Solo-Winter Camping In The Alaska Range (With Stella)

In this video Stella and I are field testing our new hot tent. We are in the Alaska Range, above timberline. The temperature is -15F (-26C) and we have a fair amount of wind to deal with. The tent should take about 15 minutes to setup (for one person), but it took me much longer due to filming myself throughout the process, so by the time I finished we were both ready to get inside and get the fire started.

The deadman poles I buried were for tying down the tent in a windy area where the ground is frozen and there are no bushes or small trees to fasten to. The anchors worked very well. The longer poles were to bury alongside the tent and provide tie off anchors for the rainfly (although I did not show the process in the video).

Once inside, the tent heated up very quickly and maintained a temperature of around 75F throughout the night. At times, it got too warm in fact, and I had to unzip the door flap to cool it down.

The heater I am using my favorite little camp stove, the Trekker, made by Kni-Co Manufacturing. I have worn these stoves out by hauling them all over the country and putting them though a lot of abuse. They are just fantastic and have so many practical applications.

My tent is built by Airframes Alaska. They have graciously provided it to me for the making of this video, and I have to say I am impressed with it. It is ruggedly built with many well thought out features.

Peace to you my friends