View Full Version : Winter Hours
Sparrow2013
11-07-2013, 21:58
Anything different you change in your gear / equipment for the longer (and colder) nighttime winter hours when hiking? Not clothing. More of a general question. Different / extra headlamp or lighting? Anything different with water treatment.
kayak karl
11-07-2013, 22:03
hours no difference. i just deal with the cold. i keep my backup batteries in my socks. sleep with water.
Mountain Mike
11-07-2013, 22:55
Depends on temps & where. Temp relative bag. Full length pad, or full length & 3/4 one. More reading material or games for long night. More stove fuel for hot beverages & longer time to boil water.
Mountain Mike
11-07-2013, 23:02
Also a stove base/insulator is a good idea. Can be a piece of cardboard or closed cell foam wrapped in foil. Something to keep it stable & prevent it from melting into the snow.
Alligator
11-07-2013, 23:08
I switch to my white gas stove, switch to polar put to treat, use a foam cozy for my water, additional blue foam pad, sometimes I bring a small thermos.
Another Kevin
11-07-2013, 23:42
I switch to my white gas stove, switch to polar put to treat, use a foam cozy for my water, additional blue foam pad, sometimes I bring a small thermos.
You lucky (Nixonian expletive deleted), managing to get Polar Pur when it was still legal. (I shan't say more, I'm too close to a political argument as it is.) I don't have Polar Pur, so I use Aqua Mira. Filters are not to be trusted in freezing weather. A frozen filter element must be discarded: it is no longer safe.
I use a Reflectix cozy rather than foam. A Nalgene wrapped in Reflectix makes a decent thermos substitute.
I use white gas only if I expect to get my water by melting snow, otherwise I stick with alchy. I've used my alchy stove at 10 F, no problem.
The first question was actually about the longer nighttime hours. And, well, I plan fewer miles and if it's trail I'm familiar with, I may plan some night hiking because of the short daylight hours. I plan to make and break camp, and do dinner and breakfast by headlamp, which I can do since the bears will be asleep and I don't have to hang a bag. I'm ok with sitting around listening to the night noises, as long as I'm warm enough, so I don't necessarily fret about "what to do when waiting for bedtime/daylight."
People mentioned appropriate weight of sleeping bag, insulation for the stove, double sleeping pad. Fill your pot with water at bedtime. If everything else freezes, you've at least got one block of ice that's all set to go back on the stove to remelt. I wrap my water bladder - hose off - in my rainsuit and use it as a pillow. That usually keeps it thawed. A hot water bottle in the sleeping bag can be quite a treat, and give you another bottle of unfrozen water in the morning.
Pitch your tent low and taut. Use 'dead men' in the snow rather than stakes. Boughs, rocks, and even snowshoes make good anchors. Bank snow upwind of your tent. If it snows heavily in the night, get out a time or two and clear snow from your fly with your shovel, poles, ice axe, whatever you've got to move snow with. Snow is warm, so it's tempting to leave it there, but if you have a three-season tent it won't stand up to the snow load. That's why Tipi Walter totes his big heavy bombproof winter tent.
Sometimes there just ain't no place to dig. If you absolutely can't follow Deuteronomy 23:13, then find a rock that the Sun will shine on (at least 200 ft off trail) and smear the stuff as thinly as you can. Ultraviolet light is a pretty good disinfectant, and a thin layer will decompose rapidly. That's better practice than just burying the stuff in snow. Use a snowball to clean up - surprisingly refreshing, and less irritating than TP.
Loosen your boots waaaay loose when you take them off, so that you can still get them on if they're frozen in the morning. If you wear double boots, wear the inners to bed.
I add an old 3/4 length thermarest pad and use it over the big closed cell pad I always carry. Sometimes carry some ice cubes in an aluminum water bottle wrapped in and insulated by the warm clothing/pads/quilt that are in my pack anyway. It is a luxury to have my evening nightcap on the rocks and in winter the ice can last for several days. The insulation gets it through the day, and the cold gets it through the night. Of course gloves are required to make holding a cold drink enjoyable.
I often like to use the extra hours in camp to build a fire. Charcloth is useful for this. The extra light, warmth, and activity around fire tending helps in passing the time enjoyably.
Mountain Mike
11-08-2013, 02:17
For serious winter trips the gear changes big time!2475324754
Cookerhiker
11-08-2013, 08:12
Also a stove base/insulator is a good idea. Can be a piece of cardboard or closed cell foam wrapped in foil. Something to keep it stable & prevent it from melting into the snow.
I bring an old Smartwool sock and wrap it around the fuel canister. Overnight, the canister is in my sleeping bag.
...Loosen your boots waaaay loose when you take them off, so that you can still get them on if they're frozen in the morning. If you wear double boots, wear the inners to bed.
I put my shoes in a plastic bag and into the sleeping bag overnight.
peakbagger
11-08-2013, 11:12
I switch from gator aid type bottles to clear Nalgene bottles so if I do have to warm up a bottle for my sleeping bag it works ,dont try pouring boiling water in gatoraid bottle as it will warp and distort and mos likely leak. I also make sure that I have fire resistant gloves as its real easy to melt a pair of fleece or nylon gloves playing with fires. Wool glove liners work well if you can find them.
I carry more food per day. Have a bigger appetite and more time to cook and eat. Extra calories help keep me warm,
slbirdnerd
11-09-2013, 14:42
This is a great and very timely thread. Thanks, OP for posting and thanks for all the good hints!
Leanthree
11-09-2013, 22:38
Fewer salty snacks, more fatty snacks like chocolate.
Fewer salty snacks, more fatty snacks like chocolate.
Lindt 90% chocolate bars and raw almonds. Heaven.
FarmerChef
11-09-2013, 23:14
Lindt 90% chocolate bars and raw almonds. Heaven.
Love Lindt 90%. Have it almost every day (just a square or two). ;)
I like to get to bed earlier. New hiker midnight for me is 8:00pm. More sleep = happy.
Monkeywrench
11-10-2013, 07:45
In the winter I:
- Make sure I have fresh batteries for the headlamp
- Make sure I have something to read in the long evening
- Change out my Gatorade water bottle for a leak-proof Nalgene so I can keep my water in bed with me to prevent freezing. If it's really cold I fill the Nalgene with warm water before going to bed. Makes a great foot warmer all night.
I use skis and leather touring boots instead of trail runners
Bring the big puffy winter down coat and puffy pants
A variety of warm hats
Extra pair of liner gloves
An additional sleeping pad
White gas stove to melt snow and my dirt bagger stove platform (http://www.pmags.com/dirt-bagger-winter-stove-platform)
avy shovel
READING material. :)
FarmerChef
11-10-2013, 19:24
Curious what folks think is the standard/definition of "winter".
Winter backpacking is tough for me. Mainly because I get too antsy and like to keep moving. So I typically bring extra batteries to hike more at night. Usually a book helps for those nights I stop early.
Curious what folks think is the standard/definition of "winter".
That's part of it: There is no standard definition. Winter in Hawaii is different from winter in the Smokies which is different from winter in the Cascades which is different from northern New England/upstate New York, Utah, the Rockies and so on. You get the idea. :)
Each region has different things to cope with and needs a different skill set.
Though I think winter backpacking in Hawaii would be pretty darn sweet. ;)
Sparrow2013
11-11-2013, 12:51
Even after long day of hiking, still found it difficult to sleep through hiker midnight until sunrise. Also, an observation that at popular state parks for hiking, backpackers are treated very differently. Car campers and day hikers have no idea what to think of a person who only boils water for coffee and breakfast, packs up everything and takes off for the day on a 12 mile hike with 35 lb pack. Only to return in the evening just before sunset and is able to set up camp and eat dinner before they have their evening fire started. They do not understand about not wanting a fire due to the time and energy it consumes to build, tend, and safely extinguish. Can't wait to get back on a true trail this spring where at least some of the people you encounter are going through the same thing.
Even after long day of hiking, still found it difficult to sleep through hiker midnight until sunrise. Also, an observation that at popular state parks for hiking, backpackers are treated very differently. Car campers and day hikers have no idea what to think of a person who only boils water for coffee and breakfast, packs up everything and takes off for the day on a 12 mile hike with 35 lb pack. Only to return in the evening just before sunset and is able to set up camp and eat dinner before they have their evening fire started. They do not understand about not wanting a fire due to the time and energy it consumes to build, tend, and safely extinguish. Can't wait to get back on a true trail this spring where at least some of the people you encounter are going through the same thing.
Hmm. True trail. Do tell.
I take extra tea candles.
what has not been mentioned is a radio to help get through the long nights
michaelosborne
11-12-2013, 14:23
More reading material.
+1 on this. More time in the tent needs to be filled somehow, especially if it's at the start of a hike and I haven't gotten my sleeping down yet.