​Keeping stuff from freezing?

[Guest]

Southcove got me thinking.

I am just as likely to use mine in cold weather to keep things from freezin' up!

Yeah, frozen water bottles are sucky in more ways than one. Frozen toothpaste is no fun either. And since most of my meals are boiling water simple I don’t need to start off with 35F water.

My dromedary bags are insulated, and while I’ve had some dang cold breakfast water from them they have not yet frozen, albeit with nighttime lows only down to the 20’s. Just like setting the cooler in the shade to keep the ice I hang the dromedary bag in a sunny spot during cold temps, and bring my canteen into the tent vestibule at night.

But my typical off-season trip temps are nothing like wintersports folks deal with further north. What do folks who ski trip or snowshoe do to keep things from freezing? Giant Thermos?

Does Memaquay really wear a multi-pocket vest filled with cans of a body heat Spam?

 

[yellowcanoe]

Snow. Or break the ice in a creek. No one lugs water in the winter unless it's in an insulated OR bag that fits a Nalgene bottle stored upside down on day trips

 

[GearFreak]

When I am traveling in the winter I have an insulated compartment in my top bag that keeps stuff from freezing if I put a hot pack or Nalgene in it. Overnight I have put a water bottle inside the sleeping bag but usually just my 3L pot on the stove with the lid on it does not freeze solid. I may get about 1cm of ice on the top but by the time the stove is warmed slightly the ice is gone. I have used little coolers and soft sided coolers if I really needed to keep something warmer as well as the old stand by - the thermos.

 

[southcove]

For our hard water travels we use a cooler or a canoe box lined up with blue foam or Reflectix bubble wrap insulation. Depending on how deep the needle is going to swing during the day or overnight, we may boil up water and put a nalgene bottle in either the cooler or canoe box. Or a big disposable heat pad. We also use two insulated 64oz stainless wide mouth bottles as well as homemade foam Nalgene bottle wraps. If I can, I would rather bring in most of my water than melt it on the wood stove. For day jaunts in real cold I'll put lunch, snack, water etc in a large lunch soft cooler. Nothing like trying to split a molar on frozen salami and cheese, granola bars, snickers, etc. And stainless thermos type for hot beverages.

 

[Guest]

In camp you can bury stuff in the snow. Works for most things including beer.
Turtle

 

[Guest]

In camp you can bury stuff in the snow. Works for most things including beer.

Living in the mid-Atlantic region I forget that folks in the great white north have dependable snowpack several months a year. It is likely to be snow free mid-winter hereabouts, but still below freezing.

Snow. Or break the ice in a creek. No one lugs water in the winter unless it's in an insulated OR bag that fits a Nalgene bottle stored upside down on day trips

Bring a whole lot of insulated Nalgene bottles if you ever do a winter Assateague trip; that creek water is tidal for miles upstream and snow is a rarity.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I have an insulated Camelback that I use in sub-freezing temps. It is dark colored and the tubing has a black insulating sleeve. It never freezes up on sunny day trips with temps down to 10°f, and even colder if I wear it under my coat. Food items that might freeze also go into inside pockets for the trail meal. Those work for ski trips and hiking, but in the canoe, I will keep hot liquids and soups in an insulated thermos bottle.

I don't generally do multi-day trips when the temps get that low, but one trip does come to mind. We were on foot in the Frank Church Wilderness in November, and temps were hovering around 15°f during the day. I don't know if we ever figured out how cold it got at night. We camped by a stream, planning to use the filter pump to get water in the morning - rather than attempt to store it overnight. The first morning, I got about three pumps into the canteen and my filter froze up. I had to stick that in under my heavy coat to thaw it out and warm it enough to use it. Following nights, I kept the pump in my sleeping bag with me - as well as my milsurp plastic canteen filled with water. This worked well enough to give ready water for coffee and breakfast in the morning and the pump was warm enough to refill all our water containers (keeping it in my coat until done).

I have resorted to the old Jon-E pocket catalytic warmer for hard winter nights. The large size one that I have had for decades will keep the chill out of the tent for many hours. The smaller one is more pocket sized and helps compensate for that cold Snickers bar I just tucked under my outer layer.

 

[stripperguy]

I have an uninsulated Camelback that I use for back country skiing. I gave up trying to keep the tubing from freezing, even though the bladder would stay liquid from the heat off my back. I keep a Nalgene or an empty 1 liter tonic bottle inside my jacket and liner.

Water filter freeze ups are an issue, even if the filter is warm to start with, it's almost impossible to keep it from freezing after the first use, unless it's inside a jacket. Best to just boil and store in a Nalgene. Overnight the Nalgene goes in the bag, to warm me, keep it from freezing, and to make breakfast easier.

Daytime temps(F) in the teens and single digits are pretty common, colder at night, around 0 F...everything takes longer, water retrieval, boiling for meals, packing...

 

[yellowcanoe]

We have no luck with the Camelback.. They are pretty old but there is a loop of tubing that is not insulated when it comes out of the pack and it takes but ten minutes for water to freeze in the tube for winter hiking..
Water freezes from the top..Thats why the inverted nalgene.

For winter kayaking in Maine the Monarch is handy. I can carry a six gal container of water on the Atlantic in it. Bigger volumes freeze slower. We arent usually out for more than a night. Carry the container upside down again. It helps that the ocean water is warmer than freezing so from the bottom it gets no exposure to freezing temps. Blanketing the container with bubble wrap should help too though its just an idea. I have not tried that.

 

[makevx73]

I have an uninsulated Camelback that I use for back country skiing. I gave up trying to keep the tubing from freezing, even though the bladder would stay liquid from the heat off my back. I keep a Nalgene or an empty 1 liter tonic bottle inside my jacket and liner.

We used to insulate the tube on our camelbacks when we lived in AK. Wrapped in a layer of light weight foam or even the smaller bubbled bubble wrap it takes quite a while longer to freeze up. And if you blow most of the water back into the bag every time, after you drink, it works even better. Can't say we ever had one freeze up back-country skiing or camping to about -10 or so.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

..... And if you blow most of the water back into the bag every time, after you drink, it works even better. Can't say we ever had one freeze up back-country skiing or camping to about -10 or so.

SMH! I only just figured out that I can do the same thing in the summer to avoid that first mouthful of hot water. Another one of those obvious things I have overlooked.