This instructable will detail the steps and techniques required to survive the harsh environment of the ice planet Hoth. Weather you are stranded, hiding from the empire or just on vacation, Hoth may have what you are looking for.

Courtesy of Wookieepedia:

Hoth is the sixth planet of the remote Hoth system. A desolate world covered with ice and snow, located in the Anoat Sector, a rarely-traveled portion of the Outer Rim Territories. It became famous as the one-time location of the Alliance to Restore the Republic's Echo Base during the Galactic Civil War. It was also the site of the Battle of Hoth, a major engagement between Imperial and Rebel forces.

Its orbit and axial tilt results in consistently icy weather patterns. Daytime temperatures reached levels unbearable to most species and rarely rose above freezing, even in the planet's relatively mild equatorial regions. The gale force winds and intense snowstorms that regularly wrack the windswept surface magnify the extreme cold of Hoth.[2]

The frigid biosphere includes a minimal food chain: the predator wampas, the omnivorous tauntauns, the herbivorous Hoth hogs, a few rodent species, including snowmice and ice scrabblers, and iceworms, lichens, and Dragon Slugs.[2]

Location Location Location...

When visiting Hoth, make sure your accommodations and transportation are adequate for the journey. When setting up your own personal version of Echo Base, we recommend selecting one of the numerous underground ice caverns in the Clabburn Range south of the Nev Ice Flow, near the equator. Any other location on the planet promises temperatures that can kill you instantly and predators who would just view you as a giant walking steak.

Make sure your camping location can be secured against pirates, animals and random wandering imperial troops. Nothing will spoil your vacation faster than a band of Johnny-do-good stormtroopers looking for a couple of droids or a Dragon Slug in your sleeping bag.

So, overall, not your best location to go camping with the kids. But hey, if camping on the surface of a icy death-ball is your cup of tea, there's a few more things you should know....

Step 1: Location Location Location...

Choosing the right location

When visiting Hoth, make sure your accommodations and transportation are adequate for the journey. When setting up your own personal version of Echo Base, we recommend selecting one of the numerous underground ice caverns in the Clabburn Range south of the Nev Ice Flow, near the equator. Any other location on the planet promises temperatures that can kill you instantly and predators who would just view you as a giant walking steak.

Make sure your camping location can be secured against pirates, animals and random wandering imperial troops. Nothing will spoil your vacation faster than a band of Johnny-do-good stormtroopers looking for a couple of droids or a Dragon Slug in your sleeping bag.

So, overall, not your best location to go camping with the kids. But hey, if camping on the surface of a icy death-ball is your cup of tea, there's a few more things you should know....

Step 2: Gearing Up

What clothes should you bring?

Well, leave the bermuda shorts and thongs behind, and instead pack yourself several changes of underwear, a thermal jacket and pants with heavy fur trim and perhaps a nice suit jacket for dinners. And socks. Lots of socks.

Generally anything made from a dead animal or an enhanced synthetic would be good. The furrier the better!

Equipment:

Your basic survival gear should include a blaster or other ranged weapon and a knife. If you are properly trained, a close quarter weapon such as a lightsaber could come in handy.

You should also carry a small emergency shelter, a set of binoculars, a transmitter/communications device, some water in an insulated canteen and snow goggles. The goggles are essential when traveling the surface during daylight hours as you could easily go snow-blind without them.

Transportation:

The surface of Hoth is somewhat inhospitable to your average T-47 airspeeder. These can be modified to work well in the atmosphere, but it will take some time and is generally beyond your average travel budget.

Imperial AT-AT/AT-ST walkers do well here, but they are difficult to drive and quite expensive. They also require you to sign up and serve in the imperial military, as well as three weeks of training. If you are determined to get a ride in these monsters, I would suggest that a well placed bribe may get you inside.

I would instead recommend learning to ride the local Tauntauns. These warm blooded animals have adapted very well to serve as transportation and pack animals in the frigid environment. Most can be rented for a nominal fee from your local Tauntaun breeder.

Extras and tips:
*Bring a small blanket or towel to wrap around your hat. It lends you a fancy-casual air and assists with the insulating properties. Plus, you never know when you need a towel!
*Don't bother bringing your shaving gear, everything is frozen.
*There are no toilets.

Step 3: Emergency!

OK.. So, your out on the frozen surface of Hoth. You just destroyed an imperial probe with a single blaster shot. You turn around and are smacked silly by a wampa. He drags you back to his cave and with apparent dexterity incongruous with his otherwise seemingly unintelligent nature he melts your boots to the ceiling, freezing you upside down. You manage to escape through some jedi manipulation and a spectacular be-handing of the beast.

Now your outside on the surface without your jacket or gear because that ball sack wampa stole it. What do you do? Start walking!

Once Hypothermia begins to set in, you may experience hallucinations of dead friends or robed mentors. Just keep your wits about you and whatever happens, don't fall over face down in the snow.

OK, so you fell face down in the snow. Not to worry. Your best friend will be by shortly to save you. Once he arrives, the best way to get yourself warm again would be to huddle in the cockpit of the snowspeeder. In the unlikely event your friend was unable to procure a speeder, he most likely took off to find you riding a Tauntaun and will "see you in hell" . If this was near evening hours, the base is most likely closed for the evening, and you are facing certain death.

So, your there with your friend and a recently dead Tauntaun (He's not getting his deposit back). How do you warm up. Well, heres a creative solution: Get in the Tauntaun. Not on, in.

I know.. it sound horrific and they do smell worse on the inside, but if you gota, you gota.

Take your knife or lightsaber and split the Tauntaun open from just above the groin to just under the rib cage. Stand back as the translucent gastronomic organs will come spilling out, and that's not something you want on or around you any more than you have to.

Tauntauns are not mammals in the strict sense of the word. Consensus seems to be that they are a form of mildly warm blooded reptile. this means that the innards are not as warm as would be ideal, so once your are stuffed inside the Tauntaun, you will need to erect an emergency shelter as soon as possible, move to the shelter and huddle until morning.

Once morning comes, activate your beacon and wait to be rescued. Ta-Da!