Cold Weather Camp

[BOEHuntingEdition]

Headed on first elk hunt next week. Nighttime lows are 7 degrees. I have a peak tent and argali stove with a chillkoot 15 degree bag, but just curious to see at what temps you guys have stayed in a tent and any tips?

 

[Jaquomo]

Have you ever slept in that bag below 15 degrees? The EN ratings mean, "He was still alive in the morning", not the "comfort level". I would suggest maybe a bag liner or an extra blanket, unless you want to sleep in your damp (with perspiration) clothes.

Also, plan for keeping water thawed, else you'll be sucking on ice. I've slept with my water bottle inside my bag many times when it was that cold.

 

[peppy870]

With the tent and stove you will be fine. I've done 6 below in a tent with no stove and a 10 degree quilt. Just dress appropriately for bed...

 

[mtwarden]

I’d disagree on the rating; according to Stone Glacier that bag has 22 oz of 850 fill. That’s definitely a legit 15 degree bag (just cross reference FF and WM bags and compare).

You might have to add a few layers to your sleep clothing, but I think you’ll be fine.

Also a wood stove is nice to have a place to warm up, dry clothes, but unless you’re prepared to feed the stove all night I wouldn’t depend on it to keep you warm all night.

 

[Westernduck]

Mtwarden is right. Think of the stove as something to use to keep warm and dry off when you’re awake. A small backpacking stove will burn off quick once you stop feeding it. You can’t depend on it keeping you warm at night.

I enjoy camping in the cold since there’s always less people out. Just make sure you have warm clothes.

Also make sure you have an insulated sleeping pad

 

[Dakota Dude]

Don't forget to keep any water bladders, hoses, and nozzles warm as well. They might start freezing after your start your hunt, but you don't want to begin the hunt with a frozen nozzle or hose. Thats the worst. I've made that mistake too many times.

 

[rclouse79]

I love cold weather camping. I just did an overnight hunting trip with my son last weekend. We set up a cimmaron and xl seek outside wood stove. There was snow on the ground, but it wasn't that cold. I would not count on the stove keeping you warm all night. In my experience they will keep you warm for about an hour before you have to reload it with wood. They are nice to keep you comfortable and dry things out while you are awake.
For sleeping I would supplement your bag with puffy jackets. You can get away with a lighter bag and the jacket is multi-purpose to keep you warm when glassing.

 

[D S 319]

I heat up the water in my Nalgene and put it in the bottom of my bag when it’s going to be that cold it seems to help out quite a bit!

 

[Jaquomo]

Don't forget to keep any water bladders, hoses, and nozzles warm as well. They might start freezing after your start your hunt, but you don't want to begin the hunt with a frozen nozzle or hose. Thats the worst. I've made that mistake too many times.

I've had pretty good luck with an insulated bladder hose in cold weather, so long as it doesn't freeze up in the night.

 

[Jaquomo]

Do us a favor and report back on your experience, what you learned, what you would do differently , etc... We get these types of questions all the time on here and offer advice from our real world experiences, and then the OP never comes back with a report.

 

[11boo]

Woodchucks. Lots of woodchucks.


5 bucks a bag out here.

Beats scrounging wood.

 

[BOEHuntingEdition]

Do us a favor and report back on your experience, what you learned, what you would do differently , etc... We get these types of questions all the time on here and offer advice from our real world experiences, and then the OP never comes back with a report.

Well do. Appreciate all the insight on this site.

 

[huntsd]

I love cold weather camping. I just did an overnight hunting trip with my son last weekend. We set up a cimmaron and xl seek outside wood stove. There was snow on the ground, but it wasn't that cold. I would not count on the stove keeping you warm all night. In my experience they will keep you warm for about an hour before you have to reload it with wood. They are nice to keep you comfortable and dry things out while you are awake.
For sleeping I would supplement your bag with puffy jackets. You can get away with a lighter bag and the jacket is multi-purpose to keep you warm when glassing.

agreed they are great while they are burning but will not go all night long unless you wake up to reload every hour or so

 

[5MilesBack]

Unfortunately I still remember the days in a wall tent with a stove burning wood and coal every night, and sleeping in a -30 bag on a big cot with plenty of foam insulation under me. That still sucked, even though the stove would burn red hot during the night. I'd wake up at 0 dark thirty with a sheet of ice covering my sleeping bag. We had outdoor thermometers that would get stuck at -15. Man, I sure like September hunting these days.

 

[BadEarth]

Best way to do it is invite a friend along and tell him he won’t need a bag rated lower than 50. He will be so cold he’ll keep the wood stove stoked all night.

 

[BadEarth]

One good trick is if there’s rocks around stack a pile under and around your stove. When your fire goes out those rocks will radiate heat for a long while and keep it a little nicer in there

 

[Dos Perros]

I've camped down to single digits with a 0 degree bag and tipi and stove.

My Seek XL stove will make heat for more than couple hours. Even after I feed it at 10pm or so I can feel heat coming off the bottom when I wake up at 4AM, so there are coals there. You could get by with one or two stokings each night if you had to keep it running.

 

[HighUintas]

Do any of you guys that hunt in that cold weather have a cold camp? I'm wondering what you guys do to keep your water thawed and your water filter from freezing, other than having it inside your sleeping bag. I don't have a stove, and sleeping with my water filter and water bottles is the only solution that I have found.

 

[*zap*]

stack the wood/tinder and bring good fire starting items. unless the stove craps out you cannot get hurt.

 

[billoo349]

Put your extra clothes and jackets in your sleeping bag with you.

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