Query by yeah: How can a single preserve warm when camping in a park in which campfires are prohibited?
I’m attempting to plan a back country camping trip for myself… but the spot most accessible to me doesn’t allow campfires. How do you hold warm at night when you can’t light a fire?
Greatest answer:
Answer by jellybeanchick
With a tent, an appropriately rated sleeping bag, a sleeping pad, and proper sleeping clothing, which includes hat and socks.
Know far better? Leave your personal answer in the comments!
Query by Brock: Where can I get rid of the green Coleman camping propane cylinders with no obtaining to throw them in the trash?
I have over 10 camping cylinders for our propane camping stove. Is there a place I can have them recycled or refilled?
Very best answer:
Answer by Larry m
nope they won’t even take them for metal in ny
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8 Responses to “How can a single maintain warm when camping in a park in which campfires are prohibited?”
To add to jellybean’s list ; Eating a carb -heavy meal before you go to sleep helps keep you warmer as does eating high energy midnight snacks .
I would guess that most of the people who answer camping and climbing questions on YA don’t use fires for keeping themselves warm nor do they use fires for cooking.
More and more backwoods locations are prohibiting fires. Proper clothing and gear are your most important sources of keeping warm.
Gear: When choosing a sleeping bag, plan to purchase one that has a temperature rating about 10 degrees colder than your expected low night-time temperature. A down sleeping bag is warmer than synthetic but useless if wet. Protect your sleeping bag well. If you tend to sleep warm, you can probably get by with a lightweight closed-cell foam pad below your bag. If you tend to be very cold, plan on a thicker air/foam combo pad. A full coverage tent will be warmest. If you usually hike with a buddy, GREAT! Two people in the same tent increases the warmth considerably. If you hike alone (or don’t want to share a tent) don’t carry a two-man, carry the smallest tent that you find comfortable. The smaller the tent, the more your exhaled breath will help to warm it.
Clothing: Layering is key. Plan on a separate set of either silk or polypropylene long underwear and wool socks to sleep in. Keep them in the foot of your sleeping bag. Don’t try to skimp and sleep in the long underwear that you hiked in. Moisture from your body will cool after you stop hiking and will make you cold at night. Additionally, the soil from the clothes that you hiked in will wear your sleeping bag more quickly. If you tend to sleep cold, I highly recommend a fleece hat and mittens to sleep in at night.
Here’s another trick. Use a Nalgene water bottle (or two) during your hiking. At night, boil water and fill your Nalgene bottles. Put one bottle at the foot of your sleeping bag and put the other near the small of your back. Great warming trick.
Ditto the previous comment about a high carb dinner (be sure to include a protein source as protein burns more slowly than carbs) and a high calorie snack. If caffeine is not a problem, a warm cup of coffee and a chocolate bar helps to keep you warm. If caffeine keeps you awake, choose decaf products.
And, putting this as delicately as possible, when nature calls, answer rather than trying to hold it all night. Your body will waste precious heat (directing it away from your extremities) to keep your fluids–yes, even the fluids in your bladder–warm.
For more information about backpacking clothing, sleeping bags, food and more, see the website below.
I haven’t had to light a campfire for warmth since the late ’90s. Even if you do, are you going to sleep next to it all night?
Follow others’ advice and get a good sleeping bag.
Just to add a little more detail to the previous great answers…
Layer your clothing. Start with a thin tight layer that will wick away body moisture to prevent chills. Then an insulating layer to trap the heat against your skin and then a weather proof layer to block wind, rain, dampness etc.
Wear a hat. the majority of your body heat is loss through your dome, so listen to your ma and cover it up.
Wear good socks, I prefer at least 60% merino wool. It`ll keep your feet warm and dry bc it wicks away moisture and it`ll keep you warm even if your feet get wet. Remember Cotton Kills…because it doesn’t dry quickly and it wont keep you warm when wet. Don’t wear too many socks or too thick of a sock because you`ll cut circulation off to your feet, even a tiny loss of circulation can cause your feet to feel like ice you need that warm blood to reach your feet. Also, too many sock or too thick of a sock counteracts your boot insulation it compresses it so there is no place to trap the warm air in your boot.
Wear gloves. I prefer the 1/2 finger wool gloves because you can still work with your gear but it also keeps you warm. If your palm is kept warm your fingers shouldn’t get cold.
Go to the bathroom, especially before bed. A full bladder can rob you of your body heat because it acts like a heat sink.
Get off the ground, sleep on a ground pad. Just like your bladder the ground acts as a heat sink and robs you of your precious body heat.
Pre-heat your sleeping bag. Boil some water and throw it in a Nalgene or any other secure water bottle and put in your sleeping bag before you get in it. This way you are not using your own body heat to warm up the bag. If the bottle is still warm when its time for you to get in sleep with it, it wont get any colder than the temp inside the sleeping bag.
Buy and use some of those chemical hand-warmers/foot-warmers
Drink a lot of water.
You definitely want to stay hydrated by drinking liquids as often as possible, which prevents hypothermia. Drinking hot liquids, such as tea or cocoa, can help to warm up your core temperature, which will help keep you warm over all.
A wool blanket such as like used by our armed forces folded in half inside your sleeping bag does a great job of keeping you warmer. Sleep between the layers.
Make sure you have a sleeping pad that keeps you insulated from the cold ground. I like to use a 3/4 pad plus a sitting pad. That way I can use the sitting pad to sit on outside the tent or, on a really cold night, double it up under the “core” area of my body.
If your tent isn’t too drafty, then you might be amazed at how much warmer it gets inside after you burn a candle lantern for 20 minutes. I suggest you get the spring loaded no drip type candle lantern, not the “tea light holder” type. The latter will splash hot wax all over you and your gear very easily. That can happen with the spring loaded lanterns too, but it’s not as likely.
A small stove for making hot drinks is essential.
buy a refill adaptor from harbor freight.com
refill them from a 20lb bbq tank , saves you money and you don,t have to toss them
you can also get an adaptor to run the stove off a 20lb tank