Williston man braves the storm in a tent
January 11, 2013 at 5:16 am in Grand Forks Herald
As most people prepare to hunker down for the weekend storm, one new Williston resident wants to see what it’s like to ride out a North Dakota blizzard in a tent. Illinois man Jim Menter bought a tent this week after hearing about the forecast. Continue Reading
Any flame in a tent is a bad idea on to road to a tragic one. A 50 MPH gust could crumple that tent in an instant, touching the tent wall with the heater.
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+1
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There will be alot of newcomers learning about North Dakota’s Siberia-like weather conditions!
Hopefully, nobody gets hypothermia, frostbite, etc.. Some days, it is not fit for man or beast outside.
The only thing we have to stop the winter weather in Canada, from entering North Dakota, is a barbed wire fence.
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Winter camping is best done in a wall tent made of canvas. It is relativley safe to use a heat source as the fire danger is much lower. Sleeping on the floor is not a good idea, use a cot. Have a sleeping bag rated for the weather. (I have one that can be used without shelter in Alaska in an emergency.) At least that is how we camped out in the winter in Alaska. Should work here also.
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Sleeping on the ground is fine. THAT is how it is done when light-weight winter camping, as long as there is enough insulation in the sleeping pad. Canvas is definitely the fabric of choice when using heaters, although many winter tents are made of nylon with canvas, or another fireproof fabric, used near the stove.
Not sure what type of space heater he is planning on using, but he needs to be very careful. Propane heaters use up oxygen, so there needs to be plenty of ventilation. Also, they give off water vapor as they burn, in addition to possible fumes, so he may find that his tent is lined with frost, which means he may be getting snowed on.
I think it’s great he’s trying this, but he needs to be damned careful with that heater.
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If he wants the real experience, why is he using a heater? Find a snowbank and dig into it. ND Boy Scouts have been doing this for decades.
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And don’t forget the outdoor cooking. He needs to make bisquits if he wants to get his merit badge.
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He wants an adventure, and he’s making appropriate plans for it. Proud of him.
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Jim is a fool ! Don’t mess with Mother Nature my friend !
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Winter ‘camping’ is best done in an IGLOO. Its worked for centuries.
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Winter “camping” Is best done at the Holiday Inn.
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These newcomers better heed the weather warnings.
If not, we may not find these newcomers until next spring, after the snow melts.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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At least they get people prepared for the bad weather. I’ve been keeping an eye on the ND DOT road condition map since I’m heading back up….Not a pretty sight. Glad I don’t deliver until Monday
Also: Ray Fines brother or cousin is going to do an Antartic trek in the winter which means it’s always dark and can get to -130………He’s 68 I’m ten years younger and I’m finally not liking the cold all that much anymore….What the hell does a 68 year old want to trek and sleep out in weather like that for is way beyond me…….
Just for the hell of I tried sleeping in the back of a pickup I owned that had a topper on it. It was around -20 I had a mat under me, a good sleeping bag, and a heavy quilt over that. I slept just fine, but getting up and out of the sack to make a mad dash inside for the can was more adventure first thing in the morning then I’d want to do again…I was around 28 at the time. Once was enough of an experiment for me
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An air mattres is a must. with a good sleeping bag and maybe a blanket over that he’ll do just fine. A heater may be ok but not really needed. I done it in below 0 weather when I was in the army in a pup tent.
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An air mattress is nice, but not reliable enough by itself for winter camping. If it deflates, you’re left with no insulation at all. When winter camping, an air mattress always needs to be backed up with a closed cell foam pad. Of course, in this case, he can escape to his trailer easy enough.
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wow, a negative on THAT comment. Somebody has never been winter camping….ever!
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Foam pad was what I had because it helps maintain warmth where an air mattress might hold you off the ground, but won’t do much for warm under you. In fact it could make things less comfortable in the long run.
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I like a good story as much as the next person, but how did this make the paper? He has an RV a few feet away, and according to him…he might choose to not even stay IN the tent.
I got all excited when I saw the headline and actually thought one of the oil workers migrated here from somewhere down south with only a tent and the clothes on their back, and was going to attempt to make a go of it.
What’s next…sending a reporter and cameraman out onto one of the area lakes to do a “survival story” on someone who’s just sitting there ice fishing?
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This just in….An Ice Fisherman just snagged a four pound whopper cube of ice. Said ice fisherman, “Dat ata keep da ol ice chest cold a while eh?”
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This article reminds me of the reoccurring bit on Late Night With David Letterman … “Is this anything?”
Maybe not … but I did enjoy reading the comments concerning winter camping. What else have they given us to discuss?
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Winter camping=population control.
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Winter camping equals baby boom.
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Wonder what the northern birth statistics are for the months of September thru December.. Most of my family was born during that time frame.. Guess the parents did a lot of that ‘Winter Camping’.
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I don’t know about that, but there’s stats on a surge of Sept babies that get created between Christmas and the New Year.
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Back in the early 70′s there was a Teepee set up not far from my folks place on Lincoln Dr. Some student (Or students) from UND were doing a project for a paper or something. It was set up all winter and rumored to have been stayed in all winter too. Now that was some serious students. Anyone else know something about this?
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They use to setup a teepee in front of the union. I don’t remember what it was for probably something to do with Indian studies. But I do believe they stayed in it.
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