Ever camp in freezing temp's?

Better 6f than 39f and heavy rain.
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Ain't that the truth....I got caught in a similar situation deer hunting a number of years ago, except that it was more of an on and off drizzle all day long. I was in unfamiliar territory, and was told to stay put until my buddy picked me up late in the day. When he arrived, I was wet, cold, shivering and somewhat disoriented. Prior to that hunt, I had spent a fair number of days and nights in the woods, and was dressed (or so I thought) for the weather that day. I didn't realize how much trouble I was in until much later when I heard a fellow talk about his experience with hypothermia at an outdoor show. We chatted a bit after his presentation, and his insights gave me a new respect for such circumstances.

The post about the scouts camping in PA brought back fond memories. I was lucky to be in a troop that hiked and camped all year long. In the winter we used army surplus pyramid tents and had a blast. We were lucky to have adults who gave so freely of their time, a fact I didn't appreciate until I had kids of my own. If no one else said it lately, let me say thank you.
Jim
 
OHEN CAPEL,


I am in the 10th MTN Div at this time and it is funny reading this Post because I just got out of the field going through some bad weather. The last few days were wet but turned Cold and snowed. Cold is one thing but if you are in it for many days and you get Wet! Big Problem.

Some of the stuff we have now are: Modular sleep System that gives you three layers of protection with the outside layer being a Gortex Bivy Bag. PolyPro underwear, Rocky Boots w/ 400 Grams of thinsulate, Trigger Finger Mittens, and a new fleece jacket and pants that replaced the old Bear Top and bottoms.

Under Armour Coldgear is a hot item for soldiers right now!

In our Cold Weather Survival Training, we are told to wear the polypro in the sleeping bag, and thats all. You want your body to Heat Up! the Bag!

As long as you have a good Bag and a Sleeping Pad and some training, and good clothing, staying outside in cold temps for many days can be done and is done all the time here at Fort Drum, NY. To all the 10th MTN Brothers out there, Stay Warm and Dry because if you were here and especially if you are a Combat Arms MOS I know you were Wet and Cold.
 
RickJ said:
In Weather Survival Training, we are told to wear the polypro in the sleeping bag, and thats all. You want your body to Heat Up! the Bag!
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Rick, I follow all you said except the above. The objective is to keep YOU warm. Insulation -- of whatever kind -- slows the escape of body-generated heat so you can keep YOU warm enough. More likely, there is concern about wearing wet clothing in the sleeping bag. The polypro is hydrophobic, so it does not carry much water into the equation and quickly dries even if damp = little evaporative cooling of your skin.

Tom
 
In the Western Himalayas in Nepal (Annapurnas). Trekked and camped out for a month. It was very cold, snowing at night but can't remember the temp. Enough to freeze everything. Had a canvas tent. Down sleeping bag with inner and outer and silk sheet. No heat source. Was very cozy. I hired all the gear in Katmandu and payed a couple of porters $1/day each to carry it all for me. Not much use for that sort of gear in Oz.
 
On exercise in the UK in January so its monkeys cold and damp.

Slept in full combat gear (dry though, the wet stuff was to put on in the morning so you always had dry stuff at night :eek: Made my nads shrivel just to think about it lol)

Had a mat and a Poncho shared with a buddy.

No external or internal (Hell we were friends but not THAT close lol)

Bag was a UK Army issue, down with optional dew and cigarette burns. Its was so damp I couldnt get in it due to its mummy shape, so I just tried to use it as a blanket. It was good though as I had to pee in the night and I could just fire it out under the poncho rather than get up ;)

Thank God I am out and have a nice 4 poster bed now :D
 
Until now down to -18 °C.

Use a Joutsen arctic goose down sleeping bag designed for +5 to -20°C.

Inside Fleece tights, long ski-underwear, a scarf and a cap (I alway wake up with the face turned within the hood of the sleeping bag ... I use a Hilleberg Nallo II Tent - now about 10 jears old, but still the best tent I have seen so far (and quite expensive now) with under 2 kg weight and room for two adults and backpacks. I do not use additional heatsources because of condensed-water in the tent - I do not really like that and there is enough of it on the outer tent after a night in the tent (and temperatures below the freezing-point).

Andreas
 
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!!
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Christmas '03
1. -22 F on 25" snow
2. thermal underwear, balaclava on head (most heat is lost thru head)
3. REI 4 season tent
4. propane heater only in morning when getting dressed
5. REI sincat 0* rated semi mummy. + ThermoRest pad.
You could tell the instant an arm drifted off the pad. Woke right up!

Now we have a trailer, but still don't use the heater till it's time to get up and dressed. Been around 0 F in the trailer. Try to go snowshoeing 4 -5 times a year.
If you're prepared winter camping is as fun as any time. Just don't try to do it w/ cheap equipment or the wrong kind. It's no fun being cold.
 
The Army did some experiments with sleeping bag fillers and found that down only works if you can dry it out during the day, every day. (See Temper's comment above.) Otherwise, the down steadily absorbs water from insenstate perspiration (Turns out you sweat some all the time.) and just as steadily loses loft (insulative value). Breathing into the bag makes it much worse. Ice can even form inside the cover of the bag if it's cold enough (depends on where freezing point is as warm, moist air migrates out from your body). Under some conditions, down bags lost as much as 1" of loft per night. Once down starts clumping up, there is about no way to dry it out under "field conditions."

I used and loved a down bag in California mountains and the southwest. :cool: It went on a rock in the sun and dry air every A.M. as we struck camp. I have found it about useless in Winter in Ohio, PA, and Michigan except maybe for one night -- just too cloudy and damp. :(
 
Outside temp was -5 degrees not including the windchill, December 2000, location was near the Mount Washington Hotel on the side of the road near the amonoosuk trail on the backside of Mt. Washington, tent was a Sierra Designs Omega CD and the sleeping bag was a Moonstone liberty ridge Dry-loft mummy rated for -10. Source of heat was fatty food used to increase your body's metabolic rate while sleeping.

Would I do it again? Of course! It makes you a more efficient camper and makes you appreciate camping in the summer.
 
Over the years I've done a few weeks in upstate New York, in Niagara County or Lake George regions. Zero degrees F or below. A good experience.

Slept in a 4 man pyramid tent. Learned to build snow walls as a windbreak all around. Seemed to help. Digging a latrine in rock hard frozen ground is an experience as is exposing one's bottom in the cold.

Slept in an old Sears flannel bag with no ground pad. Long johns, socks, gloves and wool hat. Towel over the face for extra warmth. Cold most of the night.

It was so cold that the snow just wouldn't melt. Standard Army issue leather boots (1960's vintage) worked fine.

Cooked 3-4 meals a day outside on a small gasoline grill. Went without real cleaning facilities for a week at a time. Broke thru ice in the ponds to get water for cooking and drinking.

That said, I'd rather camp on a beach in Hawaii.
 
temp: -5 celsius, didn't measure it, but our water was frozen solid in the morning...
I was wearing BDU pants, t shirt, fleece pullover and fleece jacket
No tent, just summer sleeping bag and foil emergency blanket (which worked amazingly well, having frozen my ass off in the same sleeping bag the previous year in warmer temps)
We had no source of heat at all as we were camping in the coastal rainforest and couldn't get a fire going.
the bag was a department store no name bag that was rated at 0 degrees celsius, but I 've been very cold in much warmer temps than that....

Now I have a USGI Mod3 combo bag, and it's one hell of a lot warmer...
 
in the BSA I participated in the polar bear camp out in Jan. It was about - 30 f that night we stayed in canvas tents with snow packed to within 2 foot of the top on the outside (there was 3 feet of snow to start and we dug to the ground) we covered the ground with hay, I had an old flannel hunters sleeping bag, and wore quilted thermal undies. I didn't know toput my boots in my bag and they froze solid that night. overall it was a goo trip, but the midnight bathroo trip to the latrine left something to be desired.
 
Does it count if I was in Iraq? If so I will try to answer your questions.

1) Tent
2) Military Issue sleeping bag, the GorTex one
3) in the 20s (yes it does get cold in the desert. Blew me away to!)
4) For heat, we had a heater, but never worked. Basically it it blew in slightly warmer air. For some reason though it seems that I slept pretty good despite the cold temps.


Lee
 
actually the problem was not one of a standing call of nature and sitting on frost covered wood is just a wee bit uncomfortable. :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
I froze my --- off last Dec and Jan, It rained most of the time during those 2 months and was very cold because it was a wet cold, yes a wet cold in Iraq. I was south of BIAP, Most people don't know but that area is very green and it raines alot during the winter.
 
I'm not a big winter camper but sometimes it gets fairly cold where I go even in the fall. Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Antarctica and Greenland. So far I have just hunkered down without a heat source in a tent with an overstuffed Feathered Friends down bag, sometimes with an integral designs primaloft liner if I'm really cold.
 
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