Wisconsin Winter Hang!

[jesse]

Here's what I used and what I'd change:

Tarp was from Smokehouse with doors on both ends. I only staked one set of doors closed, but in hindsight, I'd seal it up tight and pile snow against the sides to seal it.

In my hammock I had a 1" open cell foam pad covered with a 24" wide piece of reflectix. I'd add wings to the reflectix because my shoulders got chilled, and I'd go with closed cell instead of open cell foam.

I had a jacks-r-btr 3 season down quilt underneath it all.

On top I had a RAB 800 fill down summer weight bag that I split open to use as a comforter. I stuffed the foot box of the RAB into a 3 season jacks-r-btr down over quilt, but I don't think I ever got my feet into both footboxes and at the time it seemed like too much hassle to wrestle with both. In hindsight, I'd make sure I got my feet into both as they got pretty cold. Next time, I'd go with a Winter rated down quilt.

On my feet I had 1 pair of wool socks covered by a pair of Sierra Designs 550 fill down booties. I'd add more socks next time.

On my legs, I had a pair of wool long underwear bottoms, topped by a thin pair of wool military surplus wool pants. Over that I had a pair of down pants. My legs stayed very warm.

On top, I had a wool mock T underwear top, with a down jacket over that, topped by a 750 fill down vest from Eddie Bauer. Other than my shoulders, my torso was warm.

On my head I had a two layer wool balaclava, topped by a down hood that I got off an old jacket, with a coyote fur ruff. My head stayed very warm, but I had to pull the balaclava down over my chin or I began to feel like I was suffocating. COTW had the same problem, and we both believe it was caused by a build-up of too much CO2.

I also wore a pair of mittens. Your hands are great radiators, and you can lose a lot of heat through them.

I'd drink something warm before going to bed to stay properly hydrated, or your blood gets thick and your circulation suffers.

Thanks
good info there
hydration is a huge factor in staying warm

[FatDaddy]

Cry of the Wild spent the last three days hanging in my pines waiting for the Shug Show we did last night. In that time, he sat by the fire with my 11 year old son and talked to him about the woods, and firebuilding and life in general.
He has agreed to come back and teach my boy scouts some of his survival skills.

If you haven't had a chance to hang with this young man, make a point to do so. Great to see a young person with a passion for my hobby and tolerance to teaching.

Thank you Nick

[NickoftheWoods]

Just getting started here with my trip report. I'll post pictures later tonight. So I first left for the Nicolet Forest on Thursday the 12th. I was hiking out with a student from UW-Milwaukee who wanted to join me in the woods for a campout to make up for a winter camping class trip he missed. This is the guy who I ended up driving 100 miles back to his grandmother's house Friday afternoon. He said he threw his back out pulling his overloaded pulk and was ill prepared for this trip. One thing in particular that he packed which caused major issues for him were extra liquids. Both rbinhood and wisconsinwalter mentioned over packing but this man had more weight in water, soda, soup, chili, and whiskey than my entire sled by 4 pounds. He realized this after reaching the shelter and left all his food behind to share with the rest of us when he left. The first night out there we were caught in a snow storm with strong winds and cold temps. The hike out caused us and everyone else as far as I know to really break a sweat so it was a battle from the start to make sure cloths were dry. This was my first trip using my DIY pulk but I still packed everything into my backpack instead of the sled just to keep things dry. I also brought a 30 inch bow saw and hand maul for splitting wood. rbinhood brought a saw and even a full length axe out there. In the summer time, I use a 15 inch sven saw and my ka-bar for wood processing but in the winter time you must accommodate for frozen wood. The saw or axe even hatchet is a great tool for chopping or cutting logs from trees, but with frozen wood, it really helps to split the logs sometimes several times to allow them to dry quicker and burn hotter. The hand maul worked great for this unlike a wedge which requires a hammer, the maul is both. I hiked in 21 pounds of gear in my pack, and the firewood making tools and aluminum pot in the sled. The only time I had extra cloths was during the day and I wasn't wearing my extra layers, at night I had it all on.
1 layer wool top + bottom
1 layer poly top and bottom
1 layer fleece top and bottom
then pants sometimes a jacket.
1-2 layers wool socks depending on whether or not I was hiking or working heavy
and down booties from REI at night which I am still not sold on for $35.00 (they did not offer a significant difference in warmth in the extreme cold)
I used all my gear and the 2 gallon aluminum pot was a great thing to have out there, I could make enough water for the day at one time.
The temps were not the -20 I had originally hoped for but plenty cold enough to freeze cheese and learn that unless your zippers have the letters YKK on them, the items may not be up for cold weather use; at least 3 sleeping bag zippers broke off up there including zippers on a brand new 0 degree bag which was left behind at the shelter. I should also mention that I DO NOT have an under quilt, just can't afford one, nor did I have a 0 degree bag. I slept in a 15 degree Marmot Pinnacle and just had the ocf pad made for the HH super shelter maybe a half inch thick...maybe. I believe that it really comes down to how you layer what you wear and manage moisture from your body that keeps you warm. Your metabolism is the fire within that keeps you warm at night so it helps to eat something before bed. When metabolizing, your body moves blood to your core to digest food this also helps you retain heat. Your core temp can ave apox. 100 degrees and this is the heat that can keep you warm inside your sleeping bag at night. This also means that blood is not flowing to your extremities as much and you may get cold fingers and toes but good socks and mittens can help in this area. Also, your body produces waste while metabolizing and in the winter temperatures, your body does this quite a bit more than in the summer. You may notice you get the shivers more in the cold if you haven't eaten. This is also one reason why you may have to go to the bathroom more in the cold weather.

[NickoftheWoods]

..that was a long post. Overall, I think the 1st Annual Frozen Cheese Hang was a success. We all kept all of our fingers and toes and learned a thing or two. I have since finished my pulk with ball joint rod ends and fiberglass polls. After the Frozen Cheese hang I drove out to Wausau and spent 3 nights camping out by FatDaddy preparing myself for the Gift of the Woods Show featuring Shug! I met lots of fellow hangers and made some new friends. I have some videos from my week in the woods on my you tube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/CryOTheWild?feature=watch

runnin' off to work for the night, pictures coming soon

[wiscoman]

Great videos! I think I have the same sled set up as you. Is that a viking?

[NickoftheWoods]

Here's the upgraded DIY pulk. I would have had this done for the trip but ball joint ends weren't in yet.

[NickoftheWoods]

Photos from the Frozen Cheese Hang, my stay in Wausau at camp Fat Daddy, and Gift of the woods show with Shug. That was a long week...not long enough.

Hey look I even gave Shug a hand hauling his packs out to his car too . I couldn't believe how light they were. I have an arcteryx Bora 75 and the sucker weighs 7.5 lbs. empty!! Its great for hauling in the pulk or a canoe and it is waterproof but i'll be shopping around for a much lighter pack for my AT hike next year.

That there is the Ultralite Titanium stove made by rbinhood. Not sure the exact weight but very cool DIY project...I accidentally left my 2 gallon snow melter pot, mess kit, utensils, and breakfast foods at a friends house between Nicolet Forest and Wausau were I stopped to take a quick shower. With that said, the photo below with the noodles features my DIY chopsticks and a 14 inch DIY wooden spoon!

[NickoftheWoods]

I am also heading out for another winter camping weekend next week at the Michigan Ice Fest in Munising MI. I'll be teaching a little about winter camping and a buddy of mine will be introducing me to ice climbing on some of the many frozen waterfalls out there in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. I can't wait! Still looking for some help with my trip out to Seattle. I will be there at the end of March for the big Ceramic arts Conference and wanted to do a bit of camping a few days prior.

[NickoftheWoods]

Cry of the Wild spent the last three days hanging in my pines waiting for the Shug Show we did last night. In that time, he sat by the fire with my 11 year old son and talked to him about the woods, and firebuilding and life in general.
He has agreed to come back and teach my boy scouts some of his survival skills.

If you haven't had a chance to hang with this young man, make a point to do so. Great to see a young person with a passion for my hobby and tolerance to teaching.

Thank you Nick

I really appreciate the kind words. Thank you again for inviting me to camp out on your beautiful property for some R&R before the Shug show. I had a blast hanging out and meeting you and the family. Keep me posted on the ranger school happenings.

[rbinhood]

Many of the do-it-yourself pulk sites suggest using solid fiberglass electric fence rods. You can get them at Fleet Farm pretty cheap.

Very nice job on the finished pulk. Where did you get the ball-joints and what did they cost?