Cold Weather Camping

Using the correct gear, clothing, and food, you can be comfortable camping in cold weather. Here are some suggestions:

A. Moisture…Your greatest enemy.

• Don’t allow your clothes to get soaked with perspiration or precipitation.
• Dress in several light layers so you can peel clothing off when you are exerting yourself (hiking, sawing, etc) and put it back on when active. (See Section C)
• Bring your raingear on all trips, no matter what the forecast. A winter rainstorm can be punishing.
• Your outer layer should be of a nylon-like material that will shed snow.
• Cotton is the worst cold weather clothing. It absorbs moisture and holds it making you cold, damp, and miserable. The traditional white cotton long johns and cotton blue jeans should be left home.

B. Insulation… Clothing doesn’t "heat" you as a furnace does. It insulates you to hold in the heat your body produces. Clothing that traps dry air provides the best insulation.

• Wool: Excellent natural insulator. Warm even when wet. Somewhat expensive. Check grandma’s attic, army-navy stores, and thrift stores. (socks, hat, gloves, shirts, sweaters, pants)
• Polypropylene: Wicks moisture away from the skin to make you feel warm and dry. Worth every penny. (sock liners, underwear, hats, gloves)
• Down: Extremely lightweight, but worthless when wet. Very expensive. (sleeping bags, vests, jackets, gloves)
• Thinsulate: Light, thin insulation used in gloves, hats, and jackets.
• Quallofil, hollofil, polarguard, etc.: man made imitations of goose down. Very good insulation, pretty good even when wet. (Hats, gloves, sleeping bags.)
• Polyester fleece: "Man made wool". Warm even when wet. Easily cleaned. Lightweight. Very popular, very effective. Hats, gloves, pants, jackets.

C. A Typical Layer System:

• Polypropylene underwear, one pair polypropylene liner socks, one or two pair wool socks
• Medium weight wool shirt
• Wool pants (try an army-navy store)
• Wool sweater or fleece jacket, preferably with hood.
• Nylon windbreaker with hood
• Wool gloves, wool or fleece hat, chap stick
• Boots (see Part E)

D. Critical areas to cover:

• Head: Up to 65% of heat loss can be from the head. "Put a hat on to keep your feet warm."
• Neck: Wear a scarf or (better) a hood.
• Wrist: Can be protected by extended jacket cuffs, gloves, or wristlets cut from an old pair of socks.
• Hands: Gloves or mittens. Mittens are warmer, but offer no dexterity. Best combination may be thin gloves inside heavy mittens.

E. Footwear: (in order of preference)

• Rubber bottom, leather top boots with wool felt liners. Breathable, comfortable. Liners provide terrific insulation.
• Nylon snowmobile boots with felt liners. Same as above, except not as durable and do not offer much support for walking.
• Rubber boots with built-in foam insulation. Not breathable. Plan on changing socks often.
• Nylon gaiters can keep pant legs dry and keep snow from entering boot tops.
• Leather boots should be treated with "snowseal" or similar dressing to keep them water resistant.
• Boots must have room for whatever winter socks you plan to wear, plus room to wiggle your toes. Don’t cut off circulation!

F. Campsite

• Look up. Any dangerous tree limbs that may fall on your tent?
• Be sure tent opening is faced away from prevailing wind.
• Try to make camp where you’ll be exposed to sun but protected from wind.
• Shovel out campsite if practical. Otherwise pack snow down before pitching tent.

G. Fires & Firewood

• Gather twice as much firewood as you normally would.
• Carry candles or fire-starters and plenty of matches in a waterproof case.
• Keep firewood off the ground to keep it dry.
• Place wood near fire to dry it out before placing on fire. It may be frozen.
• Coals won’t last as long in winter.
• Start fire early. In the beginning much of the heat will go into the frozen ground. Building your fire on a platform of wood can help prevent this.
• Warm an axe head with body heat before using. Cold steel is brittle!

H. Food

For a weekend, it won’t kill you to ignore the warnings about cholestrol and load up on fats for long-burning fuel for your "furnace". This is especially true of the evening meal to prepare you for the long night ahead. Frequent snacks can help, too.

Simple meals are best, because you’re preparing them under difficult conditions. One-pot stews and casseroles are not only hot and nutritious, but involve less clean-up. Do as much food preparation as you can in the comforts of home.

• Menus: Breakfast: pancakes, sausage, hot cereal, fruit,
• Lunch: salami, crackers, cheese, peanut butter, trail snacks, soup
• Dinner: stews, soups, chicken cacciatore, chilli, macaroni dishes
• Also bring breakfast bars, instant soup, instant oatmeal, or trail mix as emergency food in case conditions don’t allow cooking or the group needs a "pick-me-up"
• Preparation:

• Most vegetables can be washed, peeled, and sliced at home.
• Should some ingredients be pre-cooked at home.
• Measure ingredients at home and pack in plastic bags.

• If cooking with a stove, put insulation under it and windbreaks around it.

No flames in tents!

J. Sleeping

• Foam pad. Dense, waterproof, "closed cell" foam is best. "Open cell" foam absorbs water.
• Air mattress.  Poor choice. It has too large of an air space (convection currents) and thus provides very little insulation. You’re probably better off with no mattress at all.
• Foam/air combination: The "thermorest" and similar makes provide great comfort and insulation, but are very expensive . Great for leaders and older Scouts who will use them enough to get their money’s worth.

K. Equipment

• Tent should have a sloped roof to shed snow. Must be of breathable fabric to avoid condensation from forming inside. Leaving a door or window open a little helps, too.
• Driving tent stakes can be difficult or impossible in winter. Logs, cross sticks, or even pie plates buried in the snow can act as ‘dead man’ tent stakes. Self-standing tents solve most of this problem.
• Flashlight batteries die in the cold, so keep them on your person. A headlamp is best. The batteries stay warm, and both hands are free to work.
• Carry sunglasses and lip balm.
• Turn your plastic water bottle upside-down in your backpack to keep lid from freezing. In camp, bury the bottle in snow if air temperature is below freezing, or bring bottles into tent with you.

L. Bedtime

• Have a drink of water and a snack to fuel the furnace.
• Check tautness of tent lines to ensure good ventilation and protection from the elements.
• Check tent stakes.
• To keep boots from freezing: Turn stuff bag inside out, put brushed off boots inside, place inside sleeping bag with you. If you don’t put them inside with you, be sure to loosen the laces and open the boots up so you can put your foot inside in the morning!
• Fluff up your sleeping bag before getting into it. This traps more air, thus providing more insulation.
• Wear tomorrow’s long underwear to bed. Put tomorrow’s clothing in sleeping bag with you.
• Most sleeping pads are hip-length. Put feet on top of extra clothing to insulate from cold ground.
• Dry of feet and other sweaty parts of your body with a towel.