Cold weather camping, what do I need to know?

[SCCY Marshal]

Some camp stoves (pure butane??) don't work well in cold temps and low altitudes. I think they are uncommon today.

Unless you keep the canister close to your body under your jackets, even the current fuel mix sucks. People undertake any number of workarounds for this but I'm still the curmudgeon who likes his white gas stove. The cold weather process for that prettey much just involves letting the burner piss on the whole stove and setting it alight to warm the generator enough to keep humming. Spare fuel can be stored cold.

If you're made of money, MSR's current multifuel stoves than can run isobutane or various liquid fuels are neat, reliable, and give the most options possible.

If isobutane is used, remember to also sleep with it in your bag. Trying to hand-warm a canister at the crack of dawn is no fun.

[whomever]

Heh. I remember a winter trip in Colorado with the very first of the butane canister stoves, in the early 1980's. The canister had a little rubber plug like you use to inflate a football or basketball, and the stove had a prong like a football inflator. The people I was with dutifully kept the canister warm, and it worked fine when cooking breakfast on day 1, but when they pulled it apart the rubber seal was too cold to work and the canister emptied itself. Fortunately I had the trusty Svea. One of the people on that trip vowed to never go winter camping again ... when she went to unroll her ensolite, it cracked into pieces. Not a good start to the night when snow camping. And not that cold, it must have been really old ensolite.

Anyway, I don't remember having huge problems with out current 'summer' stove, a jetboil, in coldish weather. In really cold, like zero to in the minus 40's we use kerosene, but we have used the jetboil below freezing for sure. I haven't really paid attention to how cold precisely. Note that altitude affects the boiling point of propane and the varieties of butane just like it does for water, so a stove that doesn't work at XX degrees at sea level might be fine at the same temp in the Colorado Rockies. Himalayan types use canister stoves at really low temps but high altitudes.

There are other disadvantages of canister stoves in cold weather, one being that when your drinking water all comes from melted snow you use a lot of fuel; on a ten day trip you'd be humping a lot of empty canisters.

FWIW, here's a writeup on the different canister fuels:

https://www.msrgear.com/blog/ins-outs-canister-fuels/

[Cypher]

I work outside at night. Last winter I didn't need a jacket till it got down to -12 wearing these.





I'm sure the PF Cognicenti will offer better options but I got the entire set (4Pcs) for 20 bucks at the local surplus store. I'd also recommend more Underwear/socks than you think you'll need especially if you're car camping. A clean under layer will keep you much warmer

I also winter camp in the mountains and I've found a fleece sleeping bag liner adds 15 degrees to the rating on my sleeping bag. I also use a self inflating sleeping pad.

[UNM1136]

I work outside at night. Last winter I didn't need a jacket till it got down to -12 wearing these.





I'm sure the PF Cognicenti will offer better options but I got the entire set (4Pcs) for 20 bucks at the local surplus store. I'd also recommend more Underwear/socks than you think you'll need especially if you're car camping. A clean under layer will keep you much warmer

I also winter camp in the mountains and I've found a fleece sleeping bag liner adds 15 degrees to the rating on my sleeping bag. I also use a self inflating sleeping pad.

Nah, the PCS stuff is solid. I like merino for the anti-microbal factor, where I can bow hunt in the same pair of boxerbriefs for a solid 10 days and the wife thought my chones were only 3 days worn. (Won't discuss how she smelled them, because the Settlement is pending...). PCS stuff is such a valid choice, I bought several pieces for my daughter and like it better than my ECWS II vintage stuff. Much better.

Nice to see you back here, Brother.

pat

[randyho]

Given so many of us are from the mid-atlantic, talk to us about camping at Assateague.

What would you recommend for a February camping trip, in particular?

That is one of my favorite places in the winter. I haven't been for years and probably need to fix that with a launch from Wallops as an excuse. There were weekends where the only people I saw were park rangers rolling up and down the beach with skinny-tired suburbans. Grey skies, angry surf, gulls, egrets, a few herons, the occasional unpredictable horse, and zero mosquitoes. Bliss.

This was car camping and I rolled heavy. I was also driving fwd imports at the time so the state park, which had more pavement to the camp sites, was the better choice between that and the national park. I picked sites with vegetation as a wind break was welcome.

I had a 3 season, 3 person tent at the time with a cot due to me being too dumb to think of advanced rake technology to flatten things out prior to setting up (beaches are lumpy). The entire floor was covered with 2 layers of wool army surplus blankets. With the cot, self-inflater, and sleeping bag, I was comfy.

Weird that pre-made coffee was mentioned earlier. I did same. Had a small table and a msr white gas burner. Steak and eggs was my goto.

The showers have been completely redone since last use, fortunately. At one point, they had shutter doors set up for someone with a 34" inseam. I do not have one of those so it was show time for me and many others. When there were crowds, applause was common.

The national park, down the road, has better trails and access for anyone with 4wd. I've stayed there a bunch of times as well.

I am not a fan of nearby ocean city. But, things worth seeing nearby include the ocean city life saving station museum, the air mobility museum, with stops at Matt's Fish Camp to and from. Further south, Wallops Island Visitor's Center is ideal if you want to get your NASA on.

Much of the same goes for Cape Henlopen in DE. The bunkers there are impressive.

[M1Garand]

Nothing more refreshing then returning to camp from the wood line with your TP at 40 below Day 1 my chair was scoffed on, later it was I should have one. Camped on a frozen creek he used small stuff sacks filled with snow for anchors. I used ice screws, both tents are the Arctic Oven Pipeline model. Everything else is manageable if you can sleep warm. Good ground pad is required, I have a folding cot that is 6" high when set up.