What follows covers how we test, how the site is paid for, and the limits of what any write-up here can tell you.
Last updated 1 September 2026.
Safety comes first, and it is not a formality
Cold, fire and sharp tools injure people every winter. Nothing on this site replaces training, judgement, or the ability to turn back.
Hypothermia does its worst damage above freezing, in wet and windy conditions, to people who thought the temperature sounded manageable. A shelter that held for us on a still night at -14°F can fail at 34°F in rain and wind. Build up gradually, tell somebody your plan, carry a way to call for help, and treat every number here as a reading from one specific night rather than a promise about yours.
- Open flame inside any shelter carries a carbon monoxide risk. A stove needs a working flue and a detector, and neither one makes it safe to sleep beside an unattended fire.
- Cutting tools cause most of the injuries in camp craft, usually while somebody is tired and working with a dull edge in poor light.
- You are responsible for the legality of what you build and burn. Rules on cutting material, campfires and dispersed camping differ by parcel and change with fire conditions.
How reliable are the numbers here?
Everything published here comes from nights we spent outside. It also comes from one region, two people and a limited number of trips.
Sixty-one documented overnights is enough to notice patterns and far too few to be a study. We have no control group, we cannot repeat a night’s weather, and our sample leans heavily toward dry cold in mixed hardwood and spruce. Where a finding rests on a small number of nights we say how many. Treat the numbers as observations that are honestly recorded, not as results that have been verified independently.
Who pays for this site?
We buy our own gear. Nobody pays for coverage here, and nobody sees an article before it publishes.
No manufacturer, retailer or agency has paid for a mention, a placement or a review on this site. If a piece of equipment ever arrives free of charge, the write-up says so in its first paragraph, and we say whether it went back. If a link ever earns us a commission, that will be marked in the sentence containing the link rather than buried in a page footer. As of the date above, no such links exist here.
Corrections
We correct in place and leave a record. Quietly editing a wrong number is worse than having published it.
When something here turns out to be wrong, the page is fixed and a line is added saying what changed and when. If you think you have found an error, write to Maren Aho at [email protected] with your reasoning. We will either publish a correction or explain why we are standing by the original.
Outside links and photographs
We link out only to sources we have actually used, mostly government weather and land management material. We do not control those pages and are not responsible for what they say later. All photographs on this site are ours, and reuse requires permission, which you can ask for at the address above.