Best tips I've heard by far on cold weather! I especially liked the tip on adding hot water to some snow, it's how we usually started the boiling of sap at the sugar bush. But never thought of it for my drinking water. Bravo!
My grandfather's tips I can remember from the long time he spent teaching me.. I think I can remember a few..
1) Snow can't stick to Canine fur, make any fur hats or trimming out of wolf, fox or coyote.
2) Wool, fleece, and fur all keep in the warmth, and do a decent job of keeping warmth even when wet. Cotton, does neither.
3) Heat rocks until they're just too hot to touch for a long time. Wrap in non-burnable natural material (I've used buckskin and wool sheets). Lay where your body may need the extra heat (under arms, behind the small of your back, etc).
4) If you need to urinate, or defecate.. just do it. If not, your body has to keep that stuff warm, and you need to strain to keep it inside. That costs calories and energy, warmth, and sleep time. Go outside, or use a specialised recepticle (ie. bed pan, yellow nalgene bottle
), do your business, and go back to bed.
5) Warm liquids, with sugars, or other electrolytes, can revitalise, as well as warm the body. A good plan, is to always have a pot of water on the stove. Fill it with cedar needles, pine needles, or labrador tea, boil it, and drink slowly before bed, or whenever you wake up.
6) Insulation from beneath you is just as important, if not more important that/as insulation above and around you. If you have a metre of insulation on top of your shelter, you should have at least two metres of insulation beneath you. Spruce and balsam fir boughs work well together to make a warm, thick bed. If you have sheepskins, buffalo robes, or other thick furry hides, lay them under you, on top of the boughs, to make it softer, and less.. well.. prickly
Clothing, I personally like a thick wooly underlayer, than buckskins on the outside, to help shield off the snow. In -10 or colder (which I deal with most often), the snow rarely sticks to the leather, So I'm usually warm and dry by the time I make camp
