I took my scouts on their February campout for a weekend of skiing at Discovery. We head out to our campouts on Friday nights and return Sundays. As it turned out, we had very severe weather this week that was not moving out until Saturday.
As the weekend approached, we were seeing forecasts for -5 to -15* F for Friday night. We did not expect to reach the area before about 8:30pm, so we knew we would be setting up in the dark and the cold.
We had made arrangements with the local VFD to use their facilities as our bail out plan in case of emergency. We decided this qualified, so we went there on Friday night. Good thing too. We arrived about 8:30 at the temperature was already 12 below. We gave the scouts and leaders the option of sleeping inside or outside.
In our area, there is a Frost Point award that is earned on winter campouts. For each night of a campout, each degree below freezing qualifies as a frost point. Earn 100 points in a winter season and you get the Frost Point Award. Earn 180 and you earn the Celsius. Since I ended each of the last two years in the 160 point range, I wanted to make that last push and take advantage of the cold temps. Only a few of us did.
I also wanted to test out my new suspension system. The CSASRLS is described in this thread.
Friday Night was very clear, so I just setup without a tarp. Attached is my DIY climashield UQ. I did use my heavy winter bag (0*) in it. I wore my ski blacks, wool socks, wool sweats, and a flannel long sleave shirt as well as a balaclava and knit cap.
It got severely cold. The forecast had not been even close.
I had to get up a couple of times for nature calls. It was a rush to get out, take care of business, get back in, and zip up before the hands went numb. It was a cool night, but I slept pretty well.
The propane stoves did not want to work very well and even the matches had problems lighting. They just fizzled instead of flaming up. Finally got everything lit, running, and food and coffee heated. It was still -20 when we left for the slopes.
The wind picked up a little while skiing Saturday, so I decided to add the tarp. It blew some during the night, but not a problem at all.
Saturday night was more mild. I went to bed basically dressed the same and realized within minutes it was too much. Ended up pulling off most of the clothes and still slept very warm. Almost too warm.
When I checked the minimum on Sunday, it said -14. This shocked me as it seemed very warm. Then I noticed it said the temp inside the bag was 29* and I was hot. Then I noticed the little "c". Switched back to farenheit and got the correct 4*.
With 91 points in one weekend the Celsuis Patch is in the bag.
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