So, I decided to do a local overnighter on a pond close to home. I left here at about 2 in the afternoon, parked the jeep, and walked the 20 minutes in. The place I stayed at is along the Midstate Trail in MA, and there is a lean-to (3 sided shelter) right on the pond. As I am familiar with the area, I decided that thats where I'd like to spend the evening. Not inside the shelter (wind blows right into it), but, behind it, in a tent, to use it as a windbreak. First, I'll give you a breakdown of what I had:
WORN:
long lightweight underwear tops & bottoms
nylon hiking pants
synthetic hiking socks
Hi-tec boots
TNF fleece jacket
nylon glove liners
wool mittens (the ones where the finger part folds back)
black wool watchcap
CARRIED:
Army rucksack
2 quarts water
TNF 0* sleeping bag
3/4 length ridgerest Z-rest pad
OR bivy sack
Black Diamond megamid floorless tent
MSR PocketRocket w/2 canisters of fuel
OR goretex overmitts
1 pair heavyweight longjohns tops & bottoms
Goretex jacket & pants
British Bivy clothing-essentially a WARM puffy jacket & pants
candle lantern
digital thermometer
recording gear (I taped what I could, more on that later)
Mora knife, ferro rod
survival kit
Now, I went into this with several ideas; first, being as it was going to be bitter cold (even without the wind), I wanted to give my bag a run. Second, I wanted to try lighting a fire with material found. Third, I wanted to see the actual operating temp of my stove. Fourth, I REALLY wanted to try out the brit bivy gear.
So, I get to the spot. It is REALLY windy, coming right off the pond. I think, good, this will put a little more stress onto this. So, I start to set up my shelter. I break 2 winter stakes right off the bat. No biggie, I had like 20 of them. Get the shelter set up, get all the gear stowed. Decide to go for a walk.
I wanted to find a place to get water from, but, with the bitter winter we've had, the pond is frozen to well over a foot thick. No dice there. Melting snow wasnt an option either; the snow was too dry, and gathering it was inefficient.
So, I decide that I'm going to grab some tinder, and try to light a fire. Well, I found plenty of dry tinder, but couldnt get it to light. I think it may have been too windy, not sure. So, I tried it with a cotton ball with PJ, caught second spark. I'm NEVER leaving these things behind!
NExt, I tried to cook dinner. This was a no-go. It was 12* outside, plus the wind. I had the fuel in my jacket for 20 minutes, didnt get anything. I finally resorted to crawling into my bag with it, and cooking in the tent. Even then, it was spotty. I know you shouldnt do that, but, I had to have something warm inside me. Had a cup of cocoa, and called it a night.
Well, my 0* bag may keep me alive, but not warm. The last I looked at my thermometer, it was a sweltering 12* in the tent. I fidgeted for a while, looked at the thermometer, and, well, it had died (too cold). I throw on the heavyweight longjohns, and try to go back to sleep.
woke up an hour later, still chilly (mainly just cold spots in the bag). Decided, screw it, I'm putting on my bivy clothes. Threw these on, went back to sleep. Only woke up a few more times, due to rolling over, the tent walls pushing in on me from the wind, ect. My toes were cold, but it was manageable. Also, put the thermometer in with me, to warm it up.
Woke up this morning, started breaking camp. I kept the bivy clothes on, and these things are worth their weight in gold! I think they are made for the british military, but I have no idea who makes them. Wind doesnt penetrate at all, they overlap well, and are all snuggly. So, I checked the thermometer again, 8*, plus wind. I'd estimate the wind was constant all night, about 15 MPH. PAcked up, went to finish videotaping, and the camera had actually frozen. I slept with the battery, but, it simply didnt want to work. So, I DO have tape of the outing, just not of this morning.
All in all, was a good experience. The best part was listening to the ice settle all night. These loud BOOMs every few minutes were awesome. The tent walls blowing into my face werent fun. Nor getting up and putting on frozen boots. But, thems the breaks!
Anyway, thought I'd share. I'll have the video up as soon as I load it.

Some thoughts:

Nothing teaches like experience. Nothing makes that experience easier - less frustrating - than good gear.

Water - How did you keep your water bottles from freezing up? In real cold weather I'll usually bring along a cooler specifically to keep the water from freezing up. I've considered putting the water inside my sleeping bag during the day instead, but the risk of spill and wetting the bag is just too great.

Stove - I usually stick to stoves that use Coleman fuel in the winter since propane (and maybe isobutane?) simply don't work well in very low temps, if at all. Which one I used depends on the camp location.

Tent - What kind of tent do you use? Does it have aluminum or fiberglass poles (my recently purchased Scoutmaster's tent is my first w/ fiberglass poles - wondering about how they'll behave in cold weather). Did you put any storm guylines on the tent? After having a tent fold in on me in the past (luckily the tent wasn't damaged, but could have been) I'm a huge fan of using storm guylines. How did you "stake" the tent down" With frozen ground you may have been limited in your choices in fastening it down.

Sleeping Bag: It amazes me how cold I can get in my 15* and 0* sleeping bags - mostly my feet. I do all the things we're supposed to do - put on dry non-cotton undies, wear a hat, eat before turning in, etc... but still. Wearing good wool socks seems to help a lot. I've tried a liner, but I get wrapped up in it. I'll assume you had a good insulating pad underneath you. For really cold weather I've know lots of folks to bring those thick pink construction-grade foam boards along to put on the floor of the tent.

Fire: So were you able to start a wood fire? If so, did you find dry firewood in the area? On the ground or hanging? Did you have to split it? It is good to hear the cottenball w/ PJ worked for you, but I'm confused as to what you were igniting with it. Did you use a sparker? Which one? I have several: Sparklite, MagFire, Strike Force, etc..., but I usually only carry the MagFire (except for my EDC BSA Hot Spark).

Ken K.

To answer: my water bottles were filled with lukewarm water before I left. When I made camp, I put them into my sleeping bag. This kept them from freezing overnight.
The stove was an experiment. I do have a whitegas stove, but I wanted to see if the Isopro worked in low temps, as claimed. Which, in my case, it did not. I was not overly concerned about actually eating hot food, as I had a couple of snacks as well. Besides, my Jeep was only a 20 minute hike away. Worst case, go get a pizza <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
The tent is a black diamond megamid. It uses hiking poles as the tent poles. Works great, year round. I mainly use it for winter hikes. I had intended of cutting pine branches for a bedding flooring, but, as there wasnt any snow on the ground due to the wind, I didnt need it.
Sleeping bag was simply cold spots. And, with the wind, it was probably a little colder than 0*. Anyway, it kept me alive. And, I had a nice pair of wool socks on too, even threw a fleece down there. But, toes were still chilly.
the fire starting was more a proff of concept. There is a fire put there, and stored wood under the lean to. But, I just wanted to see if I could get tinder going. And, like I stated, PJ balls work much better than natural. although, I'm sure I couldve started it, I just didnt try long enough.

8* F. and a 15 mph wind would put you right about -10 * F windchill. BRRR! If you are going to have your water bottles in the bag with you you might as well heat them up and stick them down by your toes. It will help for awhile at least. I've heard of folks doing the same thing with a pee container but I haven't got that desperate yet. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Do you have a link to those British Bivy clothes?

Midstate Trail? You can't be too far from me. I hike Wachusett.

Bivvy Wear Thats the only link I could find for it. Mine is OD green, and has the bottoms & hood as well. Not sure if its the same gear, but its what I found.

As far as heating the bottles before putting them in the bag; good idea, but the stove didnt want to work. So, I suffered through it. Pee in a bottle wouldve been great...but, I emptied my bladder prior to turning in. good idea though, I will try that next time! EDIT: here's a better link
Oh, and I live in north central MA. I stayed at Muddy Pond shelter, in/near ashburnham

Good job on your test, OldSoldier.

Regarding you getting cold in the night: I would submit that a 3/4 Z-rest pad is not nearly enough ground insulation in the conditions you described. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee it.

I am a flatland California boy, preferring sun sand and surf to cold and the dreaded white stuff. But, thanks to my Uncle Sammy, and a few adventures of my own, I have been forced to get cold from time to time. Most, if not, all of the gear you took was much better than anything I have ever used, you lucky dog. In your experiment, I think that you should have tried a little more to make fire. Putting something warm in the tummy right before bedtime seems to help me sleep a little warmer. Some advocate doing some exercises right before bed, to supposedly get the blood flowing or something. Just don't overdo it and get all hot and sweaty.

As for tent pegs, I like, even tho they are heavier, good ole spikes (regular nails on steriods). I don't know what penny size they are, but they are about 10 inches long, cost about 50 cents each, and are available at any good hardware store or lumber yard. You can drive them into just about anything without them breaking. Some use aluminum gutter nails, but they will bend on you.

Gotta stop and get ready for another day in paradise, more later...

I was getting cold, and, well, after reviewing the tape, I think I could have prepared the tinder a little better. But, the cotton ball lit right up.
As for the 3/4 Z-rest; I had clothing stuffed into the bottom of my bag, to both warm them for the morning, and to keep my feet from direct contact with the ground. I think, all in all, it was too cold for the bags rating. I did flex my thigh muscles throughout the night, to warm them up. I am thinknig that adding hand warmers to my it is gonna be a definite. It took about 15 mins of walking to warm my toes!

I have had about a 15% success rate with chemical handwarmers over the years. I eventually gave up on them. I wonder if there is a particular brand that is better than the others?

Nice post. Man, I'm glad I don't have to deal with weather like that anymore!

-Blast

Great post, very informative. I hope i could get out there and tryout some of my gear sometime soon. Nice Blog too...

In my experience, the less cloths you wear in a sleepingbag the better. I'll sleep in my skivies in my bag and be perfectly warm while my wife sleeps in "warm" PJs abd shivers all night. You have to let your body heat up the air in the sleepingbag and create a layer of warm air around you.

I have used the Grabber warmers, and had reasonably good success if they were fairly new, sometimes the ones in the discount stores have been around for a while. I have used the small hand warmers for inside gloves, and the adhesive toe warmers inside my boots, and also when sleeping. I find that if I put a thin liner sock on, and stick a toe warmer on each foot, then put a second heavy wool sock over that, my feet stay comfortable all night. (You have to have everything else covered with a decent layer too. Your feet and hands will start to chill if your body starts getting cold anywhere.)

Two weeks ago when I was camping I was using a -10 degree bag, and a full length inflatable Thermarest Prolite 4. I used the toe warmer/dual sock method both nights. Temps were in the high single digits, winds ranged from 10-25mph, so it was cold, below zero wind chill all weekend. I slept like a baby, except for the ice/frost that would form near my nose and mouth on the balaclava I was wearing. I would sometimes wake up with cold crusty stuff against my face when I would roll over.

I have not tried these yet, but, Grabber also makes larger warmers called "sleeping bag warmers". Here's a link:
http://www.warmers.com/ItemDetails.aspx?itemid=SBWP

Does anyone have experience with those? I like the toe warmers inside two layers of socks, because they follow my feet when I move around.

Speaking from personal experiance:
In arctic conditions, which is what you are dealing with, carry your water in a couple of 1 to 2 litre steel thermos flask's. Increase the flask's insulation by wrapping a section of foam mat around it.

An axe might have been a usefull addition as well. You could chop through the ice in a couple of minutes. Cover the hole with pine bough's and snow (if available) to stop it refreezing.

You need to keep the tent walls away from you. Try using long poles in an x shaped configuation.

I just did a similar 'test' last night. Though not nearly as thorough. And, not a Successful ending. And, I was drunk.

Got home last night and relaxed a while along with some scotch. Around 10:30 it started raining pretty good. so I thought "Hey! It'd be a great night to sleep outside!" I wanted to set up a tarp/hiking pole shelter, but couldn't find my camping tarp. Decided to try just setting up my tent fly with poles but no body. That turned out incredibly cool, hadn't done that before with this tent (MSR Hubba hubba, which is AWESOME.)

Threw in a 15* bag on an Thermarest full length, stripped to skivies, and crashed.

The rain was coming down hard and sounded really cool on the tent fly. However, the car traffic down my residential street and folks coming home from bars kept waking me up. And, I was NEVER quite warm enough. I'm usually a warm sleeper, but with just underwear on my skin and alcohol in my blood I never cozied up.

Finally, with my head and throat bugging me (I'm still getting over a cold) I thought this was ridiculous. Got up, threw the gear in my garage, and went to bed. I figured it was 2am or so. Nope. 6:30am. Man, I'm tired today.

Tonight we're doing the same thing but out in the woods where it's quite. And, we'll be better geared up for it and put up the full tent. Still have to drink some wine, though. Just a tradition in the woods to bring uncle carlos when car camping...

Jason

No surprise you couldn't find your tarp with all that Blood in your Alcohol! Drunkard!

Uncle Carlo is a mean wine. Give us a report when you get back, and... watch out for Bigfoot!!!

m

great post, I always wanted to do something like that, you have given me some ideas to try.