Why Winter Camping Is The BEST... prove me wrong!

okay here's five reasons that I absolutely love winter camping the sleeping can be great you've got to make sure that your sleeping bag is rated properly that your sleeping pad that you're laying on is rated properly not just the survival rating but the Comfort rating because you want to be comfortable out there a lot of these sleeping bag companies actually are very misleading about their rating system and so you really need to make sure that you have the properly rated equipment for the conditions you're going to be in bring a pillow setup that is going to get you to the right height that you have at home try to make it as close to the sleeping conditions that you have at your house as possible the layers you wear and the types of clothing is super critical when you're out in the winter so you want to have a good base layer that is going to Wick the moisture away from your body and then have a good mid layer that's going to trap the heat in and then a blocking layer when you're outside that's going to block the wind and rain and keep you warm so another reason I love winter camping is there's no bugs there's no bugs because they're all dead or hiding no mosquitoes no ticks no black flies it's the best now you don't necessarily need a Four Season tent to go out winter camping I've never owned a Four Season tent in fact my friend Dan made a video about this I'll put it up here and he does a great job of explaining the reasons why you don't need a Four Season tent you can go out with your three season tent as long as you're not like up in the high Alps so there's incredible wind if it's just normal like winter conditions you can go out with a three season tent it's oftentimes more important to think about what's underneath you when you go to sleep so like your sleeping pad make sure that your sleeping pad is rated for winter conditions rated for the temperature that you're going to be experiencing another reason I love winter camping is that everything is a challenge everything is a challenge but that could be a great thing it could be really fun everything from gathering firewood to setting a pretend to staying warm staying warm is a huge priority keeping your feet warm learning how your body works how to fuel your body with food and water to keep you warm layering equipment selection everything is a challenge and it's just so rewarding when you can get it right and be comfortable in Winter camping reason number four that I like winter camping a lot is the sound of everything I love the sounds of winter camping it's either really really dead because you have fresh snow falling or you get these winds that are just blasting through the trees and it just sounds awesome as long as you're out of the wind then it's enjoyable another reason I love winter camping is that you don't have to bring a cooler with you for your food right and eating becomes the best part of the day it is so much fun to eat a warm meal when it's freezing outside so for boiling water and cooking food I like to bring a jet boil with me or an isobutane propane stove so these fuel canisters tend to be Troublesome in the wintertime they don't like to run very well because when they get cold they don't evaporate properly so you either have to keep them you know close to your body make sure they're nice and warm before you use them and then when you are using them keep them up off of the cold ground a lot of times people just stick them down in the snow but that's a mistake because they'll quickly cool down and they won't work very well put them up on a board or piece of wood or a rock you want to insulate him from the cold ground while you're cooking otherwise this whole canister is going to freeze up it might just stop working another great option for stoves is a biofuel stove like this one you can use pine cones and sticks and whatever you find out in the woods you can split down some kindling and basically make a little fire inside of it and that is very reliable because you don't have to worry about freezing up although it does take a little bit longer than like say a jet boil or a rocket stove or something like that so when I'm out backpacking in the winter time I like to bring meals like this by like Peak refuel really good freeze-dried meals that are going to give me a lot of calories it's important to fuel your body with the right food so you keep your metabolism up drink plenty of water make sure you're hydrated so your body can maintain its temperature well try to avoid drinking a lot of coffee when you're out winter camping because the caffeine can work against you it's better to drink hot tea or broth I like to bring bullion cubes with me and make like a hot broth to drink that is very very good for you it'll keep your metabolism up so you'll stay warmer for longer and my favorite time of day to eat food while winter camping is 6 30 hands down get it sorry not sorry had to do it so with a little preparation anybody can enjoy winter camping you should try it just go out in your backyard set up your tent during a snowstorm and sleep out there and if if you don't like it you can bail and come back inside no problem who cares what your neighbors think so try camping in your backyard first and see if you like it learn some things because there's a whole lot of reasons to absolutely love winter camping I hope you found that useful or at least entertaining we'll see you later