Winter camping using two blankets?
- Thread starter Man of Tanith
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I've been out on snowmobiles at -20 in British Columbia and stayed in hunting cabins alongside stuffed wolverines. 
But we didnt sleep outside.
Northwest Woodsman does a vid about how to wrap your blanket around you when sleeping in it.
[video=youtube;Gx38go8-Ig8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded& v=Gx38go8-Ig8[/video]
I recently got a new hudsons bay 4 point blanket and am wanting to try this myself. Ill probably wear softie trousers and woolpower top, with nanok sleeping socks.
But we didnt sleep outside. Northwest Woodsman does a vid about how to wrap your blanket around you when sleeping in it.
[video=youtube;Gx38go8-Ig8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded& v=Gx38go8-Ig8[/video]
I recently got a new hudsons bay 4 point blanket and am wanting to try this myself. Ill probably wear softie trousers and woolpower top, with nanok sleeping socks.
I can vouch for that.
Were you peeking?
Dave good vid and result on the hudson bay blanket mate
God i could'nt sleep trussed up like that, i move about and end up on my left side that would feel really restrictive.
Well, I think the experiment, at least as I read it, is to see if the challenge can be done, and if so, how effectively it can be done. With sufficient time and preparation, there should be no problem to do this, but it kind of takes away the challenge in my opinion. For me the challenge is to see if I can sleep out with two blankets (and other ordinary accessories). If I take the time to build a cabin before starting the challenge, then I am not sleeping out with two blankets, I am sleeping with two blankets in a cabin, which is a whole different story. I am not opposed to construction of structures to help with the task, but I would like to see that done withing a reasonable amount of time in the evening, much like a modern camp would be set up, or much like a trapper or hunter would have done in the past. I am curious to see if this type of thing can be done efficiently, and see how comparable it is to modern techniques. That's just what i would like to see. Again, it's not my experiment.
I'm pretty certain it can be done within a set amount of time. I usually factor in a couple hours before dark to get camp set up. Once reflectors built tarp up and fire prepped I can always invest more time in making it comfier.
Youre welcome to have a go as well
Youre welcome to have a go as well
Thanks Sam. Its so nice I dont want to get it dirty....
You know I read the commander of the British forces in North America, General Amherst, encouraged one of his captains, to infect the HBC blankets with smallpox, then give them to native american indians, who were fighting on the french side. A very early example of Germ warfare. Wiped them out.
Theres no proof of it though. Horrible thought nonetheless.
Apparently the native Indians prized them above most other trade items, because wool retains 80% of its insulating warmth even when wet.
I just got a 3 and a half point Hudson Bay blanket in camel (colour) as a Christmas present but I'm allowed to use it before Christmas, because I'm a good boy
.They are truly great blankets and I reckon it will be keeping my son warm in years to come, but its gonna get used well by me first!
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Sam, a good nights sleep is all and i do mean ALL about insulation, if you can lay 6-12 inches of spruce bow down your sorted, it will be toasty inside your bed roll, TBH im not sure you would need a fire with that bedding your bed roll tarp and blankets. but thats some thing only you can decide on the day, if you cant get the spruce/pine bows try some thing like that, dont use wet/moist grass or furn it will draw heat from your body, the old fire bed or hot rocks work,as Toddy said wait for most of the steam to pass before jumping on top, it will make you damp and get you cold later on.
if you decide to use a long fire make sure you get 3 or 4 times the amount of wood ready than you think you need, trust me you will use most of it.
if you need any advise out the shelter building or bedding side of things give me a pm mate...
best of luck dude....
regards
chris.
if you decide to use a long fire make sure you get 3 or 4 times the amount of wood ready than you think you need, trust me you will use most of it.
if you need any advise out the shelter building or bedding side of things give me a pm mate...
best of luck dude....
regards
chris.
I got caught out in -4. I was in a tent, thin foam bed mat, and a cheapo sleeping bag. Nowt on but a tee shirt and a pair of Y fronts, with a few holes in them.
Woke at 4.30 AM, with the sleeping bag to one side, wanting toilet REALLY badly. That was a lovely walk across the campsite, through the frost, with semi frozen boots and clothes on.
I wouldn't have done it by choice, but it didn't kill me. I'm pretty certain with two good thick wool blankets, a full compliment of clothes, and a hat, -4 would be quite bearable.
Being off the ground somewhat would, no doubt, be an advantage, as in your not trying to heat up the earth below you.
The other thing I think I would do is set up a small canopy above my head, just a small tarp on a few sticks, just to keep any wind off my face, just to lessen the sense of exposure. I can't see any reason that it would not have been done all those years ago.
Woke at 4.30 AM, with the sleeping bag to one side, wanting toilet REALLY badly. That was a lovely walk across the campsite, through the frost, with semi frozen boots and clothes on.
I wouldn't have done it by choice, but it didn't kill me. I'm pretty certain with two good thick wool blankets, a full compliment of clothes, and a hat, -4 would be quite bearable.
Being off the ground somewhat would, no doubt, be an advantage, as in your not trying to heat up the earth below you.
The other thing I think I would do is set up a small canopy above my head, just a small tarp on a few sticks, just to keep any wind off my face, just to lessen the sense of exposure. I can't see any reason that it would not have been done all those years ago.
For sure, I'm not disagreeing with you there. The point I was making is simply to allow enough time to get things sorted out, the amount of time required is surely relative and dependent on personal experience and the environmental factors/opportunities in the locale where one decides to park the blankets.
The idea of course being, that in the morning one could strike camp and do it all again, and again and again. So there's a learning curve involved for those starting out on the trail, whether they be modern people looking for the retro experience or the want-to-be frontiers person of the 1700's or 1800's, many of whom started out with no or little backwoods experience themselves. The Hudson Bay Company was very popular with single men from my country in days gone by, there's been quite a bit in the news lately about this old Orcadian;
http://uk.ask.com/wiki/John_Rae_(explorer)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-24325177
The inference being that Rae didn't have experience of the arctic until he got there himself.
Taking care of ones self (with the resources and ingenuity one has available) is the first priority of any venture. I just can't see people who've spent extended periods outdoors conducting business, successfully, neglecting themselves too far unless they've lost control of the situation and circumstances dictate it, as allowing things to head thus would likely spell an end to the success of the venture and therefore defeating the purpose, be it trapping trading prospecting exploring experimenting/learning etc.
A simple rule I've learned; if you don't take care of yourself adequately; how can you expect to take care of business? A sub optimal self will have a negative bearing on the effectiveness of any venture (business), so the two are intrinsically linked, welfare and success. How thats measured is relative of course and dependent on the stick used to gauge it. Some will have pushed the personal welfare boundaries further than others to achieve success of course, but then fortune often favours the brave, although as we all know thats not always the case.
I can see modern people having a different "comfort" threshold to those frontier folks of recent antiquity, in terms of what people generally find acceptable or bearable. Cultural differences aside though, there's always going to be a preparation period prior to losing the light. Shelter heat and sustenance can all be achieved without the need for cabin building, handy topography or quick improvised wind break construction plus enough fire wood and one could forgo the blankets, even in winter. Practice makes perfect
Anyway here's a song to get Man of Tanith in the mood;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRIj5OTp1Ic
All the best
Willie
What temperatures are we talking about here? Someone mentioned -20C, so that is the range I had in mind when I was making my recommendations. On the other hand, if we are talking about temperatures around 0C (another person mentioned -4C) you'll be fine with two blankets and not much else. Here is me spending a night out without any blankets, with just a small fire: http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/04/trip-report-wilderness-survival.html
If you are building insulation from the ground, it takes way more material than you think. That's because it will eventually compress. Recommendations are usually for about two feet or more prior to laying on top of it, which will then compress to about six inches. It will in part depend on the insulation that you are using.
Also, in my experience, wool retains 80% of its insulation when wet only on the internet. In the woods it loses way more, and you will be very cold if that happens. Keep your blankets dry. If keeping with the Boone challenge, bring a small canvas tarp.
If you are building insulation from the ground, it takes way more material than you think. That's because it will eventually compress. Recommendations are usually for about two feet or more prior to laying on top of it, which will then compress to about six inches. It will in part depend on the insulation that you are using.
Also, in my experience, wool retains 80% of its insulation when wet only on the internet. In the woods it loses way more, and you will be very cold if that happens. Keep your blankets dry. If keeping with the Boone challenge, bring a small canvas tarp.
I mentioned minus fifteen in the original post as the coldest i've slept out in previously (it may have been minus seventeen I didnt have a thermometer)
As its effectively a brass monkey boone trip I will lf course have the canvas tarp I use.
I believe although I stated a temp folk have gone with the idea winter and two blankets and thus given suggestions and advice accordingly.
Anyone else who wants to test theories or skills is of course welcome to do it as well
As its effectively a brass monkey boone trip I will lf course have the canvas tarp I use.
I believe although I stated a temp folk have gone with the idea winter and two blankets and thus given suggestions and advice accordingly.
Anyone else who wants to test theories or skills is of course welcome to do it as well
My feeling is that you have to find out how YOUR blankets work, so many people have so many differnt Blankets.... and the mix of fibers in them differ so much, they are all differtn weaves... ect ect, also how do you sleep, are you a hot sleeper or a cold one, I know that I tend to feel the cold , so will always pack more then I think...
the only real way is to find out for sure what you will need is to get out there and do it.... learn your gear... even if its just for a couple of hrs at night in the back garden insted of watching the box... if you have not got enough blankets you'll soon know....
the only real way is to find out for sure what you will need is to get out there and do it.... learn your gear... even if its just for a couple of hrs at night in the back garden insted of watching the box... if you have not got enough blankets you'll soon know....
We are talking about temp here a lot - nobody has mentioned humidity.
I've been to the states once, in winter. We were warned before getting off the plane how cold it was (-19C). When I got outside, I couldn't believe how warm it felt.
I'm used to the UK and particularly yorkshire. Humidity is a real killer, with 90% humidity being common even at sub-zero temperatures. Talking about it with a friend who has camped all over the world (and been on sentry duty), he said the coldest he'd been was in York - about -4 and freezing fog. Nothing as bad anywhere else.
Ok, he hadn't been to really high latitudes, but then neither had Daniel Boone.
If the air is dry, then windchill is the next dangerous factor. So camp out of the wind, always.
I've been to the states once, in winter. We were warned before getting off the plane how cold it was (-19C). When I got outside, I couldn't believe how warm it felt.
I'm used to the UK and particularly yorkshire. Humidity is a real killer, with 90% humidity being common even at sub-zero temperatures. Talking about it with a friend who has camped all over the world (and been on sentry duty), he said the coldest he'd been was in York - about -4 and freezing fog. Nothing as bad anywhere else.
Ok, he hadn't been to really high latitudes, but then neither had Daniel Boone.
If the air is dry, then windchill is the next dangerous factor. So camp out of the wind, always.
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