Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
Those anoraks show up on surplus army gear websites every so often. I guess if you are handy with a sewing machine, you can tailor them to fit right. I might check one out just for grins.
Edited by TomD (11/10/1108:15 PM)
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A cotton anorak is really easy to sew.. that's how I got mine.
Tom, for good winter muks you can't go wrong with the Canadian Forces winter boot - That's what I use. You can find them pretty easy online in surplus sales and ebay. Try to find somewhere that will sell you an extra pair of the liners. I have no doubt the empire canvas stuff would be awseome, but the army muks are cheap and keep me warm. This is very different from the US army "mickey mouse" boot - this is a nylon shell mukluk with a rubber footbed. they breathe a bit and work well in deeper snow.
They typically come without a footbed, so to mine I add a plastic "waffle" bed, with an insulating feltbed overtop (keeps bottom of feet warm and not moist)
Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
Thanks Phat. I'm also thinking about Steger Mukluks just for really cold weather, but I might get something else like what you suggest. I want something I can wear with snowshoes.
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Heather, Is the tightener the same as my inside elastic straps? If so please help me get the word out about how awesome they are and how any winter bag should have one. Jim
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Registered: 07/11/10
Posts: 597
Loc: Fairbanks, AK
It is an inside string - I can't remember if it is elastic or not. I think I would like a baffle too (insulated tube.) Now that I think about it though, as an outer bag the string is better than a baffle. (I put my 40 degree 0 degree bag (my rating vs. their worst case rating) in this bag.)
Way off topic, in another thread a BCF hike was mentioned. It would be very, very cool (pun intended) to have a winter version. Anyone game? With enough notice, I could possibly make it (I'd have to talk the hubby into it, but since Wandering_Daisy wasn't a serial or any kind of killer for that matter, he'd prob. be more confortable this time.)
In another thread a BCF hike was mentioned. It would be very, very cool (pun intended) to have a winter version. Anyone game? With enough notice, I could possibly make it (I'd have to talk the hubby into it, but since Wandering_Daisy wasn't a serial or any kind of killer for that matter, he'd prob. be more confortable this time.)
Thoughts?
I think it might be neat. but the problem really is that there's winter and there's winter. Assuming an overall low level of talent, we're snowshoeing, and winter on the coast is different from winter where I am. - my kind of winter requires special gear and a somewhat well, perverse outlook on life
Personally, while it's a neat thought (and if people really wanna freeze, I'd consider hosting a small party) I'd really rather get people here when they can see more cool stuff (without skiing skills and avalanche concerns)
Registered: 07/11/10
Posts: 597
Loc: Fairbanks, AK
Points well taken. I just have a hard time finding winter camping partners - I was considering doing a trip alone this early December, but re-thought it and decided it wasn't a good idea.
I do enjoy winter hiking and camping now that I don't freeze... less mosquitoes and the ground is more soft (aka snow.) So you have me worried about the freezing part.
Other people's thoughts? Phat does have an extrememly good points... (hate to fly anywhere and find out personally I don't have the skills and/or equipment! or get a bad situation with someone else who doesn't)
Registered: 02/23/03
Posts: 2124
Loc: Meadow Valley, CA
Heather, no matter the season, you could come down here to Kalifornia. There are a number of experienced, allseason bpers I go with, although this last year not so much. I guess about 3 group trips, most about five people, except mtnsteve's Winterfest in late January outside Lassen NVP where over 18 people showed up at one time or another. Most I bp with are down in the valley, close to the bay area or Sacramento. Some are even young like yoself.:) Duane
Points well taken. I just have a hard time finding winter camping partners - I was considering doing a trip alone this early December, but re-thought it and decided it wasn't a good idea.
So do I.. Which is why in winter I'm almost always solo. Most of my friends who will go out in winter are backcountry skiiers, which I'm really not, so I tend to snowshoes and solitude.
Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
Yosemite is a great place for beginner winter camping. I've been there several times near Badger Pass, once with two other people (Jim Shaw being one) and the other times alone. If you get bored, you can drive down the hill into the Valley and check out the sights or even go shopping. It is good for snowshoeing or backcountry skiing.
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heather On one of my early trips it hit 40 below. Its not really fun - yer too scared to sleep. I think if I was you I'd look real hard at snow caves. That is pretty much contrary to my normal avoidance of snowcaves, but in such extreme environments they are pretty darned nice. I think in Alaska you are likely to find the right conditions for snow caves. Jim
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
Registered: 07/11/10
Posts: 597
Loc: Fairbanks, AK
Actually, where I am we don't normally get enough snow. I'm trying to remember how much snow we had the end of winter last year - at most three foot.
I've never winter camped solo (plenty of day hiking though.) I'm thinking about baby-stepping it and if it isn't ... freekin cold (warmer than 0F) I think I'll do a car camp at our building lot this December. Worst case at that temp the car will still start without the battery warmer and engine block warmer going.
Heather, Do you live in Town? Can you just camp on the backpoprch to try it out? Theres no shame in coming in after midnight. Lots of little 3 hours test "out back" might help you gain confidence and tune in your gear. Like I'm about to go pitch and nail a cheap tent to my deck. I get a kick out of stopping on the way home from town and visiting friends and crawling into their tents. I like having a tent set up - I was born in the year of the rat ya see... Anyway maybe set up a semipermanent tent outside and experiment at different temps. Have fun Jim
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
Registered: 07/11/10
Posts: 597
Loc: Fairbanks, AK
I am about 25 miles out of town - have 5 acres where I live now. I am going to pitch our big car camp tent out there soonish. I have winter camped before (even taken a class) but never alone. I'm not real sure I can talk the husband into letting me winter camp alone anyways - the line (surviving something vs. not) is so much thinner in the winter here. I am working on ideas for getting the hubby to come along with - i.e. hot tenting.
(I had to go check what Chinese year I was born: Year of the Rabbit are romantic, talented, and successful. hahahahaha! I wish.)
Does hot tenting involve swapping the tent for some , less comfortable, place (like "hot racking") or putting a stove in the tent? The latter might be more enticing than the former.
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
I don't understand why they aren't getting the fresh air intake for the stove from outside of the tent.
They way they have those set up the fresh air is drawn from inside the tent, which means the tent is always sucking in cold air from the outside causing cold drafts and then sucking the air that is heated inside into the stove and blowing it out the exhaust pipe.
Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
I believe the answer is that they want fresh air to avoid any carbon monoxide problem, plus rigging up some kind of vent would be cumbersome. I don't think the amount of air being drawn in is all that much. Plus, don't forget, the stove itself is hot so it acts like a radiator, not like a forced air heater.
Edited by TomD (12/10/1102:17 PM)
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I have some doubts about their conclusions and concerns based on the implementations that they studied, and especially as they pertain to tents, but after considering those doubts I have to conclude that it may not make a spits worth of difference either way as far as heat efficiency goes. However, the outside intake might be of value if there ever were an issue with wind and reverse pressurization.
Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
I don't think they use charcoal for two reasons-they would have to haul it in and wood is plentiful in the boreal forest and concerns about any gases charcoal might give off when it burns. I looked on the site, but couldn't find a definitive answer.
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