Being in contact with nature is certainly magnificent, but you will still have to deal with the cold. Especially in the winter.
But how do you stay warm on a camping trip in winter? Here are some tips:
- Check the weather: the first thing to do when you decide to go camping in the winter is to check the weather. This will serve not only to decide whether to go or not, but to realize what temperatures you will have to resist.
- Choose the place well: you must choose a place as dry as possible and as protected from the weather as possible to place your tent.
- Use an Insulated Closed-Cell Foam Mat: if you sleep directly on cold ground, your body will lose heat quickly. The only air mattress to sleep will not be enough, so use this to be placed under the air mattress. If you don’t have an insulating mat, in any case, use only a blanket or anything else, but avoid direct contact with the ground.
- Reduce the ambient space: in this way the heat will be more difficult to disperse. To do this there are several methods: if you are two or more in the tent, stay as close as possible; put all your stuff along the inside perimeter of the tent, so as to slow down the heat loss; if you have a Mylar blanket, use it to stake the tent ceiling to insulate it. Obviously, considering this, the smaller a tent the better it is from the point of view of insulation.
- Use a hot water bottle: you can use stainless steel bottles filled with hot water to use them as heat radiators, especially if placed inside a sleeping bag.
- Thermal gloves and thermal socks: the body tends to remain warm, but leave hands and feet cold. The best thing, therefore, is to use socks and gloves specially designed for extreme colds, so as not to wake up with cold limbs to the limit of freezing.
- Choose the right clothes: The previous discussion, however, applies to all the clothes you choose to wear. Make them suitable for low temperatures.
- Do not shut yourself up in the sleeping bag: It is almost natural to completely close yourself in the sleeping bag, but it should not be done. In this way, the humidity of the breath cannot escape and will begin to create condensation in the sleeping bag, ruining the insulating effect and lowering the internal temperature of the sleeping bag. Always keep a space to breathe.
- Go to the bathroom as soon as possible: as soon as you have to go to the bathroom to pee, go there. The body wastes energy to keep the bladder warm and therefore it is all wasted energy that does not heat you.
- Don’t sleep with all your clothes on: it’s normal to want to sleep as covered as possible when you’re in the cold, but that’s a mistake. In the morning, then, you would have nothing to put on to warm up from the temperature change. Consequently, if you sleep with as little as possible, once awake you can warm up quickly wearing other layers of clothing.
- Stay hydrated: although you drink less in the cold, you must stay well hydrated. The body needs water to regulate the temperature and, therefore, to be able to stay warm.
- Eat high calorie foods: foods rich in sugars, fats and carbohydrates, as a meal before going to sleep and a night snack, are ideal. When the body burns calories, it increases its temperature, so it is good to give it energy.