Winter Camping

[IM_Kathy]

some useful glove tips...

 

when setting up tents I just put on my batting gloves from softball - they aren't the warmest, but they're better than nothing and allow me to use my hands to grip

 

when cooking I wear a pair of those cheap ol' stretchy gloves that are about a buck and then I put over them a pair of first aid rubber gloves... this allows me to do any cutting, washing, etc and still be warm and keep my hands dry.

 

my son also uses these and says it helps a lot - even seen a few of the other boys do the same now as well.

 

I use to work as a full service gas attendent until just recently and so had to keep warm yet keep my hands usable so I've learned all kinds of tricks along the way.

[Gutterbird]

Well, we just made that campout that I talked about in the original post. The campout went as expected. Temps ranged from mid twenties during the day to single digits at night, we had snow and even wind. All boys came well prepared, and everybody made it through the night. A nature walk through the woods was done and several early rank advancements completed. The boys did a nice job lashing together a 7 foot lean-to that we used as a wind break. Cooking was kept simple, dutch oven or single pot meals. Lots of hot cocoa and a nice warm fire. The only difficult time was in the morning, the kids had trouble coming out of their nice warm bags. It took a while to get them moving. Once they did started moving, you could not hold them back. I felt this was a great experience for the boys and leaders. For those of you who stated not to do it because we have never done one, I would have to disagree. As a leader, if you do your homework, ask lots of questions and spend plenty of time to prepare yourself as well as the troop, you should do just fine. Sure, this was a learning experience and there are things that I won't do next time and there are things I would do different. Bottom line is, we where prepared, we stayed safe, and we had fun doing it.

[hingram]

My advice is based on 20-30 at night which is our norm.

 

Keep your feet warm by zipping up your coat and sticking the bottom of your sleeping bag into it.

Personally, I prefer a 35 degree bag with a fleece blanket or liner. I wear very lightweight fleece to bed and I like to be slightly cool. When you are engaging in winter activities, you always want to be slightly cool. Being too warm is dangerous. I also like to wear fleece that zips down.

A gatorade bottle makes a good pee bottle. Plus no one will snitch your gatorade anymore.

Fires are for cooking, not warming. The exception is sitting in camp chairs.

I use plastic under my rain fly to hold in heat and keep rain out.

When you are sleeping, most of the cold comes from underneath you. You need insulating. Personally, I sleep on top of my clothes. Clothes I wore that day, Sleeping pad, foam pad, sleeping bag, fleece blanket. I need extra padding.

You need air circulation. Just a little is enough. I find that oxygen helps with the cold.