Winter camping.

It’s been a year since my first winter camping experience. With the weather doing what it’s doing in The States, it’s looking like I will be in for a chilly start! Time to reflect on what I learnt on my Scotland trip and handy hints I've picked up since to help me stay warm.

Clothing

 1)      Be bold, start cold. Set off in the morning a little bit chillier than is comfortable. Within ten minutes you will have reached a nice temperature.

 2)      Don’t rotate your clothing daily. With the possible exception of socks, wear your wet gear for walking and have a dry pair to change into in camp.

 3)      Nothing will really stay dry. After a few days in the wintery wonderland most of your kit will be at least a bit damp. Even kit stored in dry bags will suffer due to condensation build up. Do your best to keep hike/ camp clothes segregated and dry out clothing at night (by hanging in your tent/ in your sleeping bag).

   4)      Pull your insulation layer over everything. For example if you have been wearing a shell during the day, rather than take it off and lose all that precious heat build-up, sling your insulation layer on over the top to create a layer of warm loveliness.

   5)      Mitts are awesome. Take along a nice thick woolly (or insulated) pair. Definitely worth the extra weight.

Sleeping

 6)      Liners are good! It’s like having a base layer in that it’ll trap and extra layer of heat around you; the extent of this depending on the fabric. Liners will also protect your down bag. They will trap moisture which would otherwise affect the down fibres and cause them to lose their loft.

 7)      Pillows. I often use my down jacket as a pillow. In the time between waking up and getting up I pull it into my sleeping bag. Then when I’m bimbling around camp in the morning it’s pre-warmed.

 8)      A metal water bottle (e.g. Sigg, Primus) acts as an excellent hot water bottle. By morning it will also be a nice drinking temperature rather than a block of ice.

 9)      If you need a wee, have a wee. I read this in a book recently; A lot of bodily warmth will be lost to heating a bladder full of urine. So if you need to go, go. You’re better off braving the cold for a few minutes than holding out until morning.

 10)   Store batteries for your camera, e.t.c. in your sleeping bag overnight as the cold will drain them quickly.

 11)   If you are using gas cylinders to cook with, try to keep them warm so your stoves pressure doesn’t drop too much. You could bring them into your sleeping bag or store them on your person for a little while before cooking. If you are using liquid fuel stoves with a rubber seal on the pump, this will likely need lubricating a bit more regularly in a cold environment.

 12)   Enjoy it! Camping in a winter environment is incredible as long as you are prepared and organized. There’s nothing quite  like waking up nice and cosy to a fresh dumping of snow.