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Winter Camping and Bushcraft Loadout
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Feb 4, 2024
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0:00
Hey guys, Prepared Wanderer at home today and I wanted to walk you through my winter
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camping bag. I'm getting ready to go on a trip here in a couple weeks
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It's definitely going to be below freezing. We just got a fresh layer of about 5 or 6 inches of snow here in Ohio, so winter is here
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It's time to go through the camping bag and make sure that I have all the right supplies
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and why not take you guys along with me as I go through the bag and show you what I take
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and explain why I take it and hopefully that will help someone else who is just getting
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started because it can be a little daunting going winter camping if you're not prepared
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so stick around. So the backpack that I use is the Mystery Ranch Glacier
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This is a good sized backpack. I think this is around 60 to 70 liters if I remember correctly
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So it's definitely a good sized bag, holds a lot of gear and it holds enough for winter
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and you really need a good sized bag to do winter camping. Don't try to jam all your winter gear into a summer bag
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You're going to regret it and you're going to have stuff hanging off the sides of it. So if you can really go for 2 packs or at least a big pack that covers all your bases
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that's the way to go. Always buy a bigger pack than you think you need because you're going to fill it and especially
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with winter gear. So right off the bat on the outside of my pack I've got side pockets here and I carry
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these are my primary cutting tools. I carry a CRKT Woods Kogan
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This is their tomahawk. I've modified mine. I've added this paracord wrap that helps keep the head tight and also protects the pole
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when chopping and then I've added some sticky tape on the handle just to give me some grip
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And I like this particular model because when pounding tent stakes into the frozen ground
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it's nice to have this hammer feature. So I've used both ones with and without and I'm leaning more towards this now
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So you're going to need some kind of large cutting tool like a hatchet or an axe or a
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tomahawk because you want to get to the center of dry wood if you're going to be using a
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campfire and it gets harder and harder with just using a knife in the winter time
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You definitely want something that has some power behind it and some weight
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So this is what I use right now and it works pretty well
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I also carry a Silky Big Boy Saw. Of all the saws that I've reviewed and I've used, this one gets used the most
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You can tell it's dirty, it's been used, it cuts like a laser and when people see this
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thing in action in the field they're always amazed at how well it cuts and how quickly it cuts
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So it does a great job and it's a good size for winter camping
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You can get into some bigger stuff with this pretty easily. So that's always with me
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And on this side over here, stainless steel water bottle
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Stainless steel because if my water bottle freezes I can put this in the fire or on top
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of my stove and get this thing heated up and loosen up the water
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I can also boil in it. It's a single wall water bottle
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A lot of different ones on the market out there. This is the one that I'm using right now
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I've also got a clean canteen 40 ounce that I might use instead of this one but I've got
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stainless steel water bottles that I use for winter specifically. Down here, this is the One Tigris Iron Wall TP and I've done a setup video on this and
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I've only camped in it once in winter time. That was last winter. I haven't used it this winter yet and I'm going to use it for my next trip
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So definitely look for some videos coming up in the future of me using this
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This thing is awesome for cutting the wind. It's easy to setup
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It's enough room for me and it has the bonus feature that I can add a stove to it if I
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want to. So that's something I'm starting to experiment with and hopefully it's something that I put
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into rotation here full time. Now, one thing to note when I'm talking about winter camping and with this bag, I'm not
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backpacking miles and miles in to a campsite. I'm usually probably hiking in less than a mile to a campsite so I have my truck to rely upon
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That's where a lot of times I keep extra water, extra food, extra layers if I need them
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That's kind of my backup. I know a lot of guys hike a lot farther and backpack a lot farther so their considerations
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for their gear is going to be a lot different than mine. Keep that in mind when you're looking at this because this is not an all-inclusive bag that
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will cover every scenario. It covers my scenario and how I camp
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And right now I'm working camping in base camps that are close to vehicles that are
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easy to access by a quick hike. But you still have to have everything in a backpack and you still have to be mobile
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You can't be carrying arm loads of gear around with you. So hopefully maybe later this winter when there's still some more snow I can do a little
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pull a sled behind me too and that way I can take even more gear
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But I think the basics are pretty covered in this setup right now
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Now additional cutting tools is something that I carry with me and on me is my neck knife
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And this is probably the most useful piece of gear that I've found for winter camping
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is a neck knife because you're all layered up. It's hard to get to your belt so your belt knife is not going to be accessible
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But a neck knife you can get to it very easily. And this Mora Eldris has really performed very well
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I love this thing. My last camping video I talked about it a little bit
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It just performs all the tasks that I need in camp and is very easy to get to
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So it doesn't cost a lot of money and it's very sharp
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Works really well. And I would definitely suggest considering getting a Mora Eldris or some kind of similar
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neck knife and carrying that on your person when winter camping. Makes your life so much easier because you're not trying to get into your pockets and get
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a knife off your belt. Now with that said I do carry a bigger knife or I take a bigger knife with me
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I should say I don't really carry it. I bring my SE6
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You need a bigger knife for cutting into wood and doing wood processing and I like
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to have it. It's just one of those things that I can't go in the field without a larger knife
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So having a good sized knife like this paired with a neck knife, a small neck knife, covers
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all my bases for me pretty well for gear. I keep that right here in the side pocket
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Pretty easy to get to. Right there. So top pocket up here
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This is kind of my personal items. So I've got a set of eyeglasses
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I've got toilet paper. I've got my hygiene kit which has different things in that
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I've got contacts that I wear so I have to have contact solution and a case and a few
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other personal items and there's some toothpaste and some headache medicine and things like that
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Just small necessities. So I keep that up front so I can get to it fairly easily
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There's another pocket back here in the top lid. This is kind of miscellaneous items that you're going to need throughout the day
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So I bring some hand warmers in case my hands get cold
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I can throw those in my gloves. I can throw those in the bottom of my sleeping bag
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Definitely a bonus item to have. I have a way of hanging my backpack off of a tree so it's not sitting in the snow on
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the ground. So that's just some webbing and a carabiner. A good size hunk of 550 cord for tasks around camp
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You don't know what you're going to be doing so this is helpful
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Of course a really good headlamp. Just got this one in. Haven't had much chance to use it yet
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This is from ThruNite. Really a cool headlamp and I'll be doing a review on this shortly
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But you definitely want a good headlamp and this is a decent one
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Something that's not cheap and going to crap out on you when you're out in the field
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A carious small fire making kit. In here are the essentials for making a fire
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So of course a ferro rod. Real helpful. Some fire fuzz from Black and White Firestarter
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So those are just kind of an impregnated cotton swab or cotton ball of some sort
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Because when you're trying to get a fire going in the winter time sometimes you need a little
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extra help and you want to get the fire going right away. You don't want to be messing with it and freezing your butt off
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So having some kind of fire starters along with your kit is definitely a good backup
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to have. And then probably one of the most invaluable pieces of fire making equipment that I have
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and is used a lot on camping trips is a fire bellows
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You can easily blow hot coals into flame when you're putting wood on
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This has saved my bacon many times and it's used a lot
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So I would definitely consider getting one of these and throwing it in your kit
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It will make your life so much easier having a fire bellows
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Really a great piece of kit. And then a couple more fire starters
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These are from Black and White Fire Starter as well. This is their brand
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Branded fire starter. This is a cake that has sawdust and it's been impregnated with I think some wax and some
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other accelerants. So I can break that up and get a fire going pretty quickly
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So I carry a couple of those with me just in case
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That covers all the small items that I carry. Now we'll get into the bag
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Definitely want extra room in your bag so you can add more stuff
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Sometimes it may be colder and you need to add some extra layers
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I don't carry a lot of extra layers with me. Most of everything I'm wearing is what I'm going to be using throughout the weekend of camping
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I may throw in an extra pair of socks to change into
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But other than that I don't carry extra pants or shirts or things like that because I just
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don't find it necessary. I don't sweat through my stuff that much and I can get dry pretty quickly by the campfire
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So as long as you're keeping good management of your clothing you'll be fine and you don't
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have to worry about changing layers all the time. That just takes up a lot of room in your bag
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So I don't carry a lot of extra layers. This is a Kefaru pull out and this is kind of my little mini kitchen bag
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It has some different things in it. I've got a nice spork that I carry
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I've got some hot sauce and some soy sauce and just some things that I can add to soups
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and things to give them flavor. Some more hot sauce, some salt and pepper
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And then I've got a drip coffee maker from Sea to Summit
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It goes over my mug and then I can put a filter in there and make some coffee
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Sometimes I like to bring real coffee with me other than the instant stuff
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So there's that. And then a folding bowl that I can put soup in and this is kind of an interesting item
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Instead of buying the more expensive folding bowls that you see at REI I go to Amazon and
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get the folding dog dishes. These are I think for like six or eight bucks I got a two pack of these and they're really
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big and sturdy and they're going to hold a lot of soup and they fold down flat and weigh
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hardly anything. So get a couple of those in your kit. Definitely a bonus item
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And then a butane lighter of course. Always got to have a butane lighter on you and a couple extras in your bag
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I always have two or three butane lighters with me on a trip
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Still in the cooking area I've got an insulated mug. This is from GSI
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I love this mug because it does a couple of things. It is insulated
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It is small. It doesn't take up a lot of room. It has a removable lid and a pour spout so I can get into it pretty easily
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But if you remove the cover it has markings on it. So up to two cups
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So I can actually make a dehydrated meal pretty easily and use this as a measuring cup
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So that's a handy item to have as a measuring cup especially with winter camping because
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you're probably going to be eating a lot of dehydrated or freeze dried meals and knowing
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a precise amount of water to add is helpful in getting a good mix
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So having a measuring cup is really helpful and this GSI cup does the trick
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Next is my cook kit. This changes and varies from trip to trip
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Sometimes I take different things with me but right now I've been using this pretty steadily and I really like it
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This is a titanium pot from Bush Buddy. Of course it's got handles but what I like about it is it has a bale
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That way if I want to cook over a fire I can hang this over a fire and it's just easier
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to work with with a bale. It also has a lid that has pour holes in it so you can drain your pasta or rice or whatever
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you're cooking. I always bring a rag of some sort to clean up with
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This is separate from a bandana that I would normally carry but it's good to have some
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kind of clean up rag to clean your pot with and that way it's dedicated to doing that chore
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I got this little tiny stove. I think this is off of Amazon
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It's a Chinese company. I think they're called BRS or BPS. I can't remember exactly
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I'll put a link down below in the Amazon store for it
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It's a really inexpensive little stove. It fits the fuel canisters perfectly and it's big enough to support my pot easily
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It's inexpensive. Like I said, I think it was under $17. So if you're looking for a nice little stove, this is definitely a good starter stove to
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go with. There's lots of stoves in the market. It's a very personal kind of thing when people pick out stoves
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You're looking for different features, different sizes, different weights. I wanted something inexpensive and small
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I wanted it to be very small so it doesn't take up a lot of room in my kit
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This has done very well by me. I haven't had any issues with it whatsoever
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Folds up really nicely. I believe it's titanium. Look how small that thing folds up
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It's just itty bitty. But it's great. Everything fits in that pot
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That way I don't have a lot of excess stuff running around in my bag
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So now the last thing to talk about for kitchen items is food
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Now I've done a video on camping food. So go back in the channel history and look for that because it's pretty detailed
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It goes into a lot of detail about different things that I take with me
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I like to pack my stuff in a clear plastic bag so I can see the contents very easily
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Most of the food items that I have I can get at the grocery store
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I eat things like ramen and chicken or tuna packets. Let's go through some of this stuff real quick so you guys get an idea of what's in here
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Idaho instant mashed potatoes are a nice hearty item. Add a little bit of meat to it like some chicken or some spam or something like that and you've got a decent meal
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Of course ramen is always a staple item. Quick and easy. Add stuff to it
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High in salt. You've got to take that into consideration with your health and how you like to eat
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You can also eliminate the salt packet. You don't have to put the flavoring packet on it
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You can add your own flavoring to it. The noodles will fill you up for sure and they cook very quickly
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Then of course I bring dehydrated meals. There's a lot of different brands out there
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I use a lot of Mountain House. This happens to be Coleman brand which I don't think they make anymore
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I just happen to have a stockpile of this in my food bag
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I've been working my way through these. It's pasta with a flavoring of some sort
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The Mountain House meals that you can get at Walmart and on Amazon are excellent
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A little pricey. $8-$9 a meal. They will fill you up. They cook really easily
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They're easy to work with. They have really great flavor. If you're looking for variety, that's the way to go
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I just try to have a variety of items. Here's some chicken gravy mix that I picked up
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I can add that to noodles and make a pretty hearty lunch
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These little individual Jif peanut butter packages are awesome. Spread those on a bagel or some crackers and you've got a really great snack
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Of course, Clif bars or other kinds of bars. I like Lara Bar
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I like Kind bars. Those are good as well. A lot of different ones out there
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It's all personal taste. Whatever you want to add in. The great thing is that nowadays there's so much stuff in the grocery stores out there
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You don't have to go to a camping store to buy all your food like you used to back in the old days
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You can go to the grocery store and stock up. Everything's been downsized and put into individual packaging
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Tuna, chicken, Spam, different types of Asian and Indian foods I've found in individual packets that you just have to heat up
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It's great. There's so much variety out there. Anything to fit your taste
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That's it for kitchen stuff. Really the last thing that we need to talk about is sleep system
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That's really important because this is the area that you don't want to cheap out on is your sleep system
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Being uncomfortable at night when the temperatures drop suck. It will ruin your trip
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It will make you go home early. You want to spend some good money on your sleeping bag
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And spend some good money on your pad. The pad is really important
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I highly recommend an insulated pad for winter camping. This is from Klimit
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This is the insulated Static V Recon. It's a four season sleeping pad
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I've been using this for the past couple of years now. It is very comfortable
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I can sleep on my side or my stomach or my back
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I don't have any issues whatsoever. It keeps me warm and gets me up off the ground
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It's not terribly big. It doesn't take up a lot of room in my pack
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Look at those. There's other brands out there. Klimit has some good prices on their sleeping pads
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Get the insulated model for winter camping. It's going to be a game changer for you
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Another thing is you want to make sure you're off the ground and dry
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Especially if you're camping in snow. You're going to need some kind of ground cloth
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What I use is this Tyvek construction material
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If you can have access to this stuff. I think you can probably get it at Home Depot or Lowe's
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I've had this for years. It folds up flat. It takes up very little room
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It's very durable. It's super lightweight. It keeps me dry. I like the white because it reflects really well underneath my tarp or inside my tent
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I can see contents of my tent better with this. Consider getting something like this as a ground cloth
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Last but not least is you need a good sleeping bag. My sleeping bag is a Big Agnes Encampment
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It's a 15 degree bag. I've had it down to zero. I'm fine in it
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I don't know if you need a zero or below zero bag
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It probably depends on how often you're going to be camping in those conditions
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It seems like for winter camping, for me, I'm more below freezing
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Anything 32 and below, down to zero, is about where I'm at
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I don't really go out when it's below zero that often. If I was to go below zero, I may add another bag or a wool blanket or something like that on top of this
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For the most part, this 15 degree bag has really served me very well
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It's an extra long, extra wide bag. I've got room in it to move around and I can wear layers
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Often, I will sleep in my wool pants or a wool shirt as an extra layer
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I know there's a lot of different philosophies on what you should be doing for winter camping
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Some guys strip down to their long underwear to sleep in. I have found that to be uncomfortable
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Not enough layering for me. I like to go in with extra layers
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If I get hot in the middle of the night, I just take those off as I go
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I can adjust, but I prefer to sleep with my clothes on
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That's just the way I do it. This 15 degree bag from Big Agnes has been phenomenal for me
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I've had this for years and it's been on a lot of camping trips. I use it all the time
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I would recommend a good waterproof storage bag for your sleeping bag
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That way, if your backpack does get wet with wet snow or rain or freezing rain, your sleeping bag is dry
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You want to make sure your sleeping bag is dry. That's just really important. It's going to take a while for that thing to dry out
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This OR HydraSeal bag is completely waterproof and protects my sleeping bag
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This is the most important piece of equipment that I have with me is my sleeping bag
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I want to protect it. That's what I use. Alright guys, that's it for today's video
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I hope you enjoyed it. As always, please like, subscribe, and share. Make sure you check out the Facebook group and Instagram
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Lots of extra content on those. Check out the Amazon link down below to my Amazon store
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Some of this gear will be in there. As always, thanks for watching
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We'll see you next time on the Prepared Wanderer. Thanks for watching
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