Overnight BC Camping

[Spunkinator]

Totally new to camping in snow and had a few questions for the veterans out there.

1. Is frozen condensation inside the tent in the morning just a fact of life? I have a Direkt2 from Mtn Hardwear and open the vent and a portion of the door but still get quite a bit of frost on the walls.

2. Do you bring along some kind of footwear to wear around camp or just use your ski boots?

3. How heavy is a typical one-nighter winter backpack setup?

4. Do you cook inside or out?

5. What do you do for a pillow?! I've been using my jacket and other clothes stuffed into a compression sack but it slides all over the place on the slick sleeping pad.

6. Do you build fires?

Probably some stupid questions but I'm a complete noob.

Thanks for any help!

[LightRanger]

Totally new to camping in snow and had a few questions for the veterans out there.

1. Is frozen condensation inside the tent in the morning just a fact of life? I have a Direkt2 from Mtn Hardwear and open the vent and a portion of the door but still get quite a bit of frost on the walls.
Fact of life. Vents help somewhat.

2. Do you bring along some kind of footwear to wear around camp or just use your ski boots?
It depends. Most of the time, no, but I have a pair of down booties for hut trips. These guys: http://www.amazon.com/Sierra-Designs.../dp/B003FMFJXS You can also take the liners out of your boots and walk around in those if they have soles on them--at least if it's not deep powder. Hint: Sleep with your liners on, or at least in your bag. I've heard of people putting boiling water in Nalgenes and then the bottles in the liners to dry them out. Big Steve (a user here), will undoubtedly chime in to extol the virtues of vapor barriers.

3. How heavy is a typical one-nighter winter backpack setup?
It depends. Carrying mountaineering gear? Deep winter or spring? I'd say 30-40 pounds, but I've never weighed mine.

4. Do you cook inside or out?
Depends on the weather.

5. What do you do for a pillow?! I've been using my jacket and other clothes stuffed into a compression sack but it slides all over the place on the slick sleeping pad.
I do what you've been doing, but I've been thinking recently about picking up a simple Thermarest pillow or similar. Depends on the trip.

6. Do you build fires?
I don't, but you can. Dry wood can obviously be harder to come by, though. More trouble than it's worth, to me, for a winter BC trip. Winter bonfire in the backyard is sweet.

Probably some stupid questions but I'm a complete noob.

Thanks for any help!

Replies in bold above. Not stupid questions. I recommend this: http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Really-B.../dp/0762745851

[dschane]

Solid answers, not much to add.

If you cook inside, vent, vent, vent. Could save your life.

I bring booties unless weight is an issue.

Packing for one night or three, the pack weight will be close.

For pillows, I've thrown a shirt or fleece over the stuff sack to reduce slippage. Recently, I beefed up my sleeping pad and was bday gifted the Exped Synmat 7, so I splurged and bought myself the Pillow Pump. Should be 26 oz of fvckin luxury.

Most important -- do not forget a well-marked pee bottle. Do not skimp on that with someone's leaky Pepsi wide mouth. $5 for a tight seal is priceless.

[QuiverQueen]

Solid answers, not much to add.

For pillows, I've thrown a shirt or fleece over the stuff sack to reduce slippage. Recently, I beefed up my sleeping pad and was bday gifted the Exped Synmat 7, so I splurged and bought myself the Pillow Pump. Should be 26 oz of fvckin luxury.

That pillow trick also works for me.

Thermarest makes a nice little stuff sack that is sil-nylon on the outside but has a nice fleece lining on the inside. It is reversible and becomes a soft, not-so-slippery pillow at bedtime. They make two sizes. REI offers something similar for less $, slightly heavier and slightly softer.

Another little trick I have used on cold nights (confession: I don't winter camp outdoors anymore) is to toss one of those chemical warmers into the foot of my sleeping bag to keep toes warm.

[Baaahb]

Exped down matt is awesome. Down booties are nice and light. Fire depends on the wood availability and can be real nice or a PIA. Fires in general are harder to start and maintain in cold weather (ask any fire fighter). You need very dry wood and lots of it. Look into using a sled or pulk, depending on conditions.

[Spunkinator]

Wow! Thanks for the great answers everyone! Good info. This will improve the quality of my overnights tremendously.

[cesare]

Nalgene of hot water between your thighs will warm your feet from the inside as your femoral arteries pass by the hot water. On your tummy will warm your whole body. Be sure to wrap it in a fleece or you will burn your skin.

[SteveK]

Hmmm, I think people are mixing me up with Big Steve.

I wouldn't recommend vapour barriers to people starting out (except for intuition or similar type boot liners).

Frost is a fact of life, if you hang up a tarp as though to dry, it will often have frost by the morning - and you can't get any more vented than that. But some nights there is a light breeze and things stay dry, not something to count on. Avoid brushing against the tent, if using a down bag consider getting a water resistant (not waterproof-breathable) shelled bag.

Booties can make a big difference for warmth - some people get cold really fast when they stop moving, so booties in camp work well. Most booties have about 5mm of insulated sole, consider supplementing with another 10mm of evazote foam, we found it makes a big difference.

If the boot liners are closed cell foam (like intuitions), not much maintenance required - just make sure to get warm before putting them on in the morning.

You didn't ask, but might want to consider hands - easy to get in trouble with soaked handwear. I like gore-tex outer shells over primaloft mitts - the outer shells get soaked/freeze but can be left outside to air out (usually just stay wet and frozen) but the inner primaloft mitts are either on my hands (in camp) or in chest pockets warming/drying (at night/while touring). Lighter gloves for touring.

What the others said about fires etc.

[whitehonky]

chemical packs in the liners in the sleeping bag = dry boots in the morning and a warm-spot at the bottom of the bag.

aluminum winter tent stakes help set up a sturdier fly.

fires in the backcountry are killer and marshmallows weigh nothing. just sayin'. but often our campsite are in the alpine, so we certainly do a fire whenever we can as a treat.



i never cook inside... inside the vestibule yes. inside the tent, never.

[Matt J]

I mold my puffy into a pillow inside my mummy hood. But I have a super warm bag so don't need to cover my face much and can reach in there and tweak it a bit if it's uncomfortable.

[SteveK]

Best wool mitts I ever had were made from a thrift shop heavy wool sweater which was then mercilessly boiled to maximum shrinkage and sewn into mitts (it's not a complicated pattern). Put them under a pair of gore-tex outer shells and it's pretty much a bomb-proof hand protection that wears forever.

Same here - MEC used to sell a wool mitt like that. When they stopped, I tried a heavywight fleece but it didn't handle moisture as well, so switched to primaloft.

Finally got a hole where the thumb meets the palm (lot of friction against the pole handle), had to replace them.

[SteveK]

Best wool mitts I ever had were made from a thrift shop heavy wool sweater which was then mercilessly boiled to maximum shrinkage and sewn into mitts (it's not a complicated pattern). Put them under a pair of gore-tex outer shells and it's pretty much a bomb-proof hand protection that wears forever.

Same here - MEC used to sell a wool mitt like that. When they stopped, I tried a heavywight fleece but it didn't handle moisture as well, so switched to primaloft.

Finally got a hole where the thumb meets the palm (lot of friction against the pole handle), had to replace them.

[LightRanger]

Nah, SteveK, I think Big Steve (that's his TGR handle) is over here as well. Maybe I'm wrong, but I swear I saw him posting here.

Edit: Yep- http://www.backcountrytalk.earnyourt...ll=1#post12912

[SteveK]

I get that, I just missed the TLT6 thread.

[Spunkinator]

Just went out with my boy near Mt. Rose. Not very cold but learned a lot. I really have to figure out the pillow thing. Had some extra layers in a bag and a layer under it but it still slid around a lot. And don't bury deadman anchors too deep! Had to boil some water to get them out. Any advice for side sleepers on a Thermarest NeoAir XTherm? Got pretty sore and woke up a lot switching sides. Tried lower inflation the first night and more the next with no improvement.

Thanks for all of the other ideas too!

Mike