Although they may be neighboring seasons, fall camping and winter camping are two totally different beasts. The former can get to be rather chilly at night, and requires campers to bring a myriad of different clothes for different temperatures. Winter camping, however, is just plain cold, but that doesn’t mean it has to be uncomfortable.
Here are just a few ways you can keep your campgrounds and yourself warm when camping this winter.
Pack Extra Thermal Gear. – On the one hand, you do need to be careful how much you bring with you, as you don’t want to over pack. On the other hand, you absolutely need to bring extra gloves, hats, scarves, and all the other warm gear you’ll want on hand. Things happen. People forget. Stuff gets lost. That’s life, and you need to be prepared.
Bring a Good Sleeping Pad. – Your sleeping pad matters more than you might think. You lose more heat through conductive heat loss when you;re asleep than anything else. In other words, you need to have a good sleeping pad if you want to stay warm. Make sure the one you plant to use has an r value of at least four. If you already have one, use the money you would have spent buying a sleeping pad to get a closed-cell foam pad for underneath it.
Use Vaseline to Protect Yourself From the Wind. – It’d be really nice if we could cover each and every part of our bodies in warm clothing, but unfortunately, life doesn’t always work like that. Consequently, exposed parts of the face, ears, neck, wrists, and/or hands are at risk of getting windburned or even frostbitten. This is no good. Use Vaseline to cover these areas of skin, and they’ll be less prone to these hazards.
If you know of any other winter camping tips, feel free to share in the comments. More.
