Cold Weather Camping

Pro tips from SWC campers

We’ve seen it all—frost, rain, wind, and yes, snow. Here are some hard-earned tips and hacks to help you stay warm, dry, and happy all weekend long.

Cold-Weather Clothing

Advice to Stay Warm

  1. Layer your clothing. Wear several layers of lighter clothing instead of one heavy layer. When you get warm, take layers off. Getting chilly? Add more clothing.
  2. Keep yourself dry, both from the weather and perspiration.
  3. Wear loose fitting clothing, to optimize insulation.
  4. Wool retains most of its insulation properties when wet – cotton does not.
  5. Some synthetic materials retain insulation properties as good as (or better than) wool.
  6. Rain gear is waterproof but will not allow perspiration to escape – which leaves you damp and cold. During rainy weather, change your clothing several times a day.
  7. Athletic shoes and nylon hiking boots do not provide enough insulation. Wear either mukluks, water-proofed leather hiking boots, rubber overshoes, or rubberized boots.
  8. Waterproof your leather hiking boots with the appropriate treatment. Use only silicon-based products on leathers which require it.
  9. If you choose to wear rubberized boots, remember they do not allow for ventilation, therefore you will need to change your socks several times a day. Consider wool inserts for insulation.
  10. Pull trouser legs over the top of shoes to keep out snow. Consider gaiters as well.
  11. Wear mittens instead of fingered gloves when you do not need independent use of your fingers. Mittens allow fingers to help keep each other warm.
  12. Wear a stocking cap or other warm hat that covers your ears. Heat loss happens through exposed skin.
  13. A scarf reduces heat loss around the neck. Alternatively, a “ski mask” or balaclava offers protection from the cold and wind on your face.
  14. If you need a fire to keep you warm, you are not dressed properly. If the heat can get to your body, so can the cold.
  15. In emergencies, paper is a good insulator and can be wrapped around the body (under your clothes) to add insulation.

Bedding

  1. Natural fiber sleeping bags (including down) do not maintain their insulation properties when wet.
  2. A mummy style bag is warmer than a rectangular. Also, most mummy bags have a hood to help protect your head.
  3. If you only have a rectangular sleeping bag, bring an extra blanket to pack around your shoulders in the opening to keep air from getting in.
  4. Do not sleep with your head under the covers. This increases the humidity in the bag, reducing the insulation properties.
  5. Air out your sleeping bag and tent when weather permits. Perspiration and breath condense in the tent at night.
  6. Wear a stocking cap to bed to reduce heat loss.
  7. Make a loose bag from a blanket for your feet when in your sleeping bag.
  8. A bag liner, preferably wool, will enhance the bag’s warmth.
  9. Insulate yourself from the ground as much as possible to avoid cold spots at the shoulders and hips. Use a sleeping pad of closed cell foam instead of an air mattress.  You want 2-3x the insulation below you as you have over you.
  10. Use a ground cloth to block ground moisture.
  11. Cold air will be above and below you if you sleep on a cot.
  12. Put a hand warmer (in a sock) at the foot of your sleeping bag before getting into it. Or, fill a canteen with hot water (not boiling) and place at foot of bag to keep warm.
  13. Exercise before bedding down to increase body heat. This will warm your bag quicker. But don’t start perspiring.
  14. Put on dry clothing or pajamas before entering the sleeping bag.
  15. Build a wind break outside your tent by piling up snow or leaves to protect you when laying down.
  16. Never store your sleeping bag compressed. Hang it up, lay it out, or use a very large stuff bag between trips to protect insulating properties.
  17.  Place the clothes you plan to wear inside your bag to warm them up before dressing.

If you get cold at night, let leadership know so action can be taken before injury or health problems occur!

Cold Weather Camping:
Tips from SWC Participants

  1. If you get cold at night, contact SWC leadership/Health and Safety Officer! If shivering does not go away after 10-15 minutes in your sleeping bag, seek help and warmth. It will not get better.
  2. Drink 2 quarts of fluids per day in addition to what you drink at meals. Cold weather reduces your thirst feeling, but you are still becoming dehydrated through exertion and dry air.
  3. Learn to recognize and treat cold-weather health problems. These include: frostbite, hypothermia, dehydration, chilblains, trench foot, snow blindness, and carbon monoxide poisoning.
  4. Use the buddy system to check each other for cold-weather health problems. Notify event leadership if symptoms do occur.
  5. If you feel cold, gather some wood or do some other type of work. Working will help warm you.
  6. Eating ice or snow can reduce your body temperature, and it is not clean. Don’t eat it. Snow and ice can be used for drinking water after boiling.
  7. No open flames (candles, matches, etc.) inside the tents. It consumes the oxygen and is a fire hazard.
  8. Cold feet? Wiggling your toes inside your boots will help keep feet warm. If your feet get cold, they are not insulated well or your body is conserving heat in its core. Speak to the leadership.
  9. Take and wear sunglasses if snow is in the forecast. The glare of the sun (even if it’s going to be cloudy) off the snow could lead to snow blindness.
  10. Use hand warmers. They double as foot warmers, too!
  11. Avoid ice on streams, lakes, and ponds.
  12. Cooking: before going to bed pour enough water for breakfast into a pot. It is easier to heat the pot than a plastic water jug.
  13. Keep matches in a metal match safe, plastic can freeze and break if dropped.
  14. Gather twice as much fuel as you think you’ll need for fires.
  15. Space blankets make good wind shields only. In cold weather, the metal in the blanket will conduct heat away from you.
  16. Carry extra plastic bags- they can be used as personal wind shields/ponchos.
  17. Flashlight batteries are affected by cold. You can revive a dead battery by warming it up near the fire.
  18. Heaters inside your tent can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning (death) ☠️.
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What is "cold-weather Camping"?

“camping in weather where the average daily temperature is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit and conditions are cold, wet, or windy.”

Cold-weather camping is one of the founding focuses of SWC. So we embrace the cold, learn cold-weather camping skills, and keep the fun rolling all weekend, despite the temperature or conditions.

Download Cold Weather Camping PDF

C.O.L.D. Basics to Remember

The most important thing to remember about cold weather camping is to KEEP DRY.

Moisture will reduce the insulating properties of almost all gear. To keep yourself warm, remember “C.O.L.D.”

C – keep yourself and your clothes Clean
O – avoid Overheating
L – wear clothes Loose and in Layers
D – keep Dry

3 TYPES OF COLD

Wet Cold

50ºF to 14ºF

The most dangerous. Wide temperature variations from melting during the day to freezing at night makes proper dressing difficult, and important. Damp conditions from melting snow or rain makes keeping dry difficult.

Dry Cold

14ºF to -20ºF

Ground is frozen and snow is dry and crystallized. Strong winds cause the most concern with keeping warm. Extra clothing layers and wind-proof outer garments should be added.

Arctic Cold

Below -20ºF

Requires the most insulation and wind-proofing. Many materials change physical properties, becoming brittle. Only for the most experienced (and prepared) campers.