Water & Winter Camping

[PBDNavigate]

Anyone have any tips or tricks to keep their water supply from freezing during winter camping? Not very practical to keep a five gallon jug in your sleeping bag at night.

I saw the review on the LifeSaver jerry can and Grayl Geopress and they look like great products. However, are they something I would want to take with me in winter? With most filter products freezing will destroy them if there is still water in the filter. Certainly not something I would find amusing after dishing out the kind of money for a LifeSaver.

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Eric W.]

Besides sleeping with a few bottles in sleeping bag, as you said. I like to pour water in a pot before I go to bed. Then put on burner or fire pit to thaw in morning. I set my percolator up like that, as well.

 

[Eric W.]

Also, a cooler with no ice and a jug of water can help keep from freezing. keeping cold temps out better than sitting around.

 

[Ubiety]

Electrically heated tape/wrap maybe? Then you add an electricity dependence. I like @Eric W. ’s thinking. Maybe boil water before bed and put it in empty cooler hot before bed.

 

[Eric W.]

Hot water freezes before cold water, oddly enough. Like dripping water in a faucet to keep pipes from freezing should be done with cold water. witch craft

 

[Ubiety]

Hot water freezes before cold water, oddly enough. Like dripping water in a faucet to keep pipes from freezing should be done with cold water. witch craft

Weird!

 

[Dr Gil]

I have the smaller version of the Lifesaver. It's a 4 gal HydroBlu. I was in Colorado this past week at -9℉.
I unscrewed the filter and brought it in the house, or in your case your sleeping bag. Kept it from freezing and getting
damaged. It literally took 10 seconds to do that.

 

[MidOH]

Takes forever for water jugs to freeze if you keep them in your vehicle, not outside.

My water jugs in my garage haven't frozen yet this year.

 

[Billiebob]

 

[uncompromise]

Also, a cooler with no ice and a jug of water can help keep from freezing. keeping cold temps out better than sitting around.

^^ This.

 

[FishinCrzy]

Maybe a large thermos with warmed water? I have never shopped for thermos' so not sure what's available. I guess the cooler as a storage container is similar solution.

 

[PBDNavigate]

I like the idea of using a cooler. Had actually thought of that already. Maybe even throw a hand warmer inside also.

Good to hear that removing the filter from the LifeSaver is fairly easy.

Thanks!

 

[Trail_pilot]

It has to get really cold for a water jug to freeze outside. I keep a 5 gallon jug in my vehicle for winter camping and have never had an issue. Only time I have had issues with frozen water was with a metal container in -25 C weather with a crazy wind and I was camped out under a tarp nowhere near my vehicle.
If you have a filter with your water, you can keep it in your sleeping bag to keep from freezing. My wife and I do that when we do our backpacking trips.

 

[John Bishop]

Add alcohol. Not sure what the ratio of vodka or bourbon would be for various temperature ranges...

 

[El-Dracho]

For all those who have a warm-air parking heater in their rig or plan to install one, here's another tip. When installing a heater in an overlanding vehicle, it may be a good idea to make sure when routing the warm air outlets that the hoses run close to the fresh water tank or water jerry cans. This way you could avoid freezing of the fresh water.

 

[pcstockton]

Hot water freezes before cold water, oddly enough. Like dripping water in a faucet to keep pipes from freezing should be done with cold water. witch craft

Not really. The hot water will create an ice skin on top before cold water. But that's it. The steam from the hot water freezes quicker than the liquid surface of the water.

In the final anaylsis, cold will freeze through quicker.