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Nautical Twilight: Warm Up, Eat Hot, Close the Kitchen
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Light and heat leave together. If you wait until full dark to cook, you cook cold, tired and in a hurry, and you are more likely to leave food out or skip cleanup. A hot meal and a dry layer before the chill sets in make the rest of the night easier. Red light matters because white light hurts your night vision. If you want to see the stars later, protect your eyes now.
Examples of gear this phase leans on, named as examples and not as a promise about any brand. A packable insulating blanket: the Series features the Rumpl Travel Puffy blanket as a layer you can wear over your shoulders at the stove and use again in camp. Dehydrated meals: the Series features Bowl & Kettle and WildBatch, which need only hot water. Basics: a stove and fuel you have tested, a pot, a spork, a headlamp with a red mode, a bear-resistant food container if your area requires one, and a dry wool or synthetic mid layer.
Never cook inside a tent. Stoves can start fires and produce carbon monoxide in enclosed spaces. Food and scent storage rules differ by area. In bear country some places require approved canisters or lockers. Check current rules with the managing agency. If you start shivering and cannot stop, get out of the wind, add dry layers, eat and drink something warm and sweet, and get help if you do not warm up. Check the label on your dehydrated meal for cook time, water amount and allergens.
6 to 12 degrees below the horizon
About 30 to 60 minutes after sunset
The horizon is fading, the air is cooling and your body has stopped getting free heat from the day. This phase is about three things: build a warm barrier, get a hot meal in, and shut the kitchen down cleanly so camp is quiet for the night.
LIGHT DISCIPLINE
[ ] Switch to Red Light: set your headlamp to its red mode now, before you need it
[ ] Tell your camp mates, so everyone drops to red together
[ ] Keep white light for emergencies and for tasks where you need the detail
WARMTH (thermal body barrier)
[ ] Dry Wool Layer: change into a dry insulating layer before you cool down, not after
[ ] Put on a warm hat and dry socks
[ ] Add an insulating layer or blanket over your shoulders while you cook and eat
[ ] Keep damp clothes out of your sleeping area
[ ] Sit on a pad, not bare ground
HOT MEAL
[ ] 600-Calorie Hot Meal: cook something warm and filling while there is still some light and some heat in your body
[ ] Drink something warm and non-alcoholic with it
[ ] Eat early. A fed body makes heat all night
KITCHEN SHUTDOWN AND HYGIENE
[ ] Wash up away from water sources, using the distance the official guidance for your area sets
[ ] Strain food bits from dish water and pack them out
[ ] Bear Scent Seal: seal food, trash, toiletries and anything that smells in the approved storage for your area
[ ] Wipe down the cooking surface and your hands
[ ] Brush teeth and handle toiletries away from the tent, then store the toothpaste with the food
[ ] Pack out all trash, including food scraps
[ ] Do a last sweep of camp with the red light: any wrapper, utensil or crumb left out?
6 to 12 degrees below the horizon