How many of you add specific items to your survival kit for Winter ops, for example I just purchase a set of light weight snowshoes and snow gaiters

Puffy jacket, wool hat - what Canadians call a toque, gloves. Hat and jacket are normally there all year, so maybe a puffier jacket and the gloves would be an add-on.

ELT plus 2 satellite trackers, I don't plan it taking a month to find me. Winter backcountry guys like Rogue carry a pretty specific set of gear, for those times it takes longer than usual to get back out on your own. Garbage bags and pre-heater come to mind. He put the snowshoes to good use too. Some info on this thread from a while back:

https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/ski-flying-winter-2018-21677

My kit is about the same for summer, because I carry my winter sleeping bag year round usually. I do add snow shoes, snow shovel, ice screws (take out the duckbills), large black plastic bags for under skis in case of overflow, Big down coat with hood, seal skin hat, extra gloves/mittens, extra hand warmers, homemade heater for MSR stove, engine/wing covers, 50-100 ft extension cord. The big change is what I wear. Smartwool base layer/socks, jeans, wool/cotton shirt. Carhart bibs and jacket, wool scarf, Bunny Boots. The reason I prefer the Carhart gear is it can stand being near a fire without melting. Arguments can be made for heavy wool/flece mid layer with Gortex outer gear or even snow machine suit. Just have to be careful around any fires.
DENNY

Hmm, I hadn't given clothing much of a thought other then tossing on insulated overalls. I need to give more consideration to the under layers, wickable fabrics etc.

I wear while flying in the same gear I need to wear if I were on sit down strike protesting how long it takes to warm up an engine at -25F. The key is not to sweat. That along with Meals Rejected by Ethiopians, four pound four season tent...it’s orange. Winter sleeping bag, light weight foam pad, wee little avgas fueled stove and the other basic summer time stuff.. oh...seal skin hat and snow shoes...compass that doesn’t need batteries. Maybe a US Army UTM grid map if I’m in an unfamiliar area...err maybe not. Last time I needed one of those......north east Cambodia


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Short of having nothing at all, I've always thought snowshoes have to be one of the most inefficient methods of travel in the winter time. I kept a pair in my plane for a short while, but then realized I might as well start mounting my A/T skis on the wing/jury strut when i fly in the winter. Even if I'm not going downhill skiing that day, at least with skis I have the chance to cover some ground if I had to trek away from the plane. I've flown with my A/T boots on with no problem (and they're warm), but if wearing mucklucks or bunny boots I throw the ski boots in the back.. And, with this day and ages fatty backcountry skis, it's just as easy to tromp out a runway if need be.

I too replace the duckbills with ice screws for the season, add an avalanche type shovel, 4 season tent, down bag, and always carry my MSR whisperlite which can burn white gas, avgas, etc. for water making and also be used to pre-heat (ammo can/tubing setup) if I don't have a generator with me.

Cheers!

What other compact stoves also burn avgas

One of the things in my winter kit is a large cooking pot. If you can’t melt snow you may not have any fluids at all, which super-sucks.

On a similar vane does anyone actively winter camp with their ride and how do you go about warming up oils etc when it's time to head home again

Mapleflt wrote:On a similar vane does anyone actively winter camp with their ride and how do you go about warming up oils etc when it's time to head home again

You drain your oil into Hammer's pot, then warm it up on the stove in the morning.

Sweet

Zzz wrote:

Mapleflt wrote:On a similar vane does anyone actively winter camp with their ride and how do you go about warming up oils etc when it's time to head home again

You drain your oil into Hammer's pot, then warm it up on the stove in the morning.

Duh...how do you make coffee?

Winter camp I like, winter camping without coffee not so much

I have not camped in a tent but have been out at cabin and cold runways. My favorite way to keep engine warm is to plug into my buddys Honda generator He has a 185 and one generator will keep both planes warm overnight. I have used the 100 ft cord to plug into pole at McGrath one night at -30, I stayed in the hotel. I have also used a black cat propane heater with homemade Northern Companion type cover. Let it run overnight and stuck in a new propane bottle in the morning. Not as good as the electric Reiff system but it works. If I am out just for the day I usually just put my cover on when I land and it will stay warm for several hours even at zero degrees.
DENNY

A MSR international will burn avegas and pretty much everything else. By modifying some furnace ducting to hold the stove and using dryer ducting to get the heat under the cowl, you have an effective engine heater that weighs almost nothing. I’ve used it for field pre-heating for over a decade....no issues.

Additional: Two spare pairs of heavy socks, 2 pairs of gloves, 2 or even 3 sleeping bags (various weights, layered as needed) my inflatable mattress pad, and a piece of that foil bubble insulation to fit the pad. That and a tyvak ground cloth. The idea being I can spend the night out, and survive. I take my usual tie downs out, but add extra rope, plus my usual year round survival stuff. Engine cozy, made out of an old sleeping bag, a bag of trail mix, and my Coleman single burner stove. No provision for an engine heater, yet anyway. It's a Rotax, and it'll start in the mid teens. Snow shoes and shovel, or course. This year i'll also include my lithium jump starter, not only strong light but a back up cell phone charger.

AN AXE if you might have trouble anywhere near a tree. Cuts firewood and limbs for shelter. A real axe ; not a hatchet. Plus all the other stuff people mention. A 100 feet of para cord would not be a bad add on also.
If you can get a fire going and make a shelter you have probably x10 your chances of surviving.

m_moyle,
Please tell me the details about that 4 pound 4 season tent you have (other than it is orange). Mine weighs 12 pounds and I doubt that it is truly adequate.

dogone wrote:AN AXE if you might have trouble anywhere near a tree. Cuts firewood and limbs for shelter. A real axe ; not a hatchet. Plus all the other stuff people mention. A 100 feet of para cord would not be a bad add on also.
If you can get a fire going and make a shelter you have probably x10 your chances of surviving.

Good lord man, have you no mortal fear?

Put in an extra credit card. All that Winter survival BS cuts into the payload[emoji1]. I just wear a good coat and make sure the battery is charged in the inreach.