Winter Camping Check List

[Another Kevin]

Why don't you come along for at least part of 1azarus's outing on Martin Luther King weekend in Harriman? That's a hop, skip and a jump for you to get to. There will be a huge group - enoough that we'll probably wind up splitting into multiple parties - so if anyone gets into trouble, there will be a lot of help. You can see how everyone else does things, pick up a few tips, and have a good time hanging out. The main route of the trip will be really short mileage. The speed demons can add loops, because Harriman has lots of sights to see.

[Theosus]

You will sweat while hiking. Doesn't matter how cold it is. You will sweat. If you wear the same under clothes you sleep in hiking, they will get damp. When you end the day and don't have yet another set to change into, your going to get chilled.

I always carry a spare set of "sleeping clothes" - dry shirt and underwear. If it's only an overnight hike, the sleeping clothes become the "hiking out" clothes the next day, and one synthetic shirt and underwear are light. I learned this after a particularly bad overnight, when I didn't take extras (it's only overnight, right?). My rain protection failed miserably and I wound up spending all day in a soaking rain at around 50 degrees. Everything I had to wear was sopping (I milked probably a pint of water from my fleece shirt in the shelter). I had to sleep in a wet shirt and wet underwear. By 3am when I woke up and had to pee my clothes were dry, but it would have been so much nicer to have something dry to start off with. Of course, we hiked out in the rain too, so I was glad to get to the car and put on my post-hike clothes in my dry after-hike bag. Learned a lot on that trip…

[LDog]

... Sure wish we could delete our posts ...

[perrito]

i will be adding a camp axe to my list for sure, just have not found one I like, all seem heavy, I guess it has to be..

Thanks again for any input..

Pricey, but by the best axe makers.
Gransfors Bruks Mini-Hatchet

[Monkeywrench]

Also, boil water and fill up a Nalgene bottle with your extra socks insulating or a reflectix cozy and sleep with it. Very warm!

I do this, but I don't boil the water, just heat it to somewhere between warm and hot. Boiling water is too hot! I'd burn myself sleeping with that.

One warm Nalgene down by your feet and one tucked into your belly make for a warm and cozy sleep.

I also keep some kind of snack in the bag with me (usually chocolate) so when I wake up cold in the wee hours of the morning I can have a drink and a snack which helps my body generate heat. I keep it in the bag so it isn't frozen and I can eat it.

[winger]

Pricey, but by the best axe makers.
Gransfors Bruks Mini-Hatchet

I have two Gransfors and I agree completely. But for occasional backpacking use, and to save a lot of money, the OP might want to consider one of the small Fiskars.

[grayfox]

My Small Forest Ax is my favorite camp ax...if I can figure a way to do it, I'm taking it with me into the afterlife! But I don't take it backpacking. I take a Sven saw--the short one. It can keep a fire going all night in the worst weather imaginable. My fixed blade knife will split any wood that I need to split, usually only to to get dry tinder at first. The other thing that people don't usually think of as a camp tool is the little hand pruners that often are in my pack when I use the small wood burner stove.

If you still think you need an ax: get one with a long handle-it is safer to use because when you miss the wood it will bury into the ground instead of your foot. A head weight of less than one and a half pounds is packable but more is a burden. Take a file and stone and a cover as well.

There is a real good book by Buck Tilton on fire and it's uses. I think it's title is The Complete book of Fire. A good read.

[Feral Bill]

I would think twice about bringing an axe, or even making fire. In your area wood is likely scarce, and I believe Connecticut bans campfires altogether. At least be prepared to stay warm without a fire.

[bfayer]

I think you will find a Jetboil becomes next to useless below 25F. If you are serious about winter camping an inverted canister stove like a MSR Windpro is more practical.

I love my Jetboils, but they have their limitations and cold weather is one of them. For example we were out this weekend in MD (stayed at Dahlgren's backpacker camp) and it was in the low 20s on Sunday Morning, we brought an old MSR windpro (not inverted canister), windpro II (inverteed canister) and Jetboil SOL.

Both the Jetboil SOL and the original windpro could barely heat water for hot cider and oatmeal. The Windpro II was running like a jet engine and boiling water as fast as we could refill the pots.

Yes there are things you can do to mitigate the effects of cold on a canister, but in winter a stove is essential safety equipment and it needs to work with out mitigation.

I still like my whisperlite for winter if I need to melt snow for water, but the windpro II has won my me over if water is not going to be an issue.

[pawlinghiker]

funny you say that ..

yesterday I thought I was out of fuel.

took 3 minutes and still was not boiling water.

figured it was the cannister, that sucks...

I dont like traditional stoves , is there a any options with a jet boil ? or is there something else thats good in the snow.

Had a whisper light 15 years ago and hated it

love the jet boil but will need to cook this winter.. what about a heat sheild for the jst boil ?

[Sarcasm the elf]

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've had (relative) success with my jetboil in temperatures down into the teens.

Put cannister inside your jacket and let your body heat warm it up. Take it out immediately before use and place it on an insulating surface (wood or cardboard). Boil your water asap. If you need to boil more than two cups, repeat the whole process.

[perrito]

+1 What the elf said. I was about to post the same reply.

[hikerboy57]

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've had (relative) success with my jetboil in temperatures down into the teens.

Put cannister inside your jacket and let your body heat warm it up. Take it out immediately before use and place it on an insulating surface (wood or cardboard). Boil your water asap. If you need to boil more than two cups, repeat the whole process.

+1 i use a pocket rocket.i put my can in my sleeping bag at night, bury it in my pack during the day, tuck it in my jacket while im getting my food together, shake the can for a half a minute or so and its worked for me down to the teens.

[pawlinghiker]

would it be safe to assume that new canisters work better than ones with a few boils on them ?

do MSR and Jet Boil canisters play with each other ?

[hikerboy57]

would it be safe to assume that new canisters work better than ones with a few boils on them ?

do MSR and Jet Boil canisters play with each other ?

yes.
and yes.

[bfayer]

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've had (relative) success with my jetboil in temperatures down into the teens.

Put canister inside your jacket and let your body heat warm it up. Take it out immediately before use and place it on an insulating surface (wood or cardboard). Boil your water asap. If you need to boil more than two cups, repeat the whole process.

That is one of the ways to mitigate the problem, works fine until it doesn't. The colder it gets the less effective it becomes, also the colder it gets the more important it is to have an operational stove.

The SOL has a regulator that improves cold weather performance and is better than the Flash or ZIP (yes I have tested them side by side), but it is still limited by the pressure of the canister in cold temps.

One other option is getting a canister cozy and putting a disposable hand warmer in between the canister and cozy.

Still no matter what you do the Jetboil will never be a winter stove.

[perrito]

Here's a potentially stupid question. ..
Would putting the canister in a reflectix cozy with a hand warmer inside be a bad idea?

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[hikerboy57]

Here's a potentially stupid question. ..
Would putting the canister in a reflectix cozy with a hand warmer inside be a bad idea?

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another yes!!

[bfayer]

another yes!!

It actually works well when it not too cold. The disposable hand warmers cannot get hot enough even in warm weather to overheat a canister. They only get to about 150F max which is well below the safe storage temp of the canister. In real life there is not enough energy in the hand warmer to heat the canister more than a few degrees over ambient. That few degrees however is enough to keep the stove going in cold weather when it would otherwise quit working. People set their canisters in pans of boiling water all the time to do the same thing. The hand warmers just last longer.

People have been making canister cozies for as long as canister stoves have been around.

The best solution is to carry a winter stove, but if you are not going to, you need to have a plan to keep what you have working in the temps you will be hiking in.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[hikerboy57]

It actually works well when it not too cold. The disposable hand warmers cannot get hot enough even in warm weather to overheat a canister. They only get to about 150F max which is well below the safe storage temp of the canister. In real life there is not enough energy in the hand warmer to heat the canister more than a few degrees over ambient. That few degrees however is enough to keep the stove going in cold weather when it would otherwise quit working. People set their canisters in pans of boiling water all the time to do the same thing. The hand warmers just last longer.

People have been making canister cozies for as long as canister stoves have been around.

The best solution is to carry a winter stove, but if you are not going to, you need to have a plan to keep what you have working in the temps you will be hiking in.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

yeah,you're probably right, but i tend to err on the side of caution in the winter and im hiking alone. i just use a small piece of corrugated cardboard as an insulator so the can doesnt sit on the ground. i dont like the idea of surrounding the stove at all.and i always have enough dry non cook food available in case its too cold to use the stove.