Originally Posted by
lonetracker
for the last two years i have been using my clark na as my deer camp.this means i load all my hunting stuff in my truck,drive to the middle of bfe,and stay from nov 15 untill maybe,depending how my hunt goes and how much snow we get,the end of nov.last year i stayed 8 nights temps between 10 to30 deg f. overnight.the year before i stayed 8 nights total but not in a row,temperature ranre was about the same,but i did sleep through one bad blizzard(winter storm warning according to my weather radio)it was about 15 deg out,winds gust up to about would guess 40,and we got about 7 in.of snow overnight.i woke up about daybreak,thinking my tarp was going to tear of,it was blowing so hard.as soon as i got up and threw some cloths on i stuffed my tent,sleeping bag still in it in a large bag,as i was afraid the tent would get damaged by the high winds.i packed the rest of my gear and hunted the rest of the day(after all i was here to track deer and was waiting for this snow)
during deer season i usaully sleep in a -20deg mummy,long underwear,wool sweater.on colder nites i wear a wool hat ,thicker sweater,and wool socks the only other insulation i use is stuffing the clarks pockets full of spare mostly wool cloths.i got cold feet one time,woke up put socks on,feet warmed up.
the problems i have winter sleeping are 1.snow drifts into pockets of the clark no matter how big of tarp you have or how close to ground you set your tarp.so all things used for insul. in pockets,should be kept in plastic bags.there should be flaps over these pockets(should have been made this way at factory). 2 hot air to cold air vapor from your breath.after about 4 nights i could feel ice chunks developing in my sleeping bag.and in the morning when i reached up to unzip i would nock a bunch of frost loose,from inside the tent,cold frost particles in the face really wake you up.this year i am going to try to leave the zipper open further,hopefully there will be less of that hot to cold vapor thing going on and the moisture in my breath can get out .3 it is so warm and comfortable in this thing i have a hard time getting up!!when you do get up thats when you get cold,its hard to match the level of insulation you had around you in the tent,with some hunting cloths,and freezing cold boots.get up and get moving fast,get a fire ready the night before so you can lite it quik,or if you are by your vehicle start it (my heater went out last year durring deer season),or hit the trail a couple hills will warm you up.
sorry i blabed on for so long,but you all are the first hammock users i have talked to,i still cant believe there is this active of a forum just for hammock users.
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