10 Important Tips for Winter Camping

Camping to the nearby campgrounds can be an exquisite and amusing experience to you. But what about winter camping? Do you think winter camping is easier when compared to camping at typical campgrounds? The answer is a big NO. It is the climate and the weather which makes winter camping harder and that’s why most folks don’t invite toddlers and children for winter camping. Unlike a typical green landscape which captures your thoughts, white hills and trees covered with dense snowflakes shall really be eye-catching scenery. In this article, let us discuss some important tips which are crucial for you when you go for winter camping.

1. Know the weather

Winter camping isn’t that easy like a regular camping and so knowing the weather before you leave your home is very important. Check for the recent storms and the advent of the next storm in the venue of your winter campsite. Also, check for any recent avalanches in that locality before you reach there. Knowing the conditions of the road is also essential.

2. Appropriate clothing

Nothing can provide you relief in an extremely cold environment like tough comfortable winter clothing. Without them, it is sure that you will freeze to death. Fit and proper thermal innerwear is a mandatory requirement when you set for such great adventures. They can preserve your body heat allowing your sweat to evaporate. Don’t opt for cotton dresses during the winter season because they don’t evaporate your sweat, instead, they get drenched in sweat and gradually reduce your body temperature. Have a good pair of woolen scarf, gloves, and cap to get cover from snows.

3. Winter equipment

You are not going to walk into the White Mountains with empty hands. Are you? Apart from the cold weather gear which protects your body, you should also have some winter equipment like a tarp, all season tents, sleeping pads etc. Use your tarp to cover, all other items, which lie outside your tent. Ensure whether your tent is in a good condition and it can encounter a tough environment. Sleeping pads can be used as a substitute for a floor on the ice packed mountains which can help you preserve your body temperature.

4. Warm your sleeping bag

As you know, sleeping bags cannot generate any heat. They can only retain the body heat and for that, they need some time. Till then it is certainly going to be cold inside the sleeping bag. You can just heat a water bottle and throw it inside your sleeping bag 20 minutes before you get to sleep. By the time you are ready to snuggle inside the sleeping bag, it will have a perfect temperature to embrace you.

5. Firewood

When you plan for a winter camping, it is essential to focus more on your firewood because the only friend who can keep you alive in such an environment is heat. Moreover, you cannot wander in that howling and drenching weather for dry branches and twigs. That will be almost impossible. So, before reaching your spot, collect enough firewood to keep you alive and warm.

6. Book for entertainment

Winter nights has always been so long compared to days. If you go to bed early during winter, you may have to get up early before the sunrise. So, stay awake in the night till you get tired. You can have some interesting books and novels which you can read sitting inside your tent with a lantern beside you. Remember, you cannot sit under a tarp, in the howling winter nights and shoot at the breeze. Hence, reading books till late night shall be a good idea to kill the time.

7. Hydrate

Normally, people don’t get thirsty in winter times. But that isn’t true. It means your body is tricked by the AVP hormone to act like that. In reality, you lose a lot of water by sweating, breathing and carrying a lot of clothes on you. The truth is that you don’t realize that and eventually you may end up in dehydration, kidney failure etc. Therefore, it is mandatory for you to drink enough water even if you don’t feel thirsty.

8. Waterproof boots

No one who gets ready for a winter camping will leave his waterproof shoes behind and without that the entire trip will be impossible. You may have to walk through dense packs of snows and while walking your feet may sink into the snow till your knees. To overcome such difficulties, it is good to have a pair of quality waterproof shoes to keep your feet free from frost bites.

9. Compass

Yes, it is a simple device which shows the direction. You should learn to use a compass before you go to your winter camping site. Moreover, the requirement of the compass plays a vital role in winter camping than any other kind of camping. As you know, the landscape around your tent can change with the accumulation of snow at any time and most probably this will happen at night. The very next day you won’t find the direction without a compass. Hence, it is crucial to remember the worth of a compass before leaving for your winter campsite.

10. Flint and steel

Of course, you are not going to leave back your lighters and the chemicals which ignite your campfire. But, you cannot rely on them too much. They may not work properly due to the existing freezing climate. But, a flint and steel shall work better even at such situations thereby allowing you to have a sigh of relief.