Re: Cold Weather Camping Part 3 - Food, Tips and tricks
Marc Godbout (mgodbout@REG.SERESC.K12.NH.US)
Fri, 8 Nov 1996 15:18:15 -0500
Winter Camping Part 3
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Food:
You need extra calories to keep your body warm, so leave your low-fat=20
diet at home. Make sure you have lots of carbos. Oatmeal for=20
breakfast and pasta for supper works well. Eggs and pancakes lose=20
heat quickly and IMHO taste pretty bad cold, but bacon can be eaten=20
cold. If you don=92t cook it too crispy then any leftovers (yeah right -=
=20
leftovers of bacon?) can be snacked on during the day.
Lunches could be pepperoni and cheese on crackers. Peanut butter on=20
Syrian bread.
Have plenty of snacks available. Granola bars, chocolate, and trail=20
mix are great. Apples and oranges will turn into rocks, no matter=20
what you keep them in.
I like melting butter in a pan and toasting bagels or english muffins in=20
the butter. There=92s a lot of energy there.
Have plenty of hot chocolate. This will be drunk any time someone is=20
in camp. If you=92ve got to have coffee, use decaf. Caffeine is a
diuretic=20
and you=92ll need all the water you can get.
Make sure everyone has plenty of water. Dehydration leads to=20
hypothermia. But leave your filters at home. They are pretty much=20
useless when frozen and you could crack the filter element. Melt=20
snow or boil water when you need to refill the bottles.
Cooking meat doesn=92t seem to work very well. It=92s hard to keep a big=
=20
frying pan hot enough to effectively brown any hamburger. If you=92ve=20
got to have meat in the spaghetti sauce, bring pepperoni and throw it=20
in the sauce when heating that up.
Instant soups will go like crazy. Use your insulated mug to eat this,=20
and you won=92t need the hot chocolate for this meal/snack.
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Other tips and tricks:
To keep boots from freezing up overnight, lie them on their sides=20
beneath your sleeping bag under your butt with the soles sticking out. =20
Put one on each side of you. There should be enough heat escaping=20
there to keep the frost out, plus the placement=20
will help keep you from rolling of your mat.
Keep gloves, socks, and any of tomorrow=92s clothes as will comfortably=20
fit inside the sleeping bag. Any other clothes, jacket, sweater,=20
whatever doesn=92t fit, should be put under the bag. It=92s much more=20
comfortable to dress in pre-heated clothes and the added insulation=20
doesn=92t hurt.
Keep at least one water bottle in the sleeping bag, if it will fit and
not=20
leak. If you can=92t, put it under your bag at the knees. All other wate=
r=20
bottles that don=92t fit under your knees could be put in some of your=20
extra wool socks. Also, heat the water up at night before you go to bed=20
and put the filled bottles in your sleeping bag as you fulfill your=20
nightly duties. Then when you get to bed, your bag will actually be=20
warm.
Don=92t forget the nightly duties. A full bladder requires more heat tha=
n=20
an empty one, plus getting up at 2:00 AM in sub-zero weather is=20
absolutely no fun.
Carry and store water bottles upside down. Ice forms on the top of=20
bodies of water first, so this helps keep ice from forming around the=20
mouth. If you=92re not carrying a water bottle, stick it in a spare sock
or=20
shove it in a snow bank, upside down, of course. Snow will insulate=20
better than nothing.
If you=92ve got a self-inflating mattress don=92t roll it up with the val=
ves=20
closed. A frozen mattress valve is real hard to open.
When standing around eating, cooking, or whatever, stand on your=20
mattress pad. When sitting, sit on your pad.
Keep active as much as possible. If you feel your feet freezing up,=20
start getting the shakes, or if you see anybody else showing initial=20
signs of hypothermia - go for a long, brisk walk/jog. Take the whole=20
troop with you, because they may be feeling the same way, but are too=20
=93cool=94 (there=92s that pun again) to show it. Keep going until the s=
igns=20
go away.
Go for a night hike or play an active game just before you crawl in the=20
bag. After you get in the bag, take a mouthful of water and eat=20
something fatty like cookies. This gets the furnace started and helps=20
keep it going throughout the night.
The standard 3-tub method of doing the dishes just doesn=92t work in the=20
extreme cold. Heat up some water and pour this in individual bowls to=20
melt the leftover bit and pieces of food. Soak your utensils in this. =20
Then use a paper towel or even a snowball to scrub. Any cloth dishrag=20
will freeze.
Bring extra everything. Stoves and lanterns will fail. Water bottles=20
will freeze and crack. Things, like boys just behave differently in the=20
cold.
Everyone on the trip should know the signs and treatment of=20
hypothermia!!!
No cotton!!!!
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
