Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Winter Camping and Backpacking Tips

by Geoff Iron
Rating:***


I somewhat enjoyed reading the article Winter Camping and Backpacking Tips. It was very informative and interesting, but it was also very, very long. I picked it because the PAD2O class will be going winter camping soon and I wanted to be well informed about how to prepare and how to act when we go on the trip.


This article was split up into 12 parts. Each section was around 10 to 15 paragraphs long with subsections, with more precise information. These relatively small pieces held information on everything. The sections were, in order: pre trip planning, cold weather clothing, the ten essentials (of winter camping), winter gear considerations, types of backcountry travel, route finding in winter, snow and avalanche safety gear, making camp in the snow, types of winter shelters (and how to make them), the winter kitchen, cold weather health concerns and sanitation in the snow. The article included many pictures and diagrams, demonstrating what to bring and how to bring it.


This article has informed me about every aspect of winter camping. I now feel very prepared to go with the class on our trip and I think that this article may even make me better prepared than my peers on the subject. It has really made me evaluate my clothing options, my menu options and, especially, the skills that I will need to build a shelter. Most of the information in this very long article is new to me, but one of the things that I found was the most amusing was that the article stated that you can make your own kitchen out of the snow. Though I have probably done this before when I was a kid, it surprises me that this would be on a list of things to do when winter camping. I think that this might be my favourite part of the trip. Another thing that this article has taught me is that working too hard and becoming too warm can actually lead to hypothermia, because when the sweat cools down, you become very cold. This has made me re evaluate my plans for clothing that I am going to bring on the trip.  I really learned a lot of information from this article that I could apply to my outdoor ed trip.

Irons, Geoff . "Screen Name Required." Winter Camping and Backpacking Tips. N.p., 7 Oct. 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. <http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/winter-camping.html>.

1 comment:

  1. Excellent review and smart pick. Glad you are now more prepared for our winter unit.

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