Brace yourselves......winter is coming.

[Davent]

Ohhhh bloody Queenslanders....Queensland is paradise and the rest of Australia is either, Arctic, desert wasre land or concrete jungle,
Queenslanders remind me of Americans, everything is bigger, better....USA!, USA!
You lot are brainwashed Jaro, s! Lol bloody southerners!

 

[Jaros]

I've been here 22 yrs now and only visit for weddings and funerals.

 

[Wolfy]

C-C-Cold? I n-n-n-n-n-n-noticed.

 

[Davent]

I love Australia, all of it. Only place I havnt been is Tasmania, been close though! Cape Barron Island in Bass Straight.
I love the outback, the feeling of the last frontier, love the cold, mainly the really still cold mornings, (the wet windy ones, not so much!)
WA I love in a wierd way, desert meets the sea pilbara, Perth is a beautiful city, Sydney is awsome, NSW is a lucky state, everything from alpine to sub tropics and desert, Victoria, the sporting capital and Melbourne is as great as Sydney, QLD, although is a bit of an amusment park, is fantastic with FNQ being my pick with the reef and rainforest, fraser island and the sunny coast, just awsome, SA, havnt spent much time there, but I love the fishing there with huge snapper and samson and southern blue tuna, Adelaide, although not as exciting as the big 2, is a really nice place and the SA outback is also worth a mention...ACT, well lived there as a kid and again for a year with the Army, had a great time there, so have fond memories of Canberra, skiing on weekends in winter, jervis bay weekends in summer, ...all in all, we live in an awsome country, we truly are blessed.....now if the pollies would just ease up on over regulating everything, we could get on with enjoying it!!!

forgot to mention the NT, what can I say about a territory bigger than NSW and Vic combined, with a population of 210,000 love it, but we catching up with the do gooder nanny states.....

 

[ozziii]

We used to stay in an old cattlemans hut that a good cattleman/farmer friend owned, (R.I.P Laurie), had been moved to the property on the Albury side of Corryong (Vic) by horse & dray back in the 1930s from up in the mountains over Khancoban (NSW) way.
My parents rebuilt it for him around 2004, adding a couple extra rooms & we used to help him with the cattle, sheep, goats & fencing. The valley we were in was nicknamed "The Fog Factory", some nights down to -10, huge frosts & slight snow at times, surrounding hills got a bit more, the rain was great, when it poured it really poured, love the noise on the tin roof, then when everything is quiet at 2-3 am you wake up suddenly to a pack of wild dogs howling, glad I was in the cabin,haha.
We put a combustion fire in, made it nice & cosy, was like a home away from home.
My step mum, my daughter & a couple of friends rode from the farm to near Dartmouth Dam on 4 wheelers through cold & snow one year.
Done plenty of camping in tents but mostly warmer weather on the Murray, been a few chilly & wet trips but nothing to cold yet.
Starting to get some more camping gear together with my brother so will be good to get back out bush for a camp, will certainly find out how the cold weather camping is here in Ballarat.

 

[nuggetino]

Need a good sleeping bag.One that is rated to minus 5 in the center of it's comfort zone. Most sleeping bags advertise extreme ratings, that is, you won't die at minus 10 in a sleeping bag rated to minus 10 but you'll be in the fetal position holding onto a photo of your wife and kids in the hope you'll make it through the night. I had a minus 18 sleeping bag for the simpson desert run. Did a solo crossing on the DR650 mid winter. I froze my ass off. Was minus 4 at night. Didn't find out until I got home the comfort zone for my bag was 0 to +5. Got a sleeping bag rated to minus 38 now. It's just right for winter temps below zero and can still unzip to regulate temp when things warm up a bit.

 

[BigWave]

Just tried out my new swag last night (a Kulkyne Homestead with matching bag). Was toasty warm even though it reached a low of +13

 

[DrDuck]

I don't mind cold weather camping, and in my double swag am quite comfortable. Insulation from the ground is very important, and those interlocking rubber mats do a great job. I have an old paddy made superdown sleeping bag that i use as a quilt, and in really cold weather I use another quilt on top. Staying dry is pretty important in cold weather, and if possible it is good idea to have a tarp or awning to cook under. The Tuena Hilton (the cricket shed) is a great option in winter!

 

[Jaros]

I like the use of the interlocking rubber mats Duck. I use them at the entry to the camper-trailer and below the ladder steps inside so as to climb up into bed. Don't want the ladder legs to pierce the soft floor.
Jaros

 

[Ramjet]

The coldest night i ever spent was camping. Hot summer so we only took one light blanket. It's just a bit cooler up.in the mountains :8 The Mrs and i could not have held each other more tightly. Damn it was cold.

 

[Davent]

I have soooo many cold stories.....ex soldier and paratrooper, we had a saying, travel light, freeze at night. Everything we carried we jumped out of a plane with, so your pack weighed a tonne....well around 40kg at least.
Coldest places I remember, not in any order.....Puckapunyal, Wagga-Wagga, Marulen,Cape Barron Island,Narrandera,Mogo state Forrest, Tianjara,Holdsworthy Range,Albury-Wodonga, Had a couple of really cold nights at High range near Townsville....wasn,t prepared for that, thinking Beautiful tropical Queensland......Stuffed long grass down my shirt to stay warm, it was unbelievably cold, didn't pack a jumper, had a very light sleeping bag, wore my spare socks on my hands....

 

[BigWave]

Think of these guys:
http://www.antarctica.gov.au/webcams/davis. I wintered there 36 years ago - coldest it reached was -45C. Nearby is Vostok (meant to be the coldest place on earth).
Learned to make igloos and ice caves. Didn't find any gold, though I did detect with home-made PI.
Pic of me out hiking on sea-ice out to some ice-bergs. Only -30C that day, but reached -45 many times. You keep your balaclava off your face or it'll take a long time to thaw it off using a Primus cooker at day's end.

Below is the motley mob that I spent 15months with:

 

[Davent]

looks a bit chilly i spose....

 

[BigWave]

But we had the gear to stay warm! Just don't drink hot liquids till your teeth have warmed up, and leave cameras in the cold porch till warmed up before bringing fully inside.

 

[limpalot]

Been looking at the Black Wolf Samurai Hooded bag, $ 119.90 at Snowys Outdoors; down from $175, BCF and Rays will match it. Rated at -10. The Roman Big Man bought in early 80's needs an up date.

 

[bazxa]

What is the -10 rating, be aware there are 3 ratings, basically cosy to barely surviving check the 3 ratings.

 

[DrDuck]

The coldest night i ever spent was camping. Hot summer so we only took one light blanket. It's just a bit cooler up.in the mountains :8 The Mrs and i could not have held each other more tightly. Damn it was cold.

Good point, RJ, the coldest night is the one you are unprepared for. It is easy to pack in an extra bag, quilt or even a space blanket just in case, and a tarp to throw over the swag in extreme conditions does not take up too much space.

 

[Solid Luck]

Ok so brave question here. Does anybody camp out bush in winter? I mean like when it snows. Tent? Swag? What kit do you use so you don't freeze to death if you do? Anything you do differently to other times of the year?

I'll be in if something gets organised.

 

[Sandta]

Be sure to include the essentials :lol:
Dont forget your peter heater

 

[Chewy]

Stop going through my dresser drawers Sandta. Lol :lol: