Cold weather camping.

[Tom]

This should help but you have to put the heater outside of your tent or did they forget about that detail?  Slide the heat pad between the bottom of your tent and the ground cloth?

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01LEV94XW/uncrate-20/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=manofmany-20&linkId=185712a3db8f7a0a2083d19ed348c318

[MotoChuck250]

The times I have cold weather camped, I have either set up a tent or truck camped next to a pole with 110V outlets and plugged in an electric blanket and let 'er rip. Stayed roasty toasty warm.

I have also been in sleeping bags down to near their rated temperature.  That was never a pleasant experience.  Who ever rates these sleeping bags can stand a lot colder temps than I can.

[RinkRat II]

 I was going to contact the maker on this but I can't seem to find a zip code for South Kroea. Oh well............... ................

          Paul B

[rodekyll]

I can't see packing 7# of dedicated water mattress and 3# cans of fuel/night PER PERSON into an "extreme" camping situation without a dogsled, and a dogsled motor can be removed and repurposed as a heater, so then you don't need it.  I'm absolutely not climbing any damn mountain with that dead weight.  That's 25% of an extreme environment pack load that can't be used for anything else.  So I'd either be giving up essential gear or doing a cache-and-relay to get anywhere.  If I was going to pack heat, so to speak, I'd be combining the same source to cook, heat, and light, it would vent properly, and one unit would be enough for everyone.

$0.02

[Tom]

That's what I was thinking.  Must be for car/truck camping people.

[rodekyll]

That's what I was thinking.  Must be for car/truck camping people.

Yeah, probably.  Or base camp operations where crews are "hotbunking" it -- although I can't think of a base camp scenario where this thing would be an asset -- they're generally better outfitted for comfortable survival.  In my book, if you've got a car with a heater or brought your hard sided camper along, your camping isn't "extreme".  If your camping is extreme, then you can't afford the space and weight of a single-purpose item when a multi-purpose one will do the same job.

Heck -- I wouldn't even be able to justify room on the trike for this thing.  But my dislike probably means it will be a commercial success.  I mean -- I feel the same way about Ipads.

[Huzo]

I got one of those Ultra Lite cots.
Designed and built in the 'States, used it in Europe and criss crossing Australia.
Invaluable, keeps you 3" off the ground.

[Gino]

Been camping in the winter many times, sometimes the best bike meetings are in winter , never easy, after the Elefant rally in Bavaria Germany we realised we had to get heavy duty bags, my wife never slept because of the cold for the two nights we were there. We got Arctic bags and now even in serious minus temperatures they are warm!

[Aaron D.]

Do you carry hay bales on every ride, or just the really cold ones?

[chuck peterson]

Well, if I had 200 Sherpas lugging my gear looks like a great idea, but that'll look good car camping.

Dangerous to put in a tent with six of your buddies wearing crampons for winter above treeline work.

If you hang your warmth climbing Mt Washington, or any outside trip, on this kind of gear your bringing the equivalent of a blow dryer and my buddies would likely shun you to sleeping outside...

Above treeline...minus 10...blowing 50...white out conditions...just for the fun of it. Will it work then?

Your best bet is using high quality winter bags (900 fill power, $400-$1200 dollars)  on top of a high quality therma rest or solid foam pad and putting as many bodies in the tent as possible, and it gets toasty warm.

Here in the Northeast the AMC does a winter school for the week between Xmas and New Years...perfect for learning to travel above treeline in the Whites....groups of 10-15 people keeps everyone safe

We use tents without flooring to avoid turning the floor into mince meat with 12 point crampons.

[yogidozer]

Well, if I had 200 Sherpas lugging my gear looks like a great idea, but that'll look good car camping.

Dangerous to put in a tent with six of your buddies wearing crampons for winter above treeline work.

If you hang your warmth climbing Mt Washington, or any outside trip, on this kind of gear your bringing the equivalent of a blow dryer and my buddies would likely shun you to sleeping outside...

Above treeline...minus 10...blowing 50...white out conditions...just for the fun of it. Will it work then?

Your best bet is using high quality winter bags (900 fill power, $400-$1200 dollars)  on top of a high quality therma rest or solid foam pad and putting as many bodies in the tent as possible, and it gets toasty warm.

Here in the Northeast the AMC does a winter school for the week between Xmas and New Years...perfect for learning to travel above treeline in the Whites....groups of 10-15 people keeps everyone safe

We use tents without flooring to avoid turning the floor into mince meat with 12 point crampons.

with all that whining, you should be wearing tampons, not crampons, Chuck 
just messing with ya!

[Sheepdog]

A -35 bag, a decent tent, and a Thermarest always got it done for me. A nice warm pile cap helps, too.

[Yukonica]

Umm? Butane is pretty well useless below freezing. Propane drops off around -17 C / 0 F.
I guess it is in the definitions of 'Winter' and 'Camping'.

Rodekyll has it with the dogs. You've heard of a three dog night?

Foot travel; really good down bag, tent with frost liner and thermarest with foam pad as a barrier to the ground.
Light travel; a polk/sledge, wall tent, wood stove and cot.
Motorized; nearest Motel Six. :)

[Gino]

Straw bales are available at the Elefant, lifesaver, as is firewood

[rodekyll]

Umm? Butane is pretty well useless below freezing. Propane drops off around -17 C / 0 F.
I guess it is in the definitions of 'Winter' and 'Camping'.

Rodekyll has it with the dogs. You've heard of a three dog night?

Foot travel; really good down bag, tent with frost liner and thermarest with foam pad as a barrier to the ground.
Light travel; a polk/sledge, wall tent, wood stove and cot.
Motorized; nearest Motel Six. :)

I was going to go off on my extreme weather/liquid fuel rant but I erased it.  Liquids don't really like to burn, but their fumes do.  So if you get below the temperature that your liquid fuel makes fumes, it's essentially inert.  it gets cold enough that you have to preheat your butane or propane to use it.  Diesel simply won't burn.  Kerosene will start if you soak a paper with it and get the paper going, but adding to a nascent fire is like pouring water on it.   Lighter fluid won't ignite unless you warm the bottle under your parka.  Gasoline burns like a candle.  Lubricating oil won't pour or burn at all.  Add a little wind and all will blow out easily.

[Huzo]

with all that whining, you should be wearing tampons, not crampons, Chuck 
just messing with ya!

Ummmmm...!

[yogidozer]

Ummmmm...!

I know Chuck, just joking with him....don't panic 

[Huzo]

I know Chuck, just joking with him....don't panic 

I didn't think I'd be the one panicking !

[Dofin]

The coldest I ever camped was 30 F, but was prepared.  I have a nice air mattress, blanket for insulation under my sleeping bags.  I use two sleeping bags both fairly light weight and roll up really compact.  A nice warm night cap!  Sleep with the next days cloths in the bags with me.  If I have ANY question as to my bikes battery condition, it gets replaced prior to the cold winter trips. 

I don't have heated riding cloths just layer, decent gloves with a outer shell when it gets cold enough, insulated socks (sometimes layer two pair, lite wool and cotton socks).  I'm retired so fixed income, lots of trial and error till I sorted out my personal cold weather needs.

[Demar]

I've camped many times in the snow.... all backpack trips. Once on top of the Palisade Glacier in the Sierras in November at 12,000 ft. and 0F. It wasn't bad as we had good tents and sleeping bags. No firewood there as we were above treeline.

I like to make jello for breakfast when snow camping. At bedtime boil a pot of water, mix and leave it in the corner of the tent. When you wake up in the morning you have jello. A good sugar start to the morning. 

[giusto]

I know a guy on this site that used to own a few outdoor/mountaineering supply buisnesses...as a matter of fact it's how I met him...come on Matteo you out here?

no need to burn anything for warmth...just have knowledge and great gear...tent, pad, bag, the clothes on your back/body/feet, stove (white gas will almost always ignite) for heating water and cooking. Most important is fueling the furnace within...high carb/cal food like pasta and chocolate and lots of water...then ventilating appropriately with layers, motion and zippers. Been to the top of many peaks but not as many as Mat.
Being out at night in the snow when temps dip below 0 f is amazingly peaceful as I'm sure many of you know.

[twowings]

Don't any of you guys just bring a woman along?? 

[giusto]

Don't any of you guys just bring a woman along?? 

Lol

non è il freddo che uccide.... è la perdita di calore :)

[Ncdan]

Don't any of you guys just bring a woman along?? 

No,  when mine crawls in the tent the temp would drop 10 more degrees:(

[oldbike54]

 It gets down to 30 degrees at least one night every year at Cedar Vale , what is wrong with you
guys ? Sheesh 

 Dusty

[twowheeladdict]

I did scouts in New England.  We camped every month of the year.  We dug down through the snow for the fire, and the tent.  We got closed cell furniture wrap for free from a furniture store to line the bottom of the tent and would put 6 boys in a 4 person tent. 

As an adult quality gear and sometimes my jacket draped over the bag for that extra insulation.  The major issue is waking up at 2 am having to pee.

[webmost]

Don't any of you guys just bring a woman along?? 

Once upon a time French explorers got the notion to discover the North Pole the hard way. Contacted the local Hurons cause they seemed badass. Called themselves Onge Onwe, means Supermen. Liked to hit the warpath stark nekkid in the dead of winter.  Just the crew to head north. Hurons said they needed two years to prepare.  Spent the first year capturing the fattest women they could find.  Five gals per man. Second year put the women to work pounding pemmican. So then they all set off marching North. Women carried big packs of pemmican & kept the men warm at night. Men ate the pemmican & drove the women. Made it halfway up Hudson Bay before the fat women dwindled and rations grew slim too. Bailed.

All the kids would love history if only they taught the cool stories instead of boring you with useless dates for the test.

[rodekyll]

That reminds me of the guy who arrived in Alaska with the desire to become a sourdough.  He did the usual stuff for a year -- hunting, fishing, trapping, and building his homestead, but couldn't break into the elite circle.  So he asked them what he needed to do to become a real Alaskan sourdough. 

The guys responded that he needed to do three things:  climb the local mountain, bag a mountain goat, and pack it back to town; build an igloo on the tundra and sleep with an eskimo for a week, and wrestle a grizzly bear to the death.  Our hero got to work.  He planned and outfitted and got the weather patterns, and headed off up the mountain.  Five days later he returned to town.  He was frostbit and bleeding from falling into devil's club, but he packed back a nice mountain goat.  He hung the goat and disappeared into the tundra for his second challenge. 

Two weeks later he returned, battered and bruised, but glowing and happy.  "That's two down," he reported.  "It was rough at first.  She seemed interested enough while I was building the igloo, but truth be told, she wasn't really in a romantic mood.  It took me a few days to coax her inside, and even then she was fiercely reluctant to sleep with me for a week.  But once she settled down, we had a really good time.  Now then -- where's that eskimo you want me to wrestle?"

[93spada]

My first winter camping.....
A buddy and I, ( we were 15 at the time and couldn't drive) talked our moms into driving us into the foothills of the Adirondacks and dropping us off. It was at the end of a plowed road heading into Hope Falls. We dragged a toboggan full of new gear about 2 miles down the rest of the way to a spot next to the Sacandaga river. Set up our new tent and got it all set for the night. After about 1/2hr and some very cold hands, got a fire going(according to my little jacket zipper thermometer it was -35F). Hung out next to the Indian fire and did some jelly and herb sliders off a heated spoon until it got dark (5:30??). Crawled into the tent, zipped it all up and got toasty warm and fell asleep. Next thing we knew we both woke up (maybe had to pee?) breathing very hard. Could figure out what was wrong with us then looked at the inside of the tent and it was completely covered with ice. We opened the zipper to get out and got hit with a blast of very cold fresh air.
One of the lessons we learned.....
Moisture from your breath will seal up all the pores in the tent when it freezes and you will run out of oxygen. Always leave an opening in the tent!!!
That was one of a few times I should have died.
I also now carry a Gatorade bottle into the tent at night so I can make a piss bomb and not get out of the sleeping bag.

Paul

[yogidozer]

I love camping and hiking in cold weather. To those with dogs, be very careful, their paws can be damaged from long exposure to single digit temps. One of my crew loves to act silly and play in snow, I have to cut it short in extreme temps