Cold weather bushcraft tips and tricks

[FishyFolk]

Thought I'd start a thread on how to make camping out a little more comfortable now that the weather is getting colder.
Over here we have the first snow now...a little late and very little, but it's here :-)

Hope everyone joins in.

I hate being cold. Specially my feet. I got frostbite in all my toes, and fingers during a snowscooter ride on Svalbard (Spitzbergen on some maps) whn I was 12, so my feet easily gets cold.

Anyway. here is my tip:

A. Many will bring something like a nalgene bottle...some of you will even bring those heavy stainless steel bottles when you go out. I have made it a habbit of
filling my Nalgene bottle with boiling hot water, then slip the bottle into my wool socks, and but them into my sleeping bag, at least 30 minutes to an hour before I go to bed.

By that I achieve several things.

- My sleeping bag is warm when I go in :-)

- The socks I use are the ones I wore going in I.e my "wet kit". During the night the heat from the water bottle will dry them out completely. And I will have a pair of warm socks to put on in the morning. Priceless!! :-)

- The socks also prevent me from scolding myself on the hot water bootle.

- The bottle mainly lives down by my feet. But if I am a bit cold going in, I keep it between my thighs for a while. The heat will warm up the blood in your ¨femoral artery and make you feel warmer, and stops that shivering. When cosy, I kick the bottle down to my feet.

- The next day...for me 12 hours later since I am in a hammock....the water is still warm, almost hot. Perfect for a face wash (if the wetaher is allowing that luxury) or to clean up after breakfast. I don't trust it for drinking water. But that should not be a propblem for those with steel bottles. Anyway, the reason it's still warm is that it's been perfectly insulated by the wool socks and the sleeping bag :-)

2. The second trick.

- Before going to bed I strip down and change out of everything I have been wearing. Those clothes will be full of sweat, and even if the feel warm and dry after a few hours sitting by the fire, they are not! Those humid clothes will draw body heat from you during the night to dry up.

- So off they go and on comes a set of long wool underwear. My Merino wool set is priceless! This is kept in a dry bag to keep them dry, and belongs with my dry kit.

- I also clean my feet, and towel them dry...and try to warm them up a little by the fire to make sure they are dry, before I pull on some dry, thick felted wool socks.

- on my head I put my army balaklava. I tried with a beanie hat but it just fell off during the night.

3rd trick.

A pair of Zippo handwarmers burns for 12 hours...I put one in each boot, and have warm and dry boots in the morning, at least they will feel warm and dry :-)




Thats it, hope more of you will share :-)

[Ehecatl]

Interesting stuff Rune - as ever. For the actions you describe, what are the typical over night temperatures?

M@

[OakAshandThorn]

T^ Excellent suggestions, Rune :D. I too get cold tootsies easily - extra pair of heavyweight wool socks for me, and my Sorels have a 1.5 cm felted inner-bootie of 75% wool/25% synthetic. Really like that tip with the hot water bottle to warm up a sleeping bag :).
Now for the first snow to come...

[saxonaxe]

Thanks for that Rune. I've got an old French aluminium water bottle somewhere, I'll definitely give the bed warmer trick a go ..:)

[FishyFolk]

Interesting stuff Rune - as ever. For the actions you describe, what are the typical over night temperatures?

M@

Here?

Anything form +5 to minus -15 celcius

In the upper part of that temperature range, I also have to deal with wet snow...and that stuff will soak into anything it comes into contact with...making it extra important to change into a dry kit before bed.
I am on an island on the coast so it seldom gets much colder than that. But It won't be much of a problem if it does. The milder variant is much, much worse, and harder to stay warm in.

Anyway a changing clothes tip if you are not in a tent but just inder a tarp, is to bring a small plastic tarp to put on the ground under your hammock so that you have a dry spot to undress and get your dry kit on. Keep it clean and the snow off this. You step on snow in your dry socks...they become wet socks and you have cold feet.

peronally I bring a foam mat to sit on by the fire, and use that to stand on when I change clothes.

[FishyFolk]

Deleted my post as it was derailing my own thread, lol

[FishyFolk]

Thanks for that Rune. I've got an old French aluminium water bottle somewhere, I'll definitely give the bed warmer trick a go ..:)

That will do the trick, just remeber to put it in some thick socks so you don't burn yourself, and make sure the lid is water proof :-)

[saxonaxe]

" Anything form +5 to minus -15 celcius " That's cold enough for me!!...:p

My only contribution to the 'ideas' thread is, when I went to the luxury of an Exped air mat, I cut the old foam sleeping mat in half. I used one half as a sit mat and the other bit I stuck some reflective foil on one side. It's the stuff that is designed to fit down behind household heating radiators to reflect the heat. I prop it up behind the fire as a reflactor. Not very Bushcrafty I know, people cut sticks and make natural reflectors but the foam mat with the foil stuck on it slides down inside my Bergen and makes life easy..and a bit warmer sitting by the fire. :ashamed:

[David_JAFO]

hello,
Great stuff Rune. Old Native trick living in the snowy wastelands of Scotland :p & Arctic Warfare CADRE Veteran. A foot snow bath.. bare feet quick dip in the snow, dry off the feet quickly, & into a pair of warm dry socks, straight into your sleeping bag & your feet are warm as toast. Coldest I've endured & slept outdoors -33C.
Regards
David

[Valantine]

Excellent tips, tried and tested are always the best T^

[FishyFolk]

hello,
Great stuff Rune. Old Native trick living in the snowy wastelands of Scotland :p & Arctic Warfare CADRE Veteran. A foot snow bath.. bare feet quick dip in the snow, dry off the feet quickly, & into a pair of warm dry socks, straight into your sleeping bag & your feet are warm as toast. Coldest I've endured & slept outdoors -33C.
Regards
David

Yeah I've done that too if the snow is still soft. But most of the time the surface is fozen. But yes, just keeping your feet clean and getting the sweat off helps a lot.

[Ehecatl]

Here?

Anything form +5 to minus -15 celcius

In the upper part of that temperature range, I also have to deal with wet snow...and that stuff will soak into anything it comes into contact with...making it extra important to change into a dry kit before bed.
I am on an island on the coast so it seldom gets much colder than that. But It won't be much of a problem if it does. The milder variant is much, much worse, and harder to stay warm in.

Anyway a changing clothes tip if you are not in a tent but just inder a tarp, is to bring a small plastic tarp to put on the ground under your hammock so that you have a dry spot to undress and get your dry kit on. Keep it clean and the snow off this. You step on snow in your dry socks...they become wet socks and you have cold feet.

peronally I bring a foam mat to sit on by the fire, and use that to stand on when I change clothes.

I know what you mean - wet/damp and cold is not a good mix. Some folk do not appreciate that warmer air can contain more water vapour so a few degrees lower in temperature can actually make it feel warmer as you may not have damp to content with too.

[Tigger004]

I wear wollen heat-eater socks and a thinsulate beanie, these work for me... once when it was really cold I wore a softie set ( trousers and jacket ) I was very warm indeed but woke up sweaty which spoilt it completely... so a balance is required.

[janso]

I wear wollen heat-eater socks and a thinsulate beanie, these work for me... once when it was really cold I wore a softie set ( trousers and jacket ) I was very warm indeed but woke up sweaty which spoilt it completely... so a balance is required.

I did the same! Fell asleep in a pair of softie trousers and a lifa top using my bag as a blanket, woke up hot as hell and couldn't figure it out until I realised. I normally aim for naked in a liner, in a bag and it works for me once I've got that micro climate working

[Johnnyboy1971]

A couple of the disposable hand warmers dropped into your boots when you first wake up will take the chill off them ready for you to get them on.
Sleep with you stoves fuel inside your bag. Even meths can suffer from the cold and the first coffee of the morning is an important one.
I try to lay my clothes I have taken off between my bivvybag and sleeping bag. This helps give a little more insulation and padding but only if they are dry. Also when you put them back on your body heat will have warmed them a little.
Foot powder, I like to give them a good rub in it before clean dry socks for bed.

[FishyFolk]

A couple of the disposable hand warmers dropped into your boots when you first wake up will take the chill off them ready for you to get them on.
Sleep with you stoves fuel inside your bag. Even meths can suffer from the cold and the first coffee of the morning is an important one.
I try to lay my clothes I have taken off between my bivvybag and sleeping bag. This helps give a little more insulation and padding but only if they are dry. Also when you put them back on your body heat will have warmed them a little.
Foot powder, I like to give them a good rub in it before clean dry socks for bed.

I use light my zippo fueled hand warmers before bed and drp them into my boots. They burn for 12+ hours, and will dry my boots out inside :-)

[Johnnyboy1971]

I use light my zippo fueled hand warmers before bed and drp them into my boots. They burn for 12+ hours, and will dry my boots out inside :-)

Not seen those before. Will have a look and thanks for that.

[FishyFolk]

Not seen those before. Will have a look and thanks for that.

Mine are not made by Zippo. They are something I found on Ebay...

Anyway, with your socks dried and heated by the hot bottle, and your boots at least heated of not perfctly dried inside, by the hand warmers, it's a lot better start of the day than sticking your feet into a pair of icy lumps....

[Midge_Fodder]

Ahhh I have some Whisky stones for drying my boots, I hear them up near the fire till they are hot but not scorching and drop them into the boots. 100% sustainable and non stinky as they literally are pebbles I found that were a nice size and shape, then gave them a wash. I also got the Dremel out and put some celtic knot-work on them for a bit of style and put them in a wee canvas bag.

[Sylvanbilly]

When using a hammock in the cold I also use a foam mat to stand on while undressing for bed, lay it out just at the side of my hammock, that way I can sit in my hammock and take off boots and clothes while stepping on and off my mat, I have made an under hammock out of rip stop to hang from my continuos loop threaded through my hammock ends, connected with soft shackles, this is ideal for all my kit to be kept in, like Bergen boots and the clothes I take off at night, only think is the clothes are stiff and cold in the morning

[FishyFolk]

When using a hammock in the cold I also use a foam mat to stand on while undressing for bed, lay it out just at the side of my hammock, that way I can sit in my hammock and take off boots and clothes while stepping on and off my mat, I have made an under hammock out of rip stop to hang from my continuos loop threaded through my hammock ends, connected with soft shackles, this is ideal for all my kit to be kept in, like Bergen boots and the clothes I take off at night, only think is the clothes are stiff and cold in the morning

yeah those foam mats are handy. And nice to sit on too. My hammock came with an under hammock. So I put all my stuff there. Things get easily lost in snow :-)

[David_JAFO]

hello,
These are Ok my friends dad who's into fishing let me borrow these Zippo brand a while back, tried & tested :happy-clapping:
Regards
David


Not seen those before. Will have a look and thanks for that.

[Tigger004]

I got a couple for winter motorbike riding for my wife and I, they were cheap off ebay with a butterfly design of vent holes, they burn for hours and I wear one around my neck inside my jacket.
Two draw backs:- bit smelly and if on a bike, Don't forget to remove it if you're stopping for fuel !!