OAUSA Net - 1/29/15 & 2/5/15 - Cold Weather Camping

[toms]

When it is cold out, cooking becomes more difficult and eating a full course before it gets cold is tough.
A one pot meal in a Dutch oven helps greatly. Everything is hot and done at the same time and the second helpings say warm for a long time in the pot.
In addition, the cook at spend most of the time standing around the fire staying warm on the pretext of "tending" to the Dutch oven.

The night this meal was prepared it was cold enough for a short burst of the tent heater before going to bed.

Pork Chops & Potatoes in a cream sauce

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[toms]

This is my cold weather tent for base camping. It is a bit too involved to move it every day. I bought this one January in Canada directly from the factory outside salesman. He claimed he designed it in collaboration with one of his client - a mining company in northern Canada.

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It is all canvas. It has a bath tub polly floor to fight melted snow water. I still set it up on an additional ground cloth under the tent for added protection. The Fly over the top keeps snow away from the heat coming out of the tent and will shed a heavy snow in the winter. I have waken up in the morning with several inches of snow on it.
One of the most amazing features is the snow tent liner (not shown in the picture). It came with a complete additional tent that hangs inside the main tent and creates about a 6 inch air space. There is no floor on the snow liner but it has extra wide sod cloth at the bottom to seal the wind out. As soon as the liner is in place, you notice the lack of wind going thru the tent.

For winter camping, this makes a nice 2 person tent which increases the comfort level. With all the bulky clothing and other gear it is nice to have a slightly larger tent.
Also there is room down the middle to place a box (camp box, Dutch oven box, food box, etc. ) on which you can place the tent heater giving it a much more stable base.
As everyone before has said - I do not sleep with a heater on due to the risk. I prefer to rely on a warm bag.

I have tied extra short loops on all the stake loops. For winter camping I use those loops so I can untie it if the stake is frozen into the ground. If need be I leave the stake not the tent and I don't have to cut the sewn in stake loop. But since I use metal stakes, a propane torch soon has the stake free.

Tie extra loop for tent peg

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The one down side to this tent is that it does not provide a vestibule for guns and coats you want to keep cold or any bare ground where you can cook in sever weather.

[toms]

When ever I go winter camping and anticipate snow I throw in this small coal shovel in addition to my normal shovels. But it make a great snow shove too because of the scoop shape. Of course it is useful if your vehicle becomes stuck in snow. In addition, you can use it to pack down (or remove) the snow for your tent and to bank snow around your tent to create a wind brake.

[Wildland909]

Date night... Looks like i'm gonna miss a good net tonight. Can i have a courtesy check in please

KN6FPT

[Rhodes]

“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad equipment.”

Here’s a great article about the ideal cold weather clothing system from the Mountain Rescue Association:
http://mtrescueassoc.blogspot.com/2011/ ... alvin.html

An article from the State of Alaska regarding Cold Injuries:
http://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Emergency/Do ... 202014.pdf

And if you get into a bad situation and need to call for help, all MRA accredited teams and most other search & rescue teams firmly believe in NOT charging for rescue. We don’t want someone to delay a call for help for fear of being charged, which ultimately makes a bad situation worse for both the rescued and the rescuer.

http://www.mra.org/about-mra/mra-faq-s/ ... and-rescue

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[NotAMog]

Does anyone have experience with Propex heaters? I'm thinking of getting an HS2211 to mount in the back of the Pinzgauer. I like the fact that its forced air with separate combustion air intake and exhaust ports making it much safer than catalytic heaters. With some ducting to cab it should provide some much needed heat as well while driving. The exhaust heat exchanger, like on old VW, only provides enough heat to keep the edge off a little and is totally worthless when going down hill.

http://www.propexheatsource.co.uk/heate ... air-heater

[toms]

Thanks to KG6WFV
http://www.oldcolemanparts.com/home.php

[KK6ATH]

Hey Folks: Here is the link for the Consumer Products Safety Commission 2003 CO EMISSIONS FROM A PORTABLE PROPANE
CATALYTIC HEATER report

https://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/103972/CO03.pdf

[hmfigueroa]

I use a little buddy heater as a pre heat before sleep and a morning warmup. The little buddy uses a pilot light that usually provides enough residual heat to maintain comfort. If you do get uncomfortable you can reheat the tent with a few minutes burn the shut down to pilot to retain heat.

I always keep a window open to maintain airflow. I have also used a CO monitor in testing http://www.sportys.com/pilotShop/product/13074 that shows the safety. Remember to keep checking periodically any damage to the burner may produce more CO.

[DaveK]

Rhodes

Nice ice cave. We will be doing a second half of this net. Are you interested in giving us some info on the cave?