Winter snow camping in the Sierra's in a few weeks. Tent or Hammock?

Question

Why couldn't a decent rectangular sleeping bag - zipped open - be used as an under quilt? The plastic clip-on goodies for making plastic into tarps could offer anchor points, yes? a Slumberjack 30 degree rectangular bag can be had for $35 or so.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Question

Why couldn't a decent rectangular sleeping bag - zipped open - be used as an under quilt? The plastic clip-on goodies for making plastic into tarps could offer anchor points, yes? a Slumberjack 30 degree rectangular bag can be had for $35 or so.
Click to expand...

If you can get it snug and keep it snug to the hammock it will work to the extent that a cheap bag will ever work. Many are rated for far lower temps than they are good for in the real world, but that also depends on the user.
 
I haven't read the entire topic yet but...

I live on the eastern slope a couple hours south of Tahoe at roughly 4000' elevation in the high desert.

It has been consistently less than 15* Fahrenheit for the past week.

Whatever you decide to do, I have to say this has been one of the colder winters in the last 15 years that I've been living here...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
pinnah,

Yes as you describe

I had a Kelty Wind Jacket and Wind Pants with side zips
And I would climate control myself as I snowshoed
I would wear a string wool undershirt (the Old REI ones) and the wind jacket in -20
And when I stopped put on the insulated (Snow Lion) parka
I had surplus insulated leg liners for when I was in camp under the wind pants and those insulated booties inside my fully enclosed snow gaiters
I was good to -40

I often shlepped a Eureka Timberline because it was self supporting in deep snow

I have a Gasoline Optimus 99 like the Svea 123 stove but with a pump
It lit up every time
MSR had just come out but was too fussy
Do you use gas?
 
EastSideBadDad said:
I haven't read the entire topic yet but...

I live on the eastern slope a couple hours south of Tahoe at roughly 4000' elevation in the high desert.

It has been consistently less than 15* Fahrenheit for the past week.

Whatever you decide to do, I have to say this has been one of the colder winters in the last 15 years that I've been living here...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

We just spent the last week up in Incline Village and it has been getting cold at nights lately. I saw it get down to as low as 8 degrees, but interesting enough it didn't seem that cold with the proper winter attire on. Granted I was able to go back in the house and sit next to a nice toasty fire. :)
 
I appreciate all of the info and recommendations guys. I'm leaning towards just using my 2 man tent and bringing some extra insulation between myself and the ground. I'm thinking 2 Neo Thermorests and a reflective emergency tarp underneath me to keep the ground from pulling away so much of my body heat. What's the best way to keep the condensation from building up inside the tent? Should I just leave the rainfly slightly loose or an opening, so as to allow for more ventilation? I remember when we did the two nighter in October and there was a light snow on the ground that the inside of my tent had a lot of moisture inside in the mornings. That was what made things colder.
 
You won't get away from the condensation.
supertac916 said:
I appreciate all of the info and recommendations guys. I'm leaning towards just using my 2 man tent and bringing some extra insulation between myself and the ground. I'm thinking 2 Neo Thermorests and a reflective emergency tarp underneath me to keep the ground from pulling away so much of my body heat. What's the best way to keep the condensation from building up inside the tent? Should I just leave the rainfly slightly loose or an opening, so as to allow for more ventilation? I remember when we did the two nighter in October and there was a light snow on the ground that the inside of my tent had a lot of moisture inside in the mornings. That was what made things colder.
Click to expand...
 
neeman said:
pinnah,

Yes as you describe

I had a Kelty Wind Jacket and Wind Pants with side zips
And I would climate control myself as I snowshoed
I would wear a string wool undershirt (the Old REI ones) and the wind jacket in -20
And when I stopped put on the insulated (Snow Lion) parka
I had surplus insulated leg liners for when I was in camp under the wind pants and those insulated booties inside my fully enclosed snow gaiters
I was good to -40

I often shlepped a Eureka Timberline because it was self supporting in deep snow

I have a Gasoline Optimus 99 like the Svea 123 stove but with a pump
It lit up every time
MSR had just come out but was too fussy
Do you use gas?
Click to expand...

Neeman, your post was a walk down memory lane. Snow Lion parka. Timberline tent.

Yes, I use Coleman fuel (aka white gas) in the Svea. But I'm gaining more confidence in the Trangia in the winter. Both great stoves.

As for MSRs, I've seen two in full melt down when the plastic pumps leaked and caught fire!!

The 99 is a beauty too
 
supertac916 said:
I appreciate all of the info and recommendations guys. I'm leaning towards just using my 2 man tent and bringing some extra insulation between myself and the ground. I'm thinking 2 Neo Thermorests and a reflective emergency tarp underneath me to keep the ground from pulling away so much of my body heat. What's the best way to keep the condensation from building up inside the tent? Should I just leave the rainfly slightly loose or an opening, so as to allow for more ventilation? I remember when we did the two nighter in October and there was a light snow on the ground that the inside of my tent had a lot of moisture inside in the mornings. That was what made things colder.
Click to expand...

Open one vent low on one end of the tent and other tent high on the other.

A single candle lantern helps too.

In the end, condensation is inevitable. I always use a bag cover in the winter for this reason.
 
Must be getting ready to head out soon. Have fun. Curious to see how the hike goes
 
neeman said:
pinnah,

Yes as you describe

I had a Kelty Wind Jacket and Wind Pants with side zips
And I would climate control myself as I snowshoed
I would wear a string wool undershirt (the Old REI ones) and the wind jacket in -20
And when I stopped put on the insulated (Snow Lion) parka
I had surplus insulated leg liners for when I was in camp under the wind pants and those insulated booties inside my fully enclosed snow gaiters
I was good to -40

I often shlepped a Eureka Timberline because it was self supporting in deep snow

I have a Gasoline Optimus 99 like the Svea 123 stove but with a pump
It lit up every time
MSR had just come out but was too fussy
Do you use gas?
Click to expand...

Thanks Neeman, I have a few Jetboils and will be dragging a MiniMo along with me. I'm also bringing a Stainless Steel Zebra pot and cheap grate to cook over a fire. We've been having some pretty interesting weather after several years of drought conditions in CA. It's been snowing like crazy and in the last 3 days I believe we've received 3-5' of snow. It's suppose to snow for the next 2 weeks, which is when we will be going out. However, on January 14th when we head out it's suppose to lighten up with only 3-6" of snow estimated to fall. The weather doesn't seem too cold with day time temps at 32 degrees and night time in the 20's.
 
pinnah said:
Open one vent low on one end of the tent and other tent high on the other.

A single candle lantern helps too.

In the end, condensation is inevitable. I always use a bag cover in the winter for this reason.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip! I'll bring a single candle lantern with me and my bag cover.
 
bore said:
Must be getting ready to head out soon. Have fun. Curious to see how the hike goes
Click to expand...

We're heading out on January 14th and it's still a go, unless the weather report changes to blizzard like conditions. At least for now it's suppose to be 3-6" of snow fall at that time, 5-7 mph winds, a low of 20 degrees with a high of 33. I'll also have to look out for avalanche conditions as well, but hopefully we won't have those issues where we're going. We changed up our plans to hike out of Ruckers Lake, which is a designated primitive camping area to follow the creek to Blue Lake. It's only about 1.5 miles but we're expecting pretty deep and fresh snow.
 
Sounds awesome. We've had a lot of snow as well. Just north of the border at the top of the Idaho panhandle. Now it turned cold. Snows like Styrofoam. Was walking across the snow the other day it had about a 4 or 5 inch crust. Perfect for cutting. Just like a Styrofoam board
 
pinnah said:
I'm not seeing the upside for hammocks in the winter. It's certainly not weight, particularly in a group setting.

I like a floorless tarp tent, bivy, and 2 sleeping pads (ridgerest + thermarest).

Below freezing, air is colder than snow. More wind heat loss with a hammock.
Click to expand...

^^^This.

I have read that high altitude adventurers carry both a "self-inflating" mattress and a closed cell mattress.

A floorless tarp makes sense to me. I have slept in temps in the mid-20s under a tarp, and slept like a baby. I have fallen asleep in a severe thunderstorm under my tarp, and slept like a baby. It's all in learning different ways to pitch it, and practicing pitching it. Etowah pitch, lean-to pitch, A-frame pitch, and who knows how many variations you can do with a simple rectangular tarp. I sleep generally better if I have an open-air feeling of a tarp vs. a tent. [almost forgot]: some companies manufacture floorless tarps for specifically high-altitude and deep snow adventures. Black Diamond and Sierra Designs come to mind.

I have never used a vapor barrier type of bag liner. It just seems like a sweaty proposition. For the same reason, I have never slept in a "space blanket" or any other non-breathable thing. YRMV. Vapor barriers used to be an item sold by Stephenson Warmlite, but I just don't like the idea.
 
Last edited:
Please take pictures!
 
pinnah said:
Neeman, your post was a walk down memory lane. Snow Lion parka. Timberline tent.

Yes, I use Coleman fuel (aka white gas) in the Svea. But I'm gaining more confidence in the Trangia in the winter. Both great stoves.

As for MSRs, I've seen two in full melt down when the plastic pumps leaked and caught fire!!


The 99 is a beauty too
Click to expand...

Somebody gave me an MSR that they were not using. I think it was the Firefly model. Testing it at home, I noticed the pump assembly was cracked, and fuel was leaking out. I never took it into the field. Then MSR offered a supposedly improved pump assembly, but I never bothered getting one.

There are some pretty cool alcohol stoves that you can make out of empty soda cans and cat food cans. They are super light, and I love to experiment with that kind of thing. Also, I love the upside of liquid fuel vs. butane/propane canisters - no need to worry about pressure loss.

I think Esbit is the lightest fuel to carry, when it comes down to just boiling some water, but I don't like the smell or the sticky residue it leaves on the pot.

So lately I have used an alcohol stove made from an empty cat food can. However, a friend showed me her alcohol stove made from the bottom ends of two soda cans taped together to form a pressurizing chamber. It looks more efficient than mine. I am going to make one, and glue a priming cup to the bottom of it, using JB Weld.
 
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