• 1 pair 10-inch high Tingley (or similar) rubber overboots
• Felt Boot Liners: the best I’ve seen are from Steger Mukluks
• Insulative Boot Insoles
• Sleeping Bag rated to at least -20 degrees
• Sleeping Pad (or 2). Having enough insulation between you and the ground so that you lose no heat through conduction is huge. An extra closed-cell foam pad is less than $10 and will keep you warmer.
• Tarp: No smaller than 10′ x 10′
• Long Underwear: 2 pairs (no cotton)
• Warm Socks: 3-4 pair (no cotton)
• Windproof jacket and pants (can be rain gear)
• Rain Gear – should be sized to fit over cold weather clothes, can double as windproof gear
• Parka or warm Jacket
• Warm winter hat or 2
• Mittens
• Leather Work Gloves
• Sun Glasses
• Personal Toiletries
• Flash Light or Head Lamp
• Snowshoes: 1 pair. Snowshoe Sales & Repairs and Lure Of The North both carry traditional snowshoes. Both the Huron and Bear Paw styles have been used successfully on past expeditions. Get them big. If you have questions about sizing, give us them a call. Keep in mind that we’ll be in wilderness conditions with deep snow. Most modern snowshoes are made for packed trails or mountaineering.
– Another option is the military magnesium snowshoe if you weigh less than 170 pounds. (google “military magnesium snowshoe” and you’ll find a bunch of pairs for sale)
– Don’t purchase bindings, as we’ll be making them.
• Cup for Hot/Cold drinks (unbreakable)
• Plate, bowl, fork, spoon
Cook Kit
• Cook pot with a bail handle Will be used for cooking food and boiling water in the field, so don’t get one that’s too small (because it’s a pain to boil drinking water a thimble at a time). There are lots of options here.
Option A: 2 quart stainless pails (the word ‘pail’ usually indicates that it has a bail handle). These are available from feed stores or Amazon, and are usually used for milking or for pets. They are less expensive than outdoor cook pots. A benefit to a pail over an outdoor cook pot is that they nest: small on the bottom, wide on top. This allows you to take several pots but only taking up the footprint of one. The other pots listed do not share this characteristic. This is important because you’ll be using your pot not only for cooking food, but also for purifying drinking water in the field (by boiling). Consider getting 2 or 3 of them.
• 2 quart pail.
Lids for these pails were a challenge to find for a number of years. These stainless 6″ pie plates fit them perfectly, and do double duty as a plate for eating food. They come in packages of 2.
• Stainless 6″ Pie Plate.
• Check out this short video on the Jack Mountain Pot System.
Option B: 16 cm Zebra pot. Note that multiple pots will not nest.
• Pot grabber. Useful for pouring, grabbing hot pot lids, etc. Fits inside pot for travel. MSR Pot Lifter.
• Water Bottle with wide mouth (uninsulated metal water bottles can be put directly on the stove, a bonus)
• Notebook and pen/pencil
• Bag for your gear. In order to get the right size, put all gear for a winter trip (clothes, sleeping bag, pad, footwear, notebook, reading material, toiletries, etc.) into a trash bag. Then buy a large enough bag to hold this trash bag.
Tool List
• Sharp Knife, fixed blade (non-folding) – We recommend the Frosts Mora #2 Carbon Steel, available from Ben’s Backwoods
• Axe with Sturdy Leather Sheath (no hatchets) – handle should not be shorter than 25″. Contact Pole And Paddle Canoe for old, high-quality axes.
• File (mill bastard, flat) and sharpening tool or stone
Optional Gear
• Camera (optional)
• Plastic sled for hauling your gear (optional. We have sleds for you to use, but if you have one you like, bring it)
