In his 1973 book Coast to Coast, Alfred Wainwright coined the words “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing”. When it comes to winter camping these words are very true. Winter camping can be miserable or even life threatening if you are not well prepared. The first line of defense against the elements is our choice of clothing.
What to wear for camping in winter? Layering your clothing with a thermal, mid, and outer layer is the best practice particularly if you are doing medium to high effort activities. For your thermal clothing it is good to wear a moisture wicking base layer of either merino wool or synthetic material. For the mid weight layer wear a wool sweater or synthetic fleece pullover for warmth. For the outer layer wear a down or heavier fleece jacket as well as ski pants for added warmth. If rain is expected a waterproof shell would be a requirement. Make sure you wear warm gloves or mitts, a warm hat or tuque and warm winter boots.
If you are participating in winter activities such as hiking, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing than layering allows you to regulate your temperature easily by removing or adding layers. It is important to not sweat while traveling in the bush since a buildup of moisture can cause one to get cold when cooling down later on.
When doing less strenuous activities such as fishing, cooking or sitting around camp bringing heavier clothing such as parkas and snow pants are a necessity. Keeping ones core temperature warm will prevent fingers and toes from getting cold.
It is important to keep in mind that while cotton itself is not a killer, if you wear cotton clothing and sweat or the clothing gets wet it is very difficult to dry. Being wet and being in the cold is what can kill you.
The following is a rough guide on what to wear winter camping. All temperature ranges require wearing a wool or synthetic base layer. It is true that layering is effective for controlling your body temperature. However, my personal preference is not to go crazy with layers. Unless I am doing vigorous winter activities, I find that using roughly a 3 layer system is sufficient in most situations.
To keep your face warm you can wear a neck warmer or balaclava. If it is very cold and windy you can wear ski goggles. When venturing out into extreme cold animal fur/skins and down is always warmer than man made fabrics and insulation.
Temperature | Activity | Clothing | Alternative Idea | Best Brands |
-10C to 5C | Low Activity | Mid Layer: Wool Sweater Outer Layer: Down Parka or wool or fleece, Ski Pants, Heavy Boots or Muck Boots. Mittens or warm gloves, tuque | If raining: Outer shell over down jacket or heavy waterproof fleece jacket and rain pants | Darn tough Socks, |
-10 to 5C | medium activity | mid layer: Wool Sweater Outer Layer: Light fleece Jacket or down/fleece vest or heavy wool sweater or fleece jacket, ski pants Winter Boots or Muck Boots. Mittens/Gloves, Tuque | If Raining: Outer waterproof shell over sweater and fleece jacket or sweater, light down jacket with outer waterproof shell. Rain pants | |
-10 to 5C | Intense activity | Mid layer: Wool sweater and a light fleece jacket. Tuque, Gloves, winter boots or Muck Boots | If Raining: Outer waterproof shell over sweater. Rain pants | |
-20 to -10C | Low Activity | Mid Layer: Wool Sweater Outer Layer: down parka, Ski Pants. Winter boots, mitts, tuque and hood. neck warmer | For bushwacking a down parka with heavy duty material required to prevent punctures. Or can use more layering of wool sweaters | NorthFace Vostok Down Parka, Windriver Snow Leopard III Boots |
-20 to -10c | Medium Activity | Mid Layer: Wool Sweater Outer: Down Parka or vest or a few wool sweaters and a fleece jacket. Winter Boots, mitts and tuque | outer: Wool Pants | |
-20 to -10C | Intense Activity | Mid Layer: Wool Sweater Outer: Down or synthetic vest if necessary or wool sweaters and a fleece jacket. Winter boots, gloves/mitts, tuque | Outer: Wool Pants | |
-20 to -40 | Low Activity | Mid Layer: Wool Sweater (s) Outer: Heavy down parka (full Length, high fill power 600 Plus), heavy snow/ski pants High rated winter boots or traditional Mukluks (animal skin) Down/Gore-tex winter mitts or animal skin. Wool tuque or animal fur. Neck warmer or balaclava. Ski Goggles | Outdoor Survival Canada ATKA Jacket, Outdoor Survival Canada KLIN Pants, Baffin Eiger winter boots | |
-20 to -40C | Medium activity | Mid Layer: Wool Sweater Outer: Heavy Down Parka (full length), Ski pants, High rated winter boots or traditional Mukluks (animal skin) Down/Gore-tex winter mitts or animal skin. Wool tuque or animal fur. Neck warmer or balaclava. Ski Goggles | ||
-20 to -40C | Intense Activity | Mid Layer: Wool Sweater Outer: Heavy Down Parka or extra wool layers with a heavy fleece jacket. High rated winter boots or traditional Mukluks (animal skin) Down/Gore-tex winter mitts or animal skin. Wool tuque or animal fur. Neck warmer or balaclava. Ski goggles | Outer: Heavy Down Vest |