that is life threatening infection".
"Eveyone buddy checked for frost bitten face, everyone still have feeling in their toes and fingers". Going into tent/shelter or even just rest moment "everyone boots of, liners of, socks off, check your feet. No, buts it's cold here, you still do it. Private, that was not a request to check your feet, it was an order to check your feet for blisters, cracks and frost bites."
Oh and ofcourse good officer leads by example. When they order others to do health check, they lead by example by being the first to remove his boots in the uncomfortable cold and check his feets condition. (aka good leader can't be good leader, if they get trench foot themselves)
@@aritakalo8011 This. ^^
@@aritakalo8011Guy had one serious sepsis, starting from trench foot/infected wound (dunno, at the time no-one could tell from the mess his feet was) inside his boot. I left before finding out did he kept most of his feet. When coming back to barracks from excercises, he could not get his boot off - > to local hospital where boot and sock were cut off - > oh shit - > with ambulance to central hospital.
Checking your feet every day (every time after prolonged outdoor activity) is not voluntary like you well said.
EDIT: If i remember correctly he was junior NCO. Case of ordering things, doing tasks for officers, whole week in forest - not taking care of own health.
@@kimmoj2570this sort of behavior is learned. Somebody beat this into him. Either the army, or his parents
It's time for the most informative weekly power point presentation in the platform.
Seriously though Perun, the work you put out is fantastic!
mediocre
20:50 I think that "not wanting to digging trenches" part actually might not often apply. I've been digging a foxhole in +2 °C while having my clothes completely wet but I still didn't feel cold at all because of the physical activity. That changed quite quickly after the digging stopped.
I wish there was more commentary like this on politics or economics. No clickbait, no melodrama; just reasoned analysis that doesn't try to align with a particular group and points out the flaws in all populist views without fear or favour. You are a true friend to humanity and I'm delighted yoiu're getting the recognition you deserve. Maybe some other media will pay attention. I was interested that you didn't mention that much of the Ukranian support, logistics, militia and / or defensive forces will be operating in areas that will offer a shower, dry socks and the occassional warm meal in a pinch. The majority of Conscriptniks will be in regions with zero fall-back if there's a fuel shortage or a blown up convoy of dry socks. To your point, I hope we in Europe, can redirect adequate diesel from our cars and our creature comforts to Ukraine where it is both more needed and more valuable, and its use more justified, than it is here. I am making every effort this winter to economise on energy to mitigate the effect of Stali... Putin's machinations.
I want to add one more thing about the 'wet cold' both as somebody from the region and a former infantryman.
During the 'wet cold' during the day temperature is above the freezing point (+3...+7 degreesC) but during the night below (0 ... -5). This means that in the daytime everything melts and every evening it freezes again, which in turn makes everyday tasks to be in a state of constant discomfort.
I served in the4/25 airborne in Alaska. We had artic leaders course for NCOs and officers. It's harsh to say the least. On a mission up to DTA I had to literally check on guys one by one every 20 mins to make sure they were alive and frostbite didn't creep on as temp hit-30C w/o wind chill. Good times.
You defecting on us with that -30C nonesense?
Do American military members use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit?
@@kurousagi8155 you do if your born and raised in Europe. Even after 20 years can't do the F scale. But on briefings they usually list temp as F/C for NATO purposes.
@@balin1920, but Fahrenheit is the superior temperature measurement! The one measurement we Americans get right!
@@robertharper3754 The *only* one muhhh-ricans can even get right 🙄 Literally the only country on the planet besides Liberia (if that counts given it’s origins) to rely on such an archaic system 🤦🏼♂️ Metric is much easier to compute with multiples of 10s, and standardized (not to mention more accurate) but guess common sense isn’t very prevalent south of the 49th parallel, SMDH…the state of your education as a whole/system is abysmal, how sad.
Thank you very much for these videos!
As a reserve officer of the Infantry (Jägerbataillon), I now have the luxury of choosing the time of year when I do my yearly reserve training - and I always choose the Summer, because I too well remember the wet Autumn and cold Winters and am happy that I can avoid them 🙂
In my family, there is a strong military tradition for the better part of the past 500 years.
We had 23 family members serving in World War 2, the majority on the Eastern front, including Moscow, Rschew, Stalingrad and then the great fall back in the ensuing years.
What they learned from Russian POWs was to add gasoline to the weapons oil and also the oil for the engines to keep it from freezing.
This whole war in the Ukraine is a great trategy!
To avoid such conflicts in Europe in the future, Ukraine needs to win so that any coming dictators and strong men see that the risk is too great.
Maybe someone can highlight/copypasta this to Perun on Patreon. As a Canadian to an Australian, one correction on alcohol consumption in the cold: *It lowers your core temp, but keeps extremities warm. This prevents frostbite and improves dexterity.* For someone from Australia, you might not have this context, but, *almost always when you're cold, or out in the cold, you still have excess core heat* . Even as soon as around 5'C your fingertips and toes and ears start being in danger of being too cold, losing sensation. Down to, I dunno -20'C, having cold extremities is... I dunno... 100x as dangerous as having low core temp. It's night and day. You can almost always just put more clothes on, or group together, shelter, or otherwise mitigate the problem of literally freezing to death because of no way to retain your heat. But even an hour in far far more moderate cold, you might lose fingers and toes and ears. And, if you're going to freeze to death, the difference of having your extremities warm vs. cold is slight (i.e. you were probably dead anyways if you didn't find shelter or heat). For example, I sometimes have to come inside to warm up after shoveling snow for a half hour... but only because my fingers and toes are dangerously cold, not because I'm too cold. In fact, I'm probably sweating I'm so hot. It's extraordinarily rare to actually be concerned about your core temp, and this is only relevant at fairly extremely low temps. Cold extremities is a problem almost instantly, at far milder temps. At 5'c your fingers can be too cold to operator a trigger, or write your name. At -25'c, you can still be warm enough in your chest, legs and head.
People sometimes erroneously conclude that drinking alcohol just makes you feel warmer, with no actual difference in warmth. This is false. Drinking alcohol with respect to warmth is a compromise, because the thing that it does is a tradeoff, but it's not imaginary. It improves blood circulation to your extremities. So your fingers, toes and ears are going to stay warmer. But the reason your extremities get cold in the first place is because they're extremities, they're small, have lots of surface area, and protrude out from the core of your body without other parts of your body next to them to keep them warm. This is, as a net, more wasteful, because your extremities are poorer insulated, they're losing heat to the environment faster than your core. So if you move heat from your core to your fingertips, it's kind of like poking a few holes in a bucket (that, already has a few holes), you're losing more heat out those new holes. If you lose more heat than you can add to that bucket, and the bucket empties, you're dead.
*To say you shouldn't drink alcohol to stay warm, is to literally say "You survived, but we amputated your hands and feet". That is the tradeoff. If drinking alcohol becomes a problem, it's only a matter of whether your extremities die or you die. Either way that's a casualty, that soldier is gone.*
Also, a shot coming into the warmth helps getting the overall temperature up faster.
Opposite is drinking is smoking, lightening a cigarette right before guard duty or some other still standing stuff is inviting misery.
Sometimes people with poor blodcirculation in their extremeties are prescribed a low dosage of Viagra, as it's core function is to expand bloodvessels, wich increases circulation, and hence heat transfer the same way alcohol does.
So perhaps soldiers during winter ought to be issued Viagra? (This is not a joke!)
@@andersgrassman6583 if it can be proven to work, why the hell not. Militaries still issue modafinil to troops when long hours are required, and it's basically works like meth.
@MattsAwesomeStuff You are arguing that a small dose of alcohol can be beneficial. Most of the arguments against alcohol is that it rapidly impairs judgement even in small quantities about how much the alcohol is impairing judgement. Try to tell even a slightly tipsy person they probably could be laying off they will often argue they are fine. Feeling warmer after a shot, great temptation for another.
Perun said , cutnpaste from the transcript, "complaints from Russian units that other Russian units they're relying on for support are basically drunk in a cold weather environment boozing it up on the front line is a terrible idea you're going to feel warm and you're going to be less disciplined so your core temperature is going to drop..alcohol does that it bleeds the temperature out to your extremities and at the same time you're going to be less aware of the fact that you are wet you are bleeding heat and you're on a one-way train to hypothermia".."if you don't keep alcohol consumption down and caloric consumption up that's a great way to diminish the combat effectiveness of a unit"
He isn't talking about a shot or two per day.
How do you limit consumption rate of alcohol in troops who have a bottle and lots of time to convince themselves one more tipple can't hurt?
@@johncarlaw8633American light beer instead of vodka.
Can't drink enough of it to get drunk.
Basically the same kind of thing medieval Europe ran on....
Under no uncertain terms do I believe Russias military will suddenly become competent in winter.
It’s an impossible argument for me to believe their winter gear stockpiles weren’t also sold online years ago, or never existed.
This ^
Also, the sheer amount of bullying in the Russian army will mean that even if the good stuff did make it to the front, it won’t be fairly distributed
There are segments of the russian military that despite all the endemic corruption, incomptence and russians simply being themselves have managed to retain enough capability to cause problems for the Ukrainians trying to be permanently rid of them. How much of that capability will continue to slowly evaporate, one can work towards as much as possible.
But it's not just the theft and corruption, but the competence and institutional knowledge of being able to do things everybody else thought they excelled at, which seems to have vanished from a huge segment of the russian armed forces. Competency in camouflage and concealment, electronic warfare, infiltration and things like the almost mythical ability of the soviets to dig and fortify themselves into a captured position and drag every piece of heavy weapons and ammunition they could get their hands on in there. All seem to be absent a lot from the actions of that rabble during this war. Anyhow, looking at all the things I and others mentioned, it would absolutely be no surprise that competence in winter warfare has also disappeared and been replaced with experience in doing shoddy manual labor for the local kremlin underlings, stealing everything in sight but especially washing machines, prostituting other conscripts and so on.
and yet, we can clearly remember when Russians invaded in full winter gear in February.
@@sulev111 You mean that time the Russian advances fell flat on their face and ran out of fuel and supplies in about 5 minutes? Even if they did have winger uniforms most of those uniforms have bullet holes in them now.
In Denmark we have an expression:
"There is no poor weather, you can only be dressed poorly."
Great content as always, cheers.
Being from Brazil, I tend to run into something a lot. When I complain that it is cold - and it can go down to 5-10C over here, it is because my whole house is cold.
A lot of people from the US laugh at me complaining about a 5C cold because they get to -15, but they forget that EVERYWHERE they go is heated up. So it is only really -15C on the small hop from their house to their car and then again from car to the workplace.
I think a lot of internet tough guys do the exact same. "I laugh at the cold! It is -22 here, I can handle it just fine!" While sitting in a environment that is heated up to 17C above zero.
Very similar to Australia. In Melbourne, it can be wet, 3c, but "feels like" -5c because of the wind. Even your bones feel cold and our houses and offices are built to deal with the heat, not the cold. I lived in the north of England for years, and their winters are much more comfortable than a Melbourne winter. I imagine the south of Brazil has a similar climate to the south of Australia, where most of us live.
I remember when I visited family in Africa that the significant temperature drop at night made it SEEM much colder than it actually was
I’ve lived in northern Canada nearly my entire life. It isn’t rare to see -40 and it sucks but as long as your prepared it’s not to bad. To this day when I think of cold I remember a time on the Alaska coast when it was only -5 with 100% humidity and you couldn’t stay dry no matter what you did. Your miserable and there’s nothing you can do about it.
I grew up in Northern Manitoba, Canada and at -30 -40 or so we'd still go out on the snowmobiles or XCountry skiing. Walk to school in -45 and life goes on no matter the temperature. I live in southern Ontario now and by comparison it is down right balmy. For the flip side I when I was a later teenager I spent 3 years in Perth Western Australia and some equatorial countries except for a few days in Perth when it got down close to zero C it was always TOO DARN HOT !!
If you have experience with real intense cold (US Extreme cold) it's totally fine. Some friends who were on joint military exercises in the Arctic winter +/- -40°C and the guys from the US just hid in their tents while the Canadians had a blast with their winter equipment such as snowmobiles etc. Those "Intense" or "Extreme" adjectives for the weather are relative to personal experience.
As a Canadian I can confirm that wet cold is hell.
Because here's the thing, dry cold you can add layers and be fine, but wet cold will eat thru your clothing slowly but surely.
Then add wind and you're in for a truly miserable experience, where you clothes if they caught humidity, will do their best impression of a freezer.
Can't imagine how hellish having to fight in these conditions must be.
I served as infantry in a cursed part of South Korea that goes down to -25C in winter. Even now the traumatizing sensation of my boots and feet slowly turning into a solid block of ice haunts me.
Amen. I am a fellow former 2nd Division soldier. I can distinctly remember the internal debate as to which would be worse; peeing myself and dealing with the wet uniform or exposing myself to the cold in order to pee.
I remember doing a delay exercise in a forest during wet cold, around -1 to -2C, everywhere was snow. We shot at our enemy, made them stop dismount and we fell back, everytime we fell back and waited for the enemy we were just shaking from the cold, all of our clothes were wet from the snow and being sweaty, it was fucking miserable. You only could get warm once you got back to the backpacks and took out some heavier layers of clothing.
Lol. I loved the casual shots at freedom units.
It still amazes me that every Sunday, the first thing I look forward to even before my cup of tea is the weekly Perun, Masters level, hour long power point. Sir, you've hit a niche that is amazing. Your desire to remain impartial and provide such well sourced material is refreshing on the internet. Too often, trying to find sources from articles and videos is a task and a half. I'm an information nerd. I love sources and you sir, provide this information nerd with hours of extra reading every week. My hats off to you from Canada.
Another issue for drone operators is noticeably lower flight times. It’s one thing to have 20 minutes flight time to aim and drop the odd grenade on trenches in summer but it’s another thing to have 10 minutes of less in winter.
Placing the small chemical heater packets on the battery pack before flight can mitigate this issue. Pull the batteries from your inside jacket pocket. Tape on the heater. Fly the mission immediately.
@@saxonsoldier67 only to a certain degree. As someone who’s flown on multiple snowy countries with drones your flights times are still going to be reduced noticeably.
@@saxonsoldier67 Hot paws 🐾
As someone who lives through a variety of the colds - dry cold really is the best cold. So long as it isn't windy, it's great to be outdoors and enjoying everything. Wet cold just sucks.
300,000 subscribers by the end of the -year- -week- day?
Well done mate. Keep up the good work.
I'm Brazilian, I totally understand you. We use Christmas decorations with snow like the North Hemisphere, despite the fact that during Christmas it's summer here, and summer in the tropics is VERY hot
Vary indepth. As a guy who spent a decade at a strategic level in the us army, you give more in-depth briefs than Im used too. Good job man. +1 sub
@Cultured_Anime_Waifu Stranger things have happened. This is war; anything can happen, and this one is far from over.
this Perun bloke is a great analytical informationalist. He does his due dilligence and research factoring in even the most obscure but relevant angles and facets of probability in an attempt to be as accurate as possible while 7 no matter the odds of them happening basing most of his observations on real facts and statistics. Cheers mate keep the vids coming ill watch em all
Watching your channel grow has been a wild ride, thanks for everything you do
I'm a Rancher in Canada. Always find it interesting what other people call cold weather. I work outside all day no matter the temperature and if properly dressed anything above -30 isn't too bad. It's the windchill that's the nasty bit. -10 with a windchill of -20 feels way colder than -30 with no wind. Even -40 can be tolerable if there's no wind and dressed right.
@dillweed h. It depends, I’m 60 and my limit is -30 with no wind. As you get older, the cold becomes a little less tolerable. I also lost a lot of weight, so I find that being skinny makes me colder.
There are a few key differences between being a soldier in the cold than a rancher or other civilian in the cold. First, at the end of the day you can return to your warm house to put on warm, dry clothes. Soldiers can't. Second, if your clothes get wet you can change them out for dry clothes fairly easily. Soldiers can't. Third, if you really had to you can build a fire to warm up. Soldiers can't. Military cold is a whole different kind of cold to civilian cold. The coldest I have ever been was when I was in the military.
Same, on the north shore of lake superior here during winter we consider bad winds frozen daggers because they can go right through your coat if your not dressed right
-30 in dry cold is piddly squat compared to a humid -6, you should know this.
Sure, but do that, while living outside, for weeks and months on end with no respite. The duration is the killer
"a train is an efficient way to bring in supplies"
Adam something approves
Love your analysis and choice of topics. Keep 'em coming.
Over 300k subscribers before the end of the year and why wouldn't there be. The detail, delivery and humor make Perun essential viewing.
Miłej niedzieli i pysznej kawusi każdemu życzę ☕❤