Keeping Warm, Warming/Insulation for squats in the winter

[Umbraperagro]

Keeping Warm

Crank your diet full a' spicy foods, drink ginger tea, eat raw, or semi cooked garlic on everything, mustard seeds. All that will move your circulatroy system into action a whole lot, helps your extremities stay warmer...
fireball whiskey???? I dunno...

 

[finn]

Keeping Warm

Alcohol is actually bad because it makes you feel warmer without actually warming you, it just send blood into your capillaries and flushes your skin, making you lose heat faster. It'd be okay if it had a fair amount of calories like stout, but not whiskey.

 

[ReturnTrip]

Keeping Warm

Alcohol is actually bad because it makes you feel warmer without actually warming you, it just send blood into your capillaries and flushes your skin, making you lose heat faster. It'd be okay if it had a fair amount of calories like stout, but not whiskey.

Yeah we haven't really gotten drunk to keep warm or anything. We use it more of a distraction to how cold it is.

 

[Angela]

Keeping Warm

I've thankfully never tried to winter in Jersey but it could get well below zero windchill temps with single digit air temperatures even down in the mountains of North Carolina and I always stayed nice and toasty layered up in pair of heavy weight unionsuit long underwear(sometimes two sets on top of each other) and stuffed into a cheap zero degree sleeping bag from Wal-Mart. And yeah don't use alcohol to stay warm, it's nice to take your mind off the cold you just don't want it too far off the cold. Too many folks have been found dead from exposure that way, when they had a lot to drink and then just layed down/passed out in the snow.

 

[theefixeated]

Keeping Warm

I squatted an outdoor camp through a Montana winter. cold as fuck, had a fire sometimes till the smoked rolled the I-90 and got me busted on old trespassing tickets. my Savior was waxed boxes sandwiching regular cardboard/thousnd mile paper etc.etc.
On crazy blizzards my hammock with a sleeping bag which is a light bag wrapped in a blanket like a cocoon with a tarp strung over the top cold, but certainly not what it could have been

 

[arice]

Keeping Warm

hot water bottle in the sleeping bag has gotten me through vermont winters... reppin' jersey, good luck to you.

 

[Wolfeyes]

Keeping Warm

I've said it here recently, but styrofoam packing peanuts make great insulation, businesses throw them out all the time, and they're light.

Plus, if it matters to you, you get eco-friendly points for reusing something that doesn't biodegrade.

 

[sleep]

Keeping Warm

Try keeping a catalytic hand warmer in your bag they work pretty good. The only problem is they sometimes leak or smell like lighter fluid.


The Zippo Hand Warmer will probably be the easiest to acquire.

http://www.zippo.com/products/handWarmer.aspx?bhcp=1

 

[dirty_rotten_squatter]

Keeping Warm

Ha ha, I saw this thread and directly under this one was "warm ideas for sleeping in winter"...When I'm outside and am too cold to bear it, I stuff my clothes with newspaper. It makes great insulation. That and layers. Maybe you guys could cuddle, just for body heat, haha j/k.

 

[614 crust]

Keeping Warm

If you have to piss, piss in an empty bottle and keep it in your sleeping bag with you.

 

[Wolfeyes]

Keeping Warm

Another option if you're all set on food, befriend a stray dog. Preferably a larger breed with a thick coat. It'd be a mutually beneficial relationship. The dog gets a steady source of food and a roof over it's head, you get a living heater.

 

[Mama Dragon]

Keeping Warm

when i'm winter camping, i like to either microwave some potatoes, or wrap them in foil and stick them in the dying campfire. Then I take the super hot baked potatoes and shove them into the bottom of my sleeping bag. They hold the heat forever, and they make a tasty breakfast.

 

[hg14]

Keeping Warm

If there's a Trader Joe's or some kind of grocery store near u go behind it and see if they have any shipping blankets they work well with one on the bottem and one on the top

the shipping blankets seems good to me, I'll try it

 

[stove]

Keeping Warm

when i'm winter camping, i like to either microwave some potatoes, or wrap them in foil and stick them in the dying campfire. Then I take the super hot baked potatoes and shove them into the bottom of my sleeping bag. They hold the heat forever, and they make a tasty breakfast.

That's a pretty good idea!

But I'm guessing melted cheese might be tricky...

I usually rock a double sleeping bag (one inside the other), with two 30 deg bags I'm good down to 0 (F), or further.

 

[nuckfumbertheory]

Keeping Warm

man, I am feeling for you out there right now in this mess. i can't imagine being out right now w/ no fire going. I up in NNJ until the end of the month If you need anything let me know. I probably got a few sleeping bags I can give you or if you need some stuff to start fixing up your squat a bit, I can probably get you a hammer / nail and some wood.

 

[matthew]

Keeping Warm

I would buy or steal a heater element that connects to large propane tanks. Then either buy or steal propane tanks. I'd look for them in backyards under grills.

 

[finn]

Keeping Warm

when i'm winter camping, i like to either microwave some potatoes, or wrap them in foil and stick them in the dying campfire. Then I take the super hot baked potatoes and shove them into the bottom of my sleeping bag. They hold the heat forever, and they make a tasty breakfast.

Keep in mind though, that doing this might make yourself smell like a meal. Not a big worry in a lot of places, but places with rats may lead to holes in your bag and I wouldn't even think about doing that outside in bear country.

 

[smellyskelly]

Keeping Warm

get naked and cuddle.

 

[boucaneer]

Keeping Warm

Me and my buddy are squatting this house in north jersey for a bit and its been snowing and we both have sleeping bags that are way too small for us (mine doesnt even zip) we both layer on clothes really hard and we've thought of putting a towel near our door so a draft doesnt come in (by the way theres a large hole in the roof from a fire years ago so it snows inside just not the room we sleep in haha)..in a nutshell its fucking cold. you can see your breath in our room with all the doors closed, Any suggestions for super awesome warmness aside from the dumb idea of lighting any fires?

if the sleeping bag does'nt do up then the zipper teeth might need respacing. look closley at the zipper teeth and see if there out of wack.

the teeth need to be equal spaces apart. insert a small metal type object inbetween the teeth and try to move and work them so the spaces are all the same.

if the teeth are fine and the zipper pull is stuck, it might be salt corrosion wich looks like a white/green powdery build up., get some rubber gloves and a small brush and some detergent and boil a kettle.

put a small amount of detergent onto the white/green corrosion and place in a wash baisen, pour the hot boiling water onto and through the corroded zipper and scrub with the bush.

do both sides, front and back and maybe do it twice to remove all the corrosion. when cool engough to handle pull the zipper pull realy hard and it should come lose. you will see some more corrosion where the zipper had been, repeat the process untill all corrosion removed.

failing that you might be able to source some velcro and use that to hold it toghether, if you can only get a little bit of velcro, space it out along the zip line.

otherwise sew some large buttons and string/cord loops for button eyelets along the zip line would work.

i hope that helps.

i sound like a zipper nut dont i?

 

[runawaymachine]

Keeping Warm

I realize it has been a while since Return Trip was squating that house in NJ but here's my .02.

You can lose heat 3 ways. Through convection, conduction, and evaporation.

Cunduction has been well adressed here with insulating yourself from the floor and using other insulation(I like the packing peanuts idea).

Convection is when you lose heat to circulating air. You could prevent this by putting that towel at the bottom of the door and or fixing the hole in the roof. If you could surround yourself with stuff to keep air from flowing past you at night that would help too. Even if you are inside a house bulding a 'fort' out of boxes or something will help, and don't forget to put a roof on your fort.

Evaporation is the one most people do not consider. When you sweat(even when it's cold) you lose heat when your body heat is used to turn liquid water into a vapor. You can prevent evaporation with "Vapor Barrier Clothing"(google that). A vapor barrier is simply a non permiable layer that you keep close to your skin. Idealy you want a VB bag made out of coated nylon(Tyvek works great and is easily liberated from construction sites) then strip down to your base layer and get inside. Since you want to sleep in your clothes you should find yourself a sweat suit made out of a tight weave material(or line your clothes with Tyvek), were this sweat suit as your second layer(you need a base layer to hold the moisture). You will sweat a little as always, but then the VB will capture that sweat and keep your skin moist. If your skin is moist then you will stop sweating. This will help retain heat and H2O.

DO NOT put the vapor barrier over all of your clothing you will get your clothes wet and you will get cold. This is the crux of using things like a space blanket.

DO NOT let yourself get wet inside the VB. Moist is good wet is not. If you find yurself sweating too much you need to ventilate or remove the VB.

DO NOT forget to shower. Since you are trapping your own sweat next to your skin you will get funky fast.

I find a simple VB to be as effective as a second sleeping bag, and they are small and light to pack. I hope everyone stays warm this winter, it's a cold one since the ice caps are melting.