Edit: Wonderful information in this thread. Good work comrades! I'm proud of y'all :Care-Comrade:
Mods delete this if there's already a tip thread, but now is the time to share any information we can that can help people. I see good advice in the related threads, but I don't see one that's just dedicated to tips so I'm making this post.
Onto the tips:
If you have a tent, pitch it inside your house. It is a considerably smaller space to keep warm, and your ambient body heat will warm it.
If you don't have a tent, get bed sheets and hang them to create a "smaller room" within a room.
Sleep together in the same room with your other household members and pets. Your body heat will help warm the space.
Put your sleeping bag inside your bed and sleep inside that under blankets. Down comforters are great. Wool is great at insulating if you can deal with the itch and you aren't allergic.
Socks: Put on two pairs of socks, a warm insulating one on the inside and a thinner one on the outside. Put on your shoes (boots preferably) and pull the outer layer down over the top of your shoe. Snow will no longer fall inside your shoe. The only thing worse than cold feet is cold wet feet.
Fold newspaper into inch wide strips and pack it into anywhere cold air can seep in, like the bottom of the door. 3-4 large sheets can be taped over windows to provide extra insulation.
Layers layers layers. If you need to do any work outside peel off layers as your labor begins to warm you up. You do not want to sweat. You do not want to be wet. You can always put the layers back on.
Throw tomorrow's clothes in your bed with you to warm them up so you don't have to put on cold clothes in the morning.
Use every hour of daylight you have to prepare for the following dark. :af-heart:
AVOID SWEATING
ESPECIALLY WHEN SLEEPING
You'll want to layer it up and be as toasty as possible can so sleep sound. But the battle isn't over. If you're so warm you start sweating in your sleep you'll ruin your blankets and wake up with frosted toes, if you wake.
You'll want to ignore the damp creeping in. You just want to escape the nightmare. You don't escape in cold nights, you just survive and persevere. Day is your friend in the winter without heat not the night.
--a traumatized boyscout.
Wetness is the biggest enemy in the cold. First cold weather campout I went on was a 27 mile bike ride in a monsoon, wearing nothing but cotton (jeans and several t shirts at once bc I was fckn cold). COTTON KILLS. Cotton gets wet, stays wet, and stays cold.
Yep. Go pure wool if you can get it. Linen for underlayers next to the skin.
Had to wear fucking poly/cotton Auscam in cadets and only the vietnam-era sweater saved me a very unpleasant evening being hailed on at 0 degrees on sentry.
On the other hand an 18th century wool dress with a linen shift and a few petticoats insulates even if damp. Olds knew some things about the cold.