When hiking and camping I never seem to have any problem sleeping. The fresh air, steady exertion of carrying a pack and covering ground, stars above, and a stress-free environment away from people and work see me out like a light and up with the sun.

A wilderness survival situation may share enough of that so sleeping may not be an issue. The situation after a major disaster where hundreds, maybe thousands, are homeless, injured and in desperate need of the basics shares few of the things that makes sleep easy.

Odds are you have lost most of what you had: friends, family, home, even all those carefully socked away survival supplies may be gone. The future may be doubtful because the place you worked, the people you worked for and with may be gone. What worries you the most is simply not knowing. Not knowing who made it, who didn't. Not knowing how you will cover the basics tomorrow. Not knowing how you will make a living.

And then there are the other people. People who have been ripped out of comfortable lives, some of who are injured, all sharing the same doubts and fears. Uncertain, frightened, with no clear answers.

If you are around people they will be testy, angry, nervous, in deep denial, catatonic, or suicidal. Many doing each by turns. The injured will cry out and moan, kids will whine and scream and cry, adults will bicker over nothing. The best and worse all come out. Near crowds there will be constant noise, commotion, smells. Sleeping is going to be an issue.

Earplugs, a sleep mask, a smear of Vapo-rub under the nose help a lot. Benedryl has its uses. Some people like a pink-noise recording on a pod. Never had one of those. I've used my sleep kit on a buses and in airports. Being a little isolated by these I usually alert a few people to bump me awake if anything happens.

i used to sleep well. and then i became a parent. and then a park black bear visit us a couple of times on a trip to a provincial park last year. i was on heightened alert all week, despite a bear - assumed to be "the" bear - being caught and taken away early in the week. it taught me an important lesson: i'm not going to sleep soundly if i feel my family is at risk, even with a full tummy.

I know I caused my parents a lot of sleepless nights. However, I can tell you that karma is real.....

Not being able to sleep runs in my family. My grandfather was a full time farmer, worked from dusk until dawn but still couldn't sleep at night. Grandmother was the same way, she got some new doctor that told her to to take a drink (of something alcohol) before bed, it was the closest she ever came to swearing.

LOL. thanks Ann, for some reason I thought the thread had jumped from survival to mundane sleep patterns. I refer you to my original posted response in this thread,

"I think that is pretty smart. If given the two, lack of sleep, lack of food, I personally function better on lack of food. I can go a night or two with little sleep but it catches up to me fast with mental mistakes.

I've done some 24-36 hour races/runs and even though I am eating, its not enough calories so technically I am energy input deprived. But if I can't get even a little sleep, think I am worse off."