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#189164 - 02/18/15 09:47 AM 3 season tent in winter?
northeastern Offline
member

Registered: 02/28/14
Posts: 20
Hello all, I just bought a copper spur UL2 last night to replace my fly creek UL1 and well... I don't feel like waiting a couple months to try it out. I've been wanting to give winter camping a try and figured I could go somewhere close by just in case I needed to bail. without any snowfall, should a three season tent work fine for winter conditions?

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#189166 - 02/18/15 11:32 AM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: northeastern]
BZH Offline
member

Registered: 01/26/11
Posts: 1189
Loc: Madison, AL
a three season tent is not as structurally strong as a 4-season tent. If you are not expecting serious snow loading or high winds, there is no reason you can't use it.

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#189167 - 02/18/15 11:47 AM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: northeastern]
Rick_D Offline
member

Registered: 01/06/02
Posts: 2939
Loc: NorCal
In addition to load strength winter tents substitute netting for fabric and usually have simpler pitching schemes that rely on fewer guylines and stakes. In short, they're warmer inside and easier to pitch atop snow or frozen ground.

If you can sidestep these issues then absolutely, take that first trip.

Cheers
_________________________
--Rick

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#189168 - 02/18/15 12:12 PM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: northeastern]
aimless Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 02/05/03
Posts: 3292
Loc: Portland, OR
There are many winter weather conditions under which a 3-season tent will fail and all of them are weather conditions where that failure will put your life at risk. On the other hand, a 3 season tent is perfectly well able to shelter you in light winds and light snowfall, where no appreciable weight of snow will accumulate.

Given just how critical the weather is to how your tent will perform, I would look for a forecast of calm winds and blue skies that extends at least one day beyond the time you expect to be out. And remember to take good insulation, including insulation under you when you sleep!

Stay warm and stay safe.

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#189531 - 03/05/15 02:22 PM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: northeastern]
Southcove Offline
newbie

Registered: 02/27/15
Posts: 14
Loc: CT River Valley
with no snowfall forecast and no danger of high winds...yeah, go for it. Winter is a great time to get outdoors. Just be practical about where you are going to hike into. When you set up the tent, stomp out the snow first and let it set up for 30 minutes to an hour. It provides a much more relaxing overnight sleep that way. And put a second mat under/over your expanding mat. Cold seeping through will devalue the rating of your bag big time. Keep some water from freezing too... Most of all enjoy. (safely)

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#189536 - 03/05/15 05:57 PM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: Southcove]
bluefish Offline
member

Registered: 06/05/13
Posts: 680
We've used our Fly Creek 2 about a half a dozen times in the winter. We pull the sides up a bit with our trekking poles or a y- shaped branch propped under the guylines to get better ventilation to prevent condensation. We've never had more than a few inches of snow on it, but it survived that fine. I buried branches in packed snow to stake it out. I liked the fact I wasn't carrying my much, much heavier winter tent. Be cautious with the condensation. If your sleeping bag rubs against the side of the tent where condensation is forming it'll get wet. Check your condensation level after being in the tent awhile. If you're getting a lot forming on the underside of the fly, you need to get some ventilation going.
A little , you can live with and shake off in the morning.
_________________________
Charlie

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#189537 - 03/05/15 08:36 PM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: northeastern]
hikerduane Offline
member

Registered: 02/23/03
Posts: 2124
Loc: Meadow Valley, CA
I've had some damage to the poles on my old Sierra Designs three season, Half Moon tent in a couple feet of fresh snow overnight. The high winds kept it blown off, but deformed my tent pretty good. frown I was awake most if not all of the night, my feet and hands supporting the poles thru the material the best I could. Wind sounded like a freight train a comin. There were 8 of us out in the Carson Pass area of CA. One fellow left his hammock early on, another had his tent blow over and lost some gear, so three guys stayed in a two person tent. We snow shoed out the next morning without breakfast. Tough going thru meadows. I was able to get most of the bend out of my poles, still use that tent, but relegated to car camping now.
Duane

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#189538 - 03/05/15 08:57 PM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: hikerduane]
Rick_D Offline
member

Registered: 01/06/02
Posts: 2939
Loc: NorCal
Yup, sometimes "stuff happens."

Back when dinosaurs roamed and we actually got snow here, a friend and I camped on Caples Lake and a pretty good storm came in overnight, dumping a lot of snow. The Early Winters Goretex tent said "hah" and as long as we knocked off the accumulation we were fine. Some skiers checked on us in the morning because we probably looked like a hobo camp, but everything was hunky dory for our trip back. Fine, that is until we found my car completely plowed in by Caltrans. And then the wipers froze in place while going through the avalanche area by Kirkwood, so my buddy cleared snow off the windshield while running alongside the car.

Ah, youth.

A coda: I once owned one tent at a time, so it had to handle July and January. Silly concept, but it suited my wallet.


Edited by Rick_D (03/05/15 09:39 PM)
_________________________
--Rick

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#189542 - 03/06/15 09:12 AM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: northeastern]
BrianLe Offline
member

Registered: 02/26/07
Posts: 1149
Loc: Washington State, King County
I'm with the consensus here that if good weather is forecast, a 4-season tent isn't needed. With some other caveats, however.

One caveat is that I suggest some experience at winter hiking before doing this. And I suggest some related knowledge and specific plans and options should things not work out as expected.

So for example, if you're in snow, consider trenching down and building (a) snow wall(s) with the spoil to reduce wind effect. And think of how you'll move that snow: will a snowshoe likely do it, or do you want to bring a light shovel?

It would be an excellent idea to have both knowledge and at least *some* experience at building a covered snow trench. And maybe a snow cave. I'm more of a fan of a well built trench as emergency shelter. A cave (or quinzee or igloo) are nice for a planned multi-day base camp, but IMO too much of a wet and time consuming PITA to build. But a very light folding saw (I mean VERY light) and some plastic sheeting and something to act as a shovel can allow for a credible emergency shelter should conditions degrade such that your three-season tent isn't cutting it.

Another approach should "some" unexpected snow be falling --- especially since this can happen after it's dark when you're snug in your tent --- is to just set an alarm clock to periodically wake up and deal with accumulated snow, so that the weight doesn't become an issue. A PITA, but the sort of compromise that can allow you to travel lighter in the winter.
For me, the "alarm" is a smartphone app (watch alarms don't always wake me up).

I've enjoyed using a tarp in winter rather than a tent, with trekking poles as supports. Some decent snow stakes add to the weight, however, unless I'm really sure I can find decent fallen sticks to use as deadman anchors. No bugs in the winter, and if I trench down and cover myself with the tarp it's pretty nice. Can even make the trench extra long so you can see the stars, slide under if concerned about precip. Note again that I only do this on relatively short (couple/few day) trips where the weather forecast is favorable.

Bottom line is that with experience and related knowledge you can adjust gear trade-offs in the winter to not carry tremendous loads. But screwing up in winter can make what might be an uncomfortable night in the other three seasons turn into something very very uncomfortable or even fatal, so I think a great way to start gaining such experience might be camping a fairly short walk away from your car.
_________________________
Brian Lewis
http://postholer.com/brianle

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#189544 - 03/06/15 10:23 AM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: northeastern]
northeastern Offline
member

Registered: 02/28/14
Posts: 20
Thanks for the advice everyone. Unfortunately I had to bail out on the trip before it started due to the possibility of snow that was in the forecast, but I do plan on going out once I have favorable weather.

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#189548 - 03/06/15 01:26 PM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: northeastern]
OregonMouse Online   content
member

Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6799
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
If, as your name implies, you're from the northeastern US, my personal recommendation would be to hunker down until spring arrives (if it does). Or come out to the West Coast where we seem to have skipped winter. In the NW Oregon mountains, anything below 5,000 feet (and going higher, with 70* F temps forecast in the lowlands this weekend) is snow-free, and no weather changes are forseen for several weeks. You are getting our winter as well as yours!
_________________________
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey

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#189557 - 03/06/15 10:11 PM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: northeastern]
Glenn Roberts Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 12/23/08
Posts: 2208
Loc: Southwest Ohio
No "unfortunately" to it - you showed good judgment. Knowing when to cancel a trip is one of the more important - and often overlooked - planning skills to learn.

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#189559 - 03/07/15 02:36 AM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: Glenn Roberts]
TomD Offline
Moderator

Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
I've winter camped with my winter tent while it snowed and one night with no tent at all, not even a tarp, just a trench shelter with my bag and light bivy. The weather was perfect, I was protected by trees and there was no wind. It's all weather dependent. Keep in mind that recently an experienced hiker died in the Mt. Washington area during a bad storm. She was day hiking, had a PLB, set it off, but died before the rescuers could find her. Her death set off an online storm of comments and several news articles focusing on her gear, skills and decisionmaking.
She was out in 100 mph winds and no, that is not a misprint or exaggeration. Mt. Washington has some of the worst weather in the world. I saw some video of rescuers blown off their feet by the wind.
The bottom line is you can be fine with minimal gear in good conditions or die even if well equipped if you ignore the conditions or the forecast.
_________________________
Don't get me started, you know how I get.

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#189560 - 03/07/15 06:39 AM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: TomD]
bluefish Offline
member

Registered: 06/05/13
Posts: 680
Another option in the Northeast is staying in a shelter. We've stayed in shelters along the AT in winter,and at parks like Harriman State Park in NY, Mt. Greylock State Reservation and private lands like Merck Forest in Vermont. There's some neat winter camping, albeit walk-in car camping on Cape Cod at Nickerson State Park. You can generally set your tent up inside the shelter, with the walls taking up any snowload and wind. It also allows for a drier and level place to cook and sit- something that is not all that easy to come by on snow. It also eliminates some of the sweat producing work of shoveling and packing a site. Be very careful with ho w much you sweat- it'll make you very unhappy and lead to hypothermia if you don't do something about it. We've had an over the top winter and I'm counting the minutes until the end of this month when we get on the plane with our packs to Albequerque. I've spent so many days working in the below zero mornings and afternoon windchills it's sapped my spirit. I was thinking about going up a mountain in Vermont this weekend. It's hard to get the motivation to voluntarily go out. In my defense, yesterday I was wiring a unheated garage that was 5 below in the morning and many tasks cannot be performed with gloves. It's been a very painful winter.
The Presidential Range in winter, is not on my list anymore.
An edgy place; I don't have the stamina and resilience to do it at this stage. Pulling yourself over the snow with ice axes because you can't stand up is not for me anymore.


Edited by bluefish (03/07/15 06:46 AM)
_________________________
Charlie

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#189989 - 04/04/15 01:13 PM Re: 3 season tent in winter? [Re: northeastern]
SurvivalDad Offline
member

Registered: 03/23/15
Posts: 26
It should be fine without heavy snow.
_________________________
Joe
** Be alert, be aware and have a plan **

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