Your clothes look dialed, given all the recommendations.
But clothes are only part of comfort/survival. It's great that you're asking questions! But there are more questions than just about clothes. Excuse my bluntness, the message below is meant to be cold water on the face, mostly for others not smart enough to ask the questions you're wisely starting to ask.
Remember this- Keep in mind that 4th season is no joke. Shit happens fast and gets bad fast. Everyone thinks they'll travel light and outrace darkness, cold, sudden blizzard conditions, they won't get hurt. NOPE. You need to think clothes + overall survival.
PLAN, Plan, Plan-- Plan to get lost in the snow, plan to get stuck out overnight and away from the cabin, plan for one of you to get hurt, plan for shitty traction in the snow, plan to kill at animal at sunset, for your phone and GPS to fail.
FORGET ABOUT TRAILS-- 2" snow on the ground and you will NOT be able to see the brown, well worn trail you came in on. You will end up completely off trail and get cliffed out, deadfall/snag blocked, etc and overall f'd trying to find/stumble your way down-mountain in the dark/cold with blowing snow and 15 degree conditions that weren't forecast.
One foot or more of snow will make every step into work and tire you more quickly because now you'll have to lift your full leg high with heavy boots, two pair of wet pants with each step.
- Get velcro leg weights and train with them on a stair trainer all summer to get used to having to lift your leg with winter boots, microspikes, long underwear, down pants, over pants. Hiking in full winter gear is NOT like hiking in shorts. Every step is harder.
Here's more:
- Navigation-
- You may not get back to your cabin by sunset each night for that hot meal.
- Make f'ing sure you can navigate. Really navigate. That GPS works until it breaks and that GPS better be able to tell you more that "SW" for your "bearing to next". Make sure it gives to an actual bearing like "175 degrees to next..."
- Have a compass and know how to use it. Take the GPS "bearing to next" and use the compass to navigate to it. This will help you keep your GPS batteries from being eaten from constant use.
- Emergency beacon--
- Got an emergency? Don't count on your Garmin InReach, etc for help in an hour or two. Emergency responders can take hours or next day when you're miles back if conditions go to shit, they have to protect themselves, too. Helicopters get grounded in shitty weather. Not what you want to suddenly realize at 11pm, miles back in a whiteout and you're freezing with a broken ankle or a tree limb through your thigh from a deadfall that you slipped onto w/o your microspikes.
- Lithium Batteries-
- Really cold out, 0 degrees? Don't plan for your Alkaline batteriess to last long. Get lithiums. Have a method to keep your phone, GPS, etc warm.
- Radios
- At least have one set of radios for each other. I use Baofeng 8w radios with extended antennas. Cheap and they work. Get the high capacity batteries. They will last you several days of use. I can and have made radio connection to base camp from 6 miles up a valley-- through trees. If my brother and I separate, we make a plan for regular, timed check ins.
- **If you have really poor signal but can hear each other's static from transmissions, then revert to "press 1x for YES" or "2x for NO".
- LIKE THIS: ARE YOU OK? PRESS TRANSMIT 1X FOR "YES" 2X FOR "NO". Make your questions brief and answerable with Y or N.
- Even if you just have blister pack radios, put lithium batteries in them and learn how to use the radios/program them and how to turn squawk tones on/off, vibrate on/off
- BLISTER Pack radios SUCK but are way better than nothing. They do NOT have the advertised range. Perhaps 10% of it AT BEST.
- In the mountains, if you get 100yds apart in the wind, you might as well be a mile you can't shout to hear each other, whistles echo and get twisted by the wind. There will be times when you are separated by choice or otherwise. Radios will reduce anxiety-- or more
- Small flasher
- Get a small strobe flasher that you can attach to base camp, pack, tree limb, etc. If you have to drop a pack, mark your camp, mark a kill. mark an injured buddy.... anything you need to find in the dark when when its blowing snot and snow. You will thank me.
- Water
- You need to keep your drinking water from freezing. Tough to do with a Camelback if very cold, the drinking tube will freeze, even if insulated. Use Nalgene bottles stuffed in your backpack and wrapped in something insulating.
- Water can get boring to drink. I use this sometimes to keep it interesting:
- Extra Day of Food in the backpack-
- because shit happens and then you have no food. No calories to burn at 10 degrees = cold and miserable
- High calorie food that you don't need to cook and that won't freeze. Include dark chocolate to stoke your furnace if you get in a bad way and need to overnight and stay warm
- Sun Protection
- Good sunglasses for snow-glare. Sunscreen too. High altitude, blue skies + bright sun and snow reflection. Avoid snow blindness. It is a real threat. Also, bring lens wipes for your glasses/optics
- Microspikes
- If it snows or is icy, have them or you risk falling, slipping A LOT and getting hurt, possibly badly
- You will NOT be able to see ANYTHING under the snow and there are many dangers.
- Hillsound Trail Crampon Pro- Among the Best
- Trekking poles
- With removable baskets!
- Gotta have baskets if the snow gets deep and you need to hike with or without a heavy pack
- Snowshoes
- Really handy if snow is over 10"
- Cold butt = sad face
- Make sure you've got a thick, insulated foam butt pad to sit on even on your spotting stool. Your down pants will compress and your ass will freeze.
- Survival- you are hunting AND surviving.
- In your backpack for each of you: Lightweight down sleeping bag, high R value pad, bivvy bag. 3.5 lbs approx
- 1x Large heater pack (like large handwarmer) to warm you or your buddy in the bag in case you get hurt / in a bad way and need to warm up fast.
- YOUR PLAN is to sleep warmly in a cabin under a quilt every night, that may not happen...
- REALITY-- The hunting and weather gods don't care about hunters' plans. Be prepared to sleep out and not freeze to death. Shit happens. One of you falls, gets hurt. You get an elk down at 5PM and have to find it while it's snowing and it's too nasty to hike back in the dark.
- 4th Season is a cruel mistress w/no humor, prepare for her!
Best of luck!
JL
