How to Stay Warm When Winter Camping
You cannot escape cold temperatures when you go winter camping. However, with his guide, you do not have to let the thought of frigid fingers and toes stop you from pursuing a overnight ski tour or snowshoe adventure. With the right tips and tricks, you can absolutely stay warm when winter camping and get the rest you need to be able to to charge on the next day.
Dress in Layers
Dress to impress for cold-weather camping. Dressing in multiple layers - including base layers, mid-layers, puffy and shell jackets - gives you greater control over regulating your body temperature. As long as you move through the activities of the day, you will work up body heat. As you do, it’s important to avoid sweating because as it dries, sweat cools, wrapping you in a cold cocoon. Managing your body heat by constantly adding and subtracting layers helps you prevent sweating as much as possible - a key component of staying warm on winter adventures.
Get Out of Sweaty Clothes.
Once you are done with a day’s activities, camp is constructed, and you are ready to settle down for the evening, remote your sweaty layers ASAP. While it may be hard to stripe down when it’s so cold out, you will be grateful you did. Throwing on dry clothes (including dry socks), revives your warmth. Then, layer up with as many pieces as you need to feel comfortable. Finally, top it off with a puffy jacket.
Two Sleeping Pads are Better than One.
Camping mattresses insulate you from the cold ground and snow. By having two sleeping pads, you will have greater insulation and warmth than using just one. A pad’s warmth (or thermal resistance) is measured by its R-value, and the R-values of two pads add together to offer combined insulating power.
Layer Up a Sleeping Bag + Quilt
Being able to find the gear that offers winter warmth yet that remains light and compact in an overnight pack can be tough. That is where layering your winter sleeping bag with a featherweight quilt can be a game-changer. These days, advanced materials make sleeping bags and quilts lighter and more efficient than ever. For hardly any weight penalty a featherweight quilt provides insurance against the coldest of nights, delivering that extra layer of ultralight warmth that can make all the difference.
Put a Hot Water Bottle in Your Core Region
The typical advice is to fill a water bottle with hot water and place it on your toes. Instead, place it at your groin. From that core position, it will heat the blood that travels throughout your body, reaching all of your extremities and warming your whole body up faster. The difference is noticeable and this little trick might just be the first one you pass along to the next camper. Just remember - to use caution when dealing with hot water, as it’s easy to burn yourself, and be sure to crank down that lid to prevent leaks.
Vent Out your Tent
Airflow in your ten is important during the winter. As you breathe, you release hot vapor inside the tent. When those water droplets hit the cold tent fabric, they collect as condensation, which freezes. Opening the vents on your tent, even partially, helps prevent you from waking up entombed in an icebox of frost that will later melt, making you wet and miserable.
Eat and Drink - A Lot
Your body burns calories to stay warm, so snacking constantly keeps your internal furnace churning. At night, high-fat and high-protein foods burn slower than high-carb meals and keep you sustained (and warmer) longer.
Hydration is also a key factor in how well your body functions in the cold. Allowing yourself to become dehydrated only strains your ability to stay warm. Drinking plenty of water reduces fatigue. If all that water causes the need to go in the middle of the night, do so. Your body spends energy to heat the liquid in your bladder, so the trip outside is worth it.
Make a Fire
When you are camping in the cold, fires are not just evenings - they are nice to have in the mornings too. Keep a fire going when you are hanging out at the camp to help you stay warm.
