Posts tagged cold-weather
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...
I'm taking inventory on my tree farm. The temperature today is -7 °C with a light breeze. Windchill of -10 °C. I figure that there are lots of people who have this problem. Writing a journal, desc...
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?
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 ...
In really cold temperatures, it's often recommended to use a separate overbag made from a synthetic material over your main down sleeping bag. Supposedly this helps moisture (from your body) escape...
Under a windproof shell mitten, is an insulating liner mitten significantly warmer than an insulating liner glove made of the same material and thickness? This is a different question from "Are mi...
There’s a special “winter” gas mix available for gas stoves. How is it different from the usual propane/butane mix and why does it work better in low temperatures? (Does it work better in lower tem...
The Fjällräven POLAR -20 REG has the following specs: 850 EUR 1650g and 25cm x 40cm volume EN/ISO: -12°C comfort, -20°C limit, -42°C extreme 95/5 Down; 800 cuin The MARMOT - Never Summer s...
When camping in cold weather, some people say it is actually warmer to sleep naked than to sleep with clothes on. Is that true, or is it better to leave warm clothes on while in the bag?
I know that goose down is warmer than cattail down. But what are the R-values of each? How much warmer is the same weight/volume of goose down compared to cattail down? Is cattail down better than ...
Is it warmer to sleep in a car or in a tent? Suppose that our old internal-combustion-engine car breaks down in a remote place at -30°C, -40°C, or -50°C, and the engine won't run at all. Suppose ...
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...
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?...
So every winter working in the dry cold, my skin, on my hands and feet, cracks. Particularly between my fingers and toes. What can I do to prevent this?
My friend and I had an argument about this topic. He says that the cold air in the mattress will stay at the ambient temperature, so if it's -20 outside the air in the mattress will stay at -20 so ...
I've had now a couple of days when going rock climbing while the temperatures are below the general comfort zone (meaning below 6 °C/ 43 °F). When starting to climb, my fingers got cold rather fas...
Let us say we have around 0 degrees celsius and I have wet feet and I am in the middle of nowhere (let us say 2 days away from any civilisation). On the one hand people say it is no problem to walk...
When backpacking in freezing weather, water in a canteen often turns to ice. I am looking for a canteen that Will not burst when the volume of water increases due to freezing Will make it possib...
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...
My question is motivated by the earlier question How To Quickly Warm A Tent, which generated a lot of interest, and one of the best comments ever on TGO: All I could think about after reading y...
I have heard that in cold conditions, you'd freeze faster wearing wet clothes than not wearing any. I cannot find any proof that this is true. Is it?
For car camping near the snow line, is there anything that can safely be used as a heater while sleeping? For example, how large would ordinary hot water bottles need to be, to comfortably emit he...
I'm going to be winter camping, and I'm concerned about getting frostbite. What can I do to protect myself?
Given a mitten and a glove (made of the same materials, thickness, etc), is the mitten warmer than the glove? It seems to me that having all four fingers together in one area (vs separate fingers ...
The cold weather has finally hit the UK and once again I am tempted to buy something like Yaktrax Pro Ice Grips. For those of you not in the UK we get some snow each year (enough to make everythin...
I have a two-layer dome tent, cheap and not particularly designed for winter. Do I need to ever worry that during a heavy snow downfall during the night that tent might be covered up with snow and ...
I never seem to find the perfect way to dress for sweat inducing activities in cold weather. By sweat inducing activities I mean mostly activities in the mountains, especially hiking uphill or ski ...
Why do climbers not use electrically heated suits to climb peaks like Mt. Everest? Or am I just mistaken and they already do it?
I'm working on a setting for a tabletop RPG game. This place is located high on the mountains and it is cold. There is a village in this place and their is and inn who's only room is on the basemen...
I'm heading out this weekend, and the temperature is expected to drop below freezing, with a 20% chance of rain. I have two tents, a lightweight 2-person, which I primarily use for backpacking, an...
Has anyone had good experience using an ordinary drugstore oral thermometer in the backcountry in winter weather, and getting trustworthy readings? I made the experiment (on a night that was aroun...
This question was prompted by my answer to Under what conditions does heating a backpacking tent artificially make objective sense?. In my answer, I mention the possibility of hiking across Antarct...
The book Minus 148 Degrees is written about a winter climb of Denali in which a rapid weather change forced the climbers to seek refuge in an emergency snow cave. The title is a reference to the c...
On some of my Himalayan treks I've seen people who wear shorts or wear single layer of clothing and shiver due to the cold weather (most of these people live in a tropical climate). When I've asked...
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...
About 10 weeks ago, I did a 16-hour snow hike in Newfoundland (off-topic: insanely gorgeous country!). The outside temperature was still very warm for November, with highs of -5ºC / 23ºF and lows ...
I live in Canada, and we get a decent amount of snow in the year. However, it is very well known that you never get a lot of snow when the temperature is really cold. For instance, you never get ...
I have a problem with one hand that has bad circulation, this means that if my hand gets cold and wet for extended times I get chilblains which are more than a nuisance. The problem is that I hav...
How can I regulate my temperature in a -15°C down sleeping bag when it is cold but not quite -15°C? I have a down sleeping bag rated at -15°C. Used it at a previous hike where the temperature went...
I often carry around a couple of reusable hand warmers when hiking or just around the outdoors when it's cold. They don't take up much space, they're easy to reuse (just boil) and they provide a fa...
I really like to go snowshoeing during the winter. I'm going up to 3500 meters and when I'm doing long tours I would really enjoy to try out winter camping in very remote areas. Is it a good idea t...
I was going through one of the most amazing posts on The Great Outdoors which talks about if sleeping naked in a sleeping bag keeps you warmer than with clothes The is something said about Burrito...
Some people seem to be able (as I've noticed when camping and traveling with different people) be able to produce more heat and need fewer layers in cold situations. Are there any techniques that ...
I saw a Canada goose stuck frozen on Ramapo Lake in the Ramapo Mountain State Forest near Oakland, New Jersey. I was told that it had been dead for a while. Can a goose freeze to the ice and get s...
A now-deleted answer to this question suggested using chemical heating pads in sleeping bags at night to provide added warmth. The product suggested is the 'Thermacare ... Fe-loaded material' I lo...
Could the use of anti-perspirant give benefit in extreme cold climate where sweating can be a significant problem. I've read many articles regarding keeping warm when alpine climbing in the extrem...
I've never been hiking in such extreme situations, but if in the situation in the question, i.e. you're hiking in very cold weather and someone falls in (let's say so pretty much their whole body i...
I am a traffic officer and in winter I always have issues with fingers freezing. Are there any hints besides hand warmers to keep my fingertips from getting so cold they hurt? I direct traffic so s...
My wife and I have never been to Yosemite. We will have some time off in a couple of weeks (end of March) and we're considering planning a trip to Yosemite. The amount of rain and snow in recent w...
