Camping in the winter.

Some personal tips for cold weather camping/sleeping:

1. Use a ground pad for under your sleeping bag. The ground will draw all the warmth from your body very quickly. At a minimum use something like a yoga mat, but the thicker the better. I use a thin dense foam mat and lay an insulated space blanket under that to help reflect heat back up. Inflatable matts are great during the summer, but winter I like foam as an insulator.

2. Good sleeping bag. Down is excellent and my favorite BUT if it gets wet you are in trouble. If you don't think you can stay dry, go with synthetic. If you are car/truck camping a wool blanket is good to have on hand as wool insulates even when wet, so a scratchy old USGI green blanket is a lifesaver.

3. Strip down before getting into bed. Bring your clothes into the bag to keep them toasty when you have to get back up, but inside your bag you should be wearing the minimum amount of clothing you can tolerate. This not only keeps you warmer, it stops you from sweating (moisture is bad), and allows you to climatize when you get back out.

4. Have a snack before bed. I don't care about your diet and "no eating after 8pm" rules, just a small snack before bed can raise you body temperature up to 3° while you digest and make sleeping in the cold much more comfortable.

5. A candle lantern can put out a lot of reliable heat in a small 2 or 3 person tent. Obviously it is a semi open flame, so you need to be careful, but I have camped during the winter in the Adirondacks and a candle lantern can be your best friend both for light and warmth.

6. Share a sleeping bag. Nothing better than some extra body heat to make a 50° sleeping bag good to down closer to 20°. This goes well for both significant others, and also emergencies where you need to prevent or treat a cold weather injury.

 

Damn some Great info here!!!!