Winter Backpacking Checklist (Gear List): Ultralight Winter Snowcave Camping

Interesting update, Ryan, showing the proliferation of lighter weight or higher performing gear over the last decade. Three comments:

(1) Any experience with Hunersdorf water bottles? I understand they are easier to handle with gloves and withstand boiling water better than Nalgenes.

(2) Wot no sleeping pad / mat? Is this just for a snow hole situation? I'd have thought that even a 1/8" CCF pad would help with conductive heat transfer to the snow.

(3) Bloody hell those Dead Bird gloves are expensive! What makes them so dang good to justify the price?

This is a good list that I agree with in the main and one that makes me re-thinkmy own inter gear list.

I may sound like a broken record, having posted several times on BPL about DWR down. But once again I'll say that winter camping without DWR treated down like Down Tek or Dridown is omitting gear that could, at the least, make camp life and trail life warmer.

And at best avoid serious cold exposure problems from compromised down garments.

"I'll say that winter camping without DWR treated down like Down Tek or Dridown is omitting gear that could, at the least, make camp life and trail life warmer. "

Yeah, all those long term tests we hear about, not. Let's disregard the previous decades data that shows down works without it.

Thanks for posting the new list!

few observations:

personally I wouldn't venture into the mountains w/o a real shovel- several to chose from right at 16 oz, a 10 oz hit I'll gladly take over the Claw

I don't think a R .5 is a substitute for a wind shirt, not to mention it's no longer made-bring a windshirt!- you'll wear it almost all the time

a substitute for a layer that is nice on the move (under a windshirt or on it's own) is the Cap 4 hoody- I've been using this as a base layer (vs a mid-layer) in the winter and it's great

for a trench shelter, I'd consider packing a light nylon tarp to stretch over the top- makes construction easier and prevents a lot of leaking from the "roof"

a prefer a waterproof bivy (eVENT) so I don't have to rely on a water resistant shell on my bag, not to mention the bivy adds warmth and would allow for a slightly lighter bag, also a great piece of emergency kit if you can't dig a shelter

"Are there other trolls on BPL or is Bob Gross the only one?"

Sam, I made a positive suggestion. No trolling allowed.

–B.G.–

Craig, I can't speak for the overboots but I'm in and out of my snowshoes all the time. I wear GTX boots with gaiters and it works perfectly. My gaiters aren't waterproof (just nylon with a light PU coating) and I haven't had any problems with getting wet – if I'm trudging through snow, even slushy stuff, I've stayed dry. The only time my feet get wet is in lots of powder when snow comes up between the gaiter/boot junction – my boots aren't very tall or this would be less of a problem.

I haven't spent the time to research, so this could be a dumb question, but how does the WindBoiler differ from the Jetboil? They at least look very similar.

Thanks

I'm surprised that Ryan wears a baselayer top, Hardshell Jacket, and a puffy jacket. Seems to me I'd be cold at some points with only a baselayer and hardshell. The Down Jacket would be too warm to hike in. What happened to the polypro mesh shirt and some sort of midlayer like a fleece, softshell, or thin synthetic? Am I missing something?

Ryan, thank you for the winter gear update. One question – why the Patagonia DAS synthetic insulation overpants instead of down? I've worn the older version of the DAS Pants in Polarguard, and they were helpful, but I only threw them on over softshell pants after being active in camp, or if very cold, at a rest stop – not while active.

Wouldn't you want to dig the snow cave without the insulation pants, and then throw them on when done? And in that case, why not down?

Thanks for your updating. it's very interesting to see how the technology move on and how it impacts our gears.

To me, it's interesting to see how much weight lose in each section. So I did a recalculation on each parts, but it looks like there is something wrong in your list. Here is a comment on your weight calculation.

Total Base weight in pack: New(2014):10.83 lbs Old(2004):13.47 lbs.

I checked the weight of North Twin, it should be 3.5 lbs, which is 56 oz, instead of 23 oz in your list. This means your calculation on the bottom for old base weight is right, should be 15.53. I don't know how you got 11.41 for the new base weight. Anyway, there is a misleading on the weight loss of sleeping system.

Based on my new calculation, there is 4.7 lbs loss, instead of 4.1 lbs during the 10 years for the base weight. For sleeping system a huge 2.9 lbs loss, for clothes 1.34 lbs loss, while for pack 0.17 gains. Although this could be special case, we still can see a huge development on our sleeping system. For packing, there should be a larger loss.

To make this conclusion more solid, I wonder if anyone have their old and new gear list and share with us to see how things change during the last 10 years on the ultralight backpacking.