I went camping this past weekend with the Boy Scouts for the
annual Klondike Derby. This was a
perfect time to brush up on winter camping skills for all of us. My goal for this trip was to be comfortable
and sleep well, and bring an old backpacking stove out of retirement. The conditions we were expecting were lows in
the single digits and highs in the teens and low 20’s. There was about 2 feet
of snow on the ground with drifts up to 4 feet. We planned to camp one night and then the
scouts would compete in their race the next day. We arrived after dark and had a short hike in
to our camp site. This event was taking
place at a scout camp, so we were not out in the backcountry but we were on the
far side of camp. For this trip I packed
my tent and planned to sleep on the ground, something I avoid doing whenever
possible. I really like using my hammock
but was unsure of this site and whether I would have a good place to set up. Another item I packed this time was an older
Coleman liquid fuel stove that I have had hanging around. I thought with the cold temps it would be a
good chance to try it out.
We hiked to our site and set up camp. I used my snowshoes to hike in and packed the
snow down on the tent platform before setting up my tent.
For my sleep system, I brought my Marmot Limelight 2 tent that
I’ve had for a few years now and really like. It sets up easy and has plenty of room for me
and my gear. It may be a little heavy
for backpacking but for the trips I use it on it is fine. Usually I am only hiking low miles when I use
the tent. I brought two sleeping pads to
sleep on for insulation, a Coleman Max self inflating pad and my Therm-a-rest
Neoair Xlite. With both of these pads
under me I had no worries about being cold and it was pretty comfortable. I used my Kelty Cosmic down 40 sleeping bag
and my UGQ Flight Jacket 0* top quilt over the top and was very
warm. I didn’t get cold, and the
temps got down to 9* overnight. As I had
explained to all the scouts, I changed all my clothes before getting into my
sleeping bag. Fresh base layers and
socks worked great. It was a nice winter
night in the tent. The moon was just
about full and was very bright all night long.
For this part of the campout I had succeeded in being warm and
comfortable all night.
Now for the part that didn’t work so well. My Coleman stove. It is a Model 400 Peak 1 single burner that I
acquired years ago and never used. I
thought with the temps being as cold as they were that the canister stove or
the alcohol stove wouldn’t work as well.
The pump on the Coleman is definitely
on the weak side and I got it working so-so in the house before we went. I could make pressure and light the stove without
much trouble. I thought it would be
harder to do in the cold but was willing to give it a shot. No such luck!
It didn’t work at all in the field after a cold night. The pump just would not create any
pressure. I guess I’ll have to see about
a replacement pump for the stove. I
would like to use it sometime on a winter trip.
It is not as small as the new stoves out there but when lit it did a
great job boiling water and I was able to
adjust the flame down to a simmer. I think it
would be a good stove once I make it reliable again. Stay tuned.
 |
| Working well inside |
This campout went well.
I was able to stay comfortable down to single digit temps and get a
pretty good night sleep. I will continue
to refine my winter camping skills and try different set ups to see what works
and what doesn’t. I’ll keep tinkering
with that stove and see if I can get it working well. Everyone that went on this campout had fun
and learned something about winter camping.
