- Camp with a friend and near a warm shelter for back up- the weather might turn mean and have freezing rain or super cold.
- Start by setting up your tent or building a snow shelter (quinzee) in you backyard and camp out there until you feel comfortable with being cold. Snow shelters are quite warm- about 0C even when it is 10-20C colder outside. The problem you'll get wet building a snow shelter.
- Have 2 good sleeping bags and nest them. You must be warm at night. Use hot packs in your dry, fresh socks at night in the sleep bag. Be very careful about taking sleeping bag temperature rating too literally. Usually with a NEW bag the rating is 5C wrong. Talk to a good store- and do internet research re- sleeping bags. For example, I have spent hours talking to MEC. I use their -20C down sleep bag with an overbag in the winter... and I love it.
- Don't go to bed with cold feet- they won't warm up. Jump up and down etc to get the blood flowing in your feet and body before going to bed. Sitting or standing around a campfire in the winter will give you cold feet. Using hot packs in fresh socks in your tent help a lot.
- Go to bed with food in your stomach- the body generates heat from only digestion and muscular exertion (clothing only keeps the body heat in).
- Eat more food (consume more calories) than usual- fats are needed.
- Sleep in a tent with a friend. The job of the tent is to keep the weather off you not to keep you warm. The job of the sleeping bag is to keep your body heat in. If you try to warm up the tent it will create a micro climate and frost will develop on the inside of the ceiling and then rain on your gear in the morning or noontime as it melts from the sun etc.
- Select carefully what you sleep on. A plain self-inflating air pad doesn't work- it’s too cold when you lie on the cold air. Use closed cell foam, blankets etc. I use a sleeping pad that has down in it.
- Sleep with a toque on...and use a mummy bag to keep your head warm.
- Have a good attitude it is very cold at night in the Canadian winter.
- Position your tent/shelter carefully. Cold air/wind off a lake will really lower the temp in your tent.
- The answer to being warm at night isn't by adding more layers of sweatshirts. It is to have dry underclothing, use fleece layer if you need to ...and CHANGE your socks before bed.
- Change socks after backpacking into your camping site and before your start doing camp chores. Also change out of damp, sweating clothes and into something nice and dry and warm before camp chores.
- Eat and drink lots.
- Get into warm clothes in the morning. Put them in your sleep bag before you put them on.
- Some people warm their tent up with a candle lantern first. Some leave it burning all night. I don't put a flame in my tent.
- Figure out beforehand, the whole elimination of human waste situation with cold weather tenting. SAIL, Shopper Drugmart , MEC etc sell female and male "pee devices" so that you don't have to go outside your tent at night. Actually they are for people who have trouble getting out of bed) . I appreciate there is some sensitivity about this...but it is cold out there. I use an empty bottle). But if you have to urinate, you must void your body of that liquid because you get cold holding it in and keeping it warm.
In Summary: The list could, of course, go on and on. Start small with backyard 1-nighters and build confidence and skill from experience. Being extreme and hard core is dangerous. The winter bush is no place for "weekend warriors”. Basically you must layer your clothes to let the dampness pass through and also to trap your precious body heat to keep it near your body. Stay warm with physical movement and work. Have activities to do around the campfire at night...don't leave that fire and go to bed too early. Believe me, you might wake up at 4-5am and wish you were asleep. Having plenty of food is important as is having the right attitude. Know wilderness first aid. Be able to recognize the signs of frost nip, frost bite, hypothermia and know what to do about them.
Enjoy It: Having said all this, it is totally possible to tent in the winter and enjoy it. One huge advantage is that the woods are quiet, you can see animal tracks and it is very beautiful. Remember to take a camera (and a communication device) but keep the batteries close to your body so they don't lose power.
Have Fun and stay warm!
Lewis Williams 2020