Occupy Iowa braces for icy winter

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald-AP

DES MOINES, Iowa — Add another concern for Occupy Wall Street protesters in Des Moines and Iowa City — an icy Iowa winter.

In Des Moines, up to two dozen people have camped most nights at a park about two blocks from the Capitol. As overnight temperatures dip into the low 30s, protesters have bundled up in coats, hats and gloves. Some have surrounded their tents in layers of cardboard, hay bales, trash bags filled with leaves and tarps.

Protesters say they're committed to staying in the park to draw attention to their concerns.

In Iowa City, about a dozen protesters camp out each night.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20111030/NEWS01/710309893#occupy-iowa-braces-for-icy-winter

[Dover]

1. silk undies and space blankets too.

Space blankets should be against the skin for best results.

the mylar sleeping bags placed inside a regular sleeping bag work well.
http://www.nitro-pak.com/products/emergency-preparedness/shelter/space-blankets


best way to use - http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_SpaceBlankets.htm

[SpiralHawk]

2. Straw bales work well

been there done that.

Also, in a pinch, a tip from the Great Depression era that my GrandHawk taught me: if you are caught outside then ball up newspaper and stuff it in your pants and your shirt -- it is a great insulator against the deadly cold of the night. Never had to use that strategy, but dear olde GrandHawk - now gone to the Big Nest in the Sky -- swore it works good...

[Warpy]

3. It does. Used it when I was caught in an early winter in Boston

with a North Carolina "winter" coat and the real thing on layaway and several payments from being bailed out.

It's not attractive, I looked like I was wearing a fat suit, but it works.

Wintering hard is something else. Insulating yourself from the ground at night is the real problem. Should they remain outside here in central NM, I'll probably pay a visit to the camping store at some point and be Santa Claus to one of them.