Forum Post: Keeping Warm for the Occupation!

Here are some rules to keep warm, comfortable and safe camping in the park in the winter that should allow you to keep the occupation going. You don't have to be cold - and if you are, you are doing it wrong! This comes from years of learning in the Wyoming winter - I did it, so can you - it ain't rocket science.

Most important rule: STAY DRY! Dry = warm.

Sleeping Warm Rule 1. Insulate yourself from both the ground and the air. Get several Closed Cell Foam Pads to sleep on. (Open cell is like the foam you find in furniture - the closed variety is more dense). Get a tarp to start with, put down your several foam pads (you can get these in an outdoor shop) then put your sleeping bag down on them. Better yet get a second sleeping bag and put the first one inside it. You can improve this with a tarp or plastic layer in between the bags. (Remember to dry your bags out during the day or they will remain wet and steal your heat). When you are inside your bag, wrap the tarp around your bags like a burrito. [This is a version of the NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School - Lander WY) Hypothermia Bureto Wrap. The deluxe version is to have extra sleeping bags above and below the one(s) you are in and then wrapped up - guaranteed to warm up those suffering from hypothermia. This routinely keeps people alive after hypothermia at -40F!

Wear DRY clothes to bed - not the ones you wore during the day - and that means down to the socks and underwear. Reserve an outfit for sleeping only, and dry it out during the day along with your sleeping bag(s).

Wear a sock hat in bed - your head loses more heat than any part of your body - get cold? Put your hat on.

Rule 2. Dressing warm. Insulation is trapped "dead" air - that means air trapped by fluffy or fuzzy materials (think the inside of a sleeping bag). Start with a base layer next to your skin of long underwear. This should be very thin and close fitting so it passes sweat to the outer layers. All the rest of the clothing layers need to be loose and floppy - that traps more dead air (remember what Eskimo's dress like). The next layer should be an insulation layer - something fluffy - maybe a loose thick long underwear. The third layer is a "convection layer" that keeps wind out. A closely woven "jogging" outfit (get these at Goodwill) works great. Follow this with another insulation layer followed by another convection layer etc. as needed. The outer layer needs to be wind proof, but not necessarily water proof. Completely water proof outer layers become wet from your body moisture and will wet the next inside layer wet - and wet kills you.

Wear a hat - my favorite is a wool or synthetic balaclava - a sock hat with a hole for your eyes, nose and mouth. Wear a scarf for your neck. Think of adding an outer hat of close woven material! Very Important - if you get too warm, and start to feel sweaty - remove you hat! Remove layers until you end up just warm. Never Sweat!

Your socks and gloves need to have a thin inner layer that passes moisture, followed by an insulation layer - fluffy wool socks and mittens. Your shoes and gloves cannot be tight which cuts down your circulation and makes you cold. The outer glove (not the insulation mitten) needs to be windproof. WEAR YOUR HAT!

Rule 3: Everyone is responsible for Everyone Else! This is Expedition Behavior! Watch out for symptoms of hypothermia (hard shivering and acting "drunk" (mumbles and stumbles). Also watch for whitish skin that 'dents' when you push on it - frost nip. You need a team ready to take care of these people. Frostnip cure - immerse in hot water (warm bath water temperature - it hurts but keep their part in it), and DO NOT LET IT RE-FREEZE! Hypothermia cure - get them into the NOLS Bureto ASAP and feed them hot sugary drinks. Don't drink Alcoholic beverages - they open up your veins and allow hot blood to go to your extremities (gives you that warm feeling) where it cools making you get colder. Never let anyone get so cold they QUIT SHIVERING! This means their bodies have given up the fight to keep warm and they are in REAL TROUBLE. Get them to hospital ASAP. Any body part that is so cold as to feel like wood also goes to hospital! This takes professionals to rewarm them safely. Never let your friends GET THAT FAR GONE- that is Expedition Behavior. Eat high calorie foods, fatty foods, lots of butter and sugar. Your body uses this to keep you warm. Keep hydrated at all times.

Yours is the most Important Expedition in America today. You need to keep everyone going at their best form to make this work. That requires that everyone watches for environmental problems. Keep Warm and Dry, and you can succeed. Don't let just the winter take the occupation away.