Winter Camping
Last Sunday I attended a winter clinic held by my adventure club (Superior Kayaking and Outdoor Adventure Club). Or rather, the club of which I am a member.
It was interesting to note that they break winter camping into two categories: a) Winter Camping and b) Cold Camping. Category (b) consists of camping when there is white fluffy stuff around and being cold. They don't like that. So, they opt for (a), which uses heated tents. With a mix of hi/low tech for heating, as in a titanium stove which burns wood.
Much pride was taken in explaining that the low temp last year could not be recorded accurately, since their thermometer stopped at -45F. But, they estimated it at -48F. I asked about keeping the stove burning all night long, and was told that it's allowed to burn out. But, the tent probably adds 20F to the outdoor temp, so that inside the tent it only got down to -28F or so.
The real eye-opener for me was being told that the cold weather bag I bought a few years ago (Western Mountaineering Puma Super MF) for about $550 was "ok for a starting point" (it's rated for -15F). Talk about a reality check! What I would want to do was to start with that, but then bring my 20 degree bag to drape over the top of the -15F bag.
I should point out that I did one test with my Puma bag. A few nights after I bought in, I put it in a Bivy sack and went out to my porch to sleep. It was around -8 at the time. I was pretty warm (except for my face and nose). I learned that the cargo flight come into the Cedar Rapids airport at around 2:30 am, and apparently I was on the direct flight path for those flights. After listening to planes for about 30 minutes, I concluded a) I was warm, b) I would probably stay warm, and c) it was much quieter indoors. So I went back inside.
I'm actually excited about trying some Winter Camping with this group. It's been a long time since I spent time with folks who actually pushed me to do more extreme adventurous stuff than I might otherwise be inclined to do on my own.
It was interesting to note that they break winter camping into two categories: a) Winter Camping and b) Cold Camping. Category (b) consists of camping when there is white fluffy stuff around and being cold. They don't like that. So, they opt for (a), which uses heated tents. With a mix of hi/low tech for heating, as in a titanium stove which burns wood.
Much pride was taken in explaining that the low temp last year could not be recorded accurately, since their thermometer stopped at -45F. But, they estimated it at -48F. I asked about keeping the stove burning all night long, and was told that it's allowed to burn out. But, the tent probably adds 20F to the outdoor temp, so that inside the tent it only got down to -28F or so.
The real eye-opener for me was being told that the cold weather bag I bought a few years ago (Western Mountaineering Puma Super MF) for about $550 was "ok for a starting point" (it's rated for -15F). Talk about a reality check! What I would want to do was to start with that, but then bring my 20 degree bag to drape over the top of the -15F bag.
I should point out that I did one test with my Puma bag. A few nights after I bought in, I put it in a Bivy sack and went out to my porch to sleep. It was around -8 at the time. I was pretty warm (except for my face and nose). I learned that the cargo flight come into the Cedar Rapids airport at around 2:30 am, and apparently I was on the direct flight path for those flights. After listening to planes for about 30 minutes, I concluded a) I was warm, b) I would probably stay warm, and c) it was much quieter indoors. So I went back inside.
I'm actually excited about trying some Winter Camping with this group. It's been a long time since I spent time with folks who actually pushed me to do more extreme adventurous stuff than I might otherwise be inclined to do on my own.
posted by Aras at 7:31 PM
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