I have tried 4 different liners and they all sucked and didn't add any warmth or feel comfortable... then I decided to try Appalachian Gear Company's alpaca liner and wow. It is so warm, comfy, and it doesn't get twisted up when I toss and turn! Love that thing.
Don’t buy directly from Appalachian Gear Co. bought a shirt from them it took weeks for them to generate a shipping label then they never sent it out or refunded me ignored all my emails and phone calls. Ended up calling my credit card company and having them cancel payment. But I hear folks that actually get their stuff are happy.
The sleeping bag liner really is a game changer. My first time using one was about 6000 ft up Mt Rainier in February a couple years ago. My bag was rated for 20F , the liner rated for another 25F. It got down to right about 0F that night. I started the night off a little cold, but by midnight I had stripped off every bit of clothing in an attempt to stop sweating! 😅
Sweating likely came from creating a situation where your bag could expel your body moisture because it was suffocated by the inner bag. It could not breath. Which creates a whole host of other problems like moisture build up from adding layers of nylon and insulation that were not part of the testing or design process that went into rating the bag in the first place.
@@kookiemoose moisture build up is kind f ow this keeps you warm. Water evaporating uses a lot of energy. By keeping the vapor inside the liner, you prevent more water from evaporating and get back some warmth from the condensation process. Additionally you prevent condensation issues in your sleeping bag and tent.
@@milosennhauser2879I know this was a year ago but wouldn’t that just lead to more problems especially once you’re ready to exit the sleeping bag you’re going to be wet and trying to quickly change and get dry before you turn into a human ice pop
Honestly, I find that an overlayer or bivy sac or both is better than a liner. Leaving more room in the bag. A stitched envelope of a wool or polyester blanket works great. And it keeps your sleeping bag protected from the elements.
You should do a video on what to pack when you're hiking in mountain ranges that create their own weather. Rainier, Mazatzal. These places are some of the hardest to prep for without taking everything. Forecast of 70 and sunny and getting 30 super rain cell and 50mph winds
I bought down booties last year but was too warm to use them. Use them for the first time this past weekend and that combined with a warmer sleeping bag made me wake with a start because I was so warm and snuggly that I thought I was in my own bed :p
1 of the best little things I got for winter camping is an insulted pouch for your dehydrated meals keeps them hot for longer and they hydrate better then after put your phone and power bank and your water filter in stops them freezing
I take that outdoor research beanie on every hike, even in the summer. Can’t tell you the number of times the weather has turned and I throw that on under my rain jacket. Everyone in my group starts by making fun of how ugly it is, by the end that are always asking where to get one. Once got caught in an unseasonal summer snowstorm on a newzealand volcano.. that beanie and overmitts saved me. Regarding the down socks. I have some really light weight shoe covers that I layer over the down socks as camp-ware; I do this instead of camp shoes in alpine regions. When I get in the tent I strip the shoe covers.
@@thewanderer2299 ya, my shoes are always damp when on the trail. My camp shoes on the other hand stay dry which is why the shoe covers over down socks works well for me. That might be because I live and hike in the Rockies which is desert terrain. I suppose it would be different for my family in Olympia Washington and my friends back east.
those hand warmers saved my life when i did my very first snow backpacking. totally unprepared for the cold, luckily i brought a bag of hand warmers and used it to heat inside my tent.
Since the last 3 weeks of my hike unexpectedly turned into a winter hike (temps in the teens Fahrenheit, fully frozen waterbottles in vestibule in the morning), and I only had 3-season gear, here‘s s few more tips that really worked well for me: - get a cozy for your gas can. it is absolutely essential to be able to boil water - make sure you bring enough fuel - I already have a synthetic puffy that I also wear while hiking. For the night I added a down vest. - have your dinners in a ziplock and an empty and clean dehydrated meal packet. when you reach camp, pour the boiling water in, stick it under your shirt, and set up your camp. eat after you snuggled into the sleeping bag. - have a nalgene bottle with you, bonus points if you also made a cozy for it. fill it with hot water and take it into your sleeping bag. reheat during the night if necessary. this also has the advantage that you actually have non-frozen water to drink in the morning. I usually warm it up in the morning, stick it under the shirt, break camp and start hiking. - obviously take all electronics and the filter into your sleeping bag. - if you‘re using trailrunners and normal socks through snow, use oven bags over the socks to make them waterproof. they last for several days without getting any holes.
20 + year user here of the Forty Below overboots. Great if you don't want to spend the money for high tech and warm mountaineering boots or if it's not cold enough during the day for warm boots. If you have the money and it's cold enough to walk with them, nothing beats a warm mountaineering double boot. The ability to remove the boot liner and to bring it in your sleeping bag can be a necessity, depends how high/far/long you go.. Fill your water bottle with boiling water, put it in your down parka/sleeping bag to keep you warm. Winter tent (no screen), candle lantern and more than one person per tent.
I prefer a Wiggy's or Enlightened Equipment synthetic balaclava. You can hike in those and sweat without worrying about them failing, and you can breath through them without compromising the insulation.. They also compress less on the bottom of your head than down will. If you put a couple of those chem warmers near your kidneys at night, you won't have to get up to answer nature as much. Cold kidneys like to flush water to reduce the volume your core has to heat. Warm kidneys let you sleep instead.
I bought a -20F rated sleeping bag from REI in the late 70s or early, very early 80s. Still have it, still trust it. Spent a week on the shore of Lake Superior at Split Rock Light House for xmas one year. Awesome.
What I am interested in trying out, is my cooler box as a heat insulator. Putting some thermoses with hot beverages inside, so I can enjoy some warmth before freeing the car for the return trip. The inside is covered with heat reflecting material, and I got the useful tips of turning it upside down and leaving the box on one of the seats and cover it with a blanket to minimise heat loss.
First thing I thought was down booties. They’re awesome! The cheap ones work well, worth it if you get cold toes Also love tiny pump, I use it for pool toys too, what a great little device
Good suggestions, Dan. I bought a new synthetic fill sleeping bag specifically for mountain snow conditions that includes a built-in vapor barrier liner (total weight 4-3/4 lbs). It works very well in temperatures under 20-degrees F, especially at 0 and below, anything above 20 degrees and the bag is too warm and sweaty.
If you use a vapor barrier, you ought to be sure to wear some sort of base layer that has wicking properties, otherwise you will be swimming in your own sweat.
I’m surprised you didn’t talk about bivy sacks. I taught backpacking, ski touring, mountaineering, and snow caving for 14 years. In the fall and winter it can increase the warmth factor of your bag and keep it dry, in a tent or in a snow cave.
Hi Gerald- I wonder if you can please give me your recommendation for a late fall, full on winter model that you prefer What area(s) did you instruct ?
Little tip concerning hot hands: I use them to keep my electronic devices and water filter warm when I winter camp. You won’t wake up to all your batteries drained and your filter frozen and compromised. Bring a bubble wrap envelope (from an amazon delivery) toss anything you want to protect in there, then throw in a hot hands, leaving it open just enough it gets oxygen. Come morning time you can continue to use it in that manner, or take your stuff out, seal the envelope, and the hand warmer should deactivate and will be usable the next night too
Smart! I've been thinking about making a envelope out of reflectix for this same thing, minus the hot hands. I was thinking the reflectix might be insulative enough to keep the items inside from freezing but idk. Might have to test it out this winter.
Nice, I’ll use the “cozy” I use for my dehydrated meals bc I don’t like putting them in my sleeping bag bc I toss and turn and might break them. Thanks!
@@MidnightLight. that’s a good question bc Hot Hands can get very hot. I don’t have experience putting them in the bubble wrap envelope, just the reflectix/silver car windshield cover/food bag cozy, no problems with melting that so far.
@@MidnightLight. I can’t say it could never happen, but I can say it’s never happened in the number of times I’ve done it. Never seemed to get close either. Bubble wrap isn’t THAT good of an insulator, and if you’ve got it wrapped up tight enough to really hold in heat it’s likely starving the heater of oxygen and slowing down the chemical reaction too.
😆 hahaha! Cracking up cause- right as you were describing the Snow gaiters , the clip was you gingerly legging over a higher branch.. - RIPPP- sound-, just as you scraped the branch (off screen you pulled the velcrow!) Nice placement! Great recomendaions!! 👍🏼 OutDoorDan!! (So many bloop-takes in this vid😆)
Very good video for beginners. Obviously, everyone is different when it comes to what they need to stay warm. I've been almost exclusively winter camping for the past decade, and I use some of the gear listed here, but I am a Yeti, so I would not need as much gear as a lot of other people. This makes it hard for me to recommend gear to beginner winter campers, so I'll refer them to this video next time, and to your channel
Why no one takes a hot water bottle Camping is mental. It’s the best item I take. Stick it in the foot box, last longer than hot hands, warms the whole bag up and you will not get cold in your bag if you have a freak drop in temp. Works even better in a hammock
Last week in Algonquin Prov Park, Ontario, we woke up to two mornings of 28F weather. Each night I put a hot water bottle in my down sleeping bag and slept warmly the entire time. My only concern was that the sleeping bag is down-filled and I worried about getting moisture on it if some spilling happened. I can see using it in a sleeping bag but I don't see how it would warm a hammock adequately.
i got my helly hansen for 33$ for a puffy an i couldnt be happier. tip is to buy your winter gear during summer. i saved 600$ by doing just so this summer.
Great stuff as always, Dan - thanks! I think the Nano Spikes do come in different sizes. I have a pair and they work well (I have a pair of the Micro Spikes, and they also work great). BTW, just got my wife one of those OR down hats for an Xmas gift :-)
Yeah, that's the video I need (not seen yet but the preface is already good)
2 года назад
Hi Dan, I went camping out last weekend and it was 2°C at night (35,6°F). I had lots of condensation... Do you have tips for condensation management? FYI, I was in an Helsdon Hammock (the 4 seasons one, not the Eureka version).
Last winter in the uk I used a 3 season quilt cumulus 350 rated to I think about 4c I wore down jacket down pants a Rab hat and Montane prism gloves was ok down to -6c wouldn't want to push it any further tho think that was about the limit
I had a reflective blanket like the vapour thing, but it was so noisy I couldn't get to sleep in it. It was warm though... As for booties, I just bring a spare pair of socks and a couple of dry bags, I hardly ever get cold feet. The same goes for my head, although I do use a fleece balaclava and occasionally sleep in it.
I love the Decathlon puffy jacket that I used on the PCT. But... I bought 1 size larger & it was still a bit small. Also, the men's jacket had a zipper for females. So, it was a bit awkward starting the zipper at first.
800 fill is 800 fill. Over a decade goose down will hold up better but duck down is perfectly fine. I have a Sierra Designs baffled parka with 850 duck down and it only weighs about 20 ounces.
Truth w/those Hot Hands having the potential to burn skin…I had them in the “kangaroo” pocket of my hoodie, fell asleep and rolled over…maybe the pressure from the weight of my body pressing it closer to skin, I woke up with a burn on my belly.😬
I'm surprised to see the segment on the untested vapor barrier. Winter camping is no joke and information should be dispensed carefully. There is risk involved.
Hi Dan, do you ever snowshoe while backpacking? If so, any recommendations on those? Also, you mentioned getting sweaty in that vapor barrier and that moisture might make you extra cold or dangerous in subfreezing conditions. I think I'd leave that to just a survival blanket.
You have to be careful with vapour barriers they are only suitable for specific circumstances look at the western mountaineering description before you buy, condensation and cold weather are not good together Its designed purely for very cold extended expeditions where evaporative sweat would condense into clothing layers making them wet with no prospect of getting them dry. The VBL prevents this but there is still a need to minimise sweating by adjusting insulating layers so that there is not a massive build up of moisture inside the VBL. This can only really be achieved in cold conditions.
Sleeping bag liners are BIG for cold weather camping. I had never been fully warm while sleeping/camping in the cold, even after upgrading my bag/pad, until I added a liner to my sleeping bag. Last winter I camped in 20 degree weather and I was toasty warm while sleeping!
I can’t sleep if my feet, hands, or nose are cold. I’ve gotten the feet and fingers figured out, keep my head warm just fine, but when it gets below freezing… I just can’t keep my nose warm!
How would you compare the Western Mountaineering booties to Mukluks. Like would you consider them to be like a pair of Mukluks that is much smaller? Jeez I wish I could go back in time and re-buy so many things but buy way smaller versions of them.
Emmett, (is that how u spell your name?) Would u consider an editing bonus? I love how you pan accross a piece if gear. Maybe i just enjoy a break from Dans mug for a few seconds. Hes nice looking, he just looks so much like my brother John (lives in Burlington WI) Nevertheless, Will u add in on the screen the weight (or mass, if u want to get technical) in oz & grams; and maybe on the other side if the screen in white font the price; best with a date that price was obtained? Lots if love Wisconsin Native Eric Rebarchik/Rybarczyk
M8 of mine wants to wild camp in Wales in January. I know my gear can cope with - 5c, pretty sure he's gunna die tho with his kit. I'll let you know what happens. 😂
Господин Becker!! Запорожская тероборона просит помощи в экипировкой бывшей в употреблении(second hand)! Особенно панчо,дождевики ,тенты,биви гермомешки,поясные сумки... Примем всё с благодарностью! Для варификации предоставим профили в Фейсбуке !
Hey Dan, the husky hiker here . I have a honest question I am an experienced hiker I have accomplished the art lobe trail the foot hills trail and many various parts of the a t . My concern is all these wonderful stores only cater to tiny people including the big chain store who claims they are for everybody . Before the jokes begin I played nine years of minor league football and three years arena ball , I’m not a tiny fellar like these hiking stores cater too. I wear a sixty two across the chest and a 24 inch neck is there any company you can recommend who actually makes big and tall gear . I’m planning on cuting over the next year down to the tiny people sizes in pants . Problem is there are no sleeping bags no puffy jackets or layers for big guys if you could point me in the direction of a company who makes mens clothes for big men I would appreciate it by the way hood video if you ever wanna do some real cold camping hit me up we can head to cold foot ak
