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Ice Raven - Sub Zero Adventure
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Cold Weather Shelter.

The first part of any shelter solution is always your clothing and management of that clothing remains important as you build, use or move in and out of any kind of shelter.

Here we will discuss the two main types of shelter that you can employ in a sub zero environment.

Cold camping means that your shelter has no form of heating in it. It shelters you from the weather to some degree but you will need to preserve your own body temperature with insulation of some kind.

Camp-Quinzhee - Ice Raven - Sub Zero Adventure - Copyright Gary Waidson, All rights reserved.

Hot Camping on the other hand suggests that your shelter does have some form of heating. This may be an open fire or an enclosed stove but it means that you have the opportunity to gain heat from a source external to yourself.

Both of these methods have advantages and disadvantages. A cold camper needs to be rigorous in maintaining the insulation qualities of their clothing and sleeping kit as there is less opportunity to dry things out if mistakes are made. They can generally travel lighter but there is much less margin for error.

A hot camper usually needs more equipment such as tents and stoves and that of course can be a challenge to transport but they can expect greater comfort in their shelter and the chance to dry kit out can be a life saver at times. Hot camping often suits a larger party as the transportation of kit can be divided between expedition members and once combined, one shelter and stove can be used by a number of people at the same time.

A pulk, sledge or toboggan is the normal requirement for a hot camper whereas a cold camper could possibly manage with just a pack if they preferred.

 

Sub Zero Crew - Bushcraft UK

Unless noted otherwise, all photography, artwork and content on this site is copyrighted. © Gary Waidson 2020 All rights reserved

The Ice Raven Project promotes sustainable and low impact bushcraft and wilderness skills in Arctic and winter conditions. This includes the use of  tents, tarps  and snow shelters where possible. Fires are only used where safe and where use and collection of firewood will not damage the natural environment. We often travel to locations by public transport and then use snowshoes, sleds, toboggans and pulks to transport our equipment into the wilderness.