First Cold Weather Trip

[Island Overlander]

We are taking our first cold weather trip. Only one night. Supposed to get down to -2 Celsius.
Any tips for a night in our roof top tent?

 

[Billiebob]

Not very cold, not related to camping per say but .....

Fuel does not like cold, neither does water....

Keep the gas tank over the half fill point to minimize the air/condensation.
When it gets colder, keep a couple of gasline antifreeze containers on hand.

Beyond that, keep yer clothes in yer sleeping bag which will eliminate the damp chill in the morning.
Have the coffee perk ready for a match in the morning.... you'll love minimizing the morning chores.... same for motning abolutions.

Park so the open tent fly catches motnings first light.

Where on the island do you see -2C in October?

 

[astroflashjones]

Throw a Nalgene bottle full of hot water or some big handwarmers in the bottom of your bag. If you have a good bag though, youll be fine. I usually just sleep in a base layer and a hat when it gets really cold. Its tempting to wear layers inside your bag but it actually has a negative impact on the bags performance. Just remember, theres no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.

 

[Alanymarce]

Make sure you have good venitlation - in these temperatures we open the rear windows about 20mm. With a good sleeping bag it's fine. In lower temperatures we add a "technical " blanket over us; if it's really cold then we use thermals. We sleep inside the vehicle so perhaps not directly relevant, however ventilation is critical.

 

[rgallant]

Just make sure you do not seal up the tent, try to leave a window partly open on each side for air flow. Otherwise you will have to deal with condensation.

Propane and naptha (white gas) are fine at those temps but butane can be iffy. If you use a butane get a chemical hand warmer and wrap it around the can, an old sock works pretty well to keep it in place. If you do that while you get dressed the butane should be warm enough to work

 

[Island Overlander]

Thanks for the input. I took a winter warfare course when I was young so its been a few years. Just have to remember the basics.

 

[slomatt]

Your drinking water can freeze causing you to having no usable water in the morning, or it can potentially crack the container it is in. If the temp is right near 0 and you have a large quantity of water it might not fully freeze, but this is something to take into consideration. I camped at 17F (-8C) one time and most of our water froze.

+1 to putting warm water bottles in the sleeping bag before you get in. Otherwise a near freezing bag can take a while to warm up and is not very comfortable.

A lot of heat is lost through conduction to the ground. With the roof top tent the ground isn't an issue, but when you lay on a sleeping bag it compresses and looses most of its insulation value so a pad/mattress with a decent R value is important.

Avoid sweating. Some people recommend exercise to warm up right before bed, but make sure you don't build up a sweat. Similarly if you have too much insulation (sleeping bag, clothes) you can sweat in your sleeping bag, and then later be really cold due to the excess moisture.

 

[USStrongman]

Base layer for clothing. Hat and gloves make a big difference. Ventilation in whatever you sleep in. reducing the effects of cold radiating from the ground is imperative. When I camp in my Jeep, I open one sleeping bag all the way open and then sleep in one on top of that. For me, that produces markedly reduced cold radiation from under the rig, especially if it is windy. Hot bottle trick really works. Then there are Buddy Heaters. I prefer not using one. I enjoy the challenge of sleeping in the elements and learn something new every time I go out.

 

[Island Overlander]

Not too worried about our water freezing at around 0 degrees Celsius. What would you do to keep water from freezing if the temps were say 10 degrees below freezing? I would imagine that only fill the containers 3/4 full in case it freezes? Keep the water container in the warmest area.

 

[rgallant]

I have used a small cooler with bottle of hot water in it. But I carry a 2.5 gallon Scepter style water can that has never frozen. If I was to spend several days at sub zero it might be an issue but a bottle of hot water dropped in or a hot towel wrapped around a couple times day would keep the water
unfrozen. You can also get thermal blankets to keep the stored temp more stable.

But then like you @Island Overlander that military winter warfare kind of got me out of spending long periods in sub zero.

 

[Island Overlander]

The winter warfare course was with the reserves. There vehicles did not run a lot so none of them started after we got back to them after being in the bush for 5 days.

 

[rgallant]

@Island Overlander same except although we were "ljght armoured recce" we had walk and pull those damm sleds. Such a joy in nice west coast wet snow.

 

[Island Overlander]

Cross country skis, snow shoes, and sleds.

 

[Island Overlander]

Trip went well. Only got down to -2 degrees Celsius. Ran the buddy heater in the vestibule to warm things up before we went to bed. No condensation problems. Good trip over all.

 

[MMc Sub]

Just two more cents.... Before going to bed, eat a couple handfuls of nuts (we're looking for protein, not carbs). It'll help keep your metabolism up and keep you warm.
I do a couple backcountry ski/camp trips every year and I swear it makes a huge difference.

Glad your lady was warm enough!

 

[BCMoto]

I would bring my little buddy heater