" man's gotta know his limitations: Sitting home 0230 with a Guiness feeling quite un-manly after abandoning my woods "bivy" site in the "harrison hills") at 0015 after throwing in the towel due to low temperatures, I had every piece of clothing from the backpack on,leaves stuffed between layers, socks for mittens, a single wool blanket under a tarp( no ground pad) and was just miserable,So I pulled camp in the dark and di-di'd outta' there. I was really feeling wimpy til I looked at the current temps online 28.8f with lows of20-25 inlow lying areas( fortunately I think I avoided those), Just wasn't prepared for freezing temps...luckily I chose the first lake in, so the "extraction ( there 's a better word that escapes me right now) (a.k.a. hike out) only took an hour including breaking camp. brrr...( couldn't sleep)...toasty now though.. sometimes you better check the weather (not figure you'll just tough it out); but I know my limits with the single blanket and tarp, now...who'da figured below freezing temps in May!!1911 was comforting on its first trip, but not warm "blastmatch"( a springloaded"firesteel"in a plastic case) and a piece of sisal rope works fabulously flame in two-three strikes everytime.thanks to mr. Bear for the "rope tinder" idea....
Odd weather isn't it. May I suggest storing a temperature appropriate sleeping bag and some extra blankets in your vehicle for those of you in colder climates. I keep a heavy coat in all of my vehicles, even in Texas in the summer. If nothing else it has protected me from fire ants while changing a flat. You sounded as though you stuck it out longer than I would have. Nothing like testing your equipment and your endurance.
Thanks While anticipating getting back out I spent a considerable time going back and forth from grabbing the swiss(bob) pack and/ or just doing a "survivor man" with a small( also swiss) haversack/canteen and cup.To me "back packing"/camping/and a "survivor man outting" are 3 different things with three different loads. survivor man outting : basically, minimal "level 1" gear in a butt pack or haversack (Is what I aspire too), but I don' t believe in denuding the forest and poaching game for a make believe survival sitiuation. water purification is boiling and catching big dirt/bark with a bandanna. shelter is a tarp or space blanket. fishing kit is5 gold hooks in a dental floss container.. AAA head lamp. It's what I started for yesterday, but with rain and a bit of hail in town, I threw the bob with the blanket in the truck too (figured i would decide when I get up to "my playground") 30miles north. Itwas Sunny at the parking area, but I took the swiss bag and blanket (stuffed my haversack inside)in case weather moved in." "Backpacking": I take a ground pad ( want/need a thermarest),a decent bag, my water filter/collapsible gallon container, nylon brazillian sleeping hammock, butane stove with push button piezo ignition...percolator pot/ ground coffee fishing rod or small book....( A.K.A. "the good life")
Tango Let me be the first to say YES YOU ARE A WIMP. Just joking. Seriously though when I was living in Wis. we would go camping in January, but you need gear/skills that will make you comfortable. OGM
The only way you know what you and your gear can withstand is to try it out. You get big time points from me for pushing it. That's more than I have done in a long time. I am planning a day of equipment trials as soon as I can get some free time. Most of my gear has been used, but some has not. The biggest thing that has not been tested in a long time is....................me.
lol, after 2 nights in tents with a couple hundred boyscouts this past weekend I am LOVING a warm dry house with plumbing!
Biggest thing hurt was my pride, afterwards I realized I could've/should've set the tarp up like a tube and packed dead leaves between the overlap for an insulated ground pad, And never go to bed hungry,which I did with the food bag hung up in a tree. Next trip the "lifeboat" method( i.e. bring the 20 degree synthetic bag and foam pad, AND the blanket/hatchet/canteen cup but try not to use the modernstuff...graduate to nothing but a tshirt, toe nail clippers and a soup can...
Well Tango if you are taking cans of soup, you can wrap several layers of birtch bark around the can and lite it on fire. It will heat the soup up very quick. Just don't forget one important step. Put a small hole in the top of the can to let the presure out before you lite the fire, or you maybe wearing the soup and the shrapnal from the can as well. One time when I lived in the great white north I went snowshoing when the air temp was down about -30 with about 2' of snow on the ground. When I would stop to rest I had to dig a snow trench out to get out of the wind. The wind chill was down around -80 to -90 so sitting and resting exsposed to the wind was not a good idea. The 2 things you really have to worry about in those type of temps is stay dry and stay hydrated. Staying warm is third on my list. OGM
You would not be the first that has called me a whack job. I have always liked trying to do what others wouldn't. At the time my Dad told me it was to cold to be out there. I strapped on the snowshoes and was gone before he could finish reasoning with me. Deep down in I am just an adrenlin junkie. OGM
