I have a set of Toyo's AT's on the truck and with 35000 miles on them. I plan on doing some winter camping. With the possibility of deep snow is it recommended to drop the air pressure down some for better traction?

 

Dropping pressure is not going to make difference on snow.
Putting chains will. In emergency even piece of rope tied around the tire via wheel spoke is a big help.

 

Yes, dropping air pressure to the point where you are unloading the lugs will help in deep snow (depends on the snow-pack), ice = not dropping pressure as you want the ice to stay in the siping so they "stick" to the road. Either way....chains will do wonders. If you get chains don't bother dropping pressure. If you don't get chains...be sure not to drop pressure too much unless you have the means of filling them back up ( I drop mine to 22lbs. E rated) as driving on hardball with too low pressure will put you all over the road!

 

If it is packed snow yes air down will help just be careful not to go down to far. If it is fresh snow on top of road don't air down as you want your tires to cut down through not float


Chains are your best bet! Buy V-bar heavy duty ones if you can but even what I call "disposable" (ones bought at gas stations in states where chains required) will help tremendously. Test fit them before you go and know how to put them on.

Make sure to pack a shovel or two one can be a show shovel but one should be a square long handles digging shovel to get through packed snow.

Throw a couple bags of sand, gravel, kitty litter in for traction if you need it

Bag of salt can always help

I always keep two three foot long 2x10 with shingles nailed to both sides and ends cut at 45s in my truck in the winter great for shoving under a tire to get traction. (one trick to use with them is use one as base to jack up tire then slide other under tire lower jack and put second board in front of first.)

I always keep a strap and my high lift jack in my truck to use as a come-along or grab a 4 ton one and throw in it is amazing sometimes what just a little bit of pull can get you.


Hard to tell ya how to drive some snow slow and steady works and some snow you gotta "move it, move it"

Just remember there can be stuff hidden under snow like stumps, downed trees, rocks, ditches.


If your spare tire is underneath take it out and throw it in the back in case you need it sucks having to crawl in snow under truck.

 

Thanks to all the advise. I sure hope I will not need it. My little boy (11) and I have been camping in the summer for a few years now and he loves the time (just the guys) we spend together. This year he heard somewhere on TV I guess that winter camping is fun so here we go. Wish us luck.

 

Live up here in the snow and the cold and go camping all winter if you need any cold weather camping advise just ask.

 

I didn't know where to ask.
OK then has anyone have any good winter camping advice?
Keep warm is a good one I know, any others?

 

A couple good sources for your winter camping experience:

Backpacker Magazine has a seve part series on the topic at:
Backpacker Magazine - Beginner's Guide to Winter Camping: A Four Part Series

The Boy Scouts of America have a program called "Okpik" that goes into great detail on skills for winter camping. A link to an overview is at:
http://www.bsa.scouting.org/filestor...athercmpR1.ppt

The key....stay dry, hydrated and have fun!

 

I always keep a dozen or so road flairs with me. They work very well for starting a warming fire in an emergency situation.

While sleeping outdoors especially in the winter good insulation between you in the ground is the key to a good nights sleep.

If you are in a very snowy environment be sure to have sunglasses/tinted snow goggles...snow glare car burn your eyes as bad as ark welding.

sunblock, chapstick and be sure to stay hydrated. It's easy to forget to keep hydrated when it is cold out but camping in the snow can be 10X the work of fair weather camping so water intake is that much more important.

When setting up a tent/shelter in a snowy enviroment be sure to check the overhead area. Large chunks of ice or snow falling from the tree you set your tent up under can ruin a trip and be pretty hazardous.

If you are in very deep snow watch out for "tree wells" they are the area around the base of the tree that stays dry. Last year there was a snowboarder that went headfirst in to a tree well and suffocated because he couldn't get out.

if you are in an un familiar area watch out for hidden water, IE a pond that has frozen over and then had snow drift across it, looks just like open ground until you fall through.

If you do get wet get dry as fast as you can. You are better off buck naked and dry wrapped in a blanket than soaking wet in wet cloths wrapped in the same blanket.

If you are remote snow camping always err on the side of caution and build in as large a safety margin as possible.

Hope that help's and doesn't scare you off, winter camping is a BLAST but the old boy scout motto of "always prepared" is that much more important due to the potentially harsh environment.

 

all of the above is great but I have to add: firearm, as you never know and for heat at night what we do is take a rock from around the campfire (hot) and wrap it in a towel and put it inside your sleeping bag (at feet) and you will be toasty till morning. Did that every winter while camping in snow,it works

 

LOL!! good point..I laugh because I forgot to mention it. For me it is like wearing a watch

my morning checklist is wedding wing, pocketknife, watch,wallet, S&W .40, blackberry

 

Watch out for exploding rocks though! I've camped for years, and finally ran across some!

 

Firearm. We live in Canada. Personal firearms are prohibited. This question has arisen whenever I visit family in the states. Up here in Canada, there is maybe a dozen civilians that are licensed to car a personal firearm. We gave up the right to carry hand guns long ago. Here in Canada if someone breaks into your home late at night you are only aloud to use reasonable force to protect yourself and or family. That's it. Not property. If the thief even trips on his way out with your stuff because of an unsafe walking area he could bring a law suite against you.

The stone idea sounds good though.

 

we get the lawsuits too when these idiots hurt themselves while committing a crime, senseless. But a trick is, after you shoot em place a second gun in their hand, self defense

 

Right on Hank