Spring Break
URI Outing Club provides tips, tricks for surviving winter expeditions
Mark Scialla
Issue date: 2/11/09 Section: News
02/11/09 - Think Bear Grylls of Discovery Channel's "Man vs. Wild" is the only source of rugged survival entertainment around? Well, members of the University of Rhode Island Outing Club met in the Memorial Union last night to share their skills and knowledge of winter backpacking in the first of the club's spring workshop series.
Outing Club officers split the 15 attendees into four groups. Outing Club president Bridget Griffith assigned each group one of four topics: sleeping, fire, eating and tents. Griffith instructed the groups to come up with important things to do while camping in cold weather pertaining to each assigned topic.
The groups each shared their tips with one another and compared their lists to Griffith's list. Some tips included keeping a small fire to conserve fuel, bringing meals that can be eaten out of a mug, drying yourself, eating a meal before going to sleep to keep warm and keeping a vent open in your tent to prevent condensation from accumulating inside.
Griffith listed the groups' ideas on a dry erase board. She also added her own advice like keeping a warm bottle of water on the inside of your thigh when sleeping because the heat will warm a large artery in your leg that will help to warm your entire body.
After the groups shared their knowledge, Griffith, with the help of Outing Club Vice President Joseph Attwater, demonstrated how to dress appropriately for winter backpacking.
"Why don't you want to wear your puffy North Face down jacket?" Griffith asked the groups.
She explained that hikers tend to overheat and perspire, which requires them to remove layers to control their body temperature. If hikers only wear a large down jacket, they will be less able to control their body temperature if relying on a single heavy article. She emphasized the importance of layering appropriately by dressing Attwater in a synthetic shirt, a fleece and a raincoat.
The workshop lasted for little more than a half an hour. As members left the room they talked about the workshop and their future camping plans.
Outing Club officers split the 15 attendees into four groups. Outing Club president Bridget Griffith assigned each group one of four topics: sleeping, fire, eating and tents. Griffith instructed the groups to come up with important things to do while camping in cold weather pertaining to each assigned topic.
The groups each shared their tips with one another and compared their lists to Griffith's list. Some tips included keeping a small fire to conserve fuel, bringing meals that can be eaten out of a mug, drying yourself, eating a meal before going to sleep to keep warm and keeping a vent open in your tent to prevent condensation from accumulating inside.
Griffith listed the groups' ideas on a dry erase board. She also added her own advice like keeping a warm bottle of water on the inside of your thigh when sleeping because the heat will warm a large artery in your leg that will help to warm your entire body.
After the groups shared their knowledge, Griffith, with the help of Outing Club Vice President Joseph Attwater, demonstrated how to dress appropriately for winter backpacking.
"Why don't you want to wear your puffy North Face down jacket?" Griffith asked the groups.
She explained that hikers tend to overheat and perspire, which requires them to remove layers to control their body temperature. If hikers only wear a large down jacket, they will be less able to control their body temperature if relying on a single heavy article. She emphasized the importance of layering appropriately by dressing Attwater in a synthetic shirt, a fleece and a raincoat.
The workshop lasted for little more than a half an hour. As members left the room they talked about the workshop and their future camping plans.
