Out of curiosity, what type thermometer do you guys use to record -30 and -40 degree lows while out in the woods?
Never took a thermometer so don't know most temps exactly. A couple of my -40 times I based camp temps on the neareast town. Nearest town in the CDN Rockies was Banff at -46 and we were higher elevation. In Wells Gray Park years ago the temps in Clearwater were -42 and we were a LOT higher elevation. On a recent bivy, a fellow in a new pick-up told me that his truck thermometer had shown -23 F at dawn that morning. I hadn't thought it was that cold while still hunting at dawn.
I tossed a cup of boiling water up at a 45 degree angle one of the cold times in the CDN Rockies. It made a muffled crackling sort of explosion and nothing came down to mark the unbroken snow. A small cloud drifted away and dispersed quickly. Not sure how cold that is but Jack London used that phenomenon as a measure of deep cold.
The most miserable night I ever spent was in California, backpack camped in a new down bag in four feet of snow, with no pad. From that day till this I may go without a sleeping bag and have done so a fair number of nights -- but always have some kind of pad. If I have to choose between pad and bag I'd take the pad and leave the bag. YMMV
Okay, I see. I remember a Jack London's short story (To Build A Fire?) Where a guy in the Yukon steps through ice and tries to build a fire, fails and dies. Anyway, he's measuring the temperature by his spit crackling and freezing in the air before hitting the ground.
Just wondered if there was a thermometer you used. Heck, I'd like to find a decent thermometer to take with me. Most are junk used as zipper pulls etc and at best, inaccurate. Never even seen one that will measure below zero.
-40� doesn't even compute for a guy from the South. Down in the teens is about the best we can pull off with the occasional single digit and rare minus single digit. Chill factors with humidity, on the other hand...
Fact is, much below low 20�'s and I have little interest in being out anyway, at least not sleeping out.
