I will try and answer a few of these questions. Thanks for all the kind words once again.

Blast- thanks bro, it’s been a while since I had a good brandy as I am a big scotch fan. After your reply I want a brandy now. Techno-magical! Ha, I love that word. I can’t wait to use it in a sentence on some of my fat lazy co-workers.(they read this forum a lot but won’t ever join) These are the ones who I constantly slag about fitness on this forum. They were too afraid to come with me this weekend but have no problem giving me opinions on what I should have done better while I was out there alone. I don’t get it, gear is expensive. Getting in shape is free.

Hacksaw – the Mossberg 500 is an awesome gun for a lot of things. Mine is a combo gun so it comes with 2 barrels(a rifled slug barrel for large game, and a smooth barrel with choke tube set for flying critters and smaller ground critters) It retails for about 350 bucks. It breaks down somewhat as the barrel removes in seconds but it is far heavier than any .22 I used to own a springfield armoury M6 which you can check out at http://www.oldjimbo.com I sold it because I didn’t like it. The Savage 24 C is an excellent little gun but hard to find these days. Break open actions work well in the cold. Sometimes the ejector will stick or freeze an you have to pull the spent casings out by hand(I think you have to anyway in most shotgun/rifle combos like the 24C) The biggest problem with the crack open action is using it in heavy snowfall where you need to load your rounds and close the action quickly before too much snow gets in.(but that’s a very small problem)

OBG – I often wonder how you guys down south put up with so much HEAT and HUMIDITY. I have been deployed overseas to places where it has been +60 deg cel so I guess I have a little experience with heat as well, but I like a cooler temp as opposed to a totally hot or cold one.(somewhere in the middle is nice) At times, I don’t know how YOU guys do it either.

KenK- yes, I always take my GPS(a Garmin E-trek) and I always back it up with a military issue Suunto compass because GPS will fail in these temps if you are not careful(sometimes even when you are) The first thing you will notice is that the screen becomes very dim, and button presses take several seconds to change screens etc. Eventually it will just go blank unless you warm it up. The cold kills batteries like crazy so I carry more spares than I normally would as well. The tripod is from my Bushnell spotting scope. And my camera is a simple Sony cyber-shot 4.1mp. It is not waterproof but has survived with me through 3 overseas deployments, combat, aid to civil ops here in Canada as well as about 5 years worth of hunting trips. For such an inexpensive little camera it sure as hell is tough.

CANOEDOGS – I strip all the oil from my guns at this time of year using HOPPs # 9 solvent and then use dry graphite as lubricant. You can actually buy extreme cold weather gun lube at most gun stores up here. I agree, it’s a total pain in the A$^ to dig under a jacket but for me there is no choice. It’s the only way to keep my GPS, Cell phone etc from freezing solid. Matches and other stuff will be fine if carried outside.

MDinana – My friends and family think I am nuts as well, so I guess I will take that as a compliment. A bolt action IMHO is one of the best actions in the cold but all actions require a little extra TLC. Yes, you get used to it by some degree but it still is really F^$#&** cold and I will not be upset when winter breaks. I am no where near being expert at cold weather survival but I try. I had the pleasure of working with the Canadian Rangers a few times. Our Rangers are not like U.S rangers. In Canada they are the ones who patrol the FAR north regions. A lot of them live and work in places where it seems unlikely that life can actually exist, but there they are. A lot of the ones I worked with are natives (most of Eskimo decent) who have lived and hunted up there all their lives. They get 6 months of darkness, compasses don’t work, and the temps drop sometimes to -70 deg cel. As bad as you think I may be nuts, I think THEY are nuts. Awesome, friendly people though.

Hey PACKRAT.
I didn’t know there were so many Albertans here. I am starting to feel right at home.
Thanks for the tips. I have tried this but not with a lot of success. I by no means consider myself an avid photographer but I always like to have my camera along for the ride. Maybe I need better hand warmers. Since my trips are usually all day the only way I have found to keep my water from freezing is by using a thermos.

The reusable packs that I have are similar to the Toasterz Reusable Heater Pack sold at MEC and can be boiled to recharge. I have been using mine for several years and they get very hot but only last about one hour.

I also carry the HEAT disposable hand warmers that MEC sells which last longer than the reusable ones.

You can also add a bit of gaitoraid to your water to lower the freezing temperature which will help a bit and adds some flavour.

One quick question Packrat.

How do you keep them from getting wet?? The ones I have are almost like a tea bag sort of material which you could rip easily. With falling snow it seems that the snow would quickly melt all over the handwarmers making them useless.

Tarus,

I am envious!!! My heart is in the far North, but my ... body, yes, that is it, body is in the far south. Loved to hear about your trip. Thanks.

A couple of thoughts, in order to stay warm - wear less by at least one layer. Then you will not sweat as much (at least for me, I ALWAYS sweat when snowhoeing) and when you stop, put that layer back on and stay warmer. I take my heavy parka off when I start moving and put it back on at stops. Always be a little chilly when you start walking (or at least wear that level of clothing) It will also help if you eat and drink on a regular basis (like every hour or less). I used to carry IV bags under my coat, but I now have a hydration pack (mine is a Platypus brand) that should work under the coat and ruck. Keep the tubing close to the body and only pull the end out when you need to drink. I have not tried it in real cold (it has not been below 0C for the past two years here :-(.

While I was living in Alberta I used a Savage 24 in .357 mag over 20 ga. a lot. Worked well down to about -45 C (the coldest I had it in) with low temp lube and a very clean (degreaser) chamber.

As hacksaw noted I too wear liner gloves, often with wristlets or fingerless gloves in those temps. I like the silk ones after seeing the burns on several hands because of the poly and nylon ones melting close to the stove. My mittens are loose and hang by a cord. I can throw one off and put it back on without using the other hand.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Great post. Thank you very much. Your narrative is great because it comes from experience and not from an armchair outdoorsman.
I also like to hunt and I do it in Pennsylvania, but it is not near the conditions that you experiment in Alberta. The coldest I have ever been hunting is 6 degree Farenheit.
I would like to know if the only firestarting device you have is the Blast Match. How are the strike anywhere matches or the regular wooden kitchen matches or the book matches in those cold conditions you experimented in your neck of the woods.

Also do you just go for a day and return home or sleep in your car and keep on hunting the next day?

If you don't mind to give us a list of what you take with you in the woods in this kind of outing.

Thanks again for the wonderful narrative.!

Jerryfountain - I also use a multi-layered system. When it is cold (but not too cold) I usually dump the outer layers and even the hat and mitts sometimes to prevent from overheating. I will put them on again as soon as I stop. The problem when its -40 deg cel and below is that as soon as you take off any layer you immediately start to freeze. It is very hard to achieve a balance. I find opening all available zippers helps without exposing too much to the freezing wind that cuts strait to the bone. But YMMV. I have tried with the concept of keeping a water bladder under my jacket but it is a REAL pain in the a** so I gave up on that endeavor. Besides, I would hate to think of the state I would be in if it started to leak under my jacket in this kind of cold. You only have to freeze your fingers solid to your Gerber multi-tool once to never make the mistake of not wearing liner gloves under your mitts(lol) The Army SOP is to tie off the mitts with Para-cord, and run it through your sleeves so your mitts will hang but I have always managed to become hopelessly entangled in something. Now I just leave them loose.

Joaquin39 - My blastmatch is my last resort so to speak, but I practice with it very often to get good at it.(more so in crappy weather) Any fool can light a fire with matches or a lighter. My other items usually include 2 BIC lighters(1 in my mini-PSK and 1 in my pack) 1 package of Mariner matches(excellent) and a spark-lite. I carry a whole bunch of tinder to get a fire going including spark-lite tinder, Coghlan's wax and wetfire. I carry a 15 min road flare for signaling OR getting a fire going FAST in any weather and in the worst case scenario(like after falling through the ice) It is tripple sealed to keep it waterproof so it works should I need it. I also have an MSR bottle full of Naphtha to supplement what I have in my stove so I can light a normal fire using that easily enough.(hopefully without killing myself)
I have never used strike anywhere matches in the field. I usually stick to army issue because I get them for free. The paper ones that come in the IMPs are pure crap and you usually need to light the whole booklet for them to get a fire going. They come in the IMP I carry for emergency food but I do not count them as part of my fire kit. I carried Coghlan's wind/waterproof and found them to be excellent matches in all weather second only to the Mariner matches that I carry now. I have found in my experience that(quality) matches work well in extreme cold but the wood gets very brittle and prone to snap much easier.(this is A BIG problem if your hands are cold and shaking) and the jab technique may result in the match snapping off (while lit) I hold the match closer to the tip and draw it sideways across the striker and it has worked so far.
If I have a long weekend with Friday off I will camp at my truck Friday night and hunt the next morning(hunting on Sunday is a no-no in a lot of places here)I usually take off a week in the fall for big game season where my true passion for hunting lies. A lot of times it is just for the day. Winter hunting is just an excuse to hit the field during the off season so I don’t fall out of the groove.
I have already posted my BASIC core winter hunting gear on another thread not too long ago. There are other things I routinely add to this list depending on what I am doing but it’s a general outline of what I take in this cold.

Take care

Usually when it is cold enough to need hand warmers it is too cold to snow so I have not had a lot of problems with them getting too wet. With the disposable heaters I use some medical tape that allows them to breath a bit and offers a bit of protection. I do not know how much you need to seal them off before they stop producing heat but you might be able to use a bit of plastic for a cover as long as they get some air.

I have mostly switched to the reusable warmers as they seem to put out more heat but for a shorter period of time.

It is funny how you get used to the cold as it was only -16C today and felt like a light sweater day rather than a big parka day!

All my lighters are butane (though I did just referbish my Zippo a little bit) so I use regular old strike anywhere matches in a Coghlan's waterproof match container as a backup. I've yet have them fail due to cold but like with a Bic you need your fingers so you need to be quick before you freeze up.

It calls for only -4 tomorrow. Time to break out the shorts