Why you’re always cold camping in winter

Comments · 218

• MA

  @maxe_faxe · 2 years ago

  I advise to never underestimate the pee bottle. While many people are totally against it, it is a great comfort, especially for people like me with a high metabolism.

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• PD

  @PDXborn · 2 years ago

  I always suggest to put the lighter sleeping bag on the outside if you double bag.  Since the dew point is moved outwards, only the thinner bag will have condensation rather than your primary bag.  It's easier to dry and if it is soaked, it's the lighter bag and you still have your lower temp, thicker bag staying dry.

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• TE

  @TennesseeSlim · 2 years ago

  Keeping your water filter and batteries warm is important

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• ER

  @ericb.4358 · 2 years ago (edited)

  TIP: Put your zipped up, hood cinched down mountain parka shell OVER THE FOOR OF YOUR MUMMY BAG.This keeps it warmer and, importantly, dry by letting melting frost only touch your parka shell.<br>TIP: Mattress not warm enough? place &quot;day clothing&quot; under your mattress for more insulation.<br>*ALPACA boot socks are the warmest. *HEAVY (thick) Norwegian wool sweaters are very warm. *Dachstein boiled wool mitten liners are VERY warm.

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• PL

  @plaguepandemic5651 · 2 years ago

  These tips are awesome for places that get truly cold in winter, but I&apos;m from Arizona, which only gets sorta-cold in the winter (especially in the mountains where all the coolest trails are), and I&apos;ve learned that the sorta-cold can sometimes pose greater dangers than deep cold. Moisture is definitely the big one; for one, condensation inside the tent doesn&apos;t always freeze, or at least not right away, so more than once I&apos;ve woken up to my beanie and my sleeping bag being slightly wet from brushing the sides of my tent. If it is humid and only drops to about 35°F at night, that means the inside of the tent will probably be <b>soaked</b> long before the dawn comes. Everything gets damp; sleeping bag, pad, backpack, you name it. Places like this, you also tend to see winter rain as often as you see winter snow, and any kind of humidity means condensation. When it does snow, it tends to melt into a slush pretty fast, which means wet boots and wet socks.<br><br>Some tips I&apos;ve learned camping in this kind of weather:<br>-Always carry at least 2 pairs of hiking socks and one pair of sleeping socks, even for a simple overnighter.<br>-Thermal socks work awesome as sleeping socks, but if temps are too warm overnight, your feet will sweat and actually end up being colder than they would be without the socks<br>-If something gets wet, simply keeping it inside the sleeping bag with you will dry it out, no need to wear wet clothes<br>-If hiking through slushie-snow, tying walmart bags over your sock feet before putting your boots on will keep your feet much drier. The moisture from your sweat will be significantly less than the moisture from melting snow<br>-You can remove your boot soles and sleep with them in your sleeping bag to reduce the amount of ice inside your boots in the morning. Sleeping with your socks will also warm them and make putting them on more comfy<br>-If using a water filter like the popular Sawyer Squeeze, keep it in your bag with you overnight. They have water trapped inside, and water expands when it freezes, which will absolutely destroy your filter but it won&apos;t look like anything is wrong, you&apos;ll just get dysentery. It is SO easy to forget to do this and if you suspect your filter has ever been frozen, you need a new one<br>-bring a small hand towel to wipe away condensation inside your tent. The weight is negligible and the comfort it&apos;ll bring you at night is totally worth it if condensation is a problem you face regularly<br>-Understand how your body regulates heat. There&apos;s a lot that goes into this. If your bladder is full, your body is wasting energy (that means heat) keeping your urine warm. You&apos;ll be warmer with an empty bladder than with a full one, so make sure you get up and pee when you need to. Digestion is an exothermic chemical reaction which means &quot;giving off heat,&quot; however this was already talked about in the video, fatty foods are better than non-fatty foods at warming you up. Hot food and drink also does wonders for warming you up. Avoid alcohol if being cold is a concern, it makes you feel warmer but that warmth is a lie, it actually causes you to shed body heat quicker. Lastly, your body uses blood to regulate warmth, so if you bring Hot Hands or other chemical hand warmers, place them in your junctional areas (armpits, inner thighs/groin) so that you warm up the blood flowing through your major arteries, this will in turn warm up your entire body. This actually works in reverse too during the summertime, applying ice or cold water bottles to these areas will cool you off much faster too😊

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• OB

  @ObjectiveAnalysis · 1 year ago

  Top top: don’t use your drinking bottle as your pee bottle 😂

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• ME

  @MeursaultWithFactor50 · 2 years ago (edited)

  Jesus. About a year and a half ago I camped in temperatures of -5C and made virtually ALL of the rookie mistakes you mentioned and it was by far the worst night sleep of my life. I knew I was doing something wrong, but I didn’t know what exactly. This is a great video :)

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• 43

  @4316rodney · 2 years ago

  A proper 4 season tent is key imo. They’re heavy as hell but so worth it.

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• AK

  @akirahumer · 2 years ago

  If you sleep sideways in sleeping bag then make sure to turn in the sleeping bag not with the sleeping bag because of the thinner insulation at the bottom. This way you can sleep sideways without have to worry about the cold.

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• TH

  @thegreasersoutdoors · 1 year ago

  I do an overnight winter hike/camp once a year and always come back to your video to get a refresher. &nbsp;Thanks for the great content.

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• JU

  @justinw1765 · 2 years ago (edited)

  Some points: <br><br> &nbsp;Especially if you use a down bag or quilt and if you&apos;re doing a trip longer than a couple of days, it is very helpful to get a thin/lightweight, very quickly drying synthetic over quilt to put on top of the much thicker and insulating bag/quilt. This helps to make sure that the moisture moves through the bag/quilt fully, and doesn&apos;t freeze while condensing near the top. 2.5 oz/yd2 Climashield Apex and similar works. (And it can do double duty as a nice, warm weather insulation piece for when the temps are around 50 or so degrees F). <br> &nbsp; &nbsp;I&apos;m going to be making a thin/light synthetic quilt made out of a combo of fleeced Octa fabric, with a layer of non woven polypropylene fabric above that. &nbsp;Polypropylene is extremely hydrophobic (so much so that it doesn&apos;t need a surface DWR treatment), it is very light/low density, and it has the lowest thermal conductivity of all the fibers commonly used for clothing (polypropylene is the secret ingredient in Thinsulate insulation--it typically contains around 65% olefin/polypropylene and the rest polyester). I&apos;ll probably treat the Octa fabric with some silicone to increase the hydrophobicity. The less that the insulation absorbs or holds onto moisture, the better. <br><br> &nbsp; &nbsp;If it is really cold and/or the trip is going to be longer, then wearing non breathable clothing beneath all your layers except your baselayers, helps to minimize moisture ingress into your bag/quilt insulation (and helps to keep your skin feeling from feeling so dry). &nbsp;I wouldn&apos;t do this until it reaches around 0* F or so and below. Above that and it can feel too clammy. &nbsp;This can also be helpful when hiking in very, very cold conditions (-10* F and colder) and you need to use some kind of (thinner!) insulation layer. Again, it helps to minimize moisture ingress and freezing in the insulation layer (and also allows you to use a bit less insulation). <br><br> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Those sleeping bag liners are typically way overrated. &nbsp;They would be lucky to add even just 3 to 4* F more insulation capacity to your bag. &nbsp;No way they are anywhere close to 5 to 10* C (especially considering there are almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit for every 1 degree Celsius!). <br><br> &nbsp; It is actually more thermally efficient to put a foam pad on top of the air or air/foam pad. I think it has something to do with that convective heat loss doesn&apos;t really apply to closed cell foam like it does to pads that use air, but it&apos;s been awhile since I read about this. I do remember it was the consensus take by experienced backpackers. Granted, if there is no snow on the ground, and there is sharp or potentially sharp stuff on the ground, it is better to put the foam on the ground and the air pad on top of it. <br><br> &nbsp; One last one off the top of my head-- mittens are better than gloves for keeping your hands warm. &nbsp;Personally I like to wear a thin pair of gloves underneath a pair of thicker mittens so that it allows me to do any work that requires fingers and/or fine motor skills. The gloves aren&apos;t really warm enough to keep your hands warm for any length of time, but they are better than nothing for a short period of time, and then as soon as you&apos;re done, you throw your mittens back on (which should be either in your pant pockets or inside your jacket). <br><br> &nbsp; Nope just remembered another one. &nbsp;When using a quilt, I have found it is helpful to sew a widish piece of UL and low CFM fabric to the bottom of the quilt. &nbsp;I&apos;ve tried the elastric straps etc that go around the pad, but when it is cold enough, it is hard to not get drafts (especially if you are an active sleeper like myself) when using quilts in very cold weather. &nbsp;The thin, not very breathable material underneath helps to minimize drafts at low weight. If you pick the right fabric (I recommend tightly woven 6.6 nylon or the new high tenacity polyester fabrics in a 1 to 1.8 oz/yd2 weight and it has to be at least down proof rated, bonus if it lists 10 CFM or less), it will add only between 1 to 2 ounces or so to the quilt. It really does help to minimize those tossing and turning drafts that happen with quilts.

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• MA

  @matty741 · 2 years ago

  I spent a winter in Estonia and it was so damn cold. -32 actually. We went into Latvia in the summer and it was really good weather.

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