As a veteran now of three “winter survival camps” with various Rangers and Guides, I’m going to share what I’ve learned. With travel off the table at the moment, maybe you’d like to try a brand new small adventure like camping in your own garden in winter.
1) Minimise time spent camping in winter
At my first camp, I decided to take my girls for the optional Friday night as well as the compulsory Saturday night. Mistake! I mean, when BBC South turned up on Saturday morning and started interviewing happy optimistic people who’d only just arrived after a night in a warm bed, I felt like Scott of the Antarctic for surviving the cold, mud, wind and rain that these poor summer children hadn’t even thought of. But winter camping is just enough of a novelty to override misery for one night. A second, and the misery sets in. One cold night is fine. Returning to the tent twenty-four hours later in damp clothes, knowing exactly what you’re facing – no.
2) Bedding is the most important thing
I have been warm and toasty to the point of too hot on these camps. The secret is the bedding. I invested in a 4-season sleeping bag for the Laugavegur Trail in 2018 and it’s a godsend. I use it inside a Go Outdoors sleeping pod, which is a thin 2-season bag made big enough to starfish in. If I think I’m still going to be cold, I add my fleece sleeping bag liner, although I hear silk is both warmer and less bulky. If you’re in your own garden, or even car camping, you can take as much bedding as you can transport.
Top tip for blankets: bring them inside your sleeping bag, otherwise they’ll fall off the first time you fidget.
3) Hot water bottles are your best friend
We didn’t take these the first year and now I can’t fathom not taking them. Make sure they’re well sealed so they don’t leak boiling water on you – it’s not just unpleasant, burns like that are incredibly dangerous. At home I just use the hottest tap water but boiled water on camp works. I don’t use a cover myself but we’re always told to at these camps, to protect our girls from boiling rubber. A plastic water bottle makes a good improvised hot water bottle, or a metal one can work too if you’re careful about the water temperature or wrap it up in something.
4) Get to bed before you get cold
Unless you’ve got an external heat source, you’re dependent on your body heat for warmth in your tent overnight. Conserve as much as possible. Stargazing until midnight is lovely but if you’re already shivering by the time you get into your sleeping bag, it’ll take a long time to warm up again. If you’re going to be outside when the temperature drops, keep active. A hot drink right before bed is good too.
5) Don’t go to bed damp
Make sure you’ve got something dry to wear in your sleeping bag and leave it in there during the day to keep it safe and so you know where it is. One pair of thick warm socks is better than two – two will squash your feet and that’s not warming. Have a warm hat to sleep in. I don’t really get on with sleeping bag hoods and if I’m properly tied up in there, I’m going to suffocate on my own carbon dioxide. So my head tends to stick out and I need a hat.
6) Don’t light fires or barbecues in the tent
Every year we get stories – admittedly usually in the summer – of families who light their barbecue inside their tent and die of carbon monoxide poisoning. Apart from the fact that tents are often horrifyingly flammable, killer waste gases build up inside. Unless you’ve got a specialist tent stove, with a chimney, and you know how to use it and you’re not going to kick it or knock it over in the night, don’t even think about fires in the tent.
7) Have a backup
The other thing that made our second and third winter camp easier was knowing there was an indoor space we could escape to if we were just too cold. You don’t have to stay and freeze. Part of planning outdoors stuff is knowing when to abandon plans and if you’re concerned about dented pride, most people will be more than impressed by your mere intentions.
8) Don’t sweep the frost off in the morning
My tent was half frozen in 2019. I casually brushed some of it off and accidentally smashed my tent window, which is made of a kind of plastic fabric designed to be screwed up and forced into a too-small tent bag. Indestructible, in other words. Nope. Not when it’s really cold. It turns brittle and smashes. I fixed it with mylar PVC window repair tape, which is a kind of clear tape made for exactly this purpose. It’s not too obvious from a distance, lets light in and has remained waterproof so far.
9) Eat well
You’ll sleep so much better if your metabolism is churning over some solid hot food. You’ll use more calories adventuring in the cold anyway, especially if you’re not adventuring regularly and you’ll use more calories maintaining your body temperature in the night. So give your body some extra fuel to help it in its extra work. Add sugar to your bedtime hot drink if you don’t normally, remember elevenses, fourses and a snack or meal before bed. This is a day for the full-fat and full-sugar versions of things. Calories are your friends when you’re sleeping at subzero.
10) Tell everyone you ever meet
Most of the people in your life are probably the sort who shudder at the idea of camping even in optimal weather. Make sure you tell them all about the sub-zero temperatures, the named-category storm that pulled at your guy ropes, the frozen fabric and how much fun you had on this unimaginably unpleasant adventure!