Getting Ready For Winter Camping?
Consider These Old Army Favorites.
The Farmers Almanac has declared a winter storm warning for 2022–23. Calling for more snow and rain than in previous years. When I heard this, I was struck by a sudden desire to go winter camping in the snow. Anyway, if you love winter camping you will appreciate hearing this news because the previous years left us so disappointed.
If you are like me, you want to start prepping your gear for the impending surge of winter weather. The Arctic tent, Primus camp stove, the Gransfors Bruk axe, and the long trail of clothes, lamps, and base layers needed to take on that winter storm. I quickly called my camping buddy to talk about what we needed, and the conversation focused on a heater stove. After years of camping with no heater stove, we decided that this year we would pick up a stove for an extended cold weather camping trip.
Now, I know what you are thinking, no stove! That’s crazy. Not really. Yes, it was cold, but we always had the right equipment, clothing, and tents for the weather, so it wasn’t that bad. While its not a military stove, we settled on the Pomoly stove, the one with glass. We like to see the fire, what can I tell you? Yes, it’s pricey but it is a very good quality stove. While we were at it, we got to talking about our cold weather clothes. We like to use our old cold weather military gear, but they got a lot of years on them. The Bear suit is probably the best cold weather implement the US Army has ever fielded, it is by far the warmest thing you could wear. Yes, it is bulky, but the zip jacket made out of poly-pile is very warm. The Under Armor Cold Gear base layers are excellent, particularly the military versions. Add to that the army poly pros and you are good to go. By the way, we also use US Army Gore-Tex jackets and pants. We have more expensive Mountain Hardware coats, but the Gore-Tex jackets have just performed so well over the years, we said let us just leave well enough alone.
To update some of our gear we are purchasing some improved Darn Tough socks with Dakine watch caps and gloves, all excellent choices. For boots, we opted for the waterproof Oboz boots from REI. These boots are very comfortable and have performed well in the mountain environment for the last six years. In heavy snow, we use the US Army Extreme Cold Weather Boot in black- you can get them in white but you may lose your feet in the snow. If it’s good enough for our soldiers and scientists in the artic it’s good enough for us. These boots are great, but they can get damp due to heat retention and lack of ventilation eyelids. Airing them out periodically will help. Even with that handicap, they are great boots for extreme snow environments.
Back to the gloves, Dakine has a great cold weather glove, the team maverick, Bryan Fox Gloves offer great cold weather protection. But if you are in an extreme environment you may want to opt for the Gore-Tex ones or the Norrona Trollveggen GTX gloves. These gloves have great all-around protection but at a premium price. The best deal on cold weather gloves are the tried and tested army arctic extreme cold weather gloves. These gloves can be had for $50 without inserts at most places and offer great warmth and protection from the elements. However, they are not waterproof so watch out for water.
In terms of tents, we thought long and hard and decided to use the army arctic tent. Its ease of installation (one pole design) and its stove pipe access make it a good choice for camping in the snow. It is heavier than more modern tents but with four-wheel drive capability we could just wheel it in and out of the camp area with no fuss. Yes, we have modern Vaude and REI mountain tents but opted to use this tent for its spacious quarters.
There you have it folks, now the only thing we need to consider is what we will be having for dinner. In these circumstances, you would think that keeping it simple would be better. But, given all the time you will have you on your hands you may want to spend time cooking something more appealing than freeze-dried food, like a nice stew or some slow cooked ribs. There is nothing like a home cooked meal, especially in the cold. Keep it simple in terms of ingredients- less to carry. Unless of course you're driving into the camp. I hope you found some inspiration to try some of these old vets on your next cold weather camping trip. If you do, let us know how it went. Safe trails…
