Winter 'crafting

[Man of Tanith]

Thanks for your advice about reflector cartroid pulse and the space blanket, pity it wasnt an original idea all of my own but glad to hear its not as daft as it could be.
for the sake of my own curiosity i shall still try the three versions i mentioned in an earlier post and still be a bit nerdy and take temperature readings.
you were right about the overlevnad its very interesting a picture sure does say a thousand words.
lots of food for thought here folks keep it coming

 

[ex-member Raikey]

Thanks for your advice about reflector cartroid pulse and the space blanket, pity it wasnt an original idea all of my own but glad to hear its not as daft as it could be.
for the sake of my own curiosity i shall still try the three versions i mentioned in an earlier post and still be a bit nerdy and take temperature readings.
you were right about the overlevnad its very interesting a picture sure does say a thousand words.
lots of food for thought here folks keep it coming

its not nerdy,..its a valid experiment, which could be of benifit to future winter campers.....

i,m never hesitant in trying summat new if i think the final result will be a benificial one,..

some of the best innovations in history came from accidents, lateral thinking and basic "fannying about"

"you wont know until you try" ,my Granny said,...but that related to brussels sprouts so,................

 

[Man of Tanith]

"you wont know until you try" ,my Granny said,...but that related to brussels sprouts so,................

one of my favourite quotes is it seemed like a good idea at the time which is in a similar train of thought at your granny's saying.
brussels are best to be avoided when not solitary camping

 

[Grizzlyscott]

ey up ive had a few nights out in the snow and this is what i found. it might not be great advice but its just what i found etc....

while tarped up i found that drafts in winter were a killer, they kept me awake all night. even blowing on the outside of my bivi bag they made it extremly cold. therefore i made a quick solid windbreak out of fallen branches then covered this in fallen debree from the ground, pine needles, leaves moss etc.... this took the wind right off me and produced a great nights sleep. a fire would be ideal for extra comfort. as we were not alowed to use one because we were on an exercise i cant realy comment on fires etc.. but i supose at end of day its trail and error. keep toying with new techneques ideas etc...

scotty

 

[MSkiba]

Can anyone recommend a decent winter sleeping bag that wont break the bank?

Im preparing for hammock use and I think my Blacks sleeping bag is too cold.

 

[shaggystu]

.......brussels are best to be avoided when not solitary camping

they're a great way heat your sleeping bag up though, just make sure that the neck baffle's done up nice and tight!

stuart

 

[Man of Tanith]

they're a great way heat your sleeping bag up though, just make sure that the neck baffle's done up nice and tight!

stuart

wouldnt i take i off from all the gas?

 

[treefrog]

Can anyone recommend a decent winter sleeping bag that wont break the bank?

The stock answer is usually Alpkit. There are plenty of people who would recommend them for value and service
http://www.alpkit.com/sleeping-bags/

 

[Man of Tanith]

i personally have found the old 58 pattern army surplus sleeping bag very cosy in winter, bit bulky but darn sight cheaper than most things on the market
mind you i sleep hot. very hot.
you can always throw in a fleece sleeping bag liner or use a water bottle filled with boiled water to keep you toasty warm.

 

[vizsla]

i went camping last winter when we had all the snow,i took my tent as i had two dogs with me and i can only handle one squeezing in the sleeping bag with me so thought it would be abit cosier,although i didnt take the iner tent, even with with snow building up the breeze was a bit cold with no bivibag you can feel it taking the heat out of the sleeping.
i manged to get a good nights sleep even without a fire or stove although i did wake at one point and my face was numb.
it was definatly my best camping trip yet, and aim to do the same this year but in my tarp with a fire.
my one bit of advise would be same as others have said,try and eliminate as many droughts as possible.

oh great thread

 

[Man of Tanith]

last year we used a tent and woke at four am for obligatory comfort stop amaing how chilly it was when we opened the tent.
this is kind of what has inspired the no tent just tarp plans for this year.
wind chill is definately my main concern !

 

[LennyMac]

I am going to hike from my place in Kenley, Surrey to Hastings on the coast over 5 days at Christmas- New year, using a 58 pattern poncho for shelter. I won't be able to build fires and will be using a trangia for cooking.

I can also attest to the benefits of wind breaks and insulation against ground temperature (although these things are not always immediately apparent and come as a revelation at about 4am on the first night out!).

Thanks for the tips about snow- if the forecasts for snow are correct, I should emerge with some good pics and more useful experience.

 

[Man of Tanith]

I am going to hike from my place in Kenley, Surrey to Hastings on the coast over 5 days at Christmas- New year, using a 58 pattern poncho for shelter. I won't be able to build fires and will be using a trangia for cooking.

I can also attest to the benefits of wind breaks and insulation against ground temperature (although these things are not always immediately apparent and come as a revelation at about 4am on the first night out!).

Thanks for the tips about snow- if the forecasts for snow are correct, I should emerge with some good pics and more useful experience.

i'll look forward to the pics
off saturday for my experiemental camp
all packed and ready bar water. managed to aquire a trailer load of logs to take in to the site to preserve the wood already there so should be well supplied

 

[Tony]

i love it out in the winter, the biggest problem i have is my legs get too hot when i'm warming myself by the fire, i need to wear trousers instead of shorts, but I never do. Waking up to cold crisp air, not wanting to get out and start getting a fire going, but wanting to

 

[Man of Tanith]

SHORTS!
stuff that i dont even wear them in summer unless it is farcially hot.
got a met office weather report for tomorrow so although not freezing its hardly balmy weather so the experiment should still be valid (i hope) camera is packed so i can get some pics of the process as well.

 

[bilmo-p5]

Since I started using the tarp I have my first brew before I get out of the bag (the Trangia is ideal for this). If it's a bit nippy I have a bowl of instant porridge too - get on the outside of some warmth b4 emerging completely.

 

[Shingsowa]

I've got some pics somewhere from a practice trip that Sleepy Weasel and i did before a Norway trip. Late December, minus 12C, Light plantation on the edge of a reservoir in N. Wales.

We had arrived in the dark, and had been debating the source of the horrendous creaking we had been hearing all night... turned out to be the huge slabs of ice on the frozen lake being blown up against the edge of the dam. A really creepy sound, unlike anything I've heard before. (apart from being stood 50ft away from a frozen Pistyll Rhaedr waterfall when it seperated from the rockface, that was like a sodding artillery barrage!)

I try and sleep as close to naked/baselayer in cold-ish weather (just above zero to minus 10c) and find i'm much warmer than being fully clothed in the same sleeping bag. I think it's to do with your body only heating up the next 'layer' of air, so if you are clothed you only heat up a small volume. I'm not sure if it's true, but it's worked for me in lots of places, especially high-altitude camping i.e. Kili...


With regards to reflectors, how big are we talking here? 6 inches tall? 4 feet? I always tend to stack collected wood on the opposite side of the fire anyway to help dry it out and reflet heat back towards my cooking pot. I might experiment with the firepit in the garden...

 

[Man of Tanith]

i went with a reflector like the one in this thread for last weekends tests http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63425
slept in thermals and a base layer top which seemed to work fine until the 02.20 loo stop then added a fleece blanket to seeping bag and was toasty warm til i woke up in the morning

 

[Loenja]

just come back from a survival camp(knife and clothes you'r in only) it was great but we could have don with a bigger fire and a smaler shelter.

 

[vizsla]

sleeping bags rely on your body heat to heat them and keep you warm so like people have said ur best to just sleep in ur baselayers and if you do get cold put your extra clothing on top of the sleeping bag