>>2738047mega dump of tips and things ive learned over the years with my interest in cold weather activities. Many winter ice climbing and extended trips in the Rockies and Midwest had me learn tricks and things to consider when recreating in the cold.
-Extra consideration in redundancy
Winter brings many more challenges towards your gear in contrast to easy weather trips. Batteries lose efficiency as die out quick, Condensation soaks and freezes over your down bag over every night, the sun bounces off your eyes blinding you without sunglasses, butane mix canisters freeze to the ground, barely light, and spit little fuel, trails get buried under snow and accurate navigation proves difficult, drinking water freezes and your filter too. As with all risk management assessments, its up to the individual to consider challenges that they might face and what to do to combat them. Typically the choice of added redundancy adds weight on your back ie, an extra headlamp/battery, a bivvy bag to go over your down bag. It is just a good idea to think about what you need to absolutely work when something goes wrong.
-Stoves
While multi-fuel stoves are a really attractive choice for winter activities, If you don't already have one they can be really expensive and heavy, not to mention a faff sometimes with pressure valves and cleaning jets. In most cases if you are gonna be boiling water under 13k'ish feet or not insanely cold temps (below -0f) you can use your regular canister stove with you with some caveats. A microregulator is neigh essential to have the stove spit out a good amount of BTU's. Your canisters should be warm to prevent the fuel from freezing, you can help this process by putting them in a small dish of your drinking water, using a piece of copper strapped to the canister and heated by the stove itself (look this up), or simply keeping it in your clothing system. And if you got dosh to spend, check out the msr reactor, absolutely insane efficiency
