Static Rewarming Drill, By Rachel Meiggs

[Justin Crossley]

Hey all, I would like to introduce you to Rachel Meiggs (@bikinitoboots).

This all started with Rachel sitting in a restaurant, explaining how she would never be into hunting. Fast forward a few months, and she’s looking down at her first deer in Montana wondering how this all happened. Four years later and multiple backpack hunting adventures each fall- she’s a beach girl turned mountain girl trying to learn the skills necessary to hunt and travel in the mountains.

Give her a warm Rokslide welcome and check out her first article.

Rewarming Drill

 

[robby denning]

That review took some guts right there!

Welcome to Rokslide Rachel. Best screen name on Rokslide btw.

 

[MadeInTheRain]

Great information coming from someone who lives in a warmer climate!

 

[idahohikker]

Sweet article. @bikinitoboots What did your partner wear where he dried much quicker? I'm sure the gender/individual body part had some effect but your article seemed to allude to possible gear differences as well. Thanks.

 

[rayporter]

looking forward to test no. 2

 

[SHoug07]

Great write up. The more I see these I wonder if I should test my kit.

Welcome to rockslide.

 

[bikinitoboots]

Sweet article. @bikinitoboots What did your partner wear where he dried much quicker? I'm sure the gender/individual body part had some effect but your article seemed to allude to possible gear differences as well. Thanks.

He wore Patagonia Capilene Level 1 bottoms and First Spear ACM 100 Hoody top. His base layers were synthetic and synthetic/merino blend both were extremely lightweight. The Active Tank Top and the Fjallraven tights are heavy.

 

[bikinitoboots]

Great write up. The more I see these I wonder if I should test my kit.

Welcome to rockslide.

Thank you. And you definitely should! You never know what can happen in the backcountry and trusting your clothing system gives a lot of confidence. But if you do try it make sure that someone who is not participating is there and can keep you safe. Good luck!

 

[Justin Crossley]

Anyone who hunts with @Ryan Avery should test their gear and themselves in one of these rewarming drills. He seems to be good at getting into situations where it will be needed.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Anyone who hunts with @Ryan Avery should test their gear and themselves in one of these rewarming drills. He seems to be good at getting into situations where it will be needed.

Ice cold water is not my friend, but I seem to always find it! HAHA

@bikinitoboots great article!

 

[Dennis]

Thanks for sharing

 

[Fins_N_Tines]

Recently Stone Glacier posted a rewarming drill using their down garments and sleeping bag. Its seemed to work well; however, everything i know about downs seems like this is a bad idea. I would like to have some discussion on using down in this type of situation. Just because its treated down doesn't mean it can withstand getting soaked. I'm a little perplexed that they got the down to work. If in fact it does work that is a game changer as down is warmer and lighter.

 

[bikinitoboots]

Recently Stone Glacier posted a rewarming drill using their down garments and sleeping bag. Its seemed to work well; however, everything i know about downs seems like this is a bad idea. I would like to have some discussion on using down in this type of situation. Just because its treated down doesn't mean it can withstand getting soaked. I'm a little perplexed that they got the down to work. If in fact it does work that is a game changer as down is warmer and lighter.

Look for another post about treated down coming soon. As far as if it works or not-I can tell you that it does indeed work!

 

[bikinitoboots]

Ice cold water is not my friend, but I seem to always find it! HAHA

@bikinitoboots great article!

Thank you! I’ve heard one of your polar plunge stories! .... And ice cold water is no one’s friend!!

 

[roosiebull]

excellent article! thought provoking article for sure. we spend so much time and effort refining our gear in a fluid fashion, but most of it is bought "in theory" not actually tested before or after buying.

i have never looked at my clothing the way you do, to my fault most likely. what i do know is it rains here a bunch, and i'm soaked often (hate wearing a hood on my rain gear, and then there is sweat and wrist intrusion.

of course your testing was way more matter of fact and useful, but i guess i have found a clothing system by default.... i'm a simpleton i think, if i wear something, it rains, and i never start to dry out, after a bunch of time doing that i will try something out (not as goal oriented as your test) if it works better, then i will go off of that.

my system is good enough for me and what i do, it has undergone a lot of revision, but it's been largely by luck, just liking to try new stuff.

your test makes a lot more sense... get straight to the point, no beating around the bush for 5 years, haha.

really good article, and a very important aspect many of us overlook.

 

[JohnB]

Cool post. I get that the static rewarming drill is seen as a completely worse case scenario, but I struggle to picture a scenario where something like this is necessary. Personally in every situation where I've gotten pretty wet I've stuck with the hike until dry/warm. This has been most frequent from rain and wet brush, as opposed to breaking through ice into 32 degree water.

From a hunting/fishing backpacking perspective I'm always left wondering about on these tests is why not take the wet clothes off prior to getting into the bag? It seems to me that I'd be most concerned about soaking the insulation of my sleeping bag and potentially compromising what I consider as an emergency layer? That said I've always used a down bag and have always been concerned about keeping the bag dry. On trips where I expect to be pretty wet I keep a second set of long underwear in my sleeping bag and use those as dry sleeping clothes.

From a military perspective something like this makes a bit more sense when you've got concerns about getting shot at.

Thoughts from anyone? I haven't been doing this a long time, live in a drier part of Washington and to be honest pick and choose my trips to try and avoid super wet storms.

 

[bikinitoboots]

excellent article! thought provoking article for sure. we spend so much time and effort refining our gear in a fluid fashion, but most of it is bought "in theory" not actually tested before or after buying.

i have never looked at my clothing the way you do, to my fault most likely. what i do know is it rains here a bunch, and i'm soaked often (hate wearing a hood on my rain gear, and then there is sweat and wrist intrusion.

of course your testing was way more matter of fact and useful, but i guess i have found a clothing system by default.... i'm a simpleton i think, if i wear something, it rains, and i never start to dry out, after a bunch of time doing that i will try something out (not as goal oriented as your test) if it works better, then i will go off of that.

my system is good enough for me and what i do, it has undergone a lot of revision, but it's been largely by luck, just liking to try new stuff.

your test makes a lot more sense... get straight to the point, no beating around the bush for 5 years, haha.

really good article, and a very important aspect many of us overlook.

I think most people figure out their gear through the trial and error method! Two things really influenced me to do this test and get it figured out fast. 1-I’m not about being cold/wet/miserable on trips! I’m not that hardcore. 2-My group of friends introduced me to the idea of testing my gear before I really needed it to perform. If something unforeseen happens I’m confident in my gear.

Cool post. I get that the static rewarming drill is seen as a completely worse case scenario, but I struggle to picture a scenario where something like this is necessary. Personally in every situation where I've gotten pretty wet I've stuck with the hike until dry/warm. This has been most frequent from rain and wet brush, as opposed to breaking through ice into 32 degree water.

From a hunting/fishing backpacking perspective I'm always left wondering about on these tests is why not take the wet clothes off prior to getting into the bag? It seems to me that I'd be most concerned about soaking the insulation of my sleeping bag and potentially compromising what I consider as an emergency layer? That said I've always used a down bag and have always been concerned about keeping the bag dry. On trips where I expect to be pretty wet I keep a second set of long underwear in my sleeping bag and use those as dry sleeping clothes.

From a military perspective something like this makes a bit more sense when you've got concerns about getting shot at.

Thoughts from anyone? I haven't been doing this a long time, live in a drier part of Washington and to be honest pick and choose my trips to try and avoid super wet storms.

You performed an active rewarming drill. You continue to move to produce body heat to dry out your layers. Active rewarming is a much faster way to dry out.
You are right, the static rewarming drill is worse case scenario. There are pieces of gear that will dry out in an active rewarming drill that will not dry in a static drill. If you get injured or in a situation where hiking just isn’t an option, you still need your gear to dry out. Taking off wet clothes might be difficult in that hand dexterity is decreased and while you are taking off the clothes, your body temp is drastically decreasing. If you take your clothes off, there’s no way in this environment to dry them without a fire. Even if you carry spare clothes (I don’t except a base layer to sleep in) then you are left with a big ball of ice clothes you have to deal with. Compromising your sleep system is a legitimate concern. Synthetics can take getting wet and drying out without compromising its performance. The big question is will down work without being totally impaired. I’m working on that answer! Hint....Part 2.

 

[mtwarden]

thanks for posting your test!

a couple observations- my guess is on your tank top is that has lycra, lycra is a great fabric, but it holds moisture tenaciously- you don't want lycra in layers you want to dry quickly

base layers that dry the very quickest are very thin are synthetic- Patagonia Lightweight Capilene, Sitka Core Lightweight, Outdoor Research Echo are all good candidates and upon close examination appear to almost identical (very light grid synthetic)

I think your choices of a mid-layer top and puffy top/bottom are very good; if you're military top/bottom ever wear out, check out Nunatak and their Apex jacket/pant line- fully customizable in relationship to weight of insulation, fabric, size, etc- very solid stuff

I think the slick bag is a great choice- it's Apex as well, for not much more weight a Thermarest Xtherm provides double the R value- it's so light that I use mine not just in winter and shoulder season, but even in the summer.

thanks gain for taking the plunge!

 

[issacsmith]

Thank you so much for the information! I am brand new too and this is some great info I didn't even think about .

 

[dwhite0622]

Thanks for sharing. Some great points here. Especially with the Slick bag. Down has owned the market for a while, but there is something to be said for a good synthetic bag.