What Do You Need For Camping In Cold Weather

By following these tips, you’ll be sure to have a safe and fun winter season. Furthermore, what you deem to be “too cold” will also vary depending on your personal tolerance levels. Some people are perfectly happy camping in sub-zero conditions, while others prefer more moderate weather.

Put the next day’s clothes in your sleeping bag with you at night. You’ll thank yourself the next morning when you get dressed, and you’ll preserve the valuable internal heat you retained through the night. Seems obvious, but change into a dry set of clothes before you head to sleep. Moisture build-up will reduce insulation effectiveness as well as make you cold, and in some cases, it can be downright dangerous. If you have a campfire, try to dry-out those layers for the next day. Wrapping yourself up in a thick sleeping bag and a tent full of friends is great, just don’t zip your face all the way in the bag.

Nighttime temperatures of about 50°F to 65°F are most comfortable for camping. Try to keep your bag from touching the wall of your tent. Conduction occurs when molecules increase in temperature; they vibrate, and this vibration and movement passes the heat energy to the surrounding molecules.

Add Extra Heat

The Black Diamond Quickdraw Tour Probe 240 and Backcountry Access Stealth 240 are two popular and user-friendly models. Find the elevation of the weather station and your campground. When you breath inside the bag, you exhale moist air, creating a damp, clammy atmosphere.

But this does not take into consideration your own intolerance to cold. Dressing in layers is key to staying warm when camping in cold weather. Start with a base layer of wool or synthetic material that will wick away sweat and help keep you dry. Add a mid-layer of fleece or down for insulation, and top it off with a waterproof outer layer.

REI uses RDS certified 700-fill duck down that’s been treated to repel water, a burly 20D ripstop nylon shell, and a cozy neck warmer to keep you comfy. The fit is a mummy with a bit of room to move, and every component is made smartly, warmly, and durably. The REI Igneo 17 is priced lower than comparable bags, and shines in the backcountry at just under two pounds. Note that while we consider price an important factor in purchasing decisions, we are highlighting top performing product over the best products for your wallet. We find that cold weather gear is often subject to heavy rain, wind, and unpredictability.

Clothing To Protect Against Cold Weather

It’s a fleece with seemingly endless uses, from the crag to the beach to a chill city night. But when backpacking, it’s a perfect layer to pull out when the temperatures plummet, and you need something a bit thicker than simple thermal layers. The REI Igneo 17 is a standout mummy bag that braves sub-freezing temperatures with ease.

Tight clothing restricts circulation and dirt clogs air spaces in the materials, reducing insulation value and thus, making it harder to stay warm. Choose a sleeping bag that is appropriate for the cold weather. There are sleeping bags that can be very comfortable to use especially during a very cold weather condition. When temperatures are warm during the day and chilly at night, you’ll need to pack a wide variety of clothing to stay comfortable during all times of the day. Layering is key, and one of the best ways to ensure you’ll stay toasty and warm without overheating. That said, it’s absolutely essential that you make sure you have the proper gear and equipment for camping in cold weather, and that you’ve packed based off a reliable camping checklist.

Apply These Six Helpful Tips As You Embark Outdoors For Camping In Cold Weather

The higher the R-value, the better the pad will insulate you from the ground. As a general rule, you need an R-value of 2-3 for cold weather camping. Thus, a sleeping bag rated for 30 degrees F is notsuitable for 30F weather. The bag will keep you alive at that temperature, but you probably won’t feel warm. Instead, you need to make sure the comfort rating of the sleeping bag matches the temperature of where you will be camping. Nighttime temperatures in the high 30s/low 40s Fahrenheit is too cold to go tent camping for inexperienced campers with cheap gear.

Even the cheaper brands will do just fine for 40 degree weather. But, it can too cold to leave your tent and you might not want to get out of the coziness of your sleeping bag (been there!). It is definitely not the most fun part of camping, but, it is a necessary evil. You can get devices such as pee-buddy to help you get through the ordeal.

Tip 10: Heat Up Your Car Or Campervan Before Bed

I also have a double camp bed and often use the Dreamboat SIM on top which makes it extra comfy, and I do like being raised off the ground when sleeping in my tent if possible. If I’m camping on my own and it’s a longer camping trip lasting several days however, I alwaus use my super comfy single carp fishing bed. I have several different sleeping setups depending on whether I am camping on my own and for how long. For short camping trips I use either my single Vango Comfort 10 SIM or if camping with my partner, we use the Outwell Dreamboat double SIM.

You can do all you can to keep yourself warm, but sometimes you need a little extra help. A portable heater is a good shout if you want to take the edge off the cold. If you have electricity at your camping site, you could use an electric heater to warm up your tent before you go to bed and get up in the morning. You have to check the lowest temperature your camping site can go to.

This ensures there is plenty of oxygen to feed the fire, producing a hotter burn that will keep you warm. If you plan to stoke your fire all night long, place your tent as close to the fire as possible for added warmth (but not so close that you risk catching your tent on fire!). The leaves are changing and the days are growing cooler, but that doesn’t mean that camping season needs to come to an end. Even during the bitter cold, camping can still be enjoyable.

Are you the type of person that wears a long sleeved fleece zipped up while hiking in 70 degree F temperatures while all your friends are hiking in shorts and tank tops? You need to keep this in consideration when figuring out what you need extra to keep warm – and no one is going to know this better than you. With these tips in mind, you’ll be sure to have a safe and enjoyable cold weather camping experience. If you have researched how the temperature drops in the location to where your camping site will be, you might want to consider getting medium to heavy base layers. Choose base layers that are also odor resistant and less expensive.

Traveling Tips & Hacks

Goggles also can be helpful for keeping snow out of your eyes during particularly blustery conditions, even while cooking or hanging out in camp. However, note that googles are not to be a replacement for sunglasses since they can fog up quickly, especially during high-output activity. Using a camp stove in the snow is surprisingly different and much more difficult than cooking on solid dirt or rock. While using a liquid-fuel stove, for example, the entire body including the legs gets hot, which can quickly melt the snow underneath and create an uneven and unstable surface.

Keep Up With Your Food And Water Intake

At the very least, we carry basic medications, band aids and/or bandages, and duct tape. You also can buy pre-packaged first aid kits from most major retailers. We had mixed feelings about putting a thermos on the “optional” list, but because of its heavy weight, we understand if it doesn’t make the cut.

Cold weather propane cooking could use as much as three times more fuel, and liquid fuel stoves twice as much. Pack your gear in the right order – both personal and camp gearWinter camping even affects the order in which you pack your gear. Pack your camp gear so that the pieces you want first are packed last, then you won’t have to dig through the whole load to get to your tents first.Unpack coolers first.