WinterCampers.com

See you next winter!

WinterCampers — Sat, 25 May 2013 14:44:48 +0000

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Solving the Snoring Problem

WinterCampers — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:41:09 +0000

There are six Winter Campers crammed into a lean-to for a multi-day winter camping trip. While Bob is a likeable guy, no one wants to sleep next to Bob, because he snores so loudly. They decide it isn’t fair to make one of them sleep next to him the whole time, so they vote to take turns.

The first guy sleeps with Bob and comes to breakfast the next morning with his hair a mess and his eyes all bloodshot. They say, “Man, what happened to you?” He says, “Bob snored loudly the whole night! I just sat up and watched him all night.”

The next night it is a different guy’s turn. In the morning, same thing – hair all standing up, eyes all bloodshot. They say, “Man, what happened to you? You look awful!” He says, “Man, that Bob shakes the roof with his snoring. I watched him all night.”

The third night is Fred’s turn. Fred is an experienced, older man. The next morning he comes to breakfast bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. “Good morning!” he says. They can’t believe it. They say, “Man, what happened?” Fred says, “Well, we got ready for bed. I went and tucked Bob into his sleeping bag, patted him on the butt, and kissed him good night. Bob sat up and watched me all night.”

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End of Winter Camping Season

WinterCampers — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:33:38 +0000

“There is an end to everything, to good things as well.” – Geoffrey Chaucer, 1374 a.k.a “All good things must come to an end”.

You might enjoy a spring camping trip; longer days, milder temperatures, with spotty snow cover, mostly this is a wrap for the winter camping season.

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Ötzi the Iceman and the Ten Essentials

WinterCampers — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:02:27 +0000

On September 19, 1991, in the mountains between Austria and Italy, hikers stumbled upon the corpse of a 5,300 year-old man eroding out of a glacier. Dubbed “Ötzi” this perfectly preserved iceman is the oldest human ever found. The Iceman stood about 5’5″ tall, and weighed about 134 lbs. He was in his mid-40s, and his strong leg muscles and overall fitness suggest that he may have spent his life herding sheep and goats in the mountains. His health was fair for the period–he had arthritis in his joints and he had whipworm – an internal parasite.

Ötzi carried tools, weapons, and containers including an animal skin quiver with arrow-shafts made of viburnum and hazel wood, sinews and spare points. A copper ax head with a yew haft and leather binding, a small flint knife and a pouch with a flint scraper and awl were all included in the artifacts found with him. He carried a yew bow. Otzi’s clothing included a belt, loincloth, and goat-skin leggings with suspenders, not unlike lederhosen. He wore a bear-skin cap, outer cape and coat made of woven grass. His shoes were waterproof and wide, seemingly designed for walking across the snow; they were constructed using bearskin for the soles, deer hide for the top panels, and a netting made of tree bark. Soft grass went around the foot and in the shoe and functioned like modern socks.

We wanted to compare what he was carrying with our list of Ten Essentials.

Map
Compass
Flashlight Or Headlamp
Extra Food	Ötzi carried some extra berries.
Extra Clothes	Ötzi wore a cloak made of woven grass and a coat, a belt, a pair of leggings, a loincloth and shoes, all made of leather of different skins
Sunglasses & Sun Screen
First Aid Kit	Ötzi carried two species of mushrooms with leather strings through them. One of these, the birch fungus, is known to have antibacterial properties and was likely used for medicinal purposes.
Pocket Knife Or Multi Purpose Tool	Ötzi carried a little flint-tipped dagger with a handle made of ash. The dagger had twin cutting edges. Ötzi would have carried it attached to his waist. It was found inside a finely braided scabbard. The dagger would have been used as a multipurpose tool, but often to skin animals, clean hides and cut meat.
Fire Starter And Matches	Ötzi had a type of tinder fungus included as part of a complex fire starting kit. The kit featured pieces of over a dozen different plants in addition to flint and pyrite for creating sparks.
Water And A Way To Purify It	Two birch bark baskets that could have carried water

Not bad for a 5,300 year old primitive camper.

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Sintering

WinterCampers — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:53:26 +0000

Before you pitch your tarp or tent for the night or before you build your quinzee, you want to let the snow firm up or sinter. Sintering of snow is when snow crystals lose their points due to molecular motion, wind, and direct pressure.

Initially, snow falls as individual flakes or snow crystals, but pointy crystals and sharp angles are not as thermodynamically stable as more rounded crystals.

In nature, crystals lose their points due to molecular motion, wind, and direct pressure. Physically breaking the snow crystals, for instance stomping on them or disturbing them with a shovel, will produce the same effect. The crystal arms are broken and then rounded grains fuse by freezing into larger crystals in a process called sintering. Snow crystals resulting from destructive metamorphism compact easily and can become very hard and dense.
Rounding and sintering stabilize the new snow and, along with gravity, cause it to settle. Thus, there is a net loss of height- which causes settlement.

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