Winter camping – PNW

[Adam G]

I’d like a critique of my winter gear that I’ve come up with over the past 2 years. Conditions are the PNW, lows around 0, possible 2-3 feet of snow, sometimes 40 mph winds.

I attempted to use my three season kit, but I found myself uncomfortably cold. Apparently, my cold tolerance drops quite a bit when camping on snow.

I’m also thinking about replacing my upright canister stove with a heavier inverted canister stove. A windscreen would be quite nice, and I’m not too comfortable periodically feeling the canister to see if it’s warm enough to explode, especially if that means I have to take my gloves off!

 

 

[Jeffs Eleven]

To be clear, you were cold in the conditions you state above while sleeping in the kit you have linked in the 3-season list?

 

–looks like the winter and 3season have the same sleeping system on your lists…

It looks like you should be warm to me.  Possibly tray a double wall tent?  They shine in the wind on the comfort front.  Maybe its a diet thing?

[Adam G]

Oops. The 3 season list is here. I’m reasonably warm in my winter kit, but I was wondering if I can lighten it up any.

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the Ultamid. It’s a pain to set up and I always am hitting my head or feet on the sides, dislodging condensation. I’m relatively short too. In three seasons, I usually have a bathtub floor so that isn’t too big of an issue.

[Giulia P]

You could get lighter options for:
– snow shovel (lose about 400gm)
– ice axe (-200gm)
– sleeping mats: have you tried going with just the xtherm? or try a thermal blanket instead of the zlite?
– sleeping bag: why do you have straps for a sleeping bag? you could consider a system of layered quilts but many quilt users return to sleeping bags for winter, so up to you.. just something you can try to get lighter

 

[Author]

Posts