I am homeless in New England for the first time. I am currently living in a tent in the woods and we are a week away from December. It's already dropping to the teens at night and winter hasn't even hit yet. A lot of these tips should be common sense but yet I did learn some new things from this video. Thank You for your info
This about chemical warmers. When I hand them out to the homeless I also give them a small ziplock bag. The warmers work when exposed to oxygen. After use for, let’s say an hour, put them in the ziplock bag, squeeze out the air and seal the bag. The warm ‘chemical’ reaction will stop but will reactivate when exposed to oxygen again. They can last for several days that way.
I'm not familiar with that kind. The heat packets I have are sealed and depend on an internal reaction. Can you identify the oxygen dependent ones so I can look into them please?
These tips could save lives or at least toes and feet. Frost is the enemy. No matter how much it might suck, get out of your moist clothes and into something dry in cold environments. Thank you for this video. I actually like to camp in cold weather. Wool is your friend.
Just to add to the points about getting warm before bed… your body will need to burn lots of calories to keep itself warm during the night. I usually have a warm meal and cup of tea before bed or something high in calories at least. Turns my body into an oven and it’s a great excuse to eat a Snickers at midnight!
I have done a little winter camping and these tips are all correct. While i am only 1/2 Swedish, I can speak little. It always amazes me how good the English language is spoken by others.
Don't worry about it too much. Your English can improve with practice. But the most important thing is that you can communicate well enough to convey your message. After that it just makes you sound better to others, but they only need to understand you well enough.
I served in the US Army in the interior of Alaska. Most of the topics you covered were part of our Artic training during my time there some 45 years ago. Great video!
@@walrusrobot5483And what kind of shoes do you walk in ? Actually your comment is disgraceful, disrespectful to people who contributes to your safety AND of mine.
A mistake by me in Mistake nr 2 when translating Celcies to Fahrenheit. I talk about that the fleece inlet/liner gives an increase of 10 C. An increase of 10 C is the same as 18 F not 50 F as written in the video. Sorry for that and thank you to all of you addressing this. 🙏 /Stina
Hello from Alaska, Stina. Great advice. Learned that last tip the hard way. Two of us, plus my little dachshund who nestled inside the foot of the sleeping bag, spent a -40 below F night in the Wrangell mountain area. The bags were warm, we had good pads, with just our faces feeling cold during the night. But when we awoke, there were stalactites of frost hanging down from the tent ceiling above us. As soon as we attempted to get up, the hoarfrost crystals rained down on us, and all over our bags. What a mess. 😹
Enjoyed the tips that you have shared. I have done some winter camping in Ontario, Canada. One thing I like to do is set a large stone near the fire to get it nice and warm. I wrap it in two towels and put it in my sleeping bag. I sleep on my back with the rock under my knees. If it feels like the rock is getting cold, I take one of the towels off. What is nice is that the rock remains warm all night. I have never been cold.
Rocks can explode if they have water in them and you put them on the fire. Avoid porous rocks or rocks from stream beds and such (which are tempting as they're rounder). If a rock on the fire explodes it sends rock shards and burning embers everywhere.
I teach cold weather camping and your video has great tips. An additional tip is to not go to sleep hungry, we need fuel to warm our body, and I question wearing a wet layer on top of a dry layer. The wet clothing worn inside a sleeping bag adds moisture inside the bag reducing the insulation properties of the sleeping bag and making your dry clothing damp. This needs to be avoided similar to not breathing in the sleeping bag.
Yeah, my biggest concern was how little attention was paid to making sure to eat a heavy meal before going to sleep. It is the food that is the basis for all the heat you will give off during the night.
Completely agree with all of your tips! The last tip you shared about tent ventilation is super hard for beginners to understand - I see people all over social media improperly state that 4 season tent "X" will keep you warmer because it has a solid inner tent. I wish more people understood that tents are designed to keep you dry, but not necessarily warm. That's what a cozy down sleeping bag is for! Keep those vents open in the winter!
We spend a lot of time on a boat and we never suffer from condensation inside like others do. Lots of heat, lots of air circulating through clear vents and small open windows.
The water bottle in a sock is a great tip as you also get unfrozen water in the morning. At night I use a really lightweight balaclava to keep my head warm, I find a hat slips off too easily. Also a cheap foil mat on the floor helps stop the cold ground draining any warmth away when sitting in the tent.
For a condensation barrier I prefer the Rumpl stashmat or Nemo Victory blanket which fits most 2P tents perfectly. The larger Nemo blanket is great for 3P tents. The Rumpl is more packable. If you’re sledding, synthetic quilts make great carpets. The idea here, as our host stated, is to stop ground condensation from wetting out your sleeping mat.
@@SuzanneStrohwhat tense besides the expensive hilliver tents are good for winter and water if you're homeless I'm sure they have a hard time finding a tent that keeps water out
Very good video. The only thing you omitted… which would apply at ANY temperatures… DO NOT PITCH YOUR TENT UNDER OR NEAR MATURE TREES! This is the most common mistake I see many of the so called “experts” make when making a camp. One only needs to google “tree falls on campers” to see how often people are killed or injured making this mistake. Wind, ice, and snow accumulation can and often does send large limbs or entire trees crashing down on campers.
Most of my winter camping has been either in the open or in lean-to or brush shelter, tree hole, quinzee, igloo, drift dugout, sometimes in tent. Yet in all that time (maybe 30 years?) having a tree fall on me never once crossed my mind! Just lucky? As the old song says, "Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey I cry--If a tree don't fall on me, I'll live 'til I die."
Trees in northern Scandinavia are like the trees most people are used too. They not as tall as you're likely to find in say the Continental US or Central Europe. The environment in Artic regions is quite a bit different. Personally, I would want to avoid camping in the open; especially in windy conditions.
...hot ideas for cold weather camping!...a mohair throw inside bag work well and packs tightly...doubling lighter bags is an approach I have also used...setting up tent onto thick mattress of conifer branches works...anyway, your post is a delight, your english is marvellous and your tours are easy to imagine as being bracing fun, especially with the animal element in them...on go and well be, you canny swedehearts!...
I have done some backpacking camping in the winter when there was ice and snow covering the ground and the temp was well below zero F. One thing I always did was test my equipment with a car camping trip first. That way if something was didn't work out I could beat a hasty retreat to the car if I needed to. Overnight car camping trips let me know what worked and what didn't and what I might need to do to improve my equipment and my preparations before I actually went out on the trail for several days. That is my #1 tip. The things you reviewed in this video are things that I had to learn from experience and I agree with everything you said. Plus, I always carried a candle lantern with me to use in the tent. The Pink Lady candles would burn most of the way through the long winter nights. They would knock a lot of the sharp chill out of the air and keep the frost from forming on the tent walls while they were burning. Also, I would take my boots off and put them under the foot of my sleeping bag to keep them from freezing and put on a fresh pair of wool socks to sleep in. I hate trying to put on a pair of frozen leather boots in the morning. I kept everything in the same place in my backpack all the time. I never had to wonder where this was or that was. I knew where it was and could got right to it in the dark. I preferred a fiberfill sleeping bag if I was going to be on the train more than two nights. Although heavier and bulkier the fiberfill wouldn't absorb incipient body moisture as much as down would. The down would lose some of its loft and warm insulating value. The fiberfill maintain loft better on an extended trip
I would suggest putting on a clean dry pair of socks to sleep in. I was given a top tip once, by a Norwegian colleague to use a quilted jacket zipped up as a 'bag' to put your feet in if you suffer with cold feet, while sleeping. Great video thanks.
I’ve done winter tent camping. All your advice is excellent. I add: wear two pair of wool socks to bed, or one pair of rag wool socks with silk liner socks. Long silk underwear is also quite warm. I’d wear long silk underwear for cross country skiing, and it worked perfectly to stay warm And dry. Great for sleeping, too.
Unless you're like me and have oddly warm feet. I don't wear socks in my bag because they're damp by morning. It might be due to wearing minimal shoes almost all year. I can walk barefoot when it's above 40 degrees when I play with the dogs in the yard after it starts snowing.
Good tip. I’ve actually switched to down booties worn over dry wool socks and it makes a world of difference. Even better are the microlight booties from Enlightened Equipment. Amazingly warm.
You hit a lot of great points! There are lots of videos on cold weather camping, but yours hits some of the more discreet parts of success and mistakes in winter camping. You mentioning the hat was one. Not everyone wears or likes to wear a hat, but your explanation for why you want one is spot on! The example in explaining why you shouldn't get into a sleeping bag while cold makes sense and is a more powerful explanation to /why/ someone shouldn't do that. There are videos saying not to get into a sleeping bag while cold; yours is the only video that explains why it isn't conducive to success. Well done! Well thought out video!
I agree and disagree with you. I liked the video I agree that the advices are really great and based on the real experience, but the theoretical explanations of the reasoning behind the advices is a bit misleading in some cases. Your sleeping bag doesn't keep cold inside if you're "cold". Your body is still significantly warmer than outside air (otherwise you're already dead), so the sleeping bag still keeps warmth from escaping, it doesn't keep cold inside. The last doesn't even make a sense from scientific point of view. Any isolation keeps warmth, not cold, from getting to the other side. Warming up before going into the bag is more about making you feel warmth and comfort by getting more blood into the skin that is going to touch very cold fabric of the cold sleeping bag. Also, while keeping even 10% of your warmth is important when it's very cold, our body is not a "thermos flask" and we're loosing warmth more or less proportionally to exposed skin area. There is no scientific proof of the myth about the head being more important than any other body part (regarding how fast we're loosing warmth). Again, from point of view of WHAT to do (and what don't) the video is really great. But if we're talking about "powerful explanation to WHY" then I disagree.
@@avatorl_in_a_hammock The sleeping bag is the thermos representation, not our bodies. I have had a few trips over the years where I had to clock out and hike out in the middle of the night to avoid hypothermia. I can say with certainty on those trips while there were other factors that likely contributed to my failure, I certainly tried to tuck into my sleeping bag while cold, tired, and potentially not well-hydrated. The thermos explanation makes sense and of course is exaggerated for the example, but it helped to click in my brain /why/ it is more valuable to get some body heat built up first before tucking in.
It is better to add any extra insulation underneath you rather than on top because the thermal capacity of the ground is much higher and any heat is drawn quicker down into the ground than into the air. Besides, in the morning,if you have slept on your jacket it will be warmer than if it was on top of your sleeping bag.
All great tips. #5 I've been telling people that one for years. Even in the summer camping in the mountains. Took some young campers up the mountains and said bring a beanie. They thought i was crazy. One didn't didn't bring a beanie and was cold all night. Good ventilation is very important. Thanks for sharing!😊
A pair of down booties is a MUST for me! Nothing ruins a good night's sleep more than cold feet. I wear my merino neck gaiter over my mouth & nose too.
Wear a pair of over sized wool socks at night. Also the clothes I sleep in are not worn at any other time. I want them bone dry, and no food smell as I camp in bear country. A Alpaca or Wool beanie are great to keep warm. At night I also use a wool baklava as my beanie slips off, when I toss and turn.
This was an excellent video. Your tips are spot on. I have been a soldier for over 40 years, a survival instructor for many years, and have winter “camped” for over 45 years. Everything you said was exactly right. My only addition would be that cotton should not even be taken with you on winter trips. It’s a killer!! Not tee-shirts, not underwear, and definitely not socks! Wool (preferably merino wool) or a wool blend is recommended for every layer. It’s not scratchy like it used to be and doesn’t stink after a short time like synthetics do. Also, I would be inclined to take along some down bootees for wearing in your sleeping bag. They pack down to nothing and are a great addition to keeping warm, especially for those who don’t have the greatest circulation. I second that fleece sleeping bag insert. Not only does it increase the warmth eating if your sleeping bag, but it feels so much cosier. Great video. Well done!
Thanks! It’s always lovely to get feedback like this. 😃 In northern Sweden we sometimes use cotton as the outer layer. It’s wind-proof and ventilated so you doesn’t get condensation like you get with gore tex.
I was on Mt Shasta last week and I made the huge mistake of closing the vents. My bag was damp and lucky I was still just warm enough to make it through the early morning hours. Everything turned to ice. Fortunately it was a beautiful morning so I was able to quickly dry out the tent. Big lesson learned
mount Shasta is such a creepy mountain. Even old native americans say they will not venture above the treeline. Many people have disappeared up there. Stay safe and Pray!
I hike in Smokey Mountains sometimes in winter. These are all great suggestions. I would like to add 2 things. If you can do cold water swim acclimatization process in weeks before doing a winter hike , it helps so much. It is a build up process that one can get used to and you will find you simply do not get cold like before. Also, if you ever have a fire in the winter, simply put a few rocks in the fire then carefully place the rocks in your tent for the night, taking care to put them in pot or something so as not damage your tent. They will release heat n help warm your tent.
This can be dangerous as rocks with water trapped inside can explode when the steam pressure builds up when they're on the fire, sending rock flakes and burning embers everywhere. Make sure you don't use rocks from a stream bed or porous rocks.
If you have the right gear and you know how to use clothing to keep warm, you don't need a fire. Smokies in the dead of winter. Been there, done that for years. Never needed fire.
I read that 11 minutes a week in a cold shower will make your body produce "brown fat," which is the insulating type. It doesn't have to be all in one shower or bath.
Excellent winter camping tips. Thank you ! My best advice for winter camping on a budget would be to take 2 inexpensive mummy bags and tuck the smaller one inside the big one. Works great if you can't afford a 300 dollar arctic bag. Stayed warm one winter using two 30 dollars bags.
It's a common misconception that the smaller should be inside the bigger one, but as moisture from your body evaporates it will "travel" towards the cold outside and get trapped in the outer most bag regardless of whether this is the small one or the big one. If your outer most bag is your big bag you'll loose a lot more "total insulation" as opposed to if it was the small bag. That's why you should actually have the smaller bag on the outside. Hope my explanation made sense 😅
@4:08 "inlet" is also known as a sleeping bag liner. Another advantage of using a liner is that I occasionally wash my (fleece) sleeping bag liners but don't wash the sleeping bag itself (to not crush its loft). A sleeping bag designed for cold weather has a draft tube, which is an additional drawstring inside the hood to cinch the bag around your neck. Getting in and out of the bag is a bit more involved but the draft tube makes the bags much warmer because it holds the heat inside the sleeping bag.
the collar is actually called....a collar, and is inside the bag at the neck and usually has a way to cinch it around your neck. The tube around the hood rarely is called anything, but yes, it works and most winter bags have one. The draft tube is the tube along the zipper. (I was on the outdoor committees that decide ASTM standards for sleeping bags. sleeping bag liners are liked by some, but frankly, I find they are not worth the weight that they add. I would rather trade that weight for an equal weight more of down. Yes, they keep your bag "cleaner" but that shouldn't really be a problem.
@@paulkramer4176 after a year of using my sleeping bag I really felt that it needed washing. There were nights when I would sweat quite a lot at some point. If I'd used a proper liner I wouldn't have needed to have it washed and although the laundry claimed they knew what they were doing I was very afraid about the loft
Ah, thanks! I wondered about this a bit, but now the ’inlet’ makes a lot more sense. Definitely a thumbs up for a sleeping bag liner from here. 👍 A lot of people don’t seem to know about the liner option. I happen to have two, and in the warmest of summer months, just the liner may be warm enough for a good night’s sleep in certain areas, especially if you are a cold sleeper. I’ve also used mine as a lightweight, compact and quick & dirty set of ’bedsheets’ for indoor sleeping at times. 😁
Hej from an elderly couple in Jamtland, not too far from Lappland. :) We have two/three feet of snow here at the moment. We're a bit too old to be camping outdoors but we can take your advice and adapt it to cold weather situations anywhere, even indoors (temp this morning hit minus 17C :/ )
All great tips. Thank you. Sometimes clothes worn in the day might seem dry but can still be holding moisture. Best to have a special dry set for the sleeping bag. Often I remove socks, so I can put my feet together (like fingers in a mitten) Also like to keep the next days gloves in the sleeping bag with me as cold gloves can really steal the heat from warm hands. 👍🏼
I like to put the boots I've been wearing all day, in a waterproof bag & keep them inside my sleeping bag so they are warm when I put 'em on the next morning.
Used to slip the felt liners out of my boots, put them in a plastic bag, and stow them in my sleeping bag. Nice not to have to force my feet into frozen boots in the morning. I would sleep with tomorrow's long underwear, too.
Another way to deal with moisture from breathing while in the sleeping bag is to wear a wool buff around the neck/face. Then you can breathe through the buff material which is good for prewarming the air you breathe, but the moisture will collect on the buff instead of the sleeping bag. And the buff can be rotated to obtain a dry portion. This is not perfect, however it satisfies that desire to breathe warmer air without displacing it into the sleeping bag. Of course it is still important not to cover your face under the sleeping bag or it will still get wet.
Very good advice. Mistake number 8: Keeping stuff that can freeze outside you sleeping bag. Everything should be inside. That includes wet clothes (in a plastc bag), water filter, water, and certainly all electeonics. Also, prepare the hot water bottle as soon as you get to camp and stick it under your shirt. this will prevent mistake 3 I think it was, because you will be warm when you get in the sleeping bag.
Butane lighter need to be kept warm too. Propane for cooking can be a bit colder, but Boyle's Law relating to gas, volume , temperature and pressure still applies.
I always find myself ground hugging. I tend to sleep on my tummy. As you have said, it’s important to have good insulation under the bag. I also change into dry base layers, and if it’s really cold then I have a British army shell suit, as well as an arctic sleeping bag. I’m never cold 🥶. A great vid full of good material 👍
Happy to say that despite being a much (much, much, much) less experienced cold-weather camper, this is all stuff I do too - validation from a true expert is much appreciated! Now if I can just find the time to take one of your tours…
Never thought to exercise before climbing into the sleeping bag - I always shiver my way to warmth. Thank you for the great advice. I will be sure to try it next time.
Best thing I found is to eat well if you can because like you said body temperature is low when you are hungry .great tips thank you for videos like this are very useful especially for inexpieranced winter campers .
Excellent introduction to winter camping. Thanks! As a Nordic Ski Patroller (medic) in northwestern Pennsylvania I have taught US Army college student ROTC cadets wither survival. I love winter camping. No bugs and no people. MY TENTS-> Tatptent MOMENT DW (solo) andTarptent SCARP 2 (2 person) MY SLEEP SYSTEM-> Sea to SUMMET winter insulated (R 5.4) air mattress, sleeping bag is a 800 fill down -20 F. (-4 C.) mummy with DWR treated down. I've modified both tents with additional support poles inside the fly for heavy snow load and high winds.
Tip 8: At 3:00am, empty the now cold water from the nalgene botle, then pee into the nalgene bottle, then return to the sleeping footbox! 🤩 Tip 9: Don't forget to eat a little bit right before bed. Your body is the radiator (not the sleeping bag) and the heat comes from food! ..... Seriously though, on very cold MULTIDAY trips, how do you keep body vapor from freezing in the outer surface of the sleeping bag? In the US we have been putting synthetic or Alpha Direct 90gsm overbags over the down sleeping bags. That way the water condenses into the synthetic material and the down is spared!
Careful with hot water bottles. When they leak it can be bad. For body vapor you need a vapor barrier. In reality it's a lot better to have a hot tent for multi-day trips so you can dry stuff out.
When I was a kid, my parents bought me an Eskimo style coat, with a hood that protrudes out sort of like an igloo. I can't recommend this enough. Sounds like it would be great also if a sleeping hoodie were designed that way.
I really dislike something around my mouth getting wet from my breath. What works for me is a piece of fleece over my head and shoulders (side sleeper) with a “tunnel” about 3 to 5” long. Face on one side of the tunnel, open air on the other. Then I adjust it accordingly to feel like I’m getting enough fresh air while my face gets away from the worst of the cold.
I spent 9 full winters sleeping outside with no tent no fire in Massachusetts I love the snow . Never had any problem 2 sleeping bags + 3 blankets + plastic tarp I don't sleep in my jacket just the hoodie When getting inside sleeping bag for like 15 min keep your face out exposed to the cold your body warms up quicker and also when first getting inside your sleeping bag and still feeling cold try to not move any part of your body at all for a few minutes you'll feel your body warming up These are few things I've learn my self and they're very important I will share more tips next time I love your video thanks for sharing stay safe
Thank you for the detailed video! I moved here to Sweden from Texas 8 years ago. I love camping in the warmer months and have really been wanting to give winter camping a shot, but have been a little intimated by the conditions/my lack of knowledge. Slowly building up my kit, I will fix the rest and try it this winter :)
To get your confidence up, make your first winter outings either in your backyard or somewhere close to home. That way, if something does not work or goes wrong, you will have a short trip home. Once you are home, figure out what went wrong, and then take corrective actions for your next winter outing. Winter camping is a skill to be learned just like any other activity. Get out there!
Good and factual information. I can confirm all of that. It's coming from someone with experience. Meanwhile, there are too many “outdoor specialists” on TH-cam who seem to know how it works and are spreading some fake knowledge.
I always place all my outer wear either under my bag or on top of the bag over my feet, by morning they are remarkably dry and the ones under the bag are pre warmed while getting dressed back into then. great info.
Those are some good points you mentioned I have been winter camping for the last 4 years and they really work well for me I also want to mention that sometimes I put a body wormer pad inside the toe box of the sleeping bag and that keeps me nice and warm the entire night.
I wear GooseFeet brand of 100% overfilled 850 fill power Down booties because when I move my feet, the surrounding insulation moves with my feet to keep 'em comfy warm. It's a small Cottage Industry business in Seattle.
This is great! My main takeaway is that I can't believe I've never thought of it before. Your example of a cold body going into a sleeping bag is so simple yet so divine! I'm an Eagle Scout and this simple explanation I'll remember for my life and will teach my three kiddos when they go camping.
I agree with everything you said here except I never sleep with any clothes on because I will end up waking up soaked in sweat in the night.I have a good goose down sleeping bag and only sleep in my boxers and have found that the bag gets warmer quicker without layers of clothes.I have slept in 20 below farenheit and stayed plenty warm.The most important part of camping in the cold is a good thermal barrier between you and the ground.
I like a fleece balaclava for sleeping at night. You can put it over your mouth if you want to. Put your hot water bottle inside a waterproof bag! Occasionally they do leak … ask me how I know!
Excellent White Mountains of New Hampshire is where I have done winter camping. Special care of ventilation in 40 below zero F snow storm can compress the fly and cut off air and be bad problem. Need to get out and clean off tent to get air into tent and breath ok. My experience was tried to light a match to light a hanging stove and it was too high in co2 until clearing the vents. It caused a headache too.
Boat prosjekt ( oops, I should say boat learning project as I’m Hebr. 1/2 ) survived Hurricane Idalia; house interior demolished from mold danger ). Thank you ( Todah ) for cold weather tips, latitude variable if rowing or group sail
4:50 When I was in the Army, we were on a 2 week exercise out in the desert, and at night the temp dropped a lot. I came into the tent my sgts had set up, for dinner, shacking, and they told me to take my coat off. I thought they were crazy. They said, your jacket is cold, it's holding in the cold, take it off and stand near the heater. Worked like a charm. Pay attention to your sgts.
All solids tips. I would add, don’t forget to put your clothes your going to wear when you wake up in your sleeping bag. If you want to have fresh clothes in the morning put them in your sleeping bag so they are warm. I’ve forgotten to keep my jeans in my bag and when I woke up they were literally frozen and folded! Took me a bit to warm them in my bag and delayed my coffee😂
Not a criticism, but jeans on a winter camping trip? Denim just seems like the anathema to a winter camp. What with the lady's expressed opinion of anything cotton and such. Aside from the cotton issue, wouldn't they also still absorb moisture beside you all night in the bag? This all hinges of course, on what you meant by "jeans"....we were always told "no cotton of any kind in winter..." by the elders. Jeans in winter always spelled discomfort here in Canada, so your statement caught my attention and piqued my curiosity. Stay warm and be well✌️🇨🇦❄️
I don't winter camp (yet), but one thing that always makes me colder at night when camping or at home is if I have to pee. Sometimes I'm so tired/lazy/cold that I refuse to leave my sleeping bag (or bed) to pee...be it outside or in a pee bottle. Even though I KNOW that I'll be warmer if I just get up and go to the bathroom. Then, when I finally go -usually after several stubborn hours- I instantly feel sooooo much warmer. Would love to see a video about going to the bathroom during winter camping. How do you dig a proper cat hole in snow? Or do you use wag bags in your tent? Tips to keep you tushy (and labia) warm while going to the bathroom. Et cetera.
Good comments. I was in charge of design for a couple large outdoor suppliers in USA. I also started another company that was probably the #1 rated company in the US, (which I later sold and is not such anymore) Yeah, sleeping bag ratings are mostly used as trying to be competitive. A 20 Degree bag is not going to allow you to freeze to death at 20 F, but you might well be quite cold. Also, there is a huge difference in people's metabolism. One person might be fine, another freezing. The boiling of water and keeping it in your water bottle is a great tip. Frankly, so few know about this. I boil the water, put it in the water bottle and put the bottle between my legs. By later in the night, the bottle drifts downward (as I'm too warm) to my feet. This will make a cold situation absolutely comfortable. I agree very much about the pads. I use an inflatable, (yeah, Thermorest) AND a sheet or even two of the light weigh closed cell foam. Closed cell foam is best UNDER the thermorest frankly. This is more comfortable than above. And it makes a huge difference. YES, don't wear the socks you wore during the day. Wear DRY socks. As to long johns, yeah, wool is nice. Frankly the best ever was Malden's powerstretch, but they no longer make the original product. The new stuff is nowhere near as good. Yep, wear a hat. Yes, cotton is not the right material to bring in wet and cold places. Good point about the breathing. Yes, the moisture in your breath is very important. Agreed about the ventilation. And in that, try to keep your sleeping bag from touching the sidewalls of the tent. Another good product, in my opinion, was the old Gore, next to skin. Wear a top layer of that, and your core will stay dry. You might not like goretex in the rain, but when you are not moving a lot, not putting out a lot of moisture, Goretex, (PTFE) CAN keep up well with moisture. In addition, Gore works by temperature differential. So closer it is to the skin, the better. Anyway, I've found that when wearing the N2S, your skin is always dry, even if the outside of the fleece is wet. Anyway, Very good comments. I find most such are not very scientific, but this one I think is very correct.
Use a vapor barrier inliner. People think its like putting a garbage bag inside your sleeping bag but acutally its super comfortable. You wont even notice that its out of a plastic fibre. This way the sleeping bag does not get damp and you can go on for days without having to dry out your sleeping bag. "I use the Cocoon Vapor Barrier Liner Ripstop Nylon Large" its like 40$ and its lighter and smaller than any wool inliner but also helps with a few extra degree. Also as a guy I use a big opening bottle form my local thrift store to pee in. This way I never have to get up in the night. It takes practice tho!
I tend to slide off the matress during the night with my warmest sleeping bag, the materials are too slick. App 30 dots of hot glue to the mat fixed this.
Thanks for all the advise. I do cycle turism in Souh America (alone) ,most on the Andes over 4000 meters, and in the last cuple of years I trekked the few of the 6000 meters volcanos (with a guide) camping at -20 C. at least at night in the Puna Argentina( Llullaillaco and Socompa the most challenging ) I like the idea of the hot bottle inside the sleeping bag,the only thing I never try...will be next on my future trips. For insulations I use one of those alluminum sheet under the inflatable mattress. It's a little difficult to fold after the first time you open it,but it weight nothing, it cost nothing,last long enaugh and it works the best, try it. By by from Torino, Italy.
A thin merino wool balaclava works well if your nose/face get too cold when sleeping. Easy to breathe trough. If your feet get cold, you can try sticking the lower part of your sleeping bag into your backpack for an extra layer.
As an old Rocky Mountain elk hunter............this lady is RIGHT ON. UNDER bed insulation and tent ventilation are WAY too often overlooked.. Stay warm out there
Thank you very much. I really am grateful. I am a novice, just bought my first Hilleberg and it's being delivered soon. Can't wait for my first Expedition
You’re right, you need to keep your mouth and nose outside the sleeping bag but I have trouble sleeping when my face is freezing cold. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Good video! I live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and I am always looking for ways to stay warm and comfortable in the elements. I'm also a military retiree who spent many years in field conditions and all kinds of weather. I still swear by my arctic mummy bag, mukluks and lots of Gore Tex gear - especially my sleeping bag cover and field jacket.
Great video on staying warm and dry in the cold. I did not read through all the comments, so this may have already been covered. In very cold conditions on the Canadian prairie and Canadian arctic environments I was taught to have a nylon bag and place our boots inside the bag (not sealed). This would be placed under our sleeping bag and on top of the insulated mat. The bag would be placed under our knee area. Why? Nothing is worse than waking up to frozen boots that are not flexible enough to be put on your feet. Having the boots under the knee area also kept us from rolling around during the night. The use of down booties with insulated soles are great for those quick trips outside during the long night. Stay dry, stay warm, have fun!
Back in old days we also got the advice to place our ski boots inside our sleeping bag. I don’t know how many nights I have had crappy sleep because of my wet ski boots… /Matti
I went to Finnish Lapland in the winter, I was in love, so beautiful. I like the cold, it makes you feel alive. I would love to visit you someday for an excursion. Thank you for this nice explanation.
A tip for those who ignore these excellent tips: Have a space blanket handy for the possible awakening in the middle of the night to find cold feet. Place half of the space blanket under the knees and feet, then fold the other half up over the lower legs. Don't tuck it in, just let it lie loose. That should have your toes toasty in a few minutes.
@@acamparargentinayes, I've tried using space blankets when sleeping outside on a hammock in the spring because I was too cold to sleep and I would wake up completely wet and even colder. So while shivering and cold, I would have to change my clothes and make a fire fast so I didnt die lol
A Mighty Big Thank You for taking your time in sharing in a very caring way these 5 mistakes and solutions. Would allowing into your tent a dog or two help?
Depends on the sleeping bags, but it's a good idea if you have two medium good sleeping bags. We actually talk about this in this video: th-cam.com/video/xMae27xw3oA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=L5A1WTUMUJl6Koea
That's really super advice! I wish I could come on one of your expeditions! I've not camped under -5 degrees C, but one thing i did notice at that temperature was that when i switched from foam to an inflatable mattress i felt far colder. I assumed this was because the air in the mattress was so cold, so i ditched that, returned to using one or two foam mattresses, and added more layers atop. I also found a balaclava was really helpful, as was a hot water bottle and doing the star jumps!
Very good presentation. There is so much misinformation on keeping warm on You Tub from people who have never lived or worked in the cold. It is so important to have good air flow in the tent to let the body moisture escape.
This is a very good video! I wood add that you should avoid drinking too much alcool and eat well before sleeping as alcool will get you colder and food is the fuel for your body to produce eat during the night. I would never use the bottle trick if I'm alone in the cold far from a safe place. Getting your sleep system cold in freezing temperatures is a recipee for disaster. I prefer stucking some heat pads in my cloth. Puting something on your sleeping bag is OK as long as it's light enought that it won't compress it, otherwise it could reduce its efficiency.
I remember one time in northern Minnesota in the 90s when it was -30 degrees, and I was glad to have my car nearby with a full tank of gas in case I needed it. Having a backup is essential. Also, when hiking, I learned that having my boot a little loose could be beneficial to keeping my feet warm. We need good blood circulation to keep warm, and I always overtightened my boots in extreme weather, especially when hiking. I love this video. SKOL
All are really good tips, a couple I wish I knew a few years back. Sleeping in a tent if done right isn’t so horrible, it can be miserable in cases but it’s doable certainly.
Hypothermia is the enemy number one during Winter. Thanks for excellent suggestions. As a hiker in Finnish Lapland since 1983, I could add my 10 cents. Select carefully the tent placement to avoid excessively windy positions. Before hunkering down, eat something energetic with lots of fat in it. That will keep you warm later in the night as your stomach will start burning the food. I have sometimes become so warm after such a small but energetic meal that I had open up the sleeping bag during the cold night. Usually the coldest hour during the night is around 4 - 5 o'clock. Safe hiking!
I only use a thin rugg to sleep on. I stuck insulation from nature under the tent. Reed, tall grass, thin twigs etc. I have a piece of vapor barrier to cover the insulation under the tent. The transparent plastic stuff one use when building houses. It works for me and the whole tent floor becomes a mattress without any extra baggage.
I’ve made so many of these mistakes, really cool video. Yeah sorry 😂 Twice now my saviour has been a foil type survival blanket when I’ve been caught out, never leave home without it now. Thanks again.
At night, keep water bottles with their screw threads down. That is keep bottle upside down to prevent the threads from freezing shut. Also, try to keep the water bottle off of the snow, insulated, preferably inside the tent, where it is a little bit warmer than outside.
I have read that snow is a good insulator, so alternatively, at night you can bury your water in bottles or pots under at least a foot of snow to keep it from freezing. You can place them into a large bag or stuff sack to keep the snow from freezing on to your water vessel in the morning, but make sure to stake down a few tall markers to remember where exactly you buried it. I'm leaving on my first winter backpacking trip in a few weeks so, to me, this is just theory, but I'll be interested to try when it's -10C. Also, apply vaseline or lip balm on the threads of the bottle cap will keep it from freezing to the bottle.
@@antnguyen We keep water in 2L plastic pop bottles buried in the snow (toboggan or snowmobile camping, not backpacking!). If they've frozen, no big deal. Cut one open and dump the ice into a pot over the stove or fire. Heat slowly because you can actually burn ice.
Yes, all very good points. Remember being close to hyperthermia one night when I was age15. One must be very organized for simple transitons like bedding down and rising in the morning. I like to put a layer of balsam fur or spruce under the tent if it's handy. At age 77, I'm no longer fond of winter camping. Cheers from Northern Ontario.
Oooooh thank you ❤ exactly what i was expecting ! Will you really dry you wet layer if you sleep with them on top of you ? Won’t you keep the moisture inside the sleeping bag and then get cold ? Like breathing in does
I think it's not recommended in situations when you're really cold, rather when you're quite sure you'll be dry and want to dry a wet layer for tomorrow etc.. Similarly when walking and it's raining lightly - You can have all non-waterproof layers. The outer layer gets wet and dries out at the same time, while the layers inside stay dry and keep you warm.
Hi there, Thanks for your video! I used to be an Outdoors enthusiast years ago, but since i met my ex-wife who didn't like camping at all, I stopped going. I also have been in the army and to Bosnia in winter were, as part as a recon team, I had many cold night on snowy mountain tops. And I've done a tour through Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Your tips are a must for anyone who goes outdoors in extremer circumstances! I am in luck that everything you told was already known to me due too army training and own experiences, but that doesn't matter, always great to have conformation whether I still have the knowledge or forgot things. What I may add to your advice, from what I learned in the army, and very handy; Aluminium rescue blankets! Light, compatible, strong! They can be used on the floor, as extra layer to keep out the cold from the ground, but also as a loose layer between inner and outer tent or in the inner tent. As long as you can place them loose from the inner or outer tent so moist can't accumulate in between or on the tent sheets. They also can be used to direct warmth from a cooking device or isolate things you want to have isolated from anything, not only warmth or cold, but also separation from moist or dirt. When the sun is too hot you can use them above the tent to give it extra shadow and heat diversion and when it is cold but the sun shine, you can use them as heatreflector to heat things up a bit. I see you have a tent with crossed poles and it looked like an separate outer sheet (or did i see that wrong?). I bought myself a Hilleberg Namatj 3GT tunneltent in the nineties (still working well!). It had a single door on the side, so I let the factory make an opposite door in it, as well as an extra groundsheet which coveres both inner tent and living portal (I don't know what the word is in English, but I hope you understand what i mean) I will tell you why I choose this and then my question to you is; Do you agree or why not and why have you chosen for the tent you have? What are the benefits of that tent? I always like to learn! So; I studied lots of tents at that time and was searching for the best allround tent in every circumstance, vene the army. The reasons here are why I choose for this tent. - The tent itself; It is a three person, four season tunneltent. - I took a three person tent, but with in mind 2 persons maximum, so there is some extra living space and to store things. Also, it was a bit higher then a 2 person tent, which is better since I am reasonably tall (186 cm). It has a separate inner tent with a high, waterproof, ground sheet to keep out the water. It has lots of ventilation possibilities. The tentpoles are all equal in length and thickness. A total of three. This way, no matter the circumstances, you can not make mistakes in by accident placing the wrong length in the wrong pole holder. You have to stick all three in the tent on the same side, so putting it up is very easy to do on your own, even in the middle of the night or a storm or such. The inner and outer tent are connected. So the outer sheet does not have to be attached after the inner tent is set up. This way, in heavy rain or storm, no water will come in during the set-up fase and their is no chance that the outer sheet will suddenly blow away if by chance you haven't have a good enough grip while spreading it out. The whole tent is also just one big part which also prevent pieces get missing or blown away. I always learned that a geodesic or dome tent is stronger, but I have had extreme strong winds on mountain tops and hard winds with rain along the coastlines, but hardly ever had to use my extra guy ropes. And not even half of them provided. - The extra door ; Because wind can shift directions very quickly! When the wind is hard or cold or it also is raining, I still be able to have an opening faced off the wind side. This way entering and exiting is easier of course, but also with just sitting and cooking you loose more moist and have more room. And more ventilation as the door is double with a mesh liner that can be opened or closed too. - The extra ground sheet ; Because when camping on rough terrain, sharp stones, branches or thorns or whatever, it maybe can damage the sheet of the tent, which also is the groundsheet of the inner liner. So the extra sheet protects the actual original tent sheet. And when damaged can be replaced cheaper and easy instead of the whole tent is ruined. And of course in muddy terrain or with clay soil, the tent stays relatively clean and the extra sheet can be easily cleaned. Next to this, the living portal in front had no ground layer. so when staying in the tent with two or three people there is more space for everybody and/ or when leaving the bags and other material there, they can be stored relatively dry. So, a long story, but maybe a nice read for you and maybe you can tell me where I can better things. Thanks in advance!
In my experience, a down bag liner works better than fleece or wool. It fills all the dead space in your bag, and provides the optimal warmth for weight and bulk. I have an ultralight summer bag from Cumulus that weighs 200g and does the job very effectively.
Down layering is good. Just keep enough air in the bag to heat up! Constriction is the enemy. You want those blood vessels to open up! This is the number one reason people get cold in mummy bags that are too small for them. If your bag feels like a straight jacket, it is too small unless you are an alpinist dealing with severe space/weight issues in your pack.
@@SuzanneStroh Agreed - but filling the dead space inside the bag seems to give better bang for your buck in terms of warmth-for-weight than the same weight applied to an overbag. Expedition experts PHD Designs have deep-dived into the world of modular systems and this is their recommendation. My 215gm filler bag is half the weight of the Reactor bag liner, and less than double the price. I can tell you from personal experience that it's much more effective.
#7 in my experience shows up any time the ambient temperature is lower than the "dew point", which can be the case at elevation in the summertime even. So it's cool enough for the moisture to condense out of your expired breathing air.
everybody who is interested in camping should watch this video!! I totally agree with all of your "mistakes" and btw, i got the same sleeping bag from carinthia and I love it ;-) and I love wool
Hi! New subscriber from the Netherlands here. I really hope to be able to go on a snow adventure in near future! Miss the snow here! Loved the little exercise intermezzo!!😂
Thank you. Until now I was always only camping from May to September. But I'm thinking of winter camping too. My tent and insulated sleeping mat are already good for it, but now I need a winter-sleeping-bag. The winters here are not very cold, (around 0 Celsius), but they are wet (rainy). The main focus is to prevent anything to get wet, because wet = cold!
I'd start with a fleece liner like she suggests. Mine was pretty cheap ($30 if I remember correctly) and it really does make a big difference. I was able to bring a 0C degree bag down to -15C comfortably by adding a fleece liner and hot water bottle.
Amazing tips! Doing a little work out before we went sleeping on The Kungsleden would have definitely helped when we were there haha. We made the last mistake on ventilation for a long time, that makes such a difference! Great valuable video, thanks!
Many nights winter camping in the Colorado rockies with boy scouts at as much (little) as -20F (-30C): one way to warm yourself and bag is to get in fully dressed and change into sleeping garb inside bag; wet outer wear (if you've been wearing it, it is wet) will dry if hung up inside tent ...
Really good informative vid. I do all of those during my outings. I rarely put a hot water bottle in my bag but if needed I would. There are some really good and very inexpensive heater strips out now which are powered by USB power packs. Efficient and very warm. My thinking is if you have to do that you just don't have enough bag. The ratings are for extremes with all your clothes on. No where close to reality. If you are at 0 F you need a -20F bag at least. I want to be comfortable but most importantly how many times does the lying weatherperson get it totally wrong and mis the temp by at least 20 degrees. It happens all the time so my idea is the safety factor of 20 to 30%. Always error on the side of safety. We only have one life. Much as your checking the thickness of the ice. There are good real Merino wool army type blankets for sale. Heavy for back packing but great for sledding or auto, atv, even motorcycle camping. Liking your Hilleberg, which model is it? I have several. Now they offer a four person Savio. Brutally strong. You all take care do what you can with Matti. Be safe and have a fun winter best you can. See you.
Great idea! I have a pair of USB rechargeable hand warmers that can uncouple and be used separately, or click together to be used as one. They are a blessing!
There are sleeping bags that have this system integrated at the feet. After 10 min, it gets too warm, so you just unplugged the charger. In that case, you actually can get into your bag when you are cold with that system!
I am homeless in New England for the first time. I am currently living in a tent in the woods and we are a week away from December. It's already dropping to the teens at night and winter hasn't even hit yet. A lot of these tips should be common sense but yet I did learn some new things from this video. Thank You for your info
So sorry for your situation. Happy if I could help a bit. ❤️
Awful pickle. God help you. Gets too bad, like hypothermia, frost bite, don’t forget ER triage?
Good luck brother, I mean it. Ask for help if needed, no shame in that.
Sending good thoughts and prayers your way to get through this difficult time
I hope your situation is temporary. Stay warm, safe & Ck into shelters.
This about chemical warmers. When I hand them out to the homeless I also give them a small ziplock bag. The warmers work when exposed to oxygen. After use for, let’s say an hour, put them in the ziplock bag, squeeze out the air and seal the bag. The warm ‘chemical’ reaction will stop but will reactivate when exposed to oxygen again. They can last for several days that way.
Great tip! Thank you! /Stina
Nice tip!
That is awesome!
What a great idea and a very good tip about the ziplock bag. Thanks!
I'm not familiar with that kind. The heat packets I have are sealed and depend on an internal reaction. Can you identify the oxygen dependent ones so I can look into them please?
These tips could save lives or at least toes and feet. Frost is the enemy. No matter how much it might suck, get out of your moist clothes and into something dry in cold environments. Thank you for this video. I actually like to camp in cold weather. Wool is your friend.
Just to add to the points about getting warm before bed… your body will need to burn lots of calories to keep itself warm during the night. I usually have a warm meal and cup of tea before bed or something high in calories at least. Turns my body into an oven and it’s a great excuse to eat a Snickers at midnight!
😋 yepp! Fatty rich food is always good when out in the cold.
Can I eat a bag of Oreos?
@@deeprollingriver52 I don’t see any other way of surviving to be honest. Stay safe on those chilly nights.
I have done a little winter camping and these tips are all correct. While i am only 1/2 Swedish, I can speak little. It always amazes me how good the English language is spoken by others.
Its top of the notch englisch.
Don't worry about it too much. Your English can improve with practice. But the most important thing is that you can communicate well enough to convey your message. After that it just makes you sound better to others, but they only need to understand you well enough.
I served in the US Army in the interior of Alaska. Most of the topics you covered were part of our Artic training during my time there some 45 years ago. Great video!
Thanks
Yet you misspelled Arctic. Typical Army.
🇺🇸 Thanks for your service Sir!
@@walrusrobot5483And what kind of shoes do you walk in ? Actually your comment is disgraceful, disrespectful to people who contributes to your safety AND of mine.
Yes, I also attended "cold school" in Alaska.
A mistake by me in Mistake nr 2 when translating Celcies to Fahrenheit. I talk about that the fleece inlet/liner gives an increase of 10 C. An increase of 10 C is the same as 18 F not 50 F as written in the video. Sorry for that and thank you to all of you addressing this. 🙏 /Stina
Hi Stina. Thanks for the video. When you say an "inlet" - is that a sleeping bag liner? Or something different? Thank you.
Agree, that was very unclear. What is an inlet for a sleeping bag?
Yes, inlet= sleeping bag liner. Sorry, English is not my native tongue.
@@JOKKMOKKGUIDERNA Thank you. Really useful advice - lots I had not thought of before ❤️
@@JOKKMOKKGUIDERNA never apologise for that 😉
Hello from Alaska, Stina. Great advice.
Learned that last tip the hard way. Two of us, plus my little dachshund who nestled inside the foot of the sleeping bag, spent a -40 below F night in the Wrangell mountain area. The bags were warm, we had good pads, with just our faces feeling cold during the night. But when we awoke, there were stalactites of frost hanging down from the tent ceiling above us. As soon as we attempted to get up, the hoarfrost crystals rained down on us, and all over our bags. What a mess. 😹
Enjoyed the tips that you have shared. I have done some winter camping in Ontario, Canada. One thing I like to do is set a large stone near the fire to get it nice and warm. I wrap it in two towels and put it in my sleeping bag. I sleep on my back with the rock under my knees. If it feels like the rock is getting cold, I take one of the towels off.
What is nice is that the rock remains warm all night. I have never been cold.
Thanks for sharing!
Rocks can explode if they have water in them and you put them on the fire. Avoid porous rocks or rocks from stream beds and such (which are tempting as they're rounder). If a rock on the fire explodes it sends rock shards and burning embers everywhere.
I teach cold weather camping and your video has great tips. An additional tip is to not go to sleep hungry, we need fuel to warm our body, and I question wearing a wet layer on top of a dry layer. The wet clothing worn inside a sleeping bag adds moisture inside the bag reducing the insulation properties of the sleeping bag and making your dry clothing damp. This needs to be avoided similar to not breathing in the sleeping bag.
Yeah, my biggest concern was how little attention was paid to making sure to eat a heavy meal before going to sleep. It is the food that is the basis for all the heat you will give off during the night.
Completely agree with all of your tips! The last tip you shared about tent ventilation is super hard for beginners to understand - I see people all over social media improperly state that 4 season tent "X" will keep you warmer because it has a solid inner tent. I wish more people understood that tents are designed to keep you dry, but not necessarily warm. That's what a cozy down sleeping bag is for! Keep those vents open in the winter!
Agreed. Tents add 3-5F or warmth and that's it. So many people think the tent is the warm thing.
👍Thanks! We have got questions about that in the comments. /Stina
Yeah--keep the vents open, or be prepared for some snowfall INSIDE your tent in the morning!😨
Many people don’t know this. And then are confused why the inner tent is iced up!
We spend a lot of time on a boat and we never suffer from condensation inside like others do. Lots of heat, lots of air circulating through clear vents and small open windows.
The water bottle in a sock is a great tip as you also get unfrozen water in the morning. At night I use a really lightweight balaclava to keep my head warm, I find a hat slips off too easily. Also a cheap foil mat on the floor helps stop the cold ground draining any warmth away when sitting in the tent.
Space blankets work great, sound advice.
For a condensation barrier I prefer the Rumpl stashmat or Nemo Victory blanket which fits most 2P tents perfectly. The larger Nemo blanket is great for 3P tents. The Rumpl is more packable. If you’re sledding, synthetic quilts make great carpets. The idea here, as our host stated, is to stop ground condensation from wetting out your sleeping mat.
@@SuzanneStrohwhat tense besides the expensive hilliver tents are good for winter and water if you're homeless I'm sure they have a hard time finding a tent that keeps water out
Very good video. The only thing you omitted… which would apply at ANY temperatures… DO NOT PITCH YOUR TENT UNDER OR NEAR MATURE TREES! This is the most common mistake I see many of the so called “experts” make when making a camp. One only needs to google “tree falls on campers” to see how often people are killed or injured making this mistake. Wind, ice, and snow accumulation can and often does send large limbs or entire trees crashing down on campers.
Ohh there are so much to think about pitching a tent in winter and snow, so that will be a whole video for itself. That video is on our to-do list 😉.
Most of my winter camping has been either in the open or in lean-to or brush shelter, tree hole, quinzee, igloo, drift dugout, sometimes in tent. Yet in all that time (maybe 30 years?) having a tree fall on me never once crossed my mind! Just lucky? As the old song says, "Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey I cry--If a tree don't fall on me, I'll live 'til I die."
Trees in northern Scandinavia are like the trees most people are used too. They not as tall as you're likely to find in say the Continental US or Central Europe. The environment in Artic regions is quite a bit different. Personally, I would want to avoid camping in the open; especially in windy conditions.
In Germany we call this dead trees widowmakers.
...hot ideas for cold weather camping!...a mohair throw inside bag work well and packs tightly...doubling lighter bags is an approach I have also used...setting up tent onto thick mattress of conifer branches works...anyway, your post is a delight, your english is marvellous and your tours are easy to imagine as being bracing fun, especially with the animal element in them...on go and well be, you canny swedehearts!...
I have done some backpacking camping in the winter when there was ice and snow covering the ground and the temp was well below zero F. One thing I always did was test my equipment with a car camping trip first. That way if something was didn't work out I could beat a hasty retreat to the car if I needed to. Overnight car camping trips let me know what worked and what didn't and what I might need to do to improve my equipment and my preparations before I actually went out on the trail for several days. That is my #1 tip. The things you reviewed in this video are things that I had to learn from experience and I agree with everything you said. Plus, I always carried a candle lantern with me to use in the tent. The Pink Lady candles would burn most of the way through the long winter nights. They would knock a lot of the sharp chill out of the air and keep the frost from forming on the tent walls while they were burning. Also, I would take my boots off and put them under the foot of my sleeping bag to keep them from freezing and put on a fresh pair of wool socks to sleep in. I hate trying to put on a pair of frozen leather boots in the morning. I kept everything in the same place in my backpack all the time. I never had to wonder where this was or that was. I knew where it was and could got right to it in the dark. I preferred a fiberfill sleeping bag if I was going to be on the train more than two nights. Although heavier and bulkier the fiberfill wouldn't absorb incipient body moisture as much as down would. The down would lose some of its loft and warm insulating value. The fiberfill maintain loft better on an extended trip
I would suggest putting on a clean dry pair of socks to sleep in. I was given a top tip once, by a Norwegian colleague to use a quilted jacket zipped up as a 'bag' to put your feet in if you suffer with cold feet, while sleeping. Great video thanks.
I’ve done winter tent camping. All your advice is excellent. I add: wear two pair of wool socks to bed, or one pair of rag wool socks with silk liner socks. Long silk underwear is also quite warm. I’d wear long silk underwear for cross country skiing, and it worked perfectly to stay warm And dry. Great for sleeping, too.
Unless you're like me and have oddly warm feet. I don't wear socks in my bag because they're damp by morning. It might be due to wearing minimal shoes almost all year. I can walk barefoot when it's above 40 degrees when I play with the dogs in the yard after it starts snowing.
Good tip. I’ve actually switched to down booties worn over dry wool socks and it makes a world of difference. Even better are the microlight booties from Enlightened Equipment. Amazingly warm.
You hit a lot of great points! There are lots of videos on cold weather camping, but yours hits some of the more discreet parts of success and mistakes in winter camping. You mentioning the hat was one. Not everyone wears or likes to wear a hat, but your explanation for why you want one is spot on! The example in explaining why you shouldn't get into a sleeping bag while cold makes sense and is a more powerful explanation to /why/ someone shouldn't do that. There are videos saying not to get into a sleeping bag while cold; yours is the only video that explains why it isn't conducive to success. Well done! Well thought out video!
Thank you🙏 for feedback and happy you liked it!
I agree and disagree with you. I liked the video I agree that the advices are really great and based on the real experience, but the theoretical explanations of the reasoning behind the advices is a bit misleading in some cases. Your sleeping bag doesn't keep cold inside if you're "cold". Your body is still significantly warmer than outside air (otherwise you're already dead), so the sleeping bag still keeps warmth from escaping, it doesn't keep cold inside. The last doesn't even make a sense from scientific point of view. Any isolation keeps warmth, not cold, from getting to the other side. Warming up before going into the bag is more about making you feel warmth and comfort by getting more blood into the skin that is going to touch very cold fabric of the cold sleeping bag. Also, while keeping even 10% of your warmth is important when it's very cold, our body is not a "thermos flask" and we're loosing warmth more or less proportionally to exposed skin area. There is no scientific proof of the myth about the head being more important than any other body part (regarding how fast we're loosing warmth).
Again, from point of view of WHAT to do (and what don't) the video is really great. But if we're talking about "powerful explanation to WHY" then I disagree.
@@avatorl_in_a_hammock The sleeping bag is the thermos representation, not our bodies.
I have had a few trips over the years where I had to clock out and hike out in the middle of the night to avoid hypothermia. I can say with certainty on those trips while there were other factors that likely contributed to my failure, I certainly tried to tuck into my sleeping bag while cold, tired, and potentially not well-hydrated.
The thermos explanation makes sense and of course is exaggerated for the example, but it helped to click in my brain /why/ it is more valuable to get some body heat built up first before tucking in.
It is better to add any extra insulation underneath you rather than on top because the thermal capacity of the ground is much higher and any heat is drawn quicker down into the ground than into the air. Besides, in the morning,if you have slept on your jacket it will be warmer than if it was on top of your sleeping bag.
Yes I was told when I was a young camper.. one insulating layer underneath is worth 2 on top
All great tips. #5 I've been telling people that one for years. Even in the summer camping in the mountains. Took some young campers up the mountains and said bring a beanie. They thought i was crazy. One didn't didn't bring a beanie and was cold all night. Good ventilation is very important. Thanks for sharing!😊
👍Yes, we always has and recomend to bring a beanie during all seasons.
A pair of down booties is a MUST for me! Nothing ruins a good night's sleep more than cold feet. I wear my merino neck gaiter over my mouth & nose too.
👍 For me it's enough with double wool socks but I also wear a merino buff (neckgaiter) in the nights, forgot to mention that 😉 . /Stina
Thanks for those Stina. I can almost hear Matti sigh in the background when you tackle mistake 7 Ventilation 😜
I have Cold Avenger mask for sleeping. Works well for that, otherwise has some misleading marketing claims.
Wear a pair of over sized wool socks at night. Also the clothes I sleep in are not worn at any other time. I want them bone dry, and no food smell as I camp in bear country. A Alpaca or Wool beanie are great to keep warm. At night I also use a wool baklava as my beanie slips off, when I toss and turn.
This was an excellent video. Your tips are spot on. I have been a soldier for over 40 years, a survival instructor for many years, and have winter “camped” for over 45 years. Everything you said was exactly right. My only addition would be that cotton should not even be taken with you on winter trips. It’s a killer!! Not tee-shirts, not underwear, and definitely not socks! Wool (preferably merino wool) or a wool blend is recommended for every layer. It’s not scratchy like it used to be and doesn’t stink after a short time like synthetics do. Also, I would be inclined to take along some down bootees for wearing in your sleeping bag. They pack down to nothing and are a great addition to keeping warm, especially for those who don’t have the greatest circulation. I second that fleece sleeping bag insert. Not only does it increase the warmth eating if your sleeping bag, but it feels so much cosier. Great video. Well done!
Thanks!
It’s always lovely to get feedback like this. 😃
In northern Sweden we sometimes use cotton as the outer layer. It’s wind-proof and ventilated so you doesn’t get condensation like you get with gore tex.
I was on Mt Shasta last week and I made the huge mistake of closing the vents. My bag was damp and lucky I was still just warm enough to make it through the early morning hours. Everything turned to ice. Fortunately it was a beautiful morning so I was able to quickly dry out the tent. Big lesson learned
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mount Shasta is such a creepy mountain. Even old native americans say they will not venture above the treeline. Many people have disappeared up there. Stay safe and Pray!
I hike in Smokey Mountains sometimes in winter. These are all great suggestions. I would like to add 2 things. If you can do cold water swim acclimatization process in weeks before doing a winter hike , it helps so much. It is a build up process that one can get used to and you will find you simply do not get cold like before. Also, if you ever have a fire in the winter, simply put a few rocks in the fire then carefully place the rocks in your tent for the night, taking care to put them in pot or something so as not damage your tent. They will release heat n help warm your tent.
This can be dangerous as rocks with water trapped inside can explode when the steam pressure builds up when they're on the fire, sending rock flakes and burning embers everywhere. Make sure you don't use rocks from a stream bed or porous rocks.
If you have the right gear and you know how to use clothing to keep warm, you don't need a fire. Smokies in the dead of winter. Been there, done that for years. Never needed fire.
I read that 11 minutes a week in a cold shower will make your body produce "brown fat," which is the insulating type. It doesn't have to be all in one shower or bath.
Good Idea! Greetings from Switzerland ❤
There is no E in the Smoky Mountains ;)
Excellent winter camping tips. Thank you ! My best advice for winter camping on a budget would be to take 2 inexpensive mummy bags and tuck the smaller one inside the big one. Works great if you can't afford a 300 dollar arctic bag. Stayed warm one winter using two 30 dollars bags.
Yes, double sleeping bags work great. I started out like that when we couldn't afford the more expensive winter bags. /Stina
It's a common misconception that the smaller should be inside the bigger one, but as moisture from your body evaporates it will "travel" towards the cold outside and get trapped in the outer most bag regardless of whether this is the small one or the big one. If your outer most bag is your big bag you'll loose a lot more "total insulation" as opposed to if it was the small bag. That's why you should actually have the smaller bag on the outside.
Hope my explanation made sense 😅
@@NorMarkus Both bags were the same size. 😂
@4:08 "inlet" is also known as a sleeping bag liner. Another advantage of using a liner is that I occasionally wash my (fleece) sleeping bag liners but don't wash the sleeping bag itself (to not crush its loft). A sleeping bag designed for cold weather has a draft tube, which is an additional drawstring inside the hood to cinch the bag around your neck. Getting in and out of the bag is a bit more involved but the draft tube makes the bags much warmer because it holds the heat inside the sleeping bag.
Yepp! Liners/inlets also keep the sleeping bag clean. It's those drawstrings I talked about. 👍
Silk is even better, being warmer.
the collar is actually called....a collar, and is inside the bag at the neck and usually has a way to cinch it around your neck. The tube around the hood rarely is called anything, but yes, it works and most winter bags have one. The draft tube is the tube along the zipper. (I was on the outdoor committees that decide ASTM standards for sleeping bags. sleeping bag liners are liked by some, but frankly, I find they are not worth the weight that they add. I would rather trade that weight for an equal weight more of down. Yes, they keep your bag "cleaner" but that shouldn't really be a problem.
@@paulkramer4176 after a year of using my sleeping bag I really felt that it needed washing. There were nights when I would sweat quite a lot at some point. If I'd used a proper liner I wouldn't have needed to have it washed and although the laundry claimed they knew what they were doing I was very afraid about the loft
Ah, thanks! I wondered about this a bit, but now the ’inlet’ makes a lot more sense. Definitely a thumbs up for a sleeping bag liner from here. 👍 A lot of people don’t seem to know about the liner option. I happen to have two, and in the warmest of summer months, just the liner may be warm enough for a good night’s sleep in certain areas, especially if you are a cold sleeper. I’ve also used mine as a lightweight, compact and quick & dirty set of ’bedsheets’ for indoor sleeping at times. 😁
Hej from an elderly couple in Jamtland, not too far from Lappland. :) We have two/three feet of snow here at the moment. We're a bit too old to be camping outdoors but we can take your advice and adapt it to cold weather situations anywhere, even indoors (temp this morning hit minus 17C :/ )
All great tips. Thank you. Sometimes clothes worn in the day might seem dry but can still be holding moisture. Best to have a special dry set for the sleeping bag. Often I remove socks, so I can put my feet together (like fingers in a mitten) Also like to keep the next days gloves in the sleeping bag with me as cold gloves can really steal the heat from warm hands. 👍🏼
Great tip!
I like to put the boots I've been wearing all day, in a waterproof bag & keep them inside my sleeping bag so they are warm when I put 'em on the next morning.
@@azclaimjumper Great tip. I put all clothes I want to wear next day that go next to my skin in the bag with me too.
Used to slip the felt liners out of my boots, put them in a plastic bag, and stow them in my sleeping bag. Nice not to have to force my feet into frozen boots in the morning. I would sleep with tomorrow's long underwear, too.
Another way to deal with moisture from breathing while in the sleeping bag is to wear a wool buff around the neck/face. Then you can breathe through the buff material which is good for prewarming the air you breathe, but the moisture will collect on the buff instead of the sleeping bag. And the buff can be rotated to obtain a dry portion. This is not perfect, however it satisfies that desire to breathe warmer air without displacing it into the sleeping bag. Of course it is still important not to cover your face under the sleeping bag or it will still get wet.
I usually wear a merino buff in the night but never put my head in the bag. It's just for protecting my face from the cold. /Stina
@@JOKKMOKKGUIDERNA Great tip. Thanks.☺
Very good advice. Mistake number 8: Keeping stuff that can freeze outside you sleeping bag. Everything should be inside. That includes wet clothes (in a plastc bag), water filter, water, and certainly all electeonics.
Also, prepare the hot water bottle as soon as you get to camp and stick it under your shirt. this will prevent mistake 3 I think it was, because you will be warm when you get in the sleeping bag.
Butane lighter need to be kept warm too. Propane for cooking can be a bit colder, but Boyle's Law relating to gas, volume , temperature and pressure still applies.
I always find myself ground hugging. I tend to sleep on my tummy. As you have said, it’s important to have good insulation under the bag. I also change into dry base layers, and if it’s really cold then I have a British army shell suit, as well as an arctic sleeping bag. I’m never cold 🥶. A great vid full of good material 👍
Thank you! ❄️
Happy to say that despite being a much (much, much, much) less experienced cold-weather camper, this is all stuff I do too - validation from a true expert is much appreciated! Now if I can just find the time to take one of your tours…
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Loved this straight away, just from seeing the thumbnail
Never thought to exercise before climbing into the sleeping bag - I always shiver my way to warmth. Thank you for the great advice. I will be sure to try it next time.
Best thing I found is to eat well if you can because like you said body temperature is low when you are hungry .great tips thank you for videos like this are very useful especially for inexpieranced winter campers .
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Thank you for sharing your years of wisdom, and practical knowledge about outdoor anything.
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Excellent introduction to winter camping. Thanks! As a Nordic Ski Patroller (medic) in northwestern Pennsylvania I have taught US Army college student ROTC cadets wither survival. I love winter camping. No bugs and no people. MY TENTS-> Tatptent MOMENT DW (solo) andTarptent SCARP 2 (2 person)
MY SLEEP SYSTEM-> Sea to SUMMET winter insulated (R 5.4) air mattress, sleeping bag is a 800 fill down -20 F. (-4 C.) mummy with DWR treated down. I've modified both tents with additional support poles inside the fly for heavy snow load and high winds.
Tip 8: At 3:00am, empty the now cold water from the nalgene botle, then pee into the nalgene bottle, then return to the sleeping footbox! 🤩 Tip 9: Don't forget to eat a little bit right before bed. Your body is the radiator (not the sleeping bag) and the heat comes from food! ..... Seriously though, on very cold MULTIDAY trips, how do you keep body vapor from freezing in the outer surface of the sleeping bag? In the US we have been putting synthetic or Alpha Direct 90gsm overbags over the down sleeping bags. That way the water condenses into the synthetic material and the down is spared!
Careful with hot water bottles. When they leak it can be bad. For body vapor you need a vapor barrier. In reality it's a lot better to have a hot tent for multi-day trips so you can dry stuff out.
When I was a kid, my parents bought me an Eskimo style coat, with a hood that protrudes out sort of like an igloo. I can't recommend this enough. Sounds like it would be great also if a sleeping hoodie were designed that way.
Love hoods like that, too. Don't know why more outdoor brands don't make those types of hoods. /Stina
Some loose fitting wool socks to wear to bed are nice too. Snug or tight fit will be counter-intuitive as it restricts blood flow.
We never use tight socks in winter. Neither day or night 😉.
I really dislike something around my mouth getting wet from my breath.
What works for me is a piece of fleece over my head and shoulders (side sleeper) with a “tunnel” about 3 to 5” long. Face on one side of the tunnel, open air on the other. Then I adjust it accordingly to feel like I’m getting enough fresh air while my face gets away from the worst of the cold.
I spent 9 full winters sleeping outside with no tent no fire in Massachusetts
I love the snow . Never had any problem
2 sleeping bags + 3 blankets + plastic tarp
I don't sleep in my jacket just the hoodie
When getting inside sleeping bag for like 15 min keep your face out exposed to the cold your body warms up quicker and also when first getting inside your sleeping bag and still feeling cold try to not move any part of your body at all for a few minutes you'll feel your body warming up
These are few things I've learn my self and they're very important
I will share more tips next time
I love your video thanks for sharing stay safe
Thank you, you too! 👍
Great advice! Experienced #6, woke up soaked, sweaty, and instantly cold once I tried to dry out in 22° weather in our teardrop trailer. Great video!
Much I have already experienced. I'm never too old be reminded and refreshed.
Thank you for the detailed video! I moved here to Sweden from Texas 8 years ago. I love camping in the warmer months and have really been wanting to give winter camping a shot, but have been a little intimated by the conditions/my lack of knowledge. Slowly building up my kit, I will fix the rest and try it this winter :)
Great 👍! Hope you get a nice experience.
To get your confidence up, make your first winter outings either in your backyard or somewhere close to home. That way, if something does not work or goes wrong, you will have a short trip home. Once you are home, figure out what went wrong, and then take corrective actions for your next winter outing. Winter camping is a skill to be learned just like any other activity. Get out there!
I camped out 1 night in Jokkmokk in 1973 at the Sami Marknad. I lasted a few hours before going to sleep on the floor of the heated bath house
Good and factual information. I can confirm all of that. It's coming from someone with experience. Meanwhile, there are too many “outdoor specialists” on TH-cam who seem to know how it works and are spreading some fake knowledge.
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I always place all my outer wear either under my bag or on top of the bag over my feet, by morning they are remarkably dry and the ones under the bag are pre warmed while getting dressed back into then. great info.
Those are some good points you mentioned I have been winter camping for the last 4 years and they really work well for me I also want to mention that sometimes I put a body wormer pad inside the toe box of the sleeping bag and that keeps me nice and warm the entire night.
I wear GooseFeet brand of 100% overfilled 850 fill power Down booties because when I move my feet, the surrounding insulation moves with my feet to keep 'em comfy warm. It's a small Cottage Industry business in Seattle.
Good idea if you have cold feet.
This is great! My main takeaway is that I can't believe I've never thought of it before. Your example of a cold body going into a sleeping bag is so simple yet so divine! I'm an Eagle Scout and this simple explanation I'll remember for my life and will teach my three kiddos when they go camping.
Thank you! Happy you liked it! /Stina
What a great tip about wiping the frost from inside the fly in the morning with a microfibre cloth. Thank you :)
Happy to hear that you could learn something from the video 😊👍
I agree with everything you said here except I never sleep with any clothes on because I will end up waking up soaked in sweat in the night.I have a good goose down sleeping bag and only sleep in my boxers and have found that the bag gets warmer quicker without layers of clothes.I have slept in 20 below farenheit and stayed plenty warm.The most important part of camping in the cold is a good thermal barrier between you and the ground.
I like a fleece balaclava for sleeping at night. You can put it over your mouth if you want to.
Put your hot water bottle inside a waterproof bag! Occasionally they do leak … ask me how I know!
🫣 ohh noo! A wet nightmare 😉.
Excellent
White Mountains of New Hampshire is where I have done winter camping. Special care of ventilation in 40 below zero F snow storm can compress the fly and cut off air and be bad problem. Need to get out and clean off tent to get air into tent and breath ok. My experience was tried to light a match to light a hanging stove and it was too high in co2 until clearing the vents. It caused a headache too.
My lifelong keep warm tip for all those cold winter days and nights in Canada - take a trip to Florida. ;)
🤣😂
Boat prosjekt ( oops, I should say boat learning project as I’m Hebr. 1/2 ) survived
Hurricane Idalia; house interior demolished from mold danger ). Thank you ( Todah ) for cold weather tips, latitude variable if rowing or group sail
4:50 When I was in the Army, we were on a 2 week exercise out in the desert, and at night the temp dropped a lot. I came into the tent my sgts had set up, for dinner, shacking, and they told me to take my coat off. I thought they were crazy. They said, your jacket is cold, it's holding in the cold, take it off and stand near the heater. Worked like a charm. Pay attention to your sgts.
All solids tips. I would add, don’t forget to put your clothes your going to wear when you wake up in your sleeping bag. If you want to have fresh clothes in the morning put them in your sleeping bag so they are warm. I’ve forgotten to keep my jeans in my bag and when I woke up they were literally frozen and folded! Took me a bit to warm them in my bag and delayed my coffee😂
True!
Not a criticism, but jeans on a winter camping trip?
Denim just seems like the anathema to a winter camp. What with the lady's expressed opinion of anything cotton and such.
Aside from the cotton issue, wouldn't they also still absorb moisture beside you all night in the bag? This all hinges of course, on what you meant by "jeans"....we were always told "no cotton of any kind in winter..." by the elders.
Jeans in winter always spelled discomfort here in Canada, so your statement caught my attention and piqued my curiosity.
Stay warm and be well✌️🇨🇦❄️
I’m also curious what you mean by ‘jeans’. Probably just a term for pants not denim…
I don't winter camp (yet), but one thing that always makes me colder at night when camping or at home is if I have to pee. Sometimes I'm so tired/lazy/cold that I refuse to leave my sleeping bag (or bed) to pee...be it outside or in a pee bottle. Even though I KNOW that I'll be warmer if I just get up and go to the bathroom. Then, when I finally go -usually after several stubborn hours- I instantly feel sooooo much warmer. Would love to see a video about going to the bathroom during winter camping. How do you dig a proper cat hole in snow? Or do you use wag bags in your tent? Tips to keep you tushy (and labia) warm while going to the bathroom. Et cetera.
Good comments. I was in charge of design for a couple large outdoor suppliers in USA. I also started another company that was probably the #1 rated company in the US, (which I later sold and is not such anymore) Yeah, sleeping bag ratings are mostly used as trying to be competitive. A 20 Degree bag is not going to allow you to freeze to death at 20 F, but you might well be quite cold. Also, there is a huge difference in people's metabolism. One person might be fine, another freezing. The boiling of water and keeping it in your water bottle is a great tip. Frankly, so few know about this. I boil the water, put it in the water bottle and put the bottle between my legs. By later in the night, the bottle drifts downward (as I'm too warm) to my feet. This will make a cold situation absolutely comfortable. I agree very much about the pads. I use an inflatable, (yeah, Thermorest) AND a sheet or even two of the light weigh closed cell foam. Closed cell foam is best UNDER the thermorest frankly. This is more comfortable than above. And it makes a huge difference. YES, don't wear the socks you wore during the day. Wear DRY socks. As to long johns, yeah, wool is nice. Frankly the best ever was Malden's powerstretch, but they no longer make the original product. The new stuff is nowhere near as good. Yep, wear a hat. Yes, cotton is not the right material to bring in wet and cold places. Good point about the breathing. Yes, the moisture in your breath is very important. Agreed about the ventilation. And in that, try to keep your sleeping bag from touching the sidewalls of the tent. Another good product, in my opinion, was the old Gore, next to skin. Wear a top layer of that, and your core will stay dry. You might not like goretex in the rain, but when you are not moving a lot, not putting out a lot of moisture, Goretex, (PTFE) CAN keep up well with moisture. In addition, Gore works by temperature differential. So closer it is to the skin, the better. Anyway, I've found that when wearing the N2S, your skin is always dry, even if the outside of the fleece is wet. Anyway, Very good comments. I find most such are not very scientific, but this one I think is very correct.
Use a vapor barrier inliner. People think its like putting a garbage bag inside your sleeping bag but acutally its super comfortable. You wont even notice that its out of a plastic fibre. This way the sleeping bag does not get damp and you can go on for days without having to dry out your sleeping bag. "I use the Cocoon Vapor Barrier Liner Ripstop Nylon Large" its like 40$ and its lighter and smaller than any wool inliner but also helps with a few extra degree.
Also as a guy I use a big opening bottle form my local thrift store to pee in. This way I never have to get up in the night. It takes practice tho!
I tend to slide off the matress during the night with my warmest sleeping bag, the materials are too slick. App 30 dots of hot glue to the mat fixed this.
Thanks for all the advise. I do cycle turism in Souh America (alone) ,most on the Andes over 4000 meters, and in the last cuple of years I trekked the few of the 6000 meters volcanos (with a guide) camping at -20 C. at least at night in the Puna Argentina( Llullaillaco and Socompa the most challenging ) I like the idea of the hot bottle inside the sleeping bag,the only thing I never try...will be next on my future trips. For insulations I use one of those alluminum sheet under the inflatable mattress. It's a little difficult to fold after the first time you open it,but it weight nothing, it cost nothing,last long enaugh and it works the best, try it.
By by from Torino, Italy.
I had the pleasure of visiting Jokkmokk last March and its a stunning part of the world. Your tips and advise are brilliant.
We use to call it Paradise Jokkmokk! 😉 Thanks for watching!
thank you Miss ..Sleeping warm is most important in camping..I don't know how many times i thought everything was set. I spent night freezing
A thin merino wool balaclava works well if your nose/face get too cold when sleeping. Easy to breathe trough.
If your feet get cold, you can try sticking the lower part of your sleeping bag into your backpack for an extra layer.
Great tip! 👍
Alpaca wool is a great super soft alternative.
@@dangaspar1707 I need to test it out 👍
As number 8 I would suggest properly lofting a down sleeping bag, especially if it's been compressed all day.
As an old Rocky Mountain elk hunter............this lady is RIGHT ON.
UNDER bed insulation and tent ventilation are WAY too often overlooked..
Stay warm out there
I wish you didn't learn this. 🐿️🦫🦃🦌🫎🐗🦝
Reindeer or sheep Fur to sleep on! Put that on top of your thermal mat
Thank you very much. I really am grateful. I am a novice, just bought my first Hilleberg and it's being delivered soon. Can't wait for my first Expedition
Thank you! Hope you'll get a good experience. /Stina
My wife and I will definitely be putting these tips to use. Thank you! ❄️❄️
You’re right, you need to keep your mouth and nose outside the sleeping bag but I have trouble sleeping when my face is freezing cold. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
As said in the video, you can use a balaclava/robber mask. Only your eyes, nostrils, and mouth are exposed to open air then. /Stina
Some people use a neoprene half mask that covers the lower face and has an opening for the nostrils and holes to breath through the mouth.
Good video! I live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and I am always looking for ways to stay warm and comfortable in the elements. I'm also a military retiree who spent many years in field conditions and all kinds of weather. I still swear by my arctic mummy bag, mukluks and lots of Gore Tex gear - especially my sleeping bag cover and field jacket.
Nice to hear! Thank you!
Great video on staying warm and dry in the cold. I did not read through all the comments, so this may have already been covered. In very cold conditions on the Canadian prairie and Canadian arctic environments I was taught to have a nylon bag and place our boots inside the bag (not sealed). This would be placed under our sleeping bag and on top of the insulated mat. The bag would be placed under our knee area. Why? Nothing is worse than waking up to frozen boots that are not flexible enough to be put on your feet. Having the boots under the knee area also kept us from rolling around during the night. The use of down booties with insulated soles are great for those quick trips outside during the long night. Stay dry, stay warm, have fun!
Back in old days we also got the advice to place our ski boots inside our sleeping bag. I don’t know how many nights I have had crappy sleep because of my wet ski boots…
/Matti
Great tips, very helpful, thank you for sharing and all the best from Austria 🤠👍🏕🔥
I went to Finnish Lapland in the winter, I was in love, so beautiful. I like the cold, it makes you feel alive. I would love to visit you someday for an excursion. Thank you for this nice explanation.
A tip for those who ignore these excellent tips: Have a space blanket handy for the possible awakening in the middle of the night to find cold feet. Place half of the space blanket under the knees and feet, then fold the other half up over the lower legs. Don't tuck it in, just let it lie loose. That should have your toes toasty in a few minutes.
problem with "space blankets" is they gets condensation in way over any scale available and yet to be invented
I wish my toes would recover that easily.
@@acamparargentinayes, I've tried using space blankets when sleeping outside on a hammock in the spring because I was too cold to sleep and I would wake up completely wet and even colder. So while shivering and cold, I would have to change my clothes and make a fire fast so I didnt die lol
@@acamparargentinacompletely agree. I learned the hard way. I woke up getting colder because the condensation caused ice to form on my sleeping bag.
A Mighty Big Thank You for taking your time in sharing in a very caring way these 5 mistakes and solutions. Would allowing into your tent a dog or two help?
my rule of thumb for winter camping was - bring two sleeping bags !
Depends on the sleeping bags, but it's a good idea if you have two medium good sleeping bags. We actually talk about this in this video: th-cam.com/video/xMae27xw3oA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=L5A1WTUMUJl6Koea
That's really super advice! I wish I could come on one of your expeditions! I've not camped under -5 degrees C, but one thing i did notice at that temperature was that when i switched from foam to an inflatable mattress i felt far colder. I assumed this was because the air in the mattress was so cold, so i ditched that, returned to using one or two foam mattresses, and added more layers atop. I also found a balaclava was really helpful, as was a hot water bottle and doing the star jumps!
Big difference with an insulated (synthetic or down) inflatable mattress. You need to check the R-value. /Stina
I had no idea mattresses themselves had these characteristics! Thanks.
Very good presentation. There is so much misinformation on keeping warm on You Tub from people who have never lived or worked in the cold. It is so important to have good air flow in the tent to let the body moisture escape.
Thank you! 🌞
This is a very good video!
I wood add that you should avoid drinking too much alcool and eat well before sleeping as alcool will get you colder and food is the fuel for your body to produce eat during the night.
I would never use the bottle trick if I'm alone in the cold far from a safe place. Getting your sleep system cold in freezing temperatures is a recipee for disaster. I prefer stucking some heat pads in my cloth.
Puting something on your sleeping bag is OK as long as it's light enought that it won't compress it, otherwise it could reduce its efficiency.
I remember one time in northern Minnesota in the 90s when it was -30 degrees, and I was glad to have my car nearby with a full tank of gas in case I needed it. Having a backup is essential. Also, when hiking, I learned that having my boot a little loose could be beneficial to keeping my feet warm. We need good blood circulation to keep warm, and I always overtightened my boots in extreme weather, especially when hiking. I love this video. SKOL
Well I'm glad to see I am an experienced winter camper ! Thanks for reviewing all the tips !
😊👍
All are really good tips, a couple I wish I knew a few years back. Sleeping in a tent if done right isn’t so horrible, it can be miserable in cases but it’s doable certainly.
😊
Hypothermia is the enemy number one during Winter. Thanks for excellent suggestions. As a hiker in Finnish Lapland since 1983, I could add my 10 cents.
Select carefully the tent placement to avoid excessively windy positions. Before hunkering down, eat something energetic with lots of fat in it. That will keep you warm later in the night as your stomach will start burning the food. I have sometimes become so warm after such a small but energetic meal that I had open up the sleeping bag during the cold night. Usually the coldest hour during the night is around 4 - 5 o'clock.
Safe hiking!
I only use a thin rugg to sleep on. I stuck insulation from nature under the tent. Reed, tall grass, thin twigs etc. I have a piece of vapor barrier to cover the insulation under the tent. The transparent plastic stuff one use when building houses.
It works for me and the whole tent floor becomes a mattress without any extra baggage.
Sitting here in 7 degrees C wearing down trousers and jacket making my own video and watching Stina 😂 wish it was colder but taking it step by step… ❤
😂👍
@@JOKKMOKKGUIDERNA goto 14:52 in my latest video and I say Hi to you 😂
I’ve made so many of these mistakes, really cool video. Yeah sorry 😂
Twice now my saviour has been a foil type survival blanket when I’ve been caught out, never leave home without it now.
Thanks again.
At night, keep water bottles with their screw threads down. That is keep bottle upside down to prevent the threads from freezing shut. Also, try to keep the water bottle off of the snow, insulated, preferably inside the tent, where it is a little bit warmer than outside.
Up here with our cold everything freeze outside of your sleeping bag even if you keep it upside-down 😉🥶
@@JOKKMOKKGUIDERNA Agreed. Here too.
I have read that snow is a good insulator, so alternatively, at night you can bury your water in bottles or pots under at least a foot of snow to keep it from freezing. You can place them into a large bag or stuff sack to keep the snow from freezing on to your water vessel in the morning, but make sure to stake down a few tall markers to remember where exactly you buried it. I'm leaving on my first winter backpacking trip in a few weeks so, to me, this is just theory, but I'll be interested to try when it's -10C. Also, apply vaseline or lip balm on the threads of the bottle cap will keep it from freezing to the bottle.
@@antnguyen I always just put it inside my sleeping bag with me, then no worries. But if you test out the theory, I'd love to hear how it went. 🤔
@@antnguyen We keep water in 2L plastic pop bottles buried in the snow (toboggan or snowmobile camping, not backpacking!). If they've frozen, no big deal. Cut one open and dump the ice into a pot over the stove or fire. Heat slowly because you can actually burn ice.
Yes, all very good points. Remember being close to hyperthermia one night when I was age15. One must be very organized for simple transitons like bedding down and rising in the morning. I like to put a layer of balsam fur or spruce under the tent if it's handy. At age 77, I'm no longer fond of winter camping. Cheers from Northern Ontario.
Oooooh thank you ❤ exactly what i was expecting !
Will you really dry you wet layer if you sleep with them on top of you ? Won’t you keep the moisture inside the sleeping bag and then get cold ? Like breathing in does
I think it's not recommended in situations when you're really cold, rather when you're quite sure you'll be dry and want to dry a wet layer for tomorrow etc.. Similarly when walking and it's raining lightly - You can have all non-waterproof layers. The outer layer gets wet and dries out at the same time, while the layers inside stay dry and keep you warm.
Hi there, Thanks for your video! I used to be an Outdoors enthusiast years ago, but since i met my ex-wife who didn't like camping at all, I stopped going. I also have been in the army and to Bosnia in winter were, as part as a recon team, I had many cold night on snowy mountain tops. And I've done a tour through Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Your tips are a must for anyone who goes outdoors in extremer circumstances!
I am in luck that everything you told was already known to me due too army training and own experiences, but that doesn't matter, always great to have conformation whether I still have the knowledge or forgot things.
What I may add to your advice, from what I learned in the army, and very handy;
Aluminium rescue blankets! Light, compatible, strong!
They can be used on the floor, as extra layer to keep out the cold from the ground, but also as a loose layer between inner and outer tent or in the inner tent. As long as you can place them loose from the inner or outer tent so moist can't accumulate in between or on the tent sheets.
They also can be used to direct warmth from a cooking device or isolate things you want to have isolated from anything, not only warmth or cold, but also separation from moist or dirt.
When the sun is too hot you can use them above the tent to give it extra shadow and heat diversion and when it is cold but the sun shine, you can use them as heatreflector to heat things up a bit.
I see you have a tent with crossed poles and it looked like an separate outer sheet (or did i see that wrong?).
I bought myself a Hilleberg Namatj 3GT tunneltent in the nineties (still working well!). It had a single door on the side, so I let the factory make an opposite door in it, as well as an extra groundsheet which coveres both inner tent and living portal (I don't know what the word is in English, but I hope you understand what i mean)
I will tell you why I choose this and then my question to you is; Do you agree or why not and why have you chosen for the tent you have? What are the benefits of that tent? I always like to learn!
So; I studied lots of tents at that time and was searching for the best allround tent in every circumstance, vene the army. The reasons here are why I choose for this tent.
- The tent itself; It is a three person, four season tunneltent.
- I took a three person tent, but with in mind 2 persons maximum, so there is some extra living space and to store things. Also, it was a bit higher then a 2 person tent, which is better since I am reasonably tall (186 cm).
It has a separate inner tent with a high, waterproof, ground sheet to keep out the water.
It has lots of ventilation possibilities.
The tentpoles are all equal in length and thickness. A total of three. This way, no matter the circumstances, you can not make mistakes in by accident placing the wrong length in the wrong pole holder. You have to stick all three in the tent on the same side, so putting it up is very easy to do on your own, even in the middle of the night or a storm or such.
The inner and outer tent are connected. So the outer sheet does not have to be attached after the inner tent is set up. This way, in heavy rain or storm, no water will come in during the set-up fase and their is no chance that the outer sheet will suddenly blow away if by chance you haven't have a good enough grip while spreading it out. The whole tent is also just one big part which also prevent pieces get missing or blown away.
I always learned that a geodesic or dome tent is stronger, but I have had extreme strong winds on mountain tops and hard winds with rain along the coastlines, but hardly ever had to use my extra guy ropes. And not even half of them provided.
- The extra door ; Because wind can shift directions very quickly! When the wind is hard or cold or it also is raining, I still be able to have an opening faced off the wind side. This way entering and exiting is easier of course, but also with just sitting and cooking you loose more moist and have more room. And more ventilation as the door is double with a mesh liner that can be opened or closed too.
- The extra ground sheet ; Because when camping on rough terrain, sharp stones, branches or thorns or whatever, it maybe can damage the sheet of the tent, which also is the groundsheet of the inner liner. So the extra sheet protects the actual original tent sheet. And when damaged can be replaced cheaper and easy instead of the whole tent is ruined. And of course in muddy terrain or with clay soil, the tent stays relatively clean and the extra sheet can be easily cleaned.
Next to this, the living portal in front had no ground layer. so when staying in the tent with two or three people there is more space for everybody and/ or when leaving the bags and other material there, they can be stored relatively dry.
So, a long story, but maybe a nice read for you and maybe you can tell me where I can better things.
Thanks in advance!
In my experience, a down bag liner works better than fleece or wool. It fills all the dead space in your bag, and provides the optimal warmth for weight and bulk. I have an ultralight summer bag from Cumulus that weighs 200g and does the job very effectively.
Double bags increase the warmth a lot. If you have room för an extra sleeping bag in you packing the it's definitely a good idea. /Stina
Down layering is good. Just keep enough air in the bag to heat up! Constriction is the enemy. You want those blood vessels to open up! This is the number one reason people get cold in mummy bags that are too small for them. If your bag feels like a straight jacket, it is too small unless you are an alpinist dealing with severe space/weight issues in your pack.
@@SuzanneStroh Agreed - but filling the dead space inside the bag seems to give better bang for your buck in terms of warmth-for-weight than the same weight applied to an overbag. Expedition experts PHD Designs have deep-dived into the world of modular systems and this is their recommendation. My 215gm filler bag is half the weight of the Reactor bag liner, and less than double the price. I can tell you from personal experience that it's much more effective.
#7 in my experience shows up any time the ambient temperature is lower than the "dew point", which can be the case at elevation in the summertime even. So it's cool enough for the moisture to condense out of your expired breathing air.
everybody who is interested in camping should watch this video!! I totally agree with all of your "mistakes" and btw, i got the same sleeping bag from carinthia and I love it ;-) and I love wool
Thank you!!! ❄️ ❤️
I've watched hundreds of camping videos. This is one of the best I've seen.
Hi! New subscriber from the Netherlands here. I really hope to be able to go on a snow adventure in near future! Miss the snow here!
Loved the little exercise intermezzo!!😂
🕺🤸♀️😁 Thank you for subscribing!
Thank you. Until now I was always only camping from May to September. But I'm thinking of winter camping too. My tent and insulated sleeping mat are already good for it, but now I need a winter-sleeping-bag.
The winters here are not very cold, (around 0 Celsius), but they are wet (rainy). The main focus is to prevent anything to get wet, because wet = cold!
I'd start with a fleece liner like she suggests. Mine was pretty cheap ($30 if I remember correctly) and it really does make a big difference. I was able to bring a 0C degree bag down to -15C comfortably by adding a fleece liner and hot water bottle.
Amazing tips! Doing a little work out before we went sleeping on The Kungsleden would have definitely helped when we were there haha. We made the last mistake on ventilation for a long time, that makes such a difference! Great valuable video, thanks!
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Many nights winter camping in the Colorado rockies with boy scouts at as much (little) as -20F (-30C): one way to warm yourself and bag is to get in fully dressed and change into sleeping garb inside bag; wet outer wear (if you've been wearing it, it is wet) will dry if hung up inside tent ...
Really good informative vid. I do all of those during my outings. I rarely put a hot water bottle in my bag but if needed I would. There are some really good and very inexpensive heater strips out now which are powered by USB power packs. Efficient and very warm. My thinking is if you have to do that you just don't have enough bag. The ratings are for extremes with all your clothes on. No where close to reality. If you are at 0 F you need a -20F bag at least. I want to be comfortable but most importantly how many times does the lying weatherperson get it totally wrong and mis the temp by at least 20 degrees. It happens all the time so my idea is the safety factor of 20 to 30%. Always error on the side of safety. We only have one life. Much as your checking the thickness of the ice. There are good real Merino wool army type blankets for sale. Heavy for back packing but great for sledding or auto, atv, even motorcycle camping. Liking your Hilleberg, which model is it? I have several. Now they offer a four person Savio. Brutally strong. You all take care do what you can with Matti. Be safe and have a fun winter best you can. See you.
Thank you for your input! 😊
Great idea! I have a pair of USB rechargeable hand warmers that can uncouple and be used separately, or click together to be used as one. They are a blessing!
There are sleeping bags that have this system integrated at the feet. After 10 min, it gets too warm, so you just unplugged the charger. In that case, you actually can get into your bag when you are cold with that system!
@@djmalou Wonderful! Sounds cozy.