DISCUSS- Hot-tenting with hammocks, a JRB prototype

[turk]

absolutely slowhike. Saw/hatchet combo is essential for the stove. As this is a winter shelter, I have been spending a great deal of time researching and constructing some UL sled/pulks. I am making a very light but durable rig out of the Shappell Jet Sled JR. And I have made another one out of a childrens plastic sled from Toys R US. I am hoping that by pulling my heavy winter bag, the tent, the stove and the woodcutting gear on the sled, I can maintain zero added weight to my pack or perhaps even lose a few ounces.

[skar578]

or have a dog pull it

I have a samoyed, a winter sled pulling dog, so I think it work for him, he could carry his won gear, plus some of mine! in return I will feed him.

[steene]

They glide pretty good too. I only winter camped to ice fish, but used a sled to haul everything. Ice augers, chisels. hatchet, and other fishing gear along with food, and camping gear all went on the sled. Only a daypack if we were to puddle jump from base camp to another lake for a few hours.
I tried wider sleds like the jet sled, they worked great on the lakes. Being wider, they did not sink in quite as bad as the longer, narrower sleds. Your own footprints did not affect them. (tipping) Once on the portages and in the woods, the longer, narrower sleds got the nod. They were easier to turn and manuever in the woods. Loading the heavier stuff low and to the rear seemed to improve handling.
Thin kids sleds don't hold up real well. There are some good cheaper ones out there. I bought one last year that was quite heavy duty and glides beautifully for less than $20 US. It also has tie downs spots along the sides and is chartruese (sp?) in color.
My friends would bring their dogs along (black Labs) and bring them in the snow huts for heat. A small pad would keep them happy.
Winter demands more gear to be safe. Fortunately the toboggan helps shoulder the load. But it does slow you down. A fair trade off for the privilege of being out there.

[slowhike]

absolutely slowhike. Saw/hatchet combo is essential for the stove. As this is a winter shelter, I have been spending a great deal of time researching and constructing some UL sled/pulks. I am making a very light but durable rig out of the Shappell Jet Sled JR. And I have made another one out of a childrens plastic sled from Toys R US. I am hoping that by pulling my heavy winter bag, the tent, the stove and the woodcutting gear on the sled, I can maintain zero added weight to my pack or perhaps even lose a few ounces.

yep, if i lived in a land that saw as much snow & ice as you, i'd be taking advantage of a sled or pulk.
i've been a little envious reading about others using them & seeing pictures, but we get so little snow in NC that we don't have the equipment to take care of a lot on those rare occasions that we get some.

the northerners pick on us because we shut down schools as soon as we see a flake of snow

[NCPatrick]

Here in NC, we tend to get ice storms instead of snow storms. It's fairly hard to drive on solid ice, dangerous for the school buses, and it's not a whole lot of fun to try to sled or ski on either. Can't even make a decent snowball... (I've been jealous that y'all get all that nice pretty snow to play in.)

[hikingjer]

Wow, what a neat thread.

Nobody I have ever known has ever mentioned or knew anything of using a small woodstove and chimney in a tarp/tent.

I was thinking of a Kifaru Paratipi but it's too expensive. The Titanium Goat stuff is pricey too.

I should have a Sierra Designs Origami 4 tarp soon but have an aversion to cutting a chimney hole in it and having a wood stove inside for safety concerns. I would use it car camping in the soaking wet winter woods of the Pacific Northwest where wood can be soggy. I'm also concerned about the dumb dogs bumping into a hot woodstove when stretching or getting in.

What about a Coleman catalytic heater instead? I was thinking a catalytic heater may put out some decent heat in addition to the Campinggaz butane lantern. Has anyone ever used a catalytic heater like this in a tarp like the Speer Winter Tarp or in one of the many sil-nylon tarp tents? How did it work? Has anyone used both a wood stove and a catalytic heater? How do they compare?

[randyg45]

This fascinating thread made me wonder about the possibility of making some sort of pipe/chimney addon to the BushBuddy I was given for my birthday.....

[Take-a-knee]

This fascinating thread made me wonder about the possibility of making some sort of pipe/chimney addon to the BushBuddy I was given for my birthday.....

DUDE, somebody decent cares about you. Ain't nobody bought me a bushbuddy yet.

[Photograhiker]

Very interesting thread. I've been wanting to try hot tent camping sometime, but hate to give up my hammock. This makes it possible to do both.

Here's a very informative site and forum on winter gear:

http://www.wintertrekking.com/

[Ordin_Aryguy]

absolutely slowhike. Saw/hatchet combo is essential for the stove. As this is a winter shelter, I have been spending a great deal of time researching and constructing some UL sled/pulks. I am making a very light but durable rig out of the Shappell Jet Sled JR. And I have made another one out of a childrens plastic sled from Toys R US. I am hoping that by pulling my heavy winter bag, the tent, the stove and the woodcutting gear on the sled, I can maintain zero added weight to my pack or perhaps even lose a few ounces.

Pulks are the only way to fly in winter!!!

Several of the guys I routinely winter camp with have Jet Sleds, all the way from the Jr to the Sr. The Jr is nice but a little bit "capacity challenged." The one guy that has the Sr tends to fill it up, which is fine for flat ground, but when going up hill no matter how well it slides, gravity is just not your friend. My sled is something completely different, but I'm reasonably content with it and really only wish that it was a bit narrower.

Do not scrimp when building the poles. Trust me. At first most of us used the easily available 3/8" fiberglass driveway marker style poles. They work well for everything but going downhill. When going down the poles flex way too much and your pulk ends up literally running you over. Not fun with 100+ lbs of gear in your sled. The only solution was to run down hill faster than your pulk, in snowshoes. Funny to watch, but less funny when it's you doing the face plant.... We've all since gone to 1/2" diameter solid fiberglass poles.

A buddy and I are right now in the midst of building a hot tent. We looked at the Kifaru's but neither could convince our wives that we're worth that much. So we're doing the next best thing and DIY'ing. He's working on the tent piece, and has bought one from Sportsman's Guide to retrofit, and I've built a woodstove out of 8" diameter HVAC ducting. The trial run (backyard first) for our setup is this coming weekend...

My stove doesn't pack down nice and flat like some of the "real" stoves do, but it didn't set me back $300, either. Here she is...

Not shown is the sliding front door. The cooking surface really does work, too! The legs are secured with screws and once removed fit inside the stove for storage.

(I apologize for the non-hammock post, but really dig winter camping )

Ordin