Ever camp in freezing temp's?

steve-in-kville

steve-in-kville

Joined
Dec 25, 2001
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1,139
Okay, this is tempting me to try it...

1) what was the outside temp?
2) what did you wear while sleeping?
3) tent or no tent?
4) source of heat, if any?
5) what temp was your sleeping bag rated for (also brand name/model)?

Thanks!!
 
1. as low as -34 f
2. On that occasion, fleece pants and shirt over polypro shirt and long johns
3. tent
4. me

Edited to add:

5. -25f
 
I was "lucky" enough for the Army to provide me with this opportunity many times. Probably spent 100 nights or so sleeping in temps below 32, many times below 0.

All we usually had was the older down extreme cold weather bag, poncho made into a tent, and a sleep mat. Can't carry but so much in a ruck.

Carried an MSR stove to thaw the canteens out if moving wasn't enough.

A candle in the poncho "hooch" can make a big difference, especially if you can pull some snow in around the edges to seal it up some.

Towards the end of my time with the 10th Mountain the new guys were getting the gortex bivy sack sleeping bag system. Was much smaller and versatile but no where nearly as warm as the big down ECW bag.

Usually slept in as little as possible. Lets any perspiration leave your body and the bags work better without the extra layers of stuff between you and the bag.

My bother has tried to talk me into winter camping now with all the bells and whistles. I have no desire to do it again!
 
About -5 F. Just regular undershorts (as in briefs). No tent, but tarp beneath and above in triangle shape. Foam sleeping pad underneath. No heat source other than self. Sierra Designs -20 F. I was very warm. Unfortunately, it is a mummy bag and I'm a sprawler so I feel cramped everytime I use it. Couple cold weather tips... Put some clothes in the bag with you if you have room. Also, a water bottle. Those clothes you left hanging on the branch outside are pretty dang chilly getting into in the morning and it is frustrating to try to drink from a frozen water bottle.
 
I probably should have mentioned that I prefer cold weather camping as I always get a better night's sleep. No bugs. No noisy frogs. No sweat dripping off your nose. The only really bad part is getting out of that sleeping bag in the morning in your skivvies!
 
I'm no hard-core camper, but I've camped twice in just barely sub-freezing temps (call it 28F or so). Both times were in a cheapo Walmart tent. Both times were in an old army issue down filled mummy bag. First time I was miserable, second time I was fine. The difference was a $6 closed-cell foam sleeping pad from Walmart. If you're gonna sleep on cold ground, be SURE to get something that insulates well under you.
 
steve-in-kville said:
Okay, this is tempting me to try it...

1) what was the outside temp?
2) what did you wear while sleeping?
3) tent or no tent?
4) source of heat, if any?
5) what temp was your sleeping bag rated for (also brand name/model)?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

I've camped in sub-freezing temps quite a few times. In fact, I prefer camping when the temp is between 20 and 40 degrees F.
1) Coldest was probably 15 degrees F
2) Boxers
3) No Tent, just a ground tarp underneath
4) Girlfriend
5) Rated for 0 degrees F...don't remember brand or model, but it's made for two.
 
my experience consisted of sleeping in the wasatch mountainsin utah wwhen i was scout. I slept in a miitary down sleeping bag with all of my clothes on. it was minus 15 and I was very warm. Has any one tried yurts? i will do more winter camping when my student budget allows me to get a new sleeping bag!
 
One trip it went down to the mid 20's.
The first night my wife put on everybit of clothing *we* brought.
She froze.
I slept in my longjohns and watch cap, I was fine.
I call it the "Mitten Theory" Mittens are warmer because each finger warms the other. Gloves isolate the fingers. Too many clothes isolate your body parts. She had so much on that I couldn't warm her with my body heat.

The second night. I made sure she ate something before bed and took her for a walk to get her body working, burning calories & generating heat.
She slept in her thermals and it was a fine night, well, after the initial shock of getting in the sleeping bag.

No special equipment.
Closed cell fomepad.
JCPenny heavy thermofil bags (lined with flannel & zipped together.)
Wenzel 9x9 tent.
 
Yes, I have on several ocations.

1. -35 derees celsius (-31 F).
2. Wool underwear and wool hat.
3. McKinley tunel tent.
4. No heat at night, but Optimus 111 Hiker provided heat during daytime and
before bedtime.
5. Ajungilac Tyin Arctic sleeping bag, rated to -35 C (-31 F). Its extreme
temp. is rated to -45 C (-49 F) but you can just forget that. In that
temperature you will freeze your ass of. I believe so called comfort temp
is also extreme temp.
 
steve-in-kville said:
Okay, this is tempting me to try it...

1) what was the outside temp?
2) what did you wear while sleeping?
3) tent or no tent?
4) source of heat, if any?
5) what temp was your sleeping bag rated for (also brand name/model)?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...
1-Cold enough to freeze the water in our nalgene bottles solid in about five to six hours.
2-REI and Northface polypro, fleece, GI watch cap, REI gloves smartwool socks
3-Northface Firefly/Tadpole
4-Cooking fire. My friend's Stagg chili dinner :rolleyes:
5-Old down Northface bag from above friend...$20.00,Ridgerest foam pad, this is a must have for me.

Born and raised in Hawaii- sealevel and cold is when it gets into the lower 60s... Spent Thanksgiving weekend camping in Flagstaff,AZ at 10,000 feet and cold as hell with some of the boys. We were ass deep in snow, it was the first time I ever saw snow- I was in my early 20s. I enjoyed myself, one of the best I camping trips I have been on. Wasn't too miserable on that trip, we were well prepared. The most miserable I have been is here in the islands, cold and wet the first few hundred yards into the trail :barf:
 
I don'g know if it actually helps, but I usually throw some branches over the tent and then cover that with a tarp... it's a little insulation in what logically an uninsulatable situation. On top of that, a raging fire helps.
 
Went rock climbing with a buddy near New Paltz, NY one year. It was late fall. The temperature at night was easily in the teens. I used a North Face sleeping bag rated for around 12 degrees F, slept in my T shirt and skivvies and was nice and warm.

Some nights we used a tent, some nights, we were just in our individual bags. Getting into that #$%& freezing bag was always a shock in the beginning, but it warmed up fairly quickly. Heck, when you're tired from a day of hiking or rock climbing, you don't really notice it that much by then.
 
In my young and stupid days I hitchhiked out to the Guadulpe River on a nice winter day. Texas winter usually means no swimming before noon. In addition to my bluejeans / tshirt /ls shirt and hiking boots I had a fleece lined jean jacket, a rain poncho and an Army sleeping bag which was essentially an Army blanket made into a sleeping bag. In my hurry I neglected to note that a blue norther was incoming. After a pleasant day's hike all of a sudden (in my opinion) the wind picked up, the temp went from 60° to 27° and it began one of those miserable cold drizzles that lasted about 2 hours. After the rain quit the wind picked up more with gusts up to @25-30 mph. I managed to snuggle down in some dry leaves trapped in a bare windowless doorless shack at the entrance of the camp. I lay there for a while imagining what it was like to freeze to death. Some time around midnight I made my way to a nearby shallow cave, made a poncho lean-to with some braches and found enough dry wood to sit up all night with a fire. I only wore the bag to keep my legs warm.
1) what was the outside temp?
F-ing cold.
2) what did you wear while sleeping?
Didn't sleep.
3) tent or no tent?
Poncho.
4) source of heat, if any?
Eventually a fire.
5) what temp was your sleeping bag rated for (also brand name/model)?
Minimum rated Army issue OD wool sleeping bag.
I learned a lot about windchill, preparation and weather savvy that night...
 
1) Outside temp was around 10 degrees F.
2) Boxers
3) Tent, well, it was a boy scout style tent. Not a great one.
4) Body heat
5) I don't know temperature rating offhand, but it's the USGI extreme cold weather bag, with a bivy cover. I was tosty warm. .
 
It´s been a long time since that one, sometime in the early 70´s in northern California, I hope that I more or less remember correctly.

1.- Don´t know the temperature but water froze inside plastic bottles.
2.- Flannel pajamas under regular clothing and a sport jacket, double sport socks.
3.- Small old style cotton canvas tent, probably Army surplus.
4.- Had a fire but put it off before going to sleep.
5.- Some cheap synthetic bag probably also surplus (borrowed, as was the tent).

Cleaned some area of snow close to a tree (too thick elsewhere) and used one of those blue closed cell foam Army surplus pads.

We were planning to stay a couple more days but after that night we got out, got in the car and drove south all the way to the Anza-Borrego desert where we stayed in much nicer weather (the desert has it´s own problems but that´s another question).
 
I took my Scouts to Hickory Run Stake Park in PA. We had just about 1:1 Scouts to Adults. They complained the whole time, because the temp when we got up was "6 Degrees". No one could start a fire; not the scouts, not the older scouts, not the adults. I finally had to get it going for them (hate to do that; it's better for them to try and fail and try and fail). But it was a bit brisk, eh?

I made double extra sure that _everyone_ including the adults had a buddy in their tent. We used dumb old Dome tents (I like them!), but I had a 0 degree Kelty bag my wife made sure we purchased when I got the position. Wore a long-sleeved T-shirt and undies. I 'wear' a t-shirt over/around my head instead of a cap. I get the warmth without the constriction.

In the morinig we wondered down to a 20 foot waterfall that was beginning to ice over, and they were having fun, begrudgingly.

When we got back, they couldn't stop braggin' about how they'd camped 'in 6 degree' weather.
 
Camp every month. That makes the transition to the dead of Winter easier.

Better 6f than 39f and heavy rain.
 
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