10:17 - One of the reasons Justin's channels are among best out there. I'm sure the ego of many other's wouldn't let them include things that don't go well. Justin, as usual, keeps it real and human. Combine that with his top-notch presentation of information, opinion and tips = A+.

I Winter camp alone because no one wants to camp with me. (I live in Alaska, I last camped and hiked 2 days ago, 2 F) I have a tent with no heat, not a cabin with a bed or a trailer. To me, that is a home, not camping. I hike in, I don't drive. I come to enjoy nature. That is a breathtakingly gorgeous hike you went on. Love your videos! I'm 62, I like to relax on my days off in the back country. Bless you for only carrying 16 lbs. I practically half bury my tent in the snow, like you I use snow pegs (4) and then some more traditional pegs. I carry an avalanche shovel in my pack. I use solid fuel cubes. Lights easily. ALso carry some cotton balls I put sanitizer or Vaseline on which starts a fire quick.Thank you for telling us who makes your things and why they are innovative.

Burning propane on your hands probably isn't the best way to warm them up, but I guess it works. Glad you didn't get hurt!

The pink spoon sarcasm/humor in these videos is a hilarious signature to your videos! 🤣

Justin: uses 3-season gear in -30C Me: uses 4 season winter sleeping bag in summer haha

Brilliant idea to quickly unhook from a deadman anchor! It's one of those "why didn't I think of that" moments lol.

Great video! I always enjoy seeing the different gear you bring on your adventures. 👍

You can use a small one pound propane canister with a lindall adapter to use on your isobutyl camping stove. Canister little heavier but will burn at minus 35 without any issues. Better than white gas also because it's fool proof. Your fuel system is the most important survival item so it's worth a little extra weight. They are great. Appreciate your video lots of information. Thank you.

That's pretty much how I winter camp haha! Except I don't go to -28c 🥶 -20 is my limit. Thanks for showing us how you do it, and the beautiful winter landscapes of the rockies!

I am loving your winter backpacking content. I had my older MSR WindPro back to their elf shop to convert to inverted but I am liquid fuel stoves for Wyoming-Montana cold weather use. I did try the tipi tarp and good bivy sack for some time but went four season tent finally in snow country. For solo I use a Black Diamond First Light. Four stars as the big con is length. 74” max for finding a wide, regular four season pad and is near impossible. Keep it up and stay the course on with your transparency on what works and what doesn’t.

Now this is winter! Not the rainy 5°C mess we have here in northern Germany! Beautiful! :)

Good video, I like how you shared everything including the things that don’t go well.

That is a really pretty place to winter camp. I use the Soto stove. One of the advantages of the Soto stove is the flame will not do that big flame thing when you light your stove in cold weather. Happy and safe camping!

Decathlon has a lot of really good stuff. They aren't suitable for extreme camping but if you are beginner to intermediate it's probably perfect for you. I have a lightweight tent and sleeping equipment from them and I love them. I also have been wearing the same hunting clothes from them for 4 years and they look almost brand new.

Good video! Thanks for sharing the great scenery and showing us what new gear you are using.

Great video! I’ve been looking for ways to lighten my winter gear. I might try some of these. I’m definitely sticking with the x therm though

Great video, views and experience. Here in Yakutia, some nomads uses tipis, the walls are made of reindeer fur and the floor is usually wood boards with carpets or fur. And we have a wood stove inside. But of course you would need reindeers to carry all that material. Otherwise I know some people who camped with a tent exactly like you in -50C but I think their sleeping bad was rated for very cold temperatures.

So cool! My friend and I are heading out this week for the first time. Your videos were very helpful!

-30 is quite a beast. Last winter I had to quit middle of the night, my hammock system just couldn't keep me warm at -30 in the swiss alps.

I'm doing a winter trip myself in a few weeks with mostly 3 season gear so I was glad to see you demo how it can work! Weather shouldn't get quite as cold where I'm going but below freezing is expected. Great video as always!

Thanks for keeping it real! Another great video Justin.

Awesome vid, went to the extremes on gear and remained completely honest. Thanks again Justin!

Another cold quest in the Rockies Justin great vid I know here in Golden we are getting hammer by snow great snowshoeing in the Bleaberry area. Keep up with the informative equipment revues and the awesome locations cheers.

Great content. Beautiful scenery. Good Dialogue. Thanks for sharing.

Very interesting video. Thank you for sharing. But what calculation do you do to get the temperature (limit or confort ? ) of your two combined sleeping bags ?

Cool! From experience i know that the rubber hose inside the metal sleeve of the burner does melt when heated enough. So its good to keep that away from the flames :)

Tip; let the gas heat in the pre-heat tube before you flip the canister upside down. It'll take a couple minutes depending on temperature, but let it get the pre-heat tube warm first, and then slowly flip it upside-down. When you turn it, the liquid rushes faster and can lead to some nasty accidents if not done properly. Kudos for including it, but I saw in other videos too that you started the burner with the canister upside down, which is *not* recommended. Not all remote canister stoves are designed to do this, this depends on the regulator used. Be careful guys!

You probably know this as well as your viewers, but I have five remote canister stoves and found out by similar experience what happened to you in that flare up. Even in warm temperatures if the canister is held or placed higher than the burner it will flare since it is receiving liquid butane. Especially if the canister is inverted like it appears what happened in your instance. I always shake the canister before attaching to hose connection to help mix the liquid with pressurized air. Then make sure I am paying attention to place the canister down on the ground before ignition. If the temperature is cold I ignite burner on low then after seeing it is steady burn I will slowly invert the canister to gauge if it is going to flare or burn steady. I realize in your conditions of cold and filming sometimes you can't do what you know is correct always. I hope this may help one of your viewers and am glad you didn't have a serious burn on your hand or nice jacket. Stay safe and love your enthusiasm for cold weather camping.

Great video Justin. That was a close call with your stove. Glad you showed the mishap

Thank you for your content! I made also some bad experiences with my sleeping mat; one was a cheap self inflating mat, where the R-Value wasn´t as pretended to be, so I tried the Klymate Insulated Static V Lux but I was also freezing on it so I finally bought the Exped Dura8 which is quiet warm. I also had a cheap light tent for an overnight on a mountain and it was very frustrating to build this tent up on windy conditions because of its thin and noisy fabric so I bought a Samaya Assault 2 8K tent, which is perfect for winter time and handles condensation very well; also on stormy wind conditions!

Great tips, Justin, thanks. ^5 I use plastic grocery bags on my head, hands and feet, and layer regular blankets and/or sleeping bags with lawn bags and a mylar blanket for nighttime heat retention. With that and my balaclava, boot socks and jersey work gloves, I usually wake up toasty warm.

Loving the snow-ness, from my 15 degrees C rainy island! Edit: and can we talk about -30 Deg C, holy heck.

You have a good skinning technique. Too many people pick their skis up to move them forward, rather than just leave them on the snow, and slide/push them forward. 👏👏👊🏻

No words are needed for this....Just 😍

Great video. Looking forward to winter camping. Cheers from Norway 🙂👍

I did the same when I first started my MSR DRAGONFLY stove. I lit mine in my apartment in the kitchen on the counter. I soon realized that I need to prime it slowly first. I had a 3 foot flame. Lesson learned.

I think it is really important to test ypur gear step by step. I feel like you should never only rely on the ratings given but rather test your gear to really find your personal limits. Thanks Justin for the video!

1. Don’t skimp on your sleeping pad. I’ve done a bivy in Golden, BC in Christmas and been cold sleeping on a regular NeoAir with a -40 Marmot CWM. (Old Marmot Bags, stay away from Marmot now they sold to a large conglomerate and the quality sucks, check out Western Mountaineering instead) But I’ve also taken a 15 degree Marmot Helium down to -20 in a Bibler Bivy with a RidgeRest and 2.5 Inch Thermarest original comfort wearing my belay jacket and puffy pants. Lesson there is, you can always add a layer from your kit to compensate for insulation from a lightweight sleeping bag, but there really is nothing you can do to compensate for heat loss through the ground other than having a sleeping pad/s with enough R value. 2. Liquid fuel stoves are the ONLY way to go for winter use, to prevent the issues you experienced and because of energy density. Boil times take much longer in winter and melting snow uses tons of fuel, making the energy density of liquid fuel a must. 3. Ultralight in the winter is stupid and dangerous. If you want to play with a new kit do it close your vehicle. Insulation is light but bulky. There is no point in risking safety to brag about saving a few cubic inches, ounces, or even pounds. 4. Those skis are built for approaching ice climbs. Get yourself some proper skis and also some proper double boots. With double boots you can sleep with the liners inside your sleeping bag, but off your feet, keeping them warm and drying them out overnight. That’s my too cents, but I admire your channel and zeal for the cold. Winter camping is truly special. The stars are beautiful and the cold brings with it a quite serenity. I don’t always agree on your philosophy though. I prefer less items and less complicated setups. For instance a single -40 below bag is better than 2 bags/quilts IMO. A few of your kit videos seem overly complicated, such as your -40 sleeping system. I can do that with 4 items. Closed cell foam, Xtherm, sleeping bag, bivy or tent. A tent being my preferred item because it add warmth and shelter. Check out the Hilliberg Staika. It’s amazing for winter camping and the double wall handles condensation really well and adds warmth to the system. It’s also super easy to set up. It is expensive though. The Soulo is the single person version of the same tent. The design is absolutely bomb proof.

I just got lanshan 1and 2! Excited to try them both out! Next I’ll step up to this tent 👍💛

I spotted the Firemaple Blade 2 stove before you actually said that it's the one. I have it too, so it was easy to spot. I didn't have a chance to test it in really cold conditions yet, so I would appreciate if you have a time to tell more about it and its performance during winter 😊 BTW. Glad that firing up the stove didn't end up with some injuries. Stay safe and always remember: safety first! 🙏

Awesome channel. I like the fact that you mix and match top and supposedly low end gear. Sometimes the 'cheaper' stuff surprises.

Awesome trip! I’ve never slept in anything colder than about -14 degrees c (about 7 degrees F) but I did use a 3/4 length summer thermarest trail light sleeping pad with two foam mats under it, and I was a bit too warm in a 3-season sleeping bag with a down insert sleeping bag (that I use as a stand-alone sleeping bag when it’s 40 Degree F (4.4 degrees C) or above.

DANG that is gorgeous! Love that you thought to bring the lentils on a solo trip because they don't sit well. 🤣 Clearly you think through EVERYTHING!

You look cold AF dude, bring a hot tent next time 😂

Great video and well informed gear selection. Thanks. I put my parka and trekking pants UNDER my mattress in winter for extra R value. I can sleep at -20 F. on a 5.3 R value REI Flash insulated air mattress and a -20 F.down mummy in a Tarptent Moment DW or Notch Li solo tents. My "camp parka" is a -30 F.Eddie Bauer Peak XIV DWR treated down parka. #1 on the Fire Maple BLADE 2 with its vaporizing tube beside the burner.It's just like my MSR Whisperlite Universal but a LOT lighter and still very well made. (BTW, the pain "BLADE" does NOT have the vaporizing tube necessary for inverted canister cold weather cooking.)

Oj mate, randomly wanted to express positive message about your channel! I feel like me and others can relate to your videos and personality much more as most items are really affordable, you sometimes catch on fire or get small frostbite while enjoying your hobby! Other channels are cool too with their grampa style bushcraft or super wigwams with installed house appliances. However, if i wanted to go our there and needed some tips - i would watch your videos. We had -25C for a few days recently and i cant imagine getting down to sleep outside without thinking if i gonna still wake up, haha. For me i can get clothes and boots and other things that keep me warm, but cant imagine how it is possible to breathe that cold air without getting angina the next day.

Hello, great video, thanks! Could you please tell us where it was shot?

Came for a couple of gear vids and stayed for the camping vids, great channel.. just subbed and will spend a few days binging lol

Great Video, Justin! We get the same temps in Labrador! it hit -33c no wind (lol) With the Canister so lucky there, it happen to me with my MSR liquid stove, the pump froze. So I changed i know use with the same stove you got. is Ultra Flame Propane 100%, it fits on the stove and on my spider stove too.No more flare ups just a nice easy burn should try one there new in Canadian Tire. Great Video

It look so beautiful on the way there but yet so intimidating.

Wow dude good thing you’re surrounded by snow! Glad you’re not hurt!

Looks like you forgot to put the pink spoon between you and the ground in order to stay warm. Glad to see your were safe though :) Since you found the Altaplex to be a bit too small for a winter trip, do you think your X-Mid 2P would be a good alternative for an ultralight winter camping trip?

Facebook ad cut in mid fire just to add that extra layer of drama for me 🤣 glad you are ok. Defo looked like a cold one. Pink spoons for the win!

such beautiful scenarie

Justin, if you are looking for a challenge for next summer...how about biking from Calgary to Vancouver. I am not super young, but I am willing to be a camera equipment mule. Anyways, can't hurt to offer...love your work.

Loved that you showed a cheap way to upgrade 3 season gear to 4 season!

great video thanks for sharing

Good tips to use 3-season equipment, with some additions. I have to test that.

Great video!!

Mad props

Some great real world testing!!

This video convinced me to get an Xtherm instead of an Xlite. Even though temps never get that cold where I am, they can still get pretty cold and I don’t know where I’m going to want to go on adventures in the future. Since I’m going with a one pad year round setup I prefer to just have the peace of mind that the Xtherm offers.

would it be any different if you had that foam mattress from Ali underneath like you usually bring with? Or still too cold for that degree?

Good and technically competent approach for overnight in cold conditions. The use of several sleeping bags, outside the synthetic, inside the down is very true. I would advise you to wear a fleece mask with a hole for the eyes and mouth while sleep. Gas, it seems to me, is not very suitable for low temperatures. To prepare sublimated food, it can be enough, but for cooking that requires boiling may not be enough. It is better to use liquid fuel. Good to arrange a fire. It melts snow for water and warm up. I have come to spend the night at -26 Celsius. Many aspects of vital activity at such a temperature are difficult. Even go to the toilet is not so simple. Good to have a thermos. Then you can drink warm drinks in the morning without waiting until they are prepared. Best food in such conditions - soup. He does not cool so quickly. Another interesting food is a salty raw fish. Herring or salmon. In the cold, it solidifies and it turns out something like ice cream from fish. It is very tasty and unusual. Having tried in the forest, in the winter then I did at home in the refrigerator and enjoyed. In Yakutia eating ice cream crude fish, perched pieces in salt and black pepper. This is called "Stroganin". You can not fear parasites. Their larvae die during freezing.

I have the MSR WindPro 2 for inverted use -- I'm pretty sure it says to run it a while before inverting it to build up pressure or some such technical thing -- otherwise what happened to you might happen. Just an FYI. And I'm a cold sleeper, I bring out my XTherm anytime it's below 30°F, much less -30°C! I'd have frozen my butt off!

Ooooh the sound of cold dyneema is like nails on a chalkboard!

An other amazing video, where I live temp are 15 - 5 deg celcius , what rating of quilt should I get ?

I love your videos! Do you know of any low sodium backpacking meals? Thanks 🙏

Really appreciate you used cheaper gear. I just don't have $300 for a minus 20° bag and sleep mat. Was thinking of trying to layer sleeping mats. I keep some chemical hand warmers for when my gear isn't warm enough for a good sleep.

Nice point about the sleeping pads.

I feel our climate here in northern Sweden is very similar to where you are in Canada. Although we are having a very warm 7 degree weather right now and all the snow is melting, then back down to minus 20 next week haha

Seems all honnest to me Thanks .

Put that meal bag inside your jacket Justin. We call it a food baby ha ha!

Recall the feeling when you moved the foam on top of the air pad? Game changing :)

exactly how I like to winter camp, double up on quilts/bags. plus roomier shelter. two quilts, one synthetic one down married to a british army bivi. extherm mat shelter, scorpian2 snugpak tent. we don't get those dangerous low temps mind.

The Rockies in the winter are sure beautiful but boy you’re mighty brave going out in those frozen temperatures. 🥶🥶

Other than a moment ago of user error, I guess the stove worked well in the temperature? Nice scenery as usual

Glad to hear you stayed safe. Did you end up wearing the decathalon parka to sleep? Or what were your sleep clothes? I'm going to be doing the Xlite/Sitchback combo this winter in MN, but picked up the Decathalon Forclaz 100 pad to layer with them. Hoping this can mitigate some of the issues you had, but wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts. Thanks for posting such informative winter info. Its really filling a need that a lot of ultralight/lightweight backpacking youtube content is missing.

OMG I would’ve wasted $$$ if I didn’t watch you video… looks like a perfect setup for Vancouver coast & mountains!

10:18 don't worry bro that happens to me in the tropics! well minus the gloves catching on fire. That kind of fuel to stove via the tube is notorious for that.

You're lucky that it's relatively flat for avoiding avalanche ! Here in the alps it's difficult to find nice flats playgrounds :)

Great video . Not sure I’m up to sleeping on snow but that looked epic. What is that temp gauge you had.? I want to start tracking temp on my nights out so I can get confident about what works at what low temperature

Hi Justin. So I am going back and forth in your video trying to find the relevance of the titanium spoon to keep you warm? I was assuming it was some joke you were going to come back to but no, I'm lost 😂 what was that about? Atb 👍

With a year of more experience, I’m curious if you think adding a layer or reflectix under the combination of pads would have helped? Didn’t see a nalgene so I’m guessing no hot water bottle to help? How much of a difference do you think that could have made? I’m further south in the Rockies than you, and just trying to figure out what works and what’s a good backup. Thanks for the well delivered information and being willing to admit when things didn’t work the way you want/ expected. Failure teaches what success can not.

Modern backpackers may try to cook outside in cold wind or risk their lives cooking inside without a chimney using their so called 4 season equipment. Usually they are at home waiting for good weather. All over the world there are people who follow their animals living in portable shelters, not one of them cooks outside in the wind. It is impossible for anyone to survive a winter cooking every day out side with so called 4 season equipment. Using a chimney makes camping in any weather a comfortable pleasure. A tarp pitch can be the best 4 season shelter. It has to go tight to the ground on all sides and have a wood stove inside if it is going to be any good in a winter blizzard. Stove and chimney 24 ounces, shelter near 2.5 lbs. The whole outfit cannot weigh more than 5 lbs. if backpackers are going to use it. A 10’x10’ tarp only needs to be pegged on the 4 corners with as many pegs as it takes to be secure in any wind. No grommets are needed. It has cramped space for 3 cooking, lots of space 4 sleeping. The chimney can serve as one of the 40” long corner poles. Sticks that have a small nail driven in both ends (head pinched off). One end stays put on the ground, the other end through a reinforced point exactly in the corner 40” from the edges of the tarp. All sides can be raised forming an umbrella to cool off because of heat from the tiny cookstove or summer sun. This is what 4 season equipment is all about.

thank you for enduring the misery, so we don't have to 🤣

Like the budget friendly approach. But also from my experience i would never save on a warm sleeping pad

Check out the German military/sniper folding mat, I was going to get that folding z pad but the German packs better so you can actually fit it in your backpack.

Funny you post this because just last night I slept in my backyard to test my sleep system before a trip this week and I used the exact same sleeping pads as you. It was about -27 C overnight and I also felt that the sleeping pads were the weak link. I switched the foam pad to being on top about half way through the night and it was definitely an improvement, though not perfect. Any advice for how to solve this? Should I just bite the bullet and buy another foam pad, or could putting something like a fleece blanket underneath improve the R-value a little bit?

Hey Justin, I was just wondering how you store food during the wintertime. I don't live in bear country, so I don't know a lot about that. Do you store it in your tent (because the bears hibernate) or is it still better to hang the food/use an ursack/bear canister?

May I suggest Timmermade's Waterbear Balaclava Down? Pretty innovative system compared to EE's. It has a breathable synthetic tunnel that keeps warm air around your face without compromising the down. I would also encourage you to look at Gryphon Gear's Taurus hoodless bags. If you want to get really nerdy, they offer DCF liners, but even their stock options are pretty sick for ultralight winter backpacking

In those temps I would use the Etherlight XT Xtreme and still a z-lite under it... :)

I wonder how he can play geetar in that cold weather...amazing

Did you trek in with the down pants or were they just for camp and sleeping? Great video

I have quite much suspicious toward quilt in really cold conditions. I have comfort -9 celsius sleeping bag and with good wool layer I can easily sleep with that and I have warm even temperatures like -15 celsius. If the quilt leave one hole you will get cold that is my experience.

The question, how fast can you comfortably use those skis? 10-15mph? I want to get into backcountry skiing in the white mountains of new Hampshire. I am looking for recommendations for skis to skin up a small 3000ft mountain then zoom down it through an open forest

Extra bulk and weight is worth the safety and a good nights rest.

13:20. Wise words. Very important information there that not many people talk about. If you didn't have it, you would have frozen to death I'm sure. It definitely saved your life during that freezing cold night.

Very nice diligence to include all the links....

Curious.. could you use your Mylar emergency blanket under your sleeping pad to reflect back the heat?