Cold camping?

[Idaho45guy]

I grew up camping in this area, but we generally only camped during the summer. I guess we went out a couple of times during hunting season, but didn't make a habit out of it.

Yesterday I had cabin fever pretty badly and with temps supposedly in the 50's, I hooked up my old pop-up camper and headed into the woods for a last-minute wild hair get into the woods camping trip.

I forgot how cold it gets at night in the mountains. My camper is one that I bought for $100 and am slowly restoring. It's in pretty good shape, really, for a 1970's pop-up camper. But, the propane line has a hole in it that supplies the furnace, so no heater.

I have a nice sleeping bag rated to -10 degrees. My brother and I talked today and he is of the opinion that the temperature rating of sleeping bags indicates at how cold of a temperature you can sleep in without dying and NOT what temperature you can sleep in and be comfortable. I agree. Last night it got down into the low 20's and I did not die.

But I was NOT comfortable...

Normally, I sleep in a tent, so I have a nice cot, a nice air mattress, and a thick comforter. It's usually down to maybe the upper 40's or 50's when I camp during the summer out here.

Well, this was a last minute trip and I forgot the comforter. And a pillow. I went to bed wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a stocking cap. I had to use the seat cushions to substitute for a pillow. Woke up a couple of times freezing and had to burrow further down into the sleeping bag and throw a coat over me.

But the first camping trip of the year is now in the bag.

[Idaho45guy]

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Nothing better than sitting by a campfire next to a trout-filled creek reading the Bible...

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[JonB_in_Glencoe]

On a Motorcycle trip to the west coast, during 4th of July week, in the late 80s, My friends and I camped overnight at one of our favorite boondock camping areas in the Big Horn mts (WY)...just below Black mt Lookout. I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering, Tent condensation was ice, I climbed out of the tent to get the fire going and try to warm up...my two buddy's were already out there and the fire was going good. brrrr.

[Idaho45guy]

On a Motorcycle trip to the west coast, during 4th of July week, in the late 80s, My friends and I camped overnight at one of our favorite boondock camping areas in the Big Horn mts (WY)...just below Black mt Lookout. I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering, Tent condensation was ice, I climbed out of the tent to get the fire going and try to warm up...my two buddy's were already out there and the fire was going good. brrrr.

Nothing worse than waking up cold when camping; except waking up cold AND having to go to the bathroom. And there is no bathroom...

[Idaho45guy]

Coldest I've camped was about 7 years ago in Southeastern Idaho on a Mule deer hunt near Dubois.

My dad, my son, and my brother and I slept in dad's fancy new 29' RV camper. It was -10 degrees and there was a 20mph wind. His camper had the "Alpine" package for cold-weather camping. Furnace was going non-stop and we could only get it to 50 degrees inside. That was miserable to hunt in but not bad sleeping conditions. I actually have a picture from that trip...

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[nagantguy]

Though noisy one of those emergency blankets sure helps keep the warm inside a sleeping bag! Been on some cold cold nights in ratty cabins, leaky pop ups,tents and under the stars from MI to Co. the one that stands out above all others was in Turkey, yep the Turkish desert, 110 for our liberty days in Izmir, for training we packed light, only the shell of the sleeping bag, the second night it rained and fell into the 30s , low 30s , wet and tired under the stars, more than a few Marines shared sleeping bags that night and the next, wet, cold and a stiff wind sure was miserable. Anyhow at -12 on a CO elk hunt and the emergency space tin foil blanket sure helped keep the warm inside.

[trails4u]

Mingo County, WV sometime around 1992. Had a perfectly good cabin within sight, but all the sleeping accommodations were upstairs in a loft, and it got ridiculously hot in that loft....so me and a buddy decided to tent it. Woke up sometime in the night, with my wool sock clad foot poking through the hole in the end of my bag, with frost on it. Ouch. We knew it was going to get cold...so Brad had brought some wool army blankets along. We were both nicely covered in them as we went to bed, but when I awoke to my frozen foot he was wrapped up like a pig n a blanket in all of them. The thermometer on my sleeping bag zipper said 6 degrees....and I believe it!!

[marlin39a]

We're taking our camper out Saturday and setting up on a ridge over a river. Will be in the low 80's here. Rib eyes over a fire. Watch the stars. Will be in the 30's by morning. Spring is here, saw my first hummingbird today.

[Idaho45guy]

the one that stands out above all others was in Turkey, yep the Turkish desert, 110 for our liberty days in Izmir, for training we packed light, only the shell of the sleeping bag, the second night it rained and fell into the 30s , low 30s , wet and tired under the stars, more than a few Marines shared sleeping bags that night and the next, wet, cold and a stiff wind sure was miserable.

You have my respect...

[Idaho45guy]

We're taking our camper out Saturday and setting up on a ridge over a river. Will be in the low 80's here. Rib eyes over a fire. Watch the stars. Will be in the 30's by morning. Spring is here, saw my first hummingbird today.

I miss Arizona. Used to live in Prescott Valley until my divorce in 2013. Got my CCW permit at Gunsite in 2007.

We used to camp up past Strawberry at the Blue Ridge Reservoir...

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[MaryB]

In my younger days we did a week long winter camp/fur bearer hunt/trapping trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. -20 or lower in mid December! Wall tent with 2 wood stoves so 45 to 50 in the tent unless you picked the straw for the cot next to the wall. I got tired of freezing so I stacked cut pine boughs against the outer wall then buried it in a layer of snow. Older brother came back to my corner and tried to talk me into moving, it was 65 degrees due to the extra insulation! Told him nope, we drew straws, you are stuck next to the door where you froze from everyone going out to pee at night LOL After that trip he bought a 5 gallon toilet setup and an anteroom for the front of the tent to keep it warmer, go out to pee in the bucket and not let outside ice cold air in! We made a months income in that week and it was a LOT of hard cold work. But furs sold well back then.

[tankgunner59]

You should get a military surplus extreme cold weather sleeping bag. It was back in January 1980, but I was stationed at Fort Carson, CO. We were in the field on our M-60 tanks, and we had to sleep in combat conditions. That means all four tankers had to sleep on or in the tank, and it got really cramped. So I rolled out my bag on the front fender stripped to my skivies and put my fatigues on the inside, climbed in and went to sleep. I was warm as I would've been inside with the tank heater running. Slept like a log all night.
Haven't done a lot of cold camping these days, the wife wouldn't go and camping alone ain't a lot of fun. But with one of these sleeping bags I wouldn't hesitate.

[Idaho45guy]

In my younger days we did a week long winter camp/fur bearer hunt/trapping trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. -20 or lower in mid December! Wall tent with 2 wood stoves so 45 to 50 in the tent unless you picked the straw for the cot next to the wall. I got tired of freezing so I stacked cut pine boughs against the outer wall then buried it in a layer of snow. Older brother came back to my corner and tried to talk me into moving, it was 65 degrees due to the extra insulation! Told him nope, we drew straws, you are stuck next to the door where you froze from everyone going out to pee at night LOL After that trip he bought a 5 gallon toilet setup and an anteroom for the front of the tent to keep it warmer, go out to pee in the bucket and not let outside ice cold air in! We made a months income in that week and it was a LOT of hard cold work. But furs sold well back then.

My grandpa was a fur trapper and boat builder from Peshtigo, WI. He moved out here in 1946 to a tiny town called Palouse, WA then eventually moved 15 miles away to Moscow, ID. I bought a house in Palouse in 2014 and discovered it is one block away from where my grandpa first moved. Ironic...

Anyway, he used to tell me tales of him riding the rails and working trap lines in Wisconsin in the 1930's.

He said one winter, he was working a trap line and sleeping in a little canvas tent and it got so cold that the pitch was freezing in the pine trees and causing them to explode. He said he laid awake all night just listening to trees explode all around him. I think he said it was around -50 degrees or so. I was probably around 14-15 years old at the time, but it was a fantastic story.

I believe I once researched trees exploding from the sap freezing and expanding and it was discounted by scientists but some swore they've witnessed it...

Coldest I've been was in Iowa in `96 or so. I do not recall the air temp, but I do recall the wind chill was -70 degrees. I remember getting in my 1985 Ford LTD at 0500 and it barely starting, then driving it the 18 miles to work and it was like driving the Flintstone's car because the oil in the shocks was frozen, the rubber in the tires was frozen...

I do not miss the midwest...

[Idaho45guy]

You should get a military surplus extreme cold weather sleeping bag.

I have one, LOL. Complete with broken zipper. It is a very warm bag. It was issued to me when I was a 12B. It and the Mickey Mouse boots were some amazing pieces of gear for surviving cold weather.

It's funny, but when I was grabbing gear for my trip, it was in a garbage sack next to the camping chair that I grabbed out of the loft in the garage. Didn't even think about grabbing it. Duh.

[tommag]

Back when I was invincible, I used to camp out in the winter in North central Montana when it was -10 to -20. Sleeping bags in the open were miserable. My feet always hurt from the cold. Snow caves were a big improvement! Now, I consider turning the thermostat down to 60 to be roughing it.

[Elkins45]

I have a nice sleeping bag rated to -10 degrees. My brother and I talked today and he is of the opinion that the temperature rating of sleeping bags indicates at how cold of a temperature you can sleep in without dying and NOT what temperature you can sleep in and be comfortable.

That is my opinion as well. To be comfortable at the rated temps I would think you would need to be sleeping in your winter jacket and have some sort of ground pad as well.

[starmac]

Camped in an army wall tent one elk season, -10 at night. I had a homemade woodstove I had built and an extreme cold army bag. It never got cold enough to zip the bag completely closed. My older partners sister had made him bring the fifth wheel and promise to sleep in it. I would hear him and his grandson every morning around 2 am changing the propane bottles, and by 4 they would be in the tent with us. lol

I spent a cold night in a dead truck when the actual temp was 29 below in that army bag, didn't unzip that puppy till about 10 am when I heard the first truck coming. lol

I no longer have that bag, but keep a 30 below bag in the truck, it would be hard pressed to keep a guy alive at 30 below, I think.

You folks can have that 20 below camping, especially the canoe trip ones, it is just too dadgum tiring dragging a canoe in that hard water, a sled works much better.

[tomme boy]

This is a Polish Lavvu that I modified by adding 18" to the bottom and a stove jack. it works awesome. It is heavy but it should last longer than I will be around. I also replaced the buttons to close the flap with a zipper.

Coldest I have been out in it has been 2* at night. I don't sleep very well so I put a couple split logs in the stove each time I woke up. Most of the time it was over 80* inside.

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[Cariboo]

Have you ever gone camping when it’s 20 below, it’s really not so cold you know what with the northern lights all aglow, the Lords doing a fantastic light-show. Is close to what I wrote in the early 70s. Spent 3 weeks on snowshoes.
Found that if you packed down a circle in the snow, dug it down with a snowshoe leaving a sleeping shelf on 1 side using a Sportsman blanket to build a leanto over the shelf, boughs to insulate you from the snow, and a fire on the opposite side, you could stay very comfortable and watch the night sky. Make sure you have wood to toss on the coals every so often.

[marlin39a]

I miss Arizona. Used to live in Prescott Valley until my divorce in 2013. Got my CCW permit at Gunsite in 2007.

We used to camp up past Strawberry at the Blue Ridge Reservoir...

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Many changes in 5 years. A lot of new business, and traffic. SAMs club closed up. PV Guns still going strong.