Advice for winter camping

In My Humble Opinion
1

My friend called me a few days ago to tell me about his great idea. He wants to drive up to Oklahoma to the Ardmore mountains to go camping in January. In other words, he wants to go north to higher elevations during the coldest part of the year and sleep outside. I told him it was the dumbest plan I’d ever heard. Then I said I was up for it.

So I want to make sure I’m prepared. I tried camping in the winter once here but ended up sleeping in the car when it got cold. That won’t be an option this time. I have mild insomnia so I have to be quite comfortable to sleep. So I want to ask you guys for advice in case all of us forget something. I did a search but there didn’t seem to be a thread fitting my situation. Keep in mind that while we’re not broke, we don’t have a whole lot of money to spend. How can I stay warm and alive?

2

The trick for sleeping soundly in cold weather is a good sleeping bag and a good sleeping pad - the warmest sleeping bag is practically useless without it, because of conduction with the ground. An air mattress isn’t much better. Therma-Rest is practically the standard, if you can beg, borrow or steal one, I’d recommend that. A tent will help if your sleeping bag isn’t up to snuff. You want a piss bottle, too.

3

The most important thing for keeping warm is to stay dry. Wear long underwear and socks that wick moisture away from your skin, and dress in layers. If you get a little warm, it’s better to take a layer off than it is to sweat. Likewise, if you stop moving, put another layer on before you start to get cold - it’s easier to stay warm than it is to warm yourself up again.

Here’s the fun part: if you feel like you have to pee, get up and do it. It’s no fun if you’re already in a sleeping bag, but your body is using a lot of energy keeping your bladder full of urine at 98 degrees - energy that could be keeping the rest of you warm. It’s amazing how much warmer you’ll be after you go. But again - layer up before you go out there, even if you’ll only be outside for a minute.

Is there going to be snow on the ground? Are you hiking? Driving? Just the two of you, or anybody else going with? Sounds like fun…

4

If you are really cold and fearing your well-being, you should zip both of your sleeping bags together or just pick the roomiest one, strip all the way down, and huddle close together. It will keep you safely warm through the night.

5

That’s why I recommend a piss bottle, the body is at basal metabolism practically in the wee hours and so it is much preferable not to get out of the bag!

6

Take a snowcamping class. Seriously. It’s not the most complicated thing in the world but there are a lot of issues with keeping warm and dry, eating and drinking enough, having enough fuel for your stoves and just generally staying safe.

How much backpacking experience do you have? If the answer is “not much” I wouldn’t recommend going to the snow right off the bat. Think of all the things that went wrong the first time you tried it, you want to avoid those mistakes.

Some things to think about:

How are you getting to your campsite? X-country skis, snowshoes, other?
Do you have proper cold-weather gear? This includes waterproof shells, synthetic long underwear and good insulation. Down has zero insulative properties if it gets wet, for example. Cotton kills.
Do you know how to shelter? Bringing a tent? Digging a snowcave? Sleeping outdoors?
Thought about food and water? You’ll need a lot more fuel because you will be heating a lot more stuff?
How long will you be out?
Do you know how to handle the particular safety risks with winter camping, such as recognizing and handling (hopefully preventing!) hypothermia, backcountry route-finding if necessary (think about that poor dad in Oregon wandering around lost in deep snow), avalanche awareness (depending on exact terrain), that kind of stuff?

Sorry, I’m not trying to be an alarmist, just pointing out that there are a lot of challenges to winter camping. They are pretty simple to prepare for but there’s a bunch of stuff to think about, and it’s probably easier to enjoy yourself if you go with some experienced partners. When done right, it’s absolutely wonderful. When done wrong, it ranges from very uncomfortable to dangerous.

Anyhow, check with your local chapter of the Sierra Club, local REI/outdoor sports store or perhaps the rec department of nearby colleges. They will often either teach this stuff or know who does. I’ve gone without good training and with good training, the better-prepared times were so much more fun.

7

Like **Enginerd **posted while I was still typing – Above all else, stay dry!

If you can’t stay dry, be sure you’re wearing wool or polyester, not cotton. If your budget is tight, the single most important wool item to have is socks, followed closely by good, non-cotton long underwear. Then, a good knit hat. Absolutely avoid wearing blue jeans.

Dress in layers so you can easily add or remove clothes to stay comfortable.

For sleeping, assume that your clothes are at least a bit damp from wearing them all day. Far better to sleep in the clean dry clothes you’re going to wear tomorrow, than the used ones you wore today. ***Always ***wear fresh (wool) socks to bed!

Have a great time!

8

I don’t think the process needs to be deconstructed entirely, I had great times freezing my ass off, though I wouldn’t want to do it again, the right equipment is a big part of it, but not the only part. The one thing that winter camping entails is a lot more time to do simple tasks - any of the excellent tomes on hiking, camping and climbing would get one the general idea. *Mountaineering - Freedom of the Hills; The Complete Walker * are two excellent volumes.

Dehydration can be a problem in cold weather for a couple reasons - one, it’s harder to recognize, but the dry air contributes, plus a reluctance with some to imbibe enough fluids because of the difficulties of elimination in cold weather. Learn to recognize the symptoms of hypothermia in your buddy, as you won’t necessarily recognize nor react yourself. With all that, winter camping can be the most rewarding time of all - no bugs, utter silence and beautiful, stark landscapes - and no wally-worlders mucking up the campground - you’ll likely have it all to yourself, with nary a fee-scrounger, either. Have Fun, and let us know how it goes!

9

A good bag, a better pad, a goodly amount of bourbon, and strip naked before you sleep. I’ve found that the more clothes I wear in my bag, the colder I sleep. Piss before you bag up, have a piss bottle handy, and take a towel to bed with you. Wrap it over your head to minimize thermal loss through the scalp.

But a good bag and pad are essential.

10

Those handwarmers that are bags that you squeeze to activate are great for drying out your boots over-night. Activate and pop one in each boot then push the tongue down. In the morning toasty and dry boots.

And always leave details of your expected route and return date with someone. Register with the park if there are rangers.

11

Very well marked, of course. Better still if its a different shape from your water bottles.

12

OK, everyone’s hammered the good pad and sleeping bag, it is crucial.

One thing that always drives me nuts when we’re winter camping, and even summer camping as it gets pretty chilly at night most places we go, is how my backside freezes while the front of my legs burn when we’re sitting around the fire. We always throw a few little fleece blankets in our gear for wrapping around ourselves when we’re sitting in our chairs in front of a campfire, but it never seems to help the Cold Butt Syndrome.

Earlier this week I was looking for gifts for my husband and came across the simplest idea ever to fix that - Campfire Back Warmer. So simple, and seems like it should work great.

He’s getting 2 of them. :wink: I think we’re going camping up in the mountains this weekend and these things are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. If they get here in time and we actually head out I’ll let you know if they’re worth it.

Of course I should note that we have never backpacked, we only do drive in camping, and just about fill my husband’s truck with our gear. I’m not sure if you’re limiting your load or backpacking or whatever.

Have fun, I’m sure it will be beautiful.

13

I’m having trouble figuring out where this energy is being lost to.

14

Well, there is cold weather camping and there is really cold weather camping.

In cold weather camping you build a fire and sit around it, trying to stay out of the smoke. In really cold weather camping, you fight for being in the smoke because it’s the warmest part of the fire.

In cold weather camping, you have plenty of water. In really cold weather camping, you spend a hell of a lot of time and fuel trying to keep your water from freezing.

In cold weather camping, you don’t mind being outside the tent. In really cold weather camping, you either want to be out hiking or inside your sleeping bag. Sitting around camp in really cold weather is no fun.

In cold weather camping, small problems are small problems. In really cold weather camping, small problems can become really big problems.

For me, 10-20 degrees is cold. 25 below zero is really cold.

If you use a tent, use a 4 season tent. Use a good sleeping bag and sleeping pad. Have plenty of fuel. Be careful about using a lantern in a tent. It’s warm, but it can be deadly. I use them, but only with the windows open a bit for ventilation, and I turn them off when I go to sleep. Getting out of the tent to piss isn’t too bad if you do to things: have some slippers or shoes nearby, and have a flashlight ready. Get those two and even in really cold weather it’s not a problem. And a good sleeping bag is one rated for really cold weather. Rent or borrow one if you don’t have one. A -25F bag is a nice thing to have and can make the difference between a good time and misery.

Don’t do stupid shit. A minor injury can be a big pain in the ass in cold weather. Cars get stuck in snow or just don’t start. Don’t absolutely depend on them, and take care to make sure they will work if you need them.

Dry clothing. Layers. Caps and head covers.

And have fun. It’s a blast.

One last thing. The worst weather always seems to include high winds,which makes a hell of a noise in a tent. Take earplugs if that might bother you.

15

That makes two of us.

16

You can get a few extra degrees by using a bag liner (and it’s cheaper than a lower rated bag) but in the end you want the rating of the bag to be lower than the temperatures you actuallly expect.

I don’t think tents are worth diddly in snow, to be honest. They’ll block the wind slightly, but it’s never seemed worth the while to haul a heavy, four season tent around. A good winter-rated bivy sack–even a cheap one, like the REI minimalist–is both IMHO preferable to a tent and a must in conditions in which you anticipate sudden storms, since all you have to do is pull it out, throw your sleeping bag inside, and zip up. I carry one with me whenever I hike in the high mountains, and usually as my only shelter when I hike the local San Gabriels. It doesn’t work well in warm weather–where I want a bug screen that lets a breeze blow through–but for moderate to cold temperatures, especially where I think that I might not be able or have room to cast a tent, it’s invaluble.

Stranger

17

I’m not going to even attempt to justify it in biomechanical terms, but you definitely feel colder with a full bladder. It may be totally psychosomatic, but it’s true.

Stranger

18

It takes a lot of energy to keep water (or urine) warm, especially when the space around it is cold. If you heat water until it boils, then pull it off the stove and take it outside in the winter, it cools down awfully quickly. That’s essentially what you’re doing when you’re winter camping.

Your body tries its best to keep everything running at 98.6 degrees, but it can only make so much heat, depending on how big you are, how much activity you’ve been doing, how many calories you’ve had, etc. When you’re cold and your body isn’t generating enough heat to keep everything at a normal temperature, it heats your core first - your heart, lungs, abdomen, and all your vital organs… including your bladder. If your bladder has a few hundred ml of urine in it, your body has to spend some of its limited heat to keep that urine at core temperature. If your bladder is empty, you’ve got a little more energy to keep the rest of you warm as well.

Give it a shot sometime. It sounds like it wouldn’t be that significant, but it makes a big difference on a cold night.

19

The “full bladder” condition is mostly an issue because it is practically impossible to get back to sleep, so there is a barely conscious argument being played out - “I gotta piss… no, it’s cold out, go back to bed. I can’t sleep… shiver I gotta piss… no way, it’s cold out…” rinse, lather repeat.

Experience helps, there are a lot of neat techniques to make the trip tolerable, if not 4th of July enjoyable. Canteen/Nalgene - water can be kept from freezing by burying in the snow overnight. Store them upside down in any event, so what freezing may occur will not occur in the opening. Night comes early in the winter months, so plenty of candle/lanterns and possibly a good book. Look for areas w/ “microclimates”, what makes a great campsight in the summer or fall isn’t necessarily what you want - a south facing exposure with a cliff at your back can be downright cozy on a sunny day. Shoot a bearing at the sun when it comes up, and you can take advantage of the first rays when you align your sleeping bag. This technique works well in warmer months to take advantage of shade, incidentally.

20

What are the daytime high and overnight low anticipated temps where you are going?

For insulation when sleeping in sub-zero temps, closed cell/dense foam is your friend. If cash is tight, go dumpster diving for thick cardboard from old boxes – the thicker the pile under you, the warmer you will stay.

Avoid sweating, vent off perspiration, and regularly replace your socks and mitts – stay dry at all costs. Dry = warm. Wet = cold.

The first few times out, stay close to help, and arrange ahead of time for a rescue should you not call in at desiganted times.