[Ansteorra] GW camping in cold/hot weather tips

[Bree Flowers]

> Greetings,
> With Gulf Wars looming on the horizon in a month, I thought I'd post a few questions about camping in very cold/hot and perhaps wet weather, and hopefully get some answers from folks to prepare those on our list for whom this is their first war:
>
> 1)  Garb:  recommendations on fibers, layers, under/outerwear, headgear, footgear?
What someone else said about the day dress being the underdress for
night = win. Linen is best, cotton is okay, wool is good too.
Synthetics are bad. But that's the same stuff we always say :)

> 2)  Tents:  recommendations on rain protections, ground preparations?
I usually camp in a period tent, so my experience there is going to be
a bit different than most first-timers. Period tents are an awesome
investment though! Put your garb in tupperware bins to ensure you'll
have dry stuff to wear and hide one outfit in the car so if the worst
should happen and you're soaked and totally out of stuff, there will
be at least one thing that you can fall back on. This is most
excellent if it rains while you're packing. Having an outfit hidden in
the glove box or on the front seat means you won't have to drive home
wet.

> 3)  Bedding:  ground/above-ground beds, bed clothes (blankets, sheets, furs)?
This is why period tents are made of awesome - you can have a rope or
slat bed and sleep on a futon instead of an air mattress. Even on the
ground a futon will be MUCH more insulating than an air bed, so if you
can fit one in your vehicle, do it. Otherwise a fleece blanket held on
by a fitted sheet will remove much of the discomfort of using a
plastic air bed. I sleep in modern sleeping blankets. Yeah it doesn't
look as nice, but that's why I close my tent flaps. If you purchase 2
identical bags you can zip them together for couples and stay much
warmer (doesn't work with mummy-bags obviously).

A couple of things that will keep you extra warm are wearing the
correct PJs. I bought some flannel and made a rectangular construction
dress out of it (simple t-tunic with a slightly better fit) with a
massive skirt. All the skirt then ends up bundled around my feet and
legs and keeps me wonderfully warm. Some good quality wool hiking
socks (that you keep clean to wear in bed, not the ones you've been
sweating in all day) will keep your toes perfect. I am a HUGE fan of
Smartwool Expedition Trekking socks. They're spendy but totally worth
it and they last forever (I'm going on 10 years with mine now) and
they're warm enough that I used to wear them under sandals outside in
Canada this time of year and was a-okay. Similarly, think of your
head. You lose most of your heat from your head. At Estrella last
year, where it fell below freezing every night and I was greeted with
frost on the ground until well into mid-morning I bought one of those
furry viking/mongolian/russian hats from Intriguing Designs
http://www.intriguingdesigns.net/ and that made all the difference in
the world. This hat was also tres spendy, but you get what you pay
for. A week of sleeping in it and wearing it every hour of the day and
it still looks like new. I'll be using this for years too. If you make
your own, just make sure you use real fur, not fake as the fake stuff
will probably mat up if you sleep in it and look awful.

> 5)  Heaters in tents:  proper use of tent heaters, venting, carbon monixide poisoning issues?
Skip it. They're dangerous, an extra expense, take up valuable real
estate in your tent and if you dress right you won't need them. I've
done Estrella in a period tent (lots of gaps for air to seep in, and I
mean gaps big enough for my hound dogs to sneak out, not little slits)
when it was below freezing every night, and I've done Canada in the
dead of winter (with several feet of snow outside) in a modern tent
and I've never used a heater. Honestly, part of why I don't camp more
often at that time of year is that I find I spend all my time in bed.
I've gotten VERY good at making my bed a snugly, warm nest of
wonderful, and it's even harder than normal to motivate myself out of
it as a result. I should have a shirt made "I went to Estrella and all
I saw was the ceiling of my tent" except that I think people would get
the wrong idea ;)

~Eve