I need your Winter Camping Tips

KD7WCD said:
I've been thinking of something like that for my Oztent. I've heard that propane source like these produce a lot of moisture. Any experience with that?

I am good with cold weather camping but if I could get a warm tent, why not?
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Yes, propane is moist. That's why propane bbq's rust out quicker than they should.

I would thoroughly dry out your tent once back home.

Your tent poles will likely stick together a bit. I think Oztent's all have aluminum poles though so that's good. Be VERY careful with any plastic pieces in the cold too.
 
If your sleeping bag is not a mummy bag have a fleece blanket with you to cover your upper body/head (not face for obvious reasons). This will creat a nice warm barrier between your head, shoulders and the inside of your bag when placed properly.


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Have a complete change of clothes for sleeping. Any moisture trapped in your day clothes will freeze you at night in the colder temps. Comfy wool socks are a must. If you have a ground tent and sleeping pad, use an extra blanket between you and the pad. It will be more effective than on top of you because the ground will suck the heat right out of you. A second blanket to wrap around your core inside the sleeping bag is a good option. Winter hats make my head too itchy to sleep, so I'll wear a hoodie or my shemagh instead. I'll also keep extra layers in arms reach, including a headlamp. You may not need gloves when you first go to sleep, but at 3am you don't want to get out of your bag to find them.
 
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Put a heavy wt emergency blanket under your pad, shiny side up.
Keep the clothes you plan to wear the next day in the bag with you.
A comfortable hat that won't come off easily.
Drink something warm (hot chocolate) and provides energy.
Make sure your feet are warm before you get in the bag.
Silk bag liner

Finally - if all else fails
Get a tent with a wood stove
 
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I got myself a huge TETON Sports Outfitter XXL -35F Sleeping Bag which kept me nice and warm in 10F weather a few weeks back. The bag is a bit large, but awfully nice.

I used my ALPS Mountaineering XXL Comfort Series Self-Inflating Air Pad under it in my Kodiak Canvas 10 x 10 ft. Flex-Bow Canvas Tent - Deluxe

I didn't put anything below the pad, the floor of the tent is very thick. If your feet get cold, just throw a chemical heater (hot hands) in the bottom of your bag. I used a buddy heater to warm up before I go to bed, get everything organized and strip down to my base layer. Then shut it off once I am in the bag. In the morning you can turn it back on and have a 60F+ tent in a few minutes to get up, get changed.. organize or pack up your stuff if you are leaving. Makes it a nice easy start to the day. That way when you get out of your tent you have everything ready to go and are all dressed for the weather.

Running a buddy heater when sleeping sounds like a bad idea to me. It does have great safety features, but I wouldn't trust my life to them. Plus, you should have the right bag for the job and not need a hot tent all night. It would use a lot of fuel too and I only travel with so much propane. I can usually get pretty far with just the little tiny tanks if I am careful with the stove and buddy heater.

We had enough of a bed of coals from the night before that starting the fire was pretty simple and we managed to keep our water jerry from freezing by leaving it near the coals over night. It's always a risk to end up with no water. It is pretty amazing what freezes. Lots of things in the camp kitchen were frozen, olive oil, etc. My tooth paste was frozen. I guess having that huge bag means I could store a few extra things in it with me.

I never really felt very cold. Dress in layers though. We processed our own fire wood from the area and you can work up a lot of heat quick, so you have to be able to easily strip off layers.
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A comfortable Balaclava for sleeping with (your nose/face will thank you in the morning), thick socks(even in a good sleeping bag, they will get cold), gloves and a few layers for shirt/pants help. Other than that....

Have a sleeping bag rated for the environment you will be sleeping in. Don't bring a 50-70degree sleeping bag, when you're going in 40 degree weather. It's only a 10degree difference, but it's a huge difference.

Try to insulate yourself from the ground, by having some thick pads or a few layers or material. Sounds weird, but the ground sucks up all the heat we generate, so the more you can get yourself off the ground, the better.
 
If the forecast dips below the mid-40's it's usually me going by myself out there. The coldest temperature I've camped in is the low 20's.

I bring a propane heater for the 2-man tent. I run a sleeping pad (dunno the R value), and a mummy-style sleeping bag rated at 23 degrees. Clothing-wise for sleeping: thick wool socks, base layer long johns under a pair of fleece-lined pants, three layers of tops (base layer, t-shirt, fleece pullover) under my light down jacket. The down jacket goes with me into the sleeping bag but I take it off and sleep on top of it for extra padding / warmth. All that with a beenie and I am usually good. Oh, and if one of my 3 layers has pockets I'll throw in a pair of hand warmers. The heater is a must just to get up and out of the bag in the morning.
 
I have a 3 bag setup it's an official military grade sleeping bag I spent around 80 or 90 bucks for it you can literally throw it on the ground it's waterproof it's good down to 51 below zero when I sleep in it it's usually about 75 degrees in my bag I'm never cold and you can separate the two sleeping bags and use them individually you don't need to use both of them or all three at the same time military gear.net great company check them out worth the investment. Comes with a waterproof Gore-Tex bivy that you can throw directly onto the ground
 
+1 on the military sleep systems. Fell in love with them in basic training, and now The Wifey and I each have one. They can be compressed to about the size of a basketball, so they don't take up much room.
 
Quicksilver said:
+1 on the military sleep systems. Fell in love with them in basic training, and now The Wifey and I each have one. They can be compressed to about the size of a basketball, so they don't take up much room.
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Yeah when I ordered mine they gave me a nine strap compression sack I was pretty surprised when I got it how small you could actually shrink it up. One of the best investments I've ever made.
 
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This may sound strange, but after a few years work on Svalbard in -40 degrees Celsius.
I learned that going to the toilet as often as possible helps in cold weather,
Then your body don't have to use energy to heat your shit ;)
 
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