What's the coldest you've ever camped ou t?

“After this weekend at Savage Gulf everyone there hit a new low in camping in the cold. I used a 0 degree down Campmor bag and a Gore-tex bivy sack and was fine.

What's your all time low?”

“10 degrees. Used an EMS 0 degree bag and an LL Bean 2 person tent, set up inside a shelter. Very comfy.”

“-13, used a -15 TNF down bag on a Theramarest with a VE 24 tent. We didn't make a fire and just hung out with warm clothes on.”

“13, with a TNF 25* bag, zipped to Birch's and a dog inside too, under a tarp. I was warm.”

“13 degrees as well, but I was borrowing a bag that was crap, and I was cold all night. i finally wised up and got a good bag. :)”

“-25F in a -30 synthetic bag, Camprest pad.”

“5 degrees in a o degree polarguard and closed cell foam pad.My coleman feather 442 failed me the only time ever, on that trip.”

“5-10 degrees. 15 degree bag. 3/4 thermarest with a closed cell foam. Hat.”

“The one thing I wish my bag had is baffles.

WHen you shift position and it gaps open, the cold air just rushes in.

My buddy has a TNF 10 degree bag with baffles.

he never lets me use it though.. . ..”

“-20 on Shasta and in Lassen a couple times, used a good -20 bag and wasn't too uncomfortable.

Coldest was at 29 deg in a bivy bag with just my hiking clothes...didn't sleep much that night.”

“Nice going Walkindude! Mine is 10 degrees, but I'm aiming to get it lower.

Bring on the NEGATIVES!!!”

“About 10°F. with very strong winds. It was in GSMNP up on Mt. LeConte (~6,440 feet elevation) on a Christmas Eve/Christmas morning.”

“My coldest time was in the Adirondacks, my friend wouldn't hike any farther and we camped on top of a mountain. The wind was brutal. I strung a tarp to shield the tent but it still blew out the candle right through the tent wall. I barely slept all night. My hat froze 'cause we had walked in a drizzle the previous afternoon. My friend on the other hand said she was warm!”

“My thermometer stopped at 6. That's pretty much as low as it could read, so I think it was colder. So do the guys who were camping nearby that night.”

“I think it may have dipped into the 40's on me one time. I had to zip the 20 degree bag up a bit on that night.

My better half chuckles at me when I rush out to the backyard on 30 degree nights to test the sleeping bag.

I felt a little chilly in the 50's in Ocala last November because I didn't use a tarp or tent and dew had settled on my bag before bedtime so the damp bag didn't retain the heat as well as usual. Anoher little lesson learned.”

“-2 It was in Ohio about 5 years back. used a 20 wallmart bag three person tent with 4 people packed tight togather.”

“5 above, 0 degree bag worked like it was supposed to, I was like toast”

“This past weekend it was either 0 or 2 degrees depending on whose thermometer you wanted to believe (I am going with the 0 degrees :) ). I used a borrored 5 degree bag that I kept unzipped since I can't stand to be confined in a mummy bag, but I did have a heavy USMC wool blanket over the top of the bag.

I was surprised that I never felt very cold. The mantra about Layer, Layer, Layer is definetly true. The toughest thing about cold weather camping is keeping your water bottles from freezing during the day.”

“10 degrees at North Lake in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon. I had what was at the time a fifteen year old sleeping bag from Sears. It worked great except my shoulders and head didn't fit inside the bag anymore. I wrapped my fleece jacket around the head and shoulders and was fine until I moved again and let in the air. It seems I had to pee about a dozen times that night.”

“10 degrees San Gorgonio / Vivian Creek trail to Halfway camp. Backpacked in during a snow storm. My bag was 15 degree with a cacoon liner which adds 8 degrees to the bag rating. I slept fine. And it was awesome to wake up the next morning to a clear blanket of sparkling snow. Without a single track.”

“-20 degrees at Marcy Dam. Needless to say, we didn't peak out, but we did manage to stay alive and have a pretty decent time. Learned alot of winter tricks on that tour of duty.”

“A reported 8 degrees at the BLM overflow camp ground near Grand Gulch. Not a whole lot of fun, but I managed to stay marginally comfortable. Everyone else had some antifreeze action going, they weren't feeling anything.”

“man, every night when i go to sleep in my room it's about -20 degrees.

seriously, i camped out on lake of the woods, zippel bay - at -23 degrees, under the stars in an overbag and ridgerest. we cheated around 7:00 and played cribbage in the van for an hour or so before going to bed.”

“-10 -25.

Very cold I don't think I would do it again!

8)”

“about 12 above in a 20 degree cats meow and two pair of llong undies in gooch mountain shelter on the AT.”

“9 degrees on last year's FYAO2 trip in the Adirondacks. Someone was saying it hit -33 at Saranac Lake in the Daks this past weekend. That would have hurt!”

“We were pretty lucky with our -6 this weekend. The wind was not blowing. That wind chill can be pretty brutal sometimes.”

“I camped once just outside the Smokys and the Wind chill was said to have been -3. That seemed colder that the actual -6 from this weekend.”

“The wind makes a big difference when it gets really cold. You have to stop the wind with totally windproof clothing in extremes with wind. If the wind penetrates your clothing and blows away the warm layer of air you'll never stay warm, exposed flesh can freeze quickly too. The worst thing is getting wet from sweat when it's below zero. Things don't dry quickly if at all in those temps unless they are right next to your skin.”

“Yeah, I'm a big believer in good wind gear!
I also avoid sweating in real cold temps. I'd rather shed enough layers to stay a little cool than rish getting hot and sweating. That is dangerous.”

“-25* in a 10* sleeping bag + clothing. Gotta love that sleeping bag. Colder sleeping in the shelters than the tent.”

“Didn't Cowpatty's friend show up a Red River Gorge with no sleeping gear? I don't care if it's 55* that's still cold.”

“Nope, that person wasn't with me. My cousin was with me and definitely had her sleeping bag!”

“Your thinking of the woman "Space Blanket" that was with JMGardner. Lucky for her Spam had an extra bag in his truck.”

“I snowshoed for 3 days at -20 & slept in a -35 degree synthetic bag. Used a 4"x6" chem heat pack on the 3rd night as I have a bad habit of tucking my face into my mummy bag & blowing a lot of moisture into the insulation. The heat pack was toasty but they lock up if you get them wet. First time in my life that I ever had trouble starting a fire (in ANY kind of weather)as everything was ice encrusted. I'll always carry a piece of fire starter now, but rarely light one up. I don't really enjoy camping/hiking in that kind of cold anymore. Don't like camping on the peaks because of the wind. Probably anything from 20 to 70 I enjoy. I've gone in all weather & it was nice to have the places to myself in bad weather but views are few.”

“I do remember a trip with Troll when we camped in 2 below. Had a ridgerest and my 0 degree lite loft bag from EMS. I had it buckled up good and tight, inside a two person tent, once again set up in the shelter.

We remember the night, we got up at 2 AM and there was no wind, clear sky, absolutely awesome. But we got cold and tired and went back to sleep.”

“In a Poncho Hooch...Little place called Camp Dawson, A Delta Force exercise in a portion of it called "Refrigerator Canyon"...we were cross country skiing and practicing Hostage Rescue...ever tunnel under the snow for thirty yards to get within ear shot of a guards conversations? I got there and back, winter overwhites froze solid and I had to be broken loose to move...what a trip!.....Tip fer shure fer shure...a couple of lighted candles inside a poncho hooch will raise the temperature to where you have to come out of most of your clothes...(Assuming you are wearing 6 layers of varying thicknesses of Poly Pro.

Yeehaw!”

“10 degrees, near Sennaca Lake, NY last Xmas. Car camping with three pads and two sleeping bags - plus Belle. Toasty!


BTW - Sennaca Lake was the coldest spot in America over the weekend...”

“Last summer, I camped in the Sierra and it got down to the low forty's. I was freezing!”

“This weekend I "camped out" in minus 25. It was about 90 degrees in the bunkhouse though!

LOL!”

“Around -30F, around 21,500msl at camp Independencia, Mt. Aconcagua, Argentina. Used a rented Marmot Cwm -40 dryloft down bag.”

“My first ever winter back/ski packig trip was over 20 years ago in the Beartooths. It got -20 that night. Used a new REI McKinley down bag and insolite pad inside an old REI Crestline a-frame tent. There wer 3 of and we were warm as toast. Don't think I've ever been out in quite that cold of weather since. Probably a good thing since I'm not any younger these day.

Wandering Jer”

“It was -5 over the holidays, but we were sleeping in the truck. It was 0 deg inside.

10 deg on a backpack. It was snowing in the parking lot when we started, we ate lunch and dinner while snow was coming down. It got down to 20 before going to bed, but in the morning it was 10 deg. I was nice and toasty in my tent. The view was awesome in the morning!”

“Coldest I planned for was in the
-40's in the Canadaian Rockies, and it got there. Two weeks, never got above 0. Worst unplanned, was a SAR on Shasta, mid -20's, wind and the team had been working hard all day and was sweaty. Chopper ran out of light. All night in a snow cave.”

“That had to suck!!!!

8(”

“Coldest I've been is negative single digits, but i was out in a bivy. Does that count for anything?”

“-30s in a snow cave. I loooooove snow caves! My fiance thinks Im nuts.”

“Maybe 20 degrees. Cold enough for me.”

“-14. I was in basic training and sleeping in a shelter half. We were doing marksmanship training and it was so cold our fingers were sticking to the rifles.”

“Five degrees.”