Here is a list of tips and tricks for enjoying a comfortable winter camping experience.
- Camp with a friend and near a warm shelter for backup — the weather might turn mean with freezing rain or extreme cold.
- Start by setting up your tent or building a snow shelter (quinzee) in your backyard. Snow shelters stay around 0°C even when it's 10–20°C colder outside.
- Have two good sleeping bags and nest them. Use hot packs in dry socks at night. Be careful about taking sleeping bag temperature ratings too literally — with a new bag the rating is often 5°C optimistic.
- Don't go to bed with cold feet — they won't warm up. Jump up and down to get blood flowing before bed.
- Go to bed with food in your stomach — the body generates heat only from digestion and muscular exertion.
- Eat more food than usual — you need the extra calories. Fats are essential.
- Sleep in a tent with a friend. The tent's job is to keep weather off you, not to keep you warm. Don't try to heat the tent — it creates frost on the inside ceiling.
- Choose your sleeping pad carefully. A plain self-inflating air pad is too cold. Use closed-cell foam, or a pad with down insulation.
- Sleep with a toque on, and use a mummy bag to keep your head warm.
- Position your tent carefully. Cold air off a lake will significantly lower the temperature inside.
- The answer to being warm isn't more sweatshirts — it's dry underclothing, a fleece layer, and fresh socks before bed.
- Change socks after arriving at camp and before starting camp chores. Change out of damp clothing before they make you cold.
- Get into warm clothes in the morning — put them in your sleeping bag first to pre-warm them.
Start small with backyard one-nighters and build confidence from experience. The winter bush is no place for weekend warriors who haven't done the work.
Enjoy it
Having said all this, it is totally possible to tent in the winter and enjoy it. The woods are quiet, you can see animal tracks everywhere, and it is very beautiful. Remember to keep your camera batteries close to your body so they don't lose power.
Have fun and stay warm!
Lewis Williams, 2020