Posts tagged winter
How long do electric hand warmers last in comparison to other types, such those iron oxidizing pouches? Manufacturers' claims tend to be useless because they only advertise the max lifetime with m...
Recommendations for warm winter jackets to be worn in camp. It should pack down small, so you can stash it in your pack when you are on the move (and anyway warm). For the same reason it shouldn't...
Is there a good technique to warm up your boots in the morning? Should you just put them on and warm them up with your feet or is there a better alternative?
I was recently reading an article on UKClimbing by Andy Kirkpatrick about clothing in winter. It talks about vapour barriers: I’ve played around with vapour barrier socks over many years, and ...
Instead of buying expensive dedicated vapor barrier socks, you can just use a trash bag as a liner sock. It likely breathes less too. However not all trash bags are created equal. Properties of a ...
It's November, and in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is fast approaching - and with it, the rain. As a cyclist, I do occasionally enjoy taking my road bike out on the roads and just pedaling, wit...
One should never let middle age men sit around drinking and reliving the glory days of their youth on a holiday weekend. I think I may have agreed to a mid January Presidential traverse in the Whit...
When shoveling snow in the winter, if my gloves are warm enough to keep my hands warm, they tend to sweat and get the gloves wet from the inside out. How can I prevent this?
I'm looking for a decent source to know winter road conditions for various Adirondacks access roads. First level of interest would be just what is or isn't being maintained. A better yet answer w...
What is the good choice for the running shoes for winter conditions in city (mostly running on asphalt)? When the snow is shoveld, normal running shoes would be no problem, but when the snow fallin...
I've been hiking the the Alps for 20years and normally I go skiing every winter. But I see more and more pictures of people hiking in the snow. Is it possible to go hiking in February in the alps?...
Where I live, we are about to get a bunch of snow (5”-8”). This has brought about the question of which is more dangerous an icy road or an icy road with snow? Does the snow help traction on the ic...
I know that the antifreeze used in fresh water RV tanks is non-toxic and can protect to -50F. Thinking Sugar might be a good choice I posted the question How to calculate how much sugar to use as ...
I am not sure if this question fits here but since I like to travel and often face difficulties because of different weather conditions in different cities/countries so, I am hoping that somebody c...
This is a follow up on question that my friend asked earlier, but I can't comment on. My friend and I have an ongoing argument about a question : During cold winter camping (-20C air temperature, ...
I will go for two day hiking on a mountain (intermediate level). The weather will be chilling (3 °C to 5 °C, no snowing,but it may rain). I would like to know what kind of clothing would be better?...
Some time ago, while driving on a snowy road, someone told me a kind of horror story. It involved a guy who was driving alone with an old car on an overland road in Siberia during winter, so the t...
While this has happened about 22 years ago, I never really stopped thinking about it and still regard it as unsolved mystery. While I asked plenty outdoormen, nobody had this experience. Having rec...
What product or combination of products best protects your hands while kayaking in winter? I’m interested in a system which provides comfort for extended paddling but also the peripheral activitie...
I would like to try winter camping. What are some common mistakes first-timers make when trying to camp in the cold? I would be camping in temperatures between 0 and 32 Fahrenheit (-17 to 0 degree...
I've been learning about collecting dead wood from trees which are easy enough to identify in summer (lack of leaves) but is there a way of identifying dead wood that also works in winter?
For winter camping it is recommended to use a sleeping pad with an R value greater than 5. Can you alternatively use two closed cell 2.5R pads one on top of each other? If using an inflatable ...
Snow blindness, also known as photokeratitis, is predominately caused by the sun's reflection off of snow. If one is caught out in the wild, ill prepared for snow, what could one find in a tempera...
I was born on ski's and switched to snowboarding and now on the return to skiing. However I intend to do both downhill and skijoring in the next season (skiing with my dogs) I am having trouble de...
Given comparable contstuction and insulation betwwen a pair of gloves and pair of mittens that are designed for winter / below 0C conditions, at what temperature range would mittens be preferable t...
When travelling the backcountry in high snow, do snow shoes or skis perform better? By "perform better" I mean how tiring and fast travel is. Is there a general answer, or does it depend on the co...
If you read old books from cold areas, it's not infrequent to run across the idea of rubbing snow on one's feet when they got frozen or frostbitten. However, subjectively, it seems to me that this...
I've been a Boy Scout for seven years now, and as I'm moving from high school to college I'd like to get into solo backpacking. I live in the lower peninsula of the state of Michigan. I don't fores...
I'm going to be winter camping, and I'm concerned about getting frostbite. What can I do to protect myself?
We have a woodpile, protected from wind and precipitation, under the eaves of our house. Earlier, perhaps a month earlier, I several times saw two chipmunks emerging from, and going back into the ...
Which natural (non-synthetic) fabrics are good for hiking winter weather? I know cotton will generally trap moisture and invite hypothermia, while wool is warm but heavy. What other natural fabri...
Thirty odd years ago there was a fad for shoes generically called snow joggers. It was a super lightweight boot in appearence -- usually 6-8" tall, but with a very light construction throughout. ...
This question is prompted by a real accident, in which a young, healthy and experienced hiker I knew was found dead from hypothermia ridiculously close to civilization. The assumptions behind it:...
I am interested in summitting Breithorn this winter (late January) using crampons and an ice axe. I am in excellent physical shape but I do not have much alpine experience. I have seen mixed review...
At the end of November we are going an a 3 day canoeing trip with multiple obstacles where we have to get the canoe out of the water. As it is really cold at this time, we don't want to get wet boo...
The dark winter is approaching on the northern hemisphere. At my latitude (67½°N), the sun sets at 15:00 by now, and a little more than a month away the polar night will start. So far, I'm virtuall...
A thin, heat-reflective sheet (aka “space” blanket) is a popular outdoors emergency item, having a number of uses. See adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/gear/space-blanket and gotimegear.com/blo...
In answering this question I tossed out that a candle lantern can provide as much as 10 degrees (F) of temperature difference while winter camping. I've heard this tossed about before, but is it tr...
Recently I moved to NY and I am finding hard time to get accustomed with the weather. I have never experienced temperature below 15℃ back home! So, its quite a challenge. Expectedly, the winter wea...
Where I live, winter is still a good bit away, but last year I slipped on ice and ended up with a black eye and a broken wrist. This year I sincerely want to reduce the chances of that recurring. ...
How does neoprene perform as a base layer for winter sports? Is it a way to be warm while remaining sweaty, as opposed to wicking sweat away? What are its disadvantages? What are best practices ...
I'm a snowboarder. In preparation for a skitour trip, I was on the lookout for splitboards. But it turns out that even renting them can be a bit of a hassle and/or is quite expensive. As availabil...
Is there a special way to avoid the layer of ice that forms inside a water bottle during winter activities?
I am an avid snowboarder and I have noticed that socks made of merino wool are incredibly good at wicking away moisture while keeping my feet warm. However, I was wondering about other textiles tha...
I'm looking for socks for the following conditions and to complement the following footwear. My wife frequently spends several hours driving a car (setting car temperature to stay around +20°C) , ...
Last month, in February, my husband was walking on a trail in the woods in Massachusetts, alongside a fresh-water lake. The temperatures had been fluctuating a lot over the winter, so some areas we...
You know that bleeding lung feeling you get after going out for a long run on a freezing cold night? The one where you can taste blood in the back of your jaw, and begin to wheeze and cough as flui...
I am a backcountry skier/snowshoes hiker and I finally want to do an overnight experience in the Alps. The Simplon Dorf area would be ideal (for I can access it quite easily), but any southern Sw...
I am a Type 1 diabetic and aspire to move to the arctic wilderness of Alaska. I can figure out how to maintain enough emergency carb food for survival. The one thing I'm not sure how I will han...
