Winter camping (needing 20 characters is bogus)?
May 25th, 2010 | by admin |I thought it would be fun to set up a tent in my back yard and camp in the winter. I have a sub-zero sleeping bag, padding, and plenty of blankets. Would you recommend anything else that the average person would have access to? And what advice in general would you have?
7 Responses to “Winter camping (needing 20 characters is bogus)?”
By BeachBum818 on May 25, 2010 | Reply
What are you worried about, you`re in your backyard, you gotta go to the bathroom just run into the house. If you get cold or uncomfortable go inside.
I suggest leaving your backyard and try camping in a state park in the middle of winter.
By nikkicfox on May 25, 2010 | Reply
FYI..
the sleeping bag’s rating is for survival, not comfort.. if you ad 20 degrees to the bag’s rating, that’s how it will function..
By Mountain Man on May 25, 2010 | Reply
I guess your own back yard is as good as any place to start to work the bugs out of your system….How about a flash light!
By cricketlady on May 25, 2010 | Reply
They make heaters you can use in tents and I would have one of those for sure. I would have extra comforts that seem to really cut out a lot of cold air.
By dewclaw on May 25, 2010 | Reply
Sounds like your in your home territory and can get access to more gear then most people would pack for camping. And thats for the best. becuase your going to want to get real experience in a safe place to learn winter camping skills.
If your just ‘testing’ the cold at home hydration and food are not such an issue, in real winter travel / camping you need to be extra careful to stay hydrated (challenging when everything is freezing) and up your fat intake.
The comment about sleeping bag rating is correct, and everybody sleeps at different body temps, so it will be good to test yours.
Also if it is really cold when your camping you need a system to be able to dry out gear without filling your tent with condensation.
For me personally, I never wear cotton for outdoors adventures, no cotton, not any, never.
By Garret on May 25, 2010 | Reply
If you’re preparing so that you can go camping in the wild at some point, you will want to try to do this without “plenty of blankets”. Most blankets at home are heavy and bulky, they are rather difficult to take with when backpacking. Check out some sleeping bag liners are your local store, they’re light and add a few degrees of warmth (5-10 at most).
Water stores a lot of energy. Get a non-insulated water bottle that you can put hot water into (some will change size a little bit and start leaking), bring it inside your sleeping bag to add some extra warmth. Depending on how cold it is, you may need to “refresh” your water bottle during the night, learn how to use a small camp stove to do this.
By Mike on May 25, 2010 | Reply
If I were going to do any winter camping, I would want a Four Season Tent.