Here are some tips to make your winter camping experience more enjoyable. With proper preparation you can stay warm and have a great time. If you have any questions, be sure to ask one of the adult leaders.
When winter camping, dress in layers so you can easily adjust your clothes to regulate body moisture and temperature. Three types of layers are considered normal : a liner layer against your skin (longjohns, but not cotton!), an insulation layer (fleece), and a water- and wind-proof outer shell.
Protect against heat loss through your head by wearing a toboggan, balaclava, etc. Over half of your body heat can be lost through your head. One saying goes, "If your feet are cold, put on a hat."
Do not wear too many pairs of socks. If the blood flow to your feet becomes constricted, your feet will get cold regardless of how many socks you have on. Tightening your boot laces too tight will constrict the blood flow as well.
Sleep with a stocking cap or toboggan or balaclava on your head to help hold in your body heat. Cinching up your mummy bag so that only your eyes, nose, and mouth are exposed is another way to hold in heat.
Dress right while sleeping. Change into clean, dry clothes before bed. Your body makes moisture and your clothes hold it in - by changing into dry clothes you will stay warmer and it will help keep the inside of your sleeping bag dry. Wearing wool socks and long underwear (tops and bottoms) in the sleeping bag is OK.
Put tomorrow’s clothes in your bag with you. This is especially important if you're small of stature. It can be pretty hard to warm up a big bag with a little body, the clothes cut down on that work. If you don't put all of your clothes in, at least put in a clean pair of socks.
1. When you first get up in the morning (and at the end of the day in camp), your activity level will be low as will be the temperature. You will need to have many, if not all, of your layers on at this point until breakfast is over and you have started to become active.
2. When you get ready to be active, you will need to take off layers since you will begin generating heat. A good rule of thumb is to strip down until you feel just cool, not chilled just before activity. Failure to do this will mean overheating, sweating, losing heat and you will have to stop in 10 minutes down the trail anyway to take layers off. Open or closing zippers, rolling sleeves up or down, taking a hat off or putting one on will all help with temperature regulation.
3. If you stop for more than a few minutes, you will need to put on another layer to keep from getting chilled. Keep a layer close at hand.
4. At the end of the day, as activity decreases and temperature drops, you will need to add layers. Once you start to cool down it takes a lot of the body's resources (calories) to heat up again so layer up ASAP before you get chilled. It may be good to put on more than you think you need; it will only get colder. If you are too warm, you can open up layers and ventilate to reach the proper temperature.
Cotton is excellent for summer. When it is wet it cools the skin due to evaporation which is a cooling process. Cotton does not change its character in winter. It still cools you in the winter. Leave your cotton garments at home when the temperature is 50 degrees or less. Instead look at wools, fleece, down, polypropylene, other synthetics and silk. Winter camping clothing can be more expensive than cotton clothing but it does not need to be too expensive and can be important for comfort and safety. You can find great deals at thrift stores.
Thickness = warmth. It is the dead air spaces in the material which keeps you warm. Goose down, while very expensive is the lightest and best insulator because of its high loft, lightness and huge surface area. The dead air space in prime goose down is enormous [800 primaloft is great]. Get down wet, though, and the dead air spaces collapse, resulting in loss of insulation value. It's the equivalent of wearing cotton. Wool will insulate even if it gets wet because the material does not collapse within itself. Fleece works well due to its thickness and the fibers do not capture water. Fleece will dry quickly if wet. The biggest dangers to fleece are fire and heat. Fleece melts.
Nylon is good as the outerwear layer. If nylon is worn next to the inner body all the moisture will be trapped and the inner clothes become drenched. Use a nylon vest or jacket for outerwear only. Wool or fleece works well next to the inner body because moisture is wicked from the body and moves to the outer layers.
Always use a closed-cell pad under your sleeping bag in the winter. If you don't have a pad, a couple of folded blankets will work well. No cots or air mattresses! Better to lay on the 30 0 earth instead of 20 0 air. If the ground is frozen, your body heat will thaw it out. Make sure whatever you have between you and the ground is water proof.
Use a sleeping bag that is appropriate for the conditions. Increase the comfort range of your sleeping bag by putting it inside of a bivy sack. Other options include cloth liners and doubling up bags. Doubling up bags should only be done if you still have enough room to be comfortable in the bag.
A bivy sack wraps around your sleeping bag. You can make a cheap version of this by getting an inexpensive fleece sleeping bag. It isn't much more than a blanket with a zipper but it helps lower the rating by as much as 10 degrees. Check army surplus stores for bivy sacks.
Use a sleeping bag liner. There are silk and fleece liners that go inside the sleeping bag. They will lower your sleeping bag's rating by up to 10 degrees. Or buy an inexpensive fleece throw or blanket and wrap yourself in it inside the sleeping bag.
Most cold weather mummy-type bags are designed to trap heat. The proper way to do this is to pull the drawstrings until the sleeping bag is around your face, not around your neck. If the bag also has a draft harness make sure to use it above the shoulders and it snugs up to your neck to keep cold air from coming in and warm air from going out. If you have a rectangular sleeping bag, a light non-cotton blanket can be used around your shoulders to help seal the opening.
Don't burrow in - keep your mouth and nose outside the bag. Moisture from your breath collecting in your bag is a quick way to get real cold. Keep the inside of the bag dry.
Put a trash bag over the bottom half of your sleeping bag to help hold in the heat. A zipped up coat pulled over the foot of a sleeping bag makes an extra layer of insulation.
In an emergency, cardboard makes a great insulator. Old newspapers are also good insulation. A layer of foam insulation works too.
Avoid caffeinated drinks before going to bed. They may keep you awake and will tend to send you to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Snack before you go to bed on high-protein foods (cheese, energy bar, etc.) so that your body will have enough fuel to generate heat during the long winter night.
Exercise for a few minutes before getting in your sleeping bag. This will warm up your body and make it easier to warm up a cold sleeping bag.
Vent your tent as much as possible at night to reduce condensation on the inside of the tent walls. The few degrees of warmth trapped by a sealed-up tent are not worth the trouble of wet clothes, sleeping bag, etc that result from the condensation.
Wearing a wool watch cap when you sleep is helpful; remember the chimney effect. When you wear a cap, your feet stay warmer. Fact: 70% of heat loss from the body is through the head. A hoodie works well also.
Put a couple of long-lasting hand warmers into the foot of your sleeping bag. Some types can last up to eight hours.
Drain your bladder before you go to bed. Having to go in the middle of the night when it is 20 degrees out chills your entire body. Drink all day, but stop one hour before bed.
You warm the sleeping bag; it does not warm you! Fluff up your bag before you get in it. Remember, it's the air that keeps you warm. Don't forget to change into clean sleeping clothes when you retire for the night. The clothes you wear during a regular day contain about a pint of moisture from normal perspiration and increase your risk to hypothermia. Always bring a bit more than what you think you'll need — water, food, clothes.
Keep out of the wind if you can. A rain fly for a tent can be pitched to serve as a wind break. The wind chill factor can often be considerable and can result in effective temperatures being much lower than nominal.
Bring extra WATER. It's easy to get dehydrated in the winter You aren't visibly sweating, so you don't think to drink water, but since the air is so dry, you lose a LOT of water through breathing. Drink lots of water!
You should pack all clothes in heavy-duty Ziploc or plastic bags before you pack them in your pack. Natural moisture in your clothes when you are camping can be uncomfortable when you get dressed in the morning. Backpacks and duffels are not waterproof, and they do absorb moisture.
Putting some of the clothes you will wear the next day inside your sleeping bag when you go to bed will warm them up. Always bring at least one extra pair of wool socks for emergencies.
If you are cold or get wet, talk to your leaders. Don't wait until you are numb or until the early morning hours. Learn what hypothermia is before going winter camping and learn to prevent it.
Bring 2 changes of socks per day. Dampness in any form is the Number 1 enemy to safety and comfort in cold weather. Wet feet are especially bad.
Everyone must be dry by sundown. No wet (sweaty) bodies or wet inner clothing.
Keep your hands and feet warm. Your body will always protect the core, so if your hands and feet are warm, your core will also likely be warm. If your hands or feet are cold, put on more layers, and put on a hat!
Don't forget to eat a high-energy snack before bed, then brush your teeth. The extra fuel will help your body stay warm. Take a Snickers bar to bed and eat it if you wake up chilly in the night.
Contact lenses and solutions can go in your sleeping bag to keep them from freezing
Keeping warm is the most important part of cold weather camping. Use the C-O-L-D method to assure staying warm.
C - Clean
Since insulation is only effective when heat is trapped by dead air spaces, keep your insulating layers clean and fluffy. Dirt, grime, and perspiration can mat down those air spaces and reduce the warmth of a garment.
O - Overheating
Avoid overheating by adjusting the layers of your clothing to meet the outside temperature and the exertions of your activities. Excessive sweating can dampen your garments and cause chilling later on.
L - Loose Layers
A steady flow of warm blood is essential to keep all parts of your body heated. Wear several loosely fitting layers of clothing and footgear that will allow maximum insulation without impeding your circulation.
D - Dry
Damp clothing and skin can cause your body to cool quickly, possibly leading to frostbite and hypothermia. Keep dry by avoiding cotton clothes that absorb moisture. Always brush away snow that is on your clothes before you enter a heated area. Keep the clothing around your neck loosened so that body heat and moisture can escape instead of soaking several layers of clothing."
Source: BSA