I’m not a huge fan of the cold. I’m probably the only wilderness skills instructor I know of that doesn’t get excited about camping in the winter. I’m much more at home when the days are long and the air doesn’t hurt to breathe, and I can wade out into the river with a beer in my hand and not freeze to death. But I digress.
There are perks to being outdoors in the cold, though – namely fewer bugs and fewer people. Popular spots on the Appalachian trail that are obnoxiously crowded during hiker season can be enjoyed in beautiful solitude during the winter. Any hunters out there can probably identify with the last-ditch moonshot of trying to get a Christmas buck, and the satisfaction that comes with braving the cold to make it happen. But traveling on foot in cold weather presents its own unique challenges, and hydration is a big one.
Finding water that’s not frozen can be difficult, and downing a Nalgene full of icy water can drop your core temp and rob you of some serious calories.
Hydration doesn’t become any less important when the mercury drops below freezing, so here are 7 tools you can keep in mind to make drinking easier:
1. Look for ice to melt, not snow. Snow is often clean and abundant, but it can be up to 90% air, and melting enough to drink expends a ton of fuel or wood. Hunt for hanging icicles you can break off instead. Rock overhangs and tree branches that are out of the wind are good places to look.
2. Forgo the filter and just boil. Most filters don’t fare well in the cold anyway. The Sawyer Squeeze is especially known for getting ruined if it freezes through. I’m normally not a fan of boiling water in the other three seasons because it takes forever to cool down, but that’s not the case in winter. Boiling has the twofold benefit of purifying your water and keeping your core temp up.
3. Drink mixes are your friend. Hot or warm water provides a bigger psychological boost when it’s flavored. Coffee, hot chocolate, or tea are all classic options, of course. But don’t discount bouillon packets or even “cold” mixes like Gatorade or Crystal Light. (Speaking from experience, warm Gatorade is actually pretty good.)
4. Store your water bottle upside down. Ice forms first in the air pocket near the cap, and can freeze the cap to the bottle in a few minutes. This sounds minor, but it’s seriously annoying when your hands are cold and don’t want to work, and you can’t get the cap off your water bottle.
5. Don’t waste your time with hydration bladders. The exposed hose and mouthpiece freeze fast, and the entire thing will turn to a useless block of ice overnight unless you sleep with it, which reminds me…
6. Sleep with your water bottle. This goes for anything you don’t want to freeze, but keeping a bottle of water in your sleeping bag goes a long way towards making it easier to drink. During the day, keep your bottle close to your body if possible. If you brought one of the aforementioned Sawyer filters, the same rules apply – keep it in your sleeping bag at night, and in a pocket close to your body during the day.
7. If you’re going to drink cold water, sip, don’t chug. What you drink will have a chance to warm up a little at a time, rather than shocking your system with a few big slugs of near-freezing water. And since water can’t be absorbed until it reaches body temperature, you’ll actually hydrate faster by drinking slower.
Whether you like the cold or not, there’s no reason to let it keep you inside. I’ve always believed that if you don’t experience the wild lands in all seasons, you’re a tourist, not a woodsman. Keep these cold-weather hydration tips in mind, and drink up. Got any other tips for keeping hydrated in the cold? Drop ‘em in the comments – we like learning new stuff, and so do our other readers!
Alex
