Do you have any tips for a beginner winter camper?

Question

I would like to try winter camping. I have been summer camping quite a bit but mostly just at campgrounds. There is a campground about an hour away that has year round camping so I was thinking about trying it for a weekend. What tips to you have for a beginner winter camper, who has intermediate summer camping experience? What gear would I need? This is what I was thinking.
4 Season tent
Winter sleeping bag
Snow shoes
Warm winter clothes
What am I missing? Any additional tips?

Answer 1

tons of info on the web, here is the most intensive one I have found and refer to the most.

http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/winter/wintcamp.shtml



As for your list of gear some of that partly depends on where you are. Winter camping in the desert you won't need snow shoes but all the rest of those items yes you will. For a beginner I recommend starting out by renting a cabin in a wilderness area that way you have options to retreat too should plans go awry.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/recreation/rec_rentals.html



Tents are the main place to retreat to and a four season is the best to use, size is also very important. if you have 2 go with a 3-4 man, 4 go with a 6 man and so on. You need to have room for the gear to stash out of the weather. Include a tarp to use for rain shelter and wind breaks, not all winter camping has snowy weather. Coleman makes one of the best winter tents on the market, Exponent Northstar X6 Tent

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00697792000P?prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4&isABTestAvl=true



Clothing is critical and dress in layers, avoid cotton here is a great article telling you how and what to look for,

http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/dress+layers.html



As for winter sleeping bags, definitely go with a well known product rated for zero degrees or colder. Down filled bags ounce for ounce keep you the warmest however and this is very important when they get wet they become useless hypothermia freezers. I consider the weight factor and survival factor and choose the synthetic over down every time. Here is my choice,

http://www.rei.com/product/778929/marmot-trestles-0-sleeping-bag



Always use a check list so you don't forget gear and here is a good one,

http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/backpacking+checklist.html

Answer 2

When I am camping, I am always backpacking deep into wilderness areas. So, I will advise for remote areas, although you can probably gain access to electricity in a developed campground which makes winter camping relatively easy. You could get away with using an electric blanket under a sleeping bag and boiling water on a hot plate. In the wilderness, I think the most important items are a good stove, even dual systems in case one fails, and a good sleeping bag, like Marmot Never Summer 0 degree down bag. I always use a three-season tent. I do not find much usefulness for a four-season tent or snowshoes, although I use gaiters, insulated boots, footbed heaters, and crampons often.

Answer 3

With every day pass, our country is getting into more and more trouble. The inflation, unemployment and falling value of dollar are the main concern for our Government but authorities are just sleeping, they don’t want to face the fact. Media is also involve in it, they are force to stop showing the real economic situation to the people. I start getting more concern about my future as well as my family after watching the response of our Government for the people that affected by hurricane Katrina.



According to recent studies made by World Bank, the coming crisis will be far worse than initially predicted. So if you're already preparing for the crisis (or haven't started yet) make sure you watch this video at http://www.familysurvival.tv and discover the 4 BIG issues you'll have to deal with when the crisis hits, and how to solve them fast (before the disaster strikes your town!) without spending $1,000s on overrated items and useless survival books.

Answer 4

check out the surplus websites, get yourself an old wool cold-weather army uniform, wool hat, and wool gloves, smartwool socks. Get silk briefs and silk long underwear for a base layer, then the Army ECWCS long johns for an intermediate layer. My outer layer is from Cabela's, it's their Whitetail extreme hunting suit, with thinsulate and goretex.



Sleeping bag - I use a Big Agnes Storm King zero-degree down bag with a -25 degree Two-track pad. The Big Agnes bags have no insulation on the bottom; they have a pocket in the bottom for the insulated pads, so you don't slip off. I wear wool socks, wool cap, and ECWCS long johns for sleeping.



Tent - smaller is better, so your body heat isn't trying to heat too much space. I have a Eureka Backcountry 1, and I bought a surplus TCOP rainfly to go over it. Provides a really useful gear vestibule. I've also used a GoLite ShangriLa 3 with my son for winter campouts, but all your gear has to be inside with you.

Answer 5

Insulation under your sleeping bag. During the winter you'll need a pad with a much higher r-value than what you use during the summer. Doesn't matter how good a bag you have if you don't have enough insulation between you and the ground you are going to be cold.

Answer 6

My tip to you is keep away from cotton products. Gortex, fleece, and nylon is what you need to wear. You will get wet, no matter how hard you try to stay dry, moisture will come from somewhere. So bring some 550 Chord or similar small rope to make a drying rack by your fire. Use a checklist and I also recommend watching some winter camping videos on youtube. Learn as much as you can and make sure you're capable before venturing out into snowy wilderness. Here's a good checklist from REI:

Answer 7

If you plan to winter camp a lot, and have a few bucks to spend, Titanium Goat makes some amazing wood burning stoves. My 12'' TiGoat cylinder stove weighs under 2lbs and breaks down to the size of a small dinner plate and a 12'' pipe, and can be set up in 5 min. It's nice to have a place to warm up after being out in the cold all day. I use mine in my hammock shelter, but sewing in a stove jack to your tent is real easy.

TitaniumGoat.com

Answer 8

Well when i camp i usualy go in forests or the moutains, and i live in Sweden so it gets realy cold, and because its basicly a wilderness up in the far north in sweden survival gear is important, oh and bring a firesteel its realy usefull

Answer 9

With regard to your fabrics...



synthetics. Down and cotton are cozy and comfortable but lose all their thermal properties when wet and take forever to dry, time to get yourself in serious trouble waiting for them to dry. Wet doesn't mean just snow or rain, it also means sweat and condensation so it isn't just from having a dumb accident or getting stuck in the weather. NO denim jeans or cotton tshirts or socks.Silk can be nice but is pretty delicate outdoors. Wool and leather are wonderful but many are allergic to wool and both are heavy and get stinky over time/after getting wet. Instead, go for Get polyester long underwear and socks, fleece for your hats and sweaters, and nylon for your sleeping bag shell, your raingear, etc. AND use synthetic fill in your sleeping bags. Just remember that synthetics often MELT instead of burning (essentially polyester is plastic fabric) so be careful around fire.



Along with that LAYERS for your clothing. You should be able to add and shuck as needed to keep yourself comfortable. This makes all your clothing more useful and versatile. You should have thermal stuff underneath (traps the air and holds it to you), warm stuff in the middle, and waterproof stuff on top.



Sleeping bag temperature ratings are usually listed for SURVIVAL, not COMFORT. If you are camping out in 40 F and you are a chilly type person that gets cold easy, get a ZERO deg bag. A 40 deg you would not DIE but you would be dang miserable. And remember your sleep system is only one of a few other factors...clothing, shelter, humidity, how close are you to the fire?



There is a running debate about sleeping with less or more in a sleeping bag. If you can't get comfortable no matter how much you pile on, try shucking clothing. The idea behind MORE is that adding additional layers (long johns, pajamas, bag liner, sleeping bag, bag cover, etc) to your setup is more protection and it is reasonable for the most part because it is more layers keeping the cold OUT. On the other hand if you pile on too much, you could get too hot and start to sweat, which makes you colder. Also if you layer up too much between your own skin and the fill of your sleeping bag, then the sleeping bag can't do it's job (collect your body heat and surround you with it) so you are colder. So if you are bundled and bundled and can't get warm, try going down to your underwear and see what happens, and if you need more start, piling stuff on top OVER your sleeping bag, not IN it, layer by layer until you are comfortable.



A really nice trick is to fill a 32 oz SCREW TOP water bottle with hot water and toss it in the foot of your sleeping bag. It will warm your bag and give you something to rub your tootsies on all night. Not too hot...bathwater hot is sufficient.



Also if your shelter is smaller, it will be easier to keep it warm.



If you have to pee, by all means PEE. God knows it is a pain to get up and take care of this in the middle of the night but peeing means your body has less to keep warm. BUT...stay hydrated throughout the day. It is super easy to get dehydrated in the winter (just as easy as it is in summer, esp if it is windy out). And eat plenty of calories. Food, water, and exercise help you generate body heat, whereas clothing and bedding only help you insulate the heat you have.



When it comes to food and drinks, warm and hot are def more pleasant to consume and help you feel warm...however more important than the temp of the food is actually the calories (you will burn them for body heat) and the fat/protein (to burn them more evenly). So really the colder the weather, the longer you will be out, the more decadent your food can be. Get your nutrients from hot soups, oatmeal and rice dishes, etc. You can melt some pudding mix, butter, peanut butter, or candy bars into your hot chocolate for some additional fat and calories...or you can drink hot jello for protein and sugar. Make sure you are also getting fiber because it is easy to get constipated on a camping trip due to poor eating and dehydration.



Have fun.

Answer 10

In winter, you have 14 hours of darkness. You need something to do during that time. I gave up winter camping not because of the cold, but because of the boredom.