My Winter Camping Gear

What am I carrying in my backpack during the colder months of the year? Well, this is a typical load out for a short winter trip in the hills.

Rucksack

Let’s start with the pack. Like most hikers, I have a few, from the heavy but carry-their-loads-well Fjallraven Keb and Kajka packs to the one pictured here, a very lightweight pack by Granite Gear called the Blaze 60. I don’t know how, but somehow this backpack defies the laws of time and space, because I swear I can cram far more than 60L of stuff in there.

Update: I’ve recently switched to an Atom Packs Prospector 60L pack, passing my Blaze to my partner to use.

Tent

My main winter tent is the Hilleberg Soulo RL. Whilst I am not the type of idiot to pitch on a summit in a named storm, there’s something very reassuring about knowing your tent can handle most weather you’ll encounter. It’s ridiculously strong, probably somewhat overkill for most of the camping I do, but at the same time, I’ve had many experiences in the fells when the weather didn’t quite pan out as the forecast suggested. For this reason, when I am planning to camp at altitude during winter, I bring this tent. Along with the tent, I bring the set of Hilleberg pegs, but also always bring a handful of nail-type pegs which are good for stony ground. I usually have a couple of MSR Carbon Core ones as well as a few longer Big Sky Tube Steak ones.

Sleep system

When the forecast is particularly chilly, I bring a Sea to Summit Ether Light Extreme XT (ladies fit!) mat, which has an R value of 6.2, and is 10cm thick, perfect for me as I am primarily a side sleeper. It’s the mummy-shaped one, just to save a little bit of weight since all this winter stuff is a bit heavy. For the not-so-frigid nights, I bring my Big Agnes Rapide SL. This is a fantastically comfy mat with an R value around 4.5, and is similarly thick, with slightly raised baffles around the edge which help keep you in position when you’re off frolicking in your dreamy dreams. However, for some inplexicable reason those baffles aren’t insulated, and having suffered too many sudden shocks of icy knees in bed, I tend to leave this at home if the temperature is likely to be below 5ºC.

Whilst I prefer a quilt in the summer, in winter I am all about bundling myself in a warm down cocoon. I use the Mountain Equipment Helium 600 women’s sleeping bag to keep cosy. I have a couple of Mountain Equipment bags and I really like their designs. They’re very adjustable and the Helium range has a remarkable warmth to weight ratio, as the bag is under 1kg but rated around -9ºC for comfort (I can’t recall the limit but it’s somewhere around -20ºC or thereabouts).

Pillow-wise I’m generally taking my Sea to Summit Aeros Premium Deluxe. This is a particularly large pillow, similar to a normal one you’d use at home. Admittedly revoltingly indulgent, I find smaller pillows often give me stiff shoulders in the morning, so now I generally just accept that I need to take this bulkier, heavier one. It’s worth it. It also sticks to little velcro patches on the sleeping mat to keep it in place, bonus!

I also generally taking a sleeping bag liner. Depending on the forecast, I’ll take either my Sea to Summit Reactor or Reactor Extreme. I don’t find they add as much warmth as they claim to, but they definitely make me feel cosier and they also help to keep my sleeping bag a bit less grubby.

Lastly, I almost always bring my Thermarest ZLite closed cell foam mat. It just adds a bit more comfort and also helps to protect my inflatable mat from any spiky stuff underneath my tent. I had a custom, bright red waterproof bag made for this by the brilliant Lucy at QuintCraft.

Cooking stuff

I own several stove systems, but generally in winter I’ll either bring my MSR Pocket Rocket or Soto Fusion Trek stove. The Pocket Rocket is great just for boiling water for dehydrated meals and coffee, whilst the Fusion Trek is fantastic for actually cooking. But I’m often lazy when it comes to cooking in winter, especially when I am by myself.

Utensil-wise I generally bring a small Swiss Army knife, my MSR long spoon, a Toaks 650ml titanium pot, a Snow Peak titanium mug or sometimes my collapsible Sea to Summit mug, and a small canister of gas. I use one of those “Flip Fuel” type transfer devices to reload small canisters to save weight and space.

I use a small dry bag as a bin bag, always bring at least two methods of lighting my stove, and use a MSR Universal Canister Stand to help keep my gas canister steady when using the Pocket Rocket. If I know I’ll be passing or camping near to a water source, I’ll bring my Lifestraw Peak Series water filter.

Clothing

I’ll admit I often just wear the same clothes for a few days. Since I am out solo, it doesn’t really matter if I stink a bit. Although being a lady I generally smell like gentle spices and unicorns all the time anyway. Once I’ve stopped hiking for the day, I wear a Rab Mythic Alpine down jacket, which packs up extremely small and is exceptionally lightweight due to its 900FP down. I also always bring my heavyweight Icebreaker 260 thermal set of top and bottoms for sleeping in, because I like to take all my hiking layers off at the end of the day. I also always, always bring a spare pair of wool socks. There are few things worse than having to wear the same pair of damp socks for a few days. I also have a pair of Turbat Down Socks for putting over my fresh wool ones when I go to bed.

Practical Items

Headlamp, tent lantern, GPS, Garmin InReach, powerbank, first aid kit, handwarmers, pee cloth, sitting mat, and ultralight backpacking table for propping my phone up so I can watch scary true crime dramas on Netflix while I am huddling in my sleeping bag. Also super important: microfibre cloth for cleaning utensils, and a sponge for mopping up spills and dealing with any excess condensation on the tent in the morning.

And how could I forget? A wee flask of rum for delicately nipping before bed. And in bed.