Travis Olander 12.20.22
You’ve simply completed an hours-long ruck up a path. The day was heat, however night time’s coming. Now it’s surprisingly chilly, and also you’re exhausted. A small fireplace warmed your digits, however now it’s time to relaxation. You lay out your sleeping bag in your tent, anticipating some relaxation. Ten minutes in, you notice it: The the freeze got here again to chunk you.
So many new hikers and campers have suffered the destiny of poor sleeping preparation for chilly temperatures, even in the summertime months: Not getting a bag that’s rated for the climate. Not utilizing the fitting sleeping pad. Over-compressing the sleeping bag, ruining the insulation. Placing your tent immediately atop moist floor.
The record goes on.
Today, we’re masking find out how to not freeze your buns off while you’re tenting. Let’s go over shopping for (and appropriately utilizing) a correct cold-weather sleeping setup.
Sleeping Bag Temp Ratings are Bogus
Bag temperature scores contribute most to any campers’ chilly, depressing sleep. That’s as a result of sleeping bag temperature scores are usually not standardized — at the least not within the U.S. Europe developed the EN 13537 Test. Even nonetheless, too many unknown elements trigger many campers to purchase a bag that simply doesn’t present the required heat.
Buy a Bag That’s “Too Warm”
The logic is easy, right here: You can’t fabricate further layers out of skinny air. But you possibly can at all times take away layers to chill off. If you’re a comparatively new camper or hiker who’s pissed off after spending hours researching sleeping techniques, simply hold it easy:
Buy a Sleeping Bag that’s Overrated
If you understand the common midnight temperature of your campsite goes to fall to 25 or 30 levels (F), purchase a 15-degree bag. If the temperatures can be within the teenagers, purchase a 0-degree or subzero bag.
The Rocky Mountain hiker scripting this information spent years sleeping on freezing, snow-covered mountains in Pennsylvania, and he slept on icy OPs as an artillery Forward Observer. I communicate from private expertise.
Below 32 (F)? Get Goose Down. Period.
Sleeping baggage are available in two flavors of insulation: Goose down, and artificial fiber. You can spend hours studying guides and comparisons about all sleeping bag supplies, however let’s hold it easy as soon as once more: If you’re tenting in above-freezing temperatures, an artificial bag will hold your snug. But in the event you’re sleeping in temperatures at or under freezing, you desire a goose-down bag. Period. Again, this author speaks from years of private expertise.
Goose down baggage aren’t good, after all: Overcompressing them can damage the insulation inside. They can by no means get moist, or they change into ineffective. You can also’t actually wash and dry them. They’re expertise, too.But for all its drawbacks, a goose-filled sleeping bag is the one sort of bag that may actually hold you comfortably heat in freezing temperatures.
Goose Bags have Fill Ratings. The increased the fill, the costlier the bag. These aren’t hard-n’-fast guidelines, however common pointers for what fill ranking to search for based mostly on the temps:
- 30 to 40 levels (F): 400+ fill
- 20 to 30 levels (F): 500+ fill
- 10 to twenty levels (F): 600+ fill
- 0 to 10 levels (F)+ 800+ fill
- Subzero temps (F): 1,000+ fill
I’ve suffered by way of quite a lot of nights within the Allegheny National Forest, in winter, attempting to not freeze with an artificial bag that was speculated to work at 0-degrees. If bulk and weight aren’t a priority, then an enormous, fluffy, double-layered cotton and flannel bag also can get the job accomplished for a fraction of the worth of a goose bag. Just know that lugging certainly one of these snug behemoths (just like the ALPS Redwood Bag) goes to take up further house.
A Good Sleep System Just Isn’t Cheap
This is the unlucky reality: A sleeping that’ll hold you snug and will let you get correct relaxation merely gained’t spare some change. If you propose on in a single day mountain climbing or tenting wherever with temperatures under 40 levels (F), it is best to anticipate to spend at the least $200 on a sleeping bag.
You’ll want to stay to some respected manufacturers: Marmot, Big Agnes, Mountain Equipment, Kelty, The North Face, or some good ole’ US Army surplus baggage will get you there. Notice we mentioned sleep system, not bag, as a result of there are different important parts you’ll want to make sure you don’t freeze.
Get a Bag Liner and a Sleeping Pad
Even a $900, goose-down, NASA-engineered sleeping bag will wrestle to maintain your heat in the event you simply lay it out on unfastened, soggy filth. A sleeping pad offers a small however necessary barrier between you and frostbite. All night time lengthy, the bottom you’re resting on acts like a warmth sink. A pad insulates in opposition to this impact, guaranteeing your physique warmth stays in your sleeping bag, as an alternative of going to the worms.
Sleeping pads are comprised of closed-cell foam, or they’re made to inflate. Foam pads are cheaper, lighter, and simpler to hold. But they don’t carry out in addition to an air pad. Air pads present excessive R-values (excessive insulation), however they’ll puncture, and so they’re costlier.
Which sort of pad ought to I get?
For tenting above freezing temperatures, you possibly can keep comfortable with a foam pad. But for something under freezing, we suggest getting an air pad.
What about sleeping a bag liner?
More simplicity: Get a Thermolite liner. Anything comprised of silk or cotton tends to trigger sweat, which is the enemy of fine sleep. Thermolite is a polyester, breathable fiber that some synthetic-filled sleeping baggage are made from.
A superb liner can add ast 10 to fifteen levels’ price of efficiency to any bag. They’re nice for sleepers that suffer from chilly toes, and so they add a bit of additional padding. Many hot-weather hikers even use a standalone liner as an ultralight sleeping bag.
A Good Tent is Important, Too
Like a sleeping pad, a tent insulates in opposition to the open air and traps warmth. Check out our overview of ALPS Mountaineering’s 1- and 2-person tents to your subsequent cold-weather expedition.
