so my buddy wants to go winter camping next week up north of

You'll probably die not even joking

Don't go if you don't have the right gear. I never have fires while /out/, unless I'm at a campground, and you shouldn't either. Also there's a good chance backcountry campfires are prohibited. Don't be a fuck.
Just use the summer tent. How warm is your sleeping bag?

>>904704
just make sure to be the little spoon.

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Wear extra clothes and make sure to stay on your sleeping pad best you can for insulation from the ground. Also keep everything dry. I use a big black trash bag as a pack liner so all my stuff stays dry no matter what. Also when thinking about what to bring, if you typically pack light, consider bringing that extra stuff that'll keep you warm and comfy.

>>904714
Fire permits in alberta are only required during fire season. You can burn as much as you want in winter. Have you seen the weather up here? There's little risk.

>>904714
there is no fucking chance ill have anything less than a 20 foot high bonfire...get the fuck outta here...

>>904784
im too big it just wont work

>>904787
i typically pack heavy im going to be using a 60Lpack plus a mat plus an axe and my sleeping bag and a tarp... i'm thinking of wearing a 30L bag on my front plus maybe carrying my shovel and my m305 till we reach the site, it's only 1km from the car so its not too much of a distance or effort and theres trails all over the area im mostly concerned about tips and tricks to not freeze my ass off

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rate my tarp setup

>>905216
Boil water, bottle it, and throw it in your sleeping bag before bed. They should keep pretty warm for about six hours. Like others have said, just layer up and be smart about managing them.

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i like wintercamping and do it at least two times a month during the cold period, but damn -20°C is really cold. i had many nights with temps around -10°C but without the right gear and a nice campfire when possible i would have frozen my ass off.

take the warmest gear you have and since you camp near your car pack an extra blanket, thick wool socks, and a good balaclava for sleeping. While sleeping try to have a good insulation between you and the ground, a thin summer-mat will not be enough.
i dont know how experienced you are. if you take the right gear with you it will be manageable with basic skills. But i really recommand you to try it out in your local forest before with milder temps.

>>905361

also i forgot to mention that making a fire in the middle of the winter is quite different from doing it in summer. Just keep that in mind and watch a youtube video about it.
And the last thing that comes to my mind is waterproof pants....wet clothing is going to ruin your day.

>>904704
The important things are having a warm enough sleeping bag, and enough insulation to sleep on.

Stack insulation under you (foam/air pads) until you have at least R-8.

Take a good quality sleeping bag. Thick socks, fleece pants, fleece top, warm hat.

I have camped in the Canadian Rockies in winter plenty of times in temps down to -30C. Ask me anything.

>>905225
>pls kill me
>im in terrible pain

>>905361
Coldest I ever camped was -19°C. Honestly, it wasn't even enjoyable for the most part, even though I stayed relatively warm and even though I generally like winter camping. On the inside of the tent the condensation from breathing frozen fucking solid and was flaking off in the morning.

Insulation between you and the ground is huge. A cold surface can fucking zap the heat right out of you faster than anything else.

But yeah, winter camping is really peaceful in general. Everything feels very calm and still.

>>905365
Oh god, definitely waterproof pants!

>>905225
> sail / 10

>>904704
you're gonna die.

what you need to do is figure the rating on your sleeping bag, get a sleeping pad or two to get off the ground, and i'd suggest bringing an accelerant to get the fire going.

If you're sleeping bag is shit bring two, bring a duvet or quilt or blanket, bring fucking anything because -20 is COLD motherfucker.

I've done -7/-10 and it was definitely more challenging than regular camping.

>>905537
mr heater buddy and a co detector. You'll be sweating if not vented.

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i have a really good sleeping bag thats supposd to be good to -30c that i got at mec fucking ages ago, i also have an old beat up one i might bring and just double up and lastly im planning on putting a blanket around the outside of the sleeping bag,ive heard if you put a blanket inside of a sleeping bag it wont work the way it's supposed to because it wont have enough of an air cushion to keep the air warm....the last time i was up there i ran into this issue it was cold as fuck until i put my quilt around the outside of my bag, im planning on doing that and wrapping up in a tarp....its going to be such a bitch if i have to piss in the night....also fire will be easy the whole area is dry as fuck deadfall and theres birch trees fucking everywhere, last time i put 2 birch logs on the fire and they were still smouldering when i woke up....an accelerant is a great idea though....i think i might use rubbing alcohol instead of diesel because im going to be cooking over the fire.....
i do only have a summer pad to sleep on but i was thinking of elevating myself on some pine boughs

pic not related it's the hoodoos out by drumheller not the area i went to in pic 1

hot water bottle is a great idea and i think that'll make a huge difference...thanks

any other tips on keeping warm or things to bring/things i can't live without??

i'm cold just by looking at this thread.

What's the coldest you've dealt with before OP?

Don't even consider doing it if it wasn't at the very least -5°C

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/14-day-weather-trend/alberta/edmonton

Dude, you missed your window. It was unseasonably warm here but that ended this afternoon. Winter is here man. Winter is here.

>>904704
Asked the guy in the park if he sleeps out all year, and he said yes (Edmontonbro, here). I asked him what his setup was, and he said no matter how cold it got, he would have two sets of clothes, sleeping bag in a sleeping bag, and a big piece of poly and a tarp to wrap it all in. It can get to the low minus twenties with regularity, and he has been around, camping, for years. I asked why he doesn't sleep in the shelters and he told me he was descended from European royalty, and his family began the Salvation Army, so it would be a conflict of interest to stay there. Interesting fellow.

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>>906906
Hahah he sounds like a legend

>>905400
Where to buy the fleece uniform?

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>>904704
Get wrecked, son, never gone winter camping and this weekend is going to be -20C.

Fire is priority numero uno. Even if its snowing on you and this wind isn't too bad, you'll be fine with just a fire and no shelter. It won't be fun but you won't die. Get lots of firewood so you can have a relatively large fire going all night. Most people over emphasize the need to have a roof over your head. A lean-to or whatever you make that simply stops the wind without providing much overhead shelter is fine. It really doesn't matter if it snows on you as long as you're covered up as you should be. So.. just stop the wind.

Don't do anything that doesn't let you keep one side completely open so you can expose yourself to the heat of the fire. The warmth from the fire is way way way more important than any insulation you get from a shelter that completely covers you up. So no full A-frames. There are some shelters that have the roof slanting downward, trapping warm air, those are fine but take forever to build. Keep it simple.

When its really cold like this its better to actually stay up during most of the night doing work and sleep during the warmer daytime if possible. Sometimes its just too dark.

Because its pretty cold out, you might have to get up in the middle of the night and start moving around a bit to get warmed up. Sometimes you have to do this several times if your shelter sucks or its just cold.

As for the fire with a backstop, don't bother. Its not worth the time and effort. Just build the kind of thing in the pic. It will shoot heat out from the sides because of the log on top. This way you can have your friend on the other side with his own shelter. Even if its only for one person its more efficient to do this and this long fire will only need replenishing once or maybe twice during the night.

Ok that was fun seeya

>>907115
Oh no wait thats the wrong picture. I didn't look at it carefully enough. I can't seem to find a picture of what I'm talking about but its just a triangle of logs. You havre two on the bottom parallel but not touching and one on the top.

Also one more thing, make yourself a nice thick bed of pine or spruce boughs. If you have time, make it more comfy by choosing only the small, fine branches and have them all going the same direction more or less.

>>906290
Ah, finally! Real 'berta temps!

>>905361
Being from Manitoba, I find it cute that you think -20 is cold

so we definitely missed our window,i'm not sure if we're still going to go, i know that /k/ is planning an Alberta meetup on the 30th but i'm not sure if any of them are camping out but it might be worth trying....

>>907650

It's true, Manitoba is a froze shit hole.

>>907701
Don't be a bitch

>>908123
ok hold my beer

>>908268
Atta boy

>>904704
I slept innavan over the winter, often in temperatures just below -20°F with a sleeping bag rated to +30°F nested inside of an extra large one rated to -10°F and was super toasty warm without running heat or anything. Keep your face covered so you breathe in warm, moist air--learned that trick after I woke up in a puddle of blood bigger than my pillow. How would you be keeping warm in your hatchback?

>>904704
Best tip you'll ever get: spend a night or two in your back yard before you commit to sleeping a km away from your vehicle.

>Always test the limits of your gear before relying on it to save your life.

Also, if you were planning on letting anything cotton touch your skin, just stay home because your not ready for this yet.

>>911953
I....

Nah, this is the best advice possible, carry on

>>912027
Thanks! This is the best (you) I've ever gotten.

It really means a lot to me.
>is there a sincerity emoticon?

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>>904704
What you really want to do is separate yourself from the ground, even if you have a summer tent, you should be fine

Find logs and cedar to make a makeshift bed
You'll need a few logs, enough for your buddy and you. Fuck loads of cedar or any soft, cushion like material.I've used just springy sticks as a bed, not that comfy but it works. The more, the comfier.
Lay the logs out in a way that covers most ground, remember. You want as much separation from you and the ground as possible.
Now that you have your logs down, lay the cedar or soft/springy material on the logs, you'll want to layer them and put them down as close as possible, make them tight together, but not tight enough to remove the comfy factor.
Now that you have your bed made, lay down your sleeping bags and do whatever you see fit with them.

Time to make your shelter, make a shelter that takes advantage of how big your man made soft springy bed is, you want a low ceiling for max heat trappage. It may be hard to move around depending on how big you are so make the height of the ceiling tall enough to accommodate your size. You don't want a teepee more like a lean to. If you can cover your shelter on all sides that would be awesome, don't worry about airflow. I'll get to that in a sec.

So now that you have the skeleton of your shelter up, if you want to use a tarp for your roof you can do that, but i prefer the natural roofing. Good ol' cedar.
proceed by grabbing wads of cedar and putting it on top of your shelter, make sure to cover all holes so snow can't fall in when you're sleeping.

Once you've covered your shelter in cedar. Now for the fun part, deciding where the fire goes.
I like to make sure there is a hole in the corner of my shelter so the smoke can escape
I do that by driving two sticks all the way up past the the hole in the shelter, creating a frame to put any heat reflective mylar i have, or rocks, depending on what i have at my disposal.
I-I just really like cedar, okay?

>>912144
I want to go camping with you, cedarbro, cedar smells the greatest.

>>905850
Heat 3-4 stones until glowing red and place them in your tent on top of one another. It will keep you warm all night.

North of edmonton is incredibly vague. Not that it really matters temp wise, but where abouts exactly are you going?

>>914562
24th St and Lexingtonbourghshirevillington St.

Come at me!

we were going to go out to bruderhiem

theres also a k meetup at the end of the month somewhere in the province

>>914568

Edmontonian here. I assume you know that's a gay hangout.

Ya, you know that, don't you?

>>913975
good job

You can never go wrong with some space blankets