Up here in NH, 3 - 4 months of the year are spent in a winter environment. As
I like to camp, it was either learn a few tricks to make it easier or just read
about camping during those months. I’m also a Scoutmaster and what follows is
pretty much what I try to teach the boys. I don’t know what temperatures you
deal with in your area, so some of this may not apply. FWIW - The coldest I’ve
camped in is -5F and I’ve done outside activities as low as -15F.
Winter camping is a lot of fun, but it presents some subtle dangers. I
consider it a high adventure activity, but it’s different from rock climbing,
where you experience a relatively short-term thrill. Winter camping, if not
prepared, is dangerous even when sleeping. But for many boys it’s a fun
challenge, and a "cool" (pardon the pun) thing to do. My son has actually said
that he couldn’t wait for summer to be over so that he could go on Winter
Trek, Daniel Webster Council’s high
adventure program.
Head
 |
Starting with the top, a wool or polypropylene
hat. A good hat is very important.
Not only because much of the body’s heat is lost through the head, but
also because the body will start shutting down blood flow, and therefore
heat, to the extremities in order to keep the core warm. A common saying
is, "Cold feet - put a hat on". This hat will also be valuable at night
in the sleeping bag.
Some sort of face shield is needed.
A wool or acrylic scarf, or even a spare wool sock for those boys who
forget the scarf, keeps frostbite away. The nose is an extremity and is
real sensitive to cold breezes. Balaclavas are hats which also cover the
nose, mouth, and neck. These also work well. |
| Torso |
I think just about everybody knows about layering.
We’ve had that drilled into us since kindergarten. I personally don’t
bring a "winter" coat with me at all when winter camping. My "system"
consists of a medium-weight polypropylene long-sleeved undershirt, a
wool sweater, an insulated flannel shirt (Wal-Mart deal which luckily is
made of all man-made fibers - no cotton!!!), all topped with a
wind-breaking, water resistant, shell. Total cost is about $50.
Most important here is another saying - "Cotton kills". Cotton has this
annoying habit of holding onto moisture, keeping it close to the skin,
and thereby losing all insulation value. Worse yet, by holding it in,
perspiration which would normally drip off the body is now kept close
by, further cooling the body. This could easily mean the difference
between comfort and hypothermia. Those waffle-weave, "thermal"
undershirts found at dept. stores are almost always 100% or 50% cotton.
Go to the sports dept. and look for the poly. Most man-made fibers and
wool will wick moisture away from the skin. Even when wet, they will
still keep a pretty good amount of insulation.
A good replacement for the wool sweater might be a Polartech or similar
fleece top. I don’t own any of this, mainly because I’ve got the sweater
already, but those who do swear by it. It has the added advantage of
being lighter weight, something to consider when backpacking. |
| Hands |
I try and make sure the boys get mittens with long
cuffs. These keep hands much warmer than gloves. You can tell them that
the fingers help keep each other warm or the Mr. Wizard explanation that
there is much less surface area to radiate heat. Either way, mittens are
the way to go. The cuffs should extend past the wrist. Snowmobile
mittens work very well.
I’ve got a pair of "glomitts" which I find fantastic. These are a pair
of finger-less wool gloves with the finger part of a mitten attached to
the back of the knuckles. Normally the mitten is over my fingers, but
when it comes time to fiddle with the stove, or even light a match, the
mitten part flips up and Velcro’s to the back of the glove. When I need
my fingers to manipulate something, I like to keep as much hand covered
as possible.
Under these (yes, I layer here as well), I wear some thin acrylic knit
gloves. You can either buy glove liners at some outdoor store or do as I
do; go to the women’s section of some discount dept. store like Walmart.
They have these one-size fits all mini- gloves for around a buck. I’ve
got long fingers and these work fine for a fraction of the cost of an
"official" glove liner. On top of this I’ll wear a pair of waterproof
overmitts. |
| Legs |
The layering and no cotton rule works here as well.
I start with my poly long johns, put on some wool pants over that and
then thin, wind-breaking, snow-pants over that. Please keep the kids
from bringing sweatpants. These are almost always cotton and are only
warm when inside that nice, cozy cabin. Wool pants are hard to find
cheaply in kid’s sizes, mine are army surplus, so I let the boys
substitute poly’s topped with the heavier snow pants. Just make sure
they’re not cotton-filled. I do allow the boys to wear cotton briefs or
boxers. This is too personal a choice. I wear them and it doesn’t seem
to be a problem. |
| Feet |
Do I really need to repeat "no cotton" here? I
didn’t think so. For comfort, I wear poly sock liners. Over that would
be a vapor barrier. I’ve used zip-lock bags (a bit constricting in the
toes), bread bags, and plastic shopping bags. The best I've found,
though are those bags that my newspapers come in. They’re thin and just
the right size. The reason for the bag is to keep sweat from being
absorbed by the boot’s insulation. Overnight, moisture in the boot will
freeze if the boot is not kept warm (more on that later). I had one boy
just one year who woke up to find his boots frozen solid. He could not
get his feet into them. We had to thaw them by the fire (this was a
Scout camp) before he could leave his tent. On top of the bag, I put
some thick wool socks.
As for boots, your basic dept. store snow boot should do fine, as long
as they are bought at least one size too big, in order to fit the socks
and bag. Fit is very important. Anything too tight will cut off
circulation to the toes and be a potential frostbite problem I like
having removable wool felt liners, but any decent, thick insulation
should work.
I’ve used gaiters on top of my boots and like them very much in deep
snow. Gaiters are basically a cordura or maybe leather sleeve which
bridges the gap between boots and pants. They do a great job keeping
snow out of the boots. |
Sleeping bag
|
No skimping here. Down works great, but if it gets
wet it will lose all insulation value. For experienced, responsible,
older, scouts (and scouters) this shouldn’t be a problem - just keep it
dry. Plus, down is the most compressible material around. But boys will
be boys, so I usually recommend some man-made fiber, such as LiteLoft,
which is almost as compressible as down. A good bag will be expensive,
but many gear stores will rent them. Construction is probably more
important than filling. Things to check for are:
- full length draft tube
- if quilted - make sure the inside seams are offset from outside
seams,
- a full coverage hood, mummy construction.
Another thing that helps out is to get a longer bag than
necessary. That way you could stuff things that you’d like to keep warm
during the night.
I personally use a layered technique, mostly because I don’t have the
space and money for three different bags. My inside layer is my poly top
and bottom with generously thick socks (I get cold feet at night), then
I get in a vapor barrier made by wrapping a space blanket around myself.
Then I slip into an acrylic blanket bag my wife sewed up. I wear a wool
hat and my bag is a +20F-rated down bag. The major problem with this is
the time it takes to finally get in position. Without exaggeration, I
believe that I squirm around for 10 - 15 minutes. Then again, all that
activity generates heat, so maybe this is a good thing. This season I
might try one of those emergency Mylar bags instead of the space
blanket. I could buy a vapor barrier liner, but they cost too much.
Another problem was that my system didn’t work so well at -5F. I was
cold during the night. Not enough to keep me awake all night, but it was
very uncomfortable. I think a thicker acrylic or wool blanket might do
the trick. |
| Mattress pad |
This is almost as important as the bag. The
self-inflating or closed-cell foam type work pretty well. Stay away from
any of those inflatable type, more suitable as floats in the pool. These
allow air to move around under you and could actually help cool you off.
I recommend two pads when sleeping on the snow. More is warmer. |
| Tents |
Don’t know much here because I haven’t used one in
the winter, yet. I’ve been told that the fiberglass poles have a
tendency to crack, so you might want to stick to aluminum.
We’ve used quinzees (a type of snow-dome), dugloos (dig a hole and sleep
under the stars), snow-kitchens, and scout-camp lean-tos. Out of all of
these, I think the lean-tos are the coldest. We strung tarps around the
bunks to cut down on drafts and the amount of air needing to be heated.
Whatever you try, bring as many tarps as you can. Those blue, PVC,
things work pretty well in very cold weather. Visit this page to see
how to build a quinzee |
| Mess kit |
I use a plastic cereal bowl from the local
Name-Your-Favorite-Mart. Get something thick, as extreme cold could
cause it to crack. I don’t like the metal mess kits because they seem to
allow the food to cool too quickly. Also, keep it light colored. Chances
are, you’ll be eating at least one meal, probably supper, in the dark,
and a dark plate/bowl makes food disappear.
An insulated coffee mug, with lid, works great. Avoid those metal cups.
They transfer too much heat from the hot chocolate directly to the lips. |
| Stoves |
Propane and butane have problems in the cold. They
start losing pressure below freezing and it’s pretty much gone by the
time you get to 0F. We stick with the white gas stoves during winter
time. |
| Lights |
Lanterns should also be white gas. I’ve seen
batteries die out at extreme cold, too. Candles always work. Flashlights
should be kept on your person even during the day, because of the cold
battery problem. |