Sleep Warm While Camping
worrying about staying warm while camping in one of the most common concerns I hear expressed by my friends and family. Usually it is the girls in my family that bring up the topic because they are the ones smart enough to ask the question while the men all protect their egos and silently but attentively wait for the answer. What everyone has in common though: No one likes to be cold.
I will cover appropriate clothing and layering systems for daytime activities in another article but here we are going to focus on how to stay warm while sleeping.
Being cold is one of the quickest killers of fun there is. Being cold while trying to sleep is just miserable. Fortunately it is easy to ensure you and everyone in your party will be plenty warm and comfortable while they sleep. Just do a little planning and following a few a simple routines.
Sleeping Bag
The key to choosing the right sleeping bag is that it is the proper temperature rating for the conditions. Sleeping bags are commonly referred to as Summer, Three Season, or Winter bags, but they will all have a temperature rating associated with them. Sleeping bags are rated for a normal range of temperatures and / or a lower limit. These temperature ratings are the average lowest temperatures a person can expect to stay warm in.
EN Ratings – The European (an most common) standard for sleeping bag ratings
• “Comfort rating” – is the lowest temperature at which the bag will keep the average woman or “cold sleeper” comfortable.
• “Lower-limit rating”- is the lowest temperature at which the bag will keep a man or “warm sleeper” comfortable.
The EN rating is meant to be used as a guideline only. Campers need to use good judgement based on their particular needs when choosing a sleeping bag.
In general, if you are summer camping and do not expect any cold temperatures, a “Summer” bag rated to 55 or 45 degrees will do you fine. If you are in any doubt about the temperatures however, or if you plan to use the same bag during the shoulder seasons, a “Three Season” will be the most versatile.
PJs
When sleeping bags are (EN) tested and assigned their temperature ratings, it is assumed that the user will be wearing at least one layer of personal clothing (and be on a sleeping pad). This is usually a set of top and bottom thermals or long-johns. This insulating layer works on the same principle as your sleeping bag; by holding warm air close to the surface of your body. Not only will this layer help keep you warm but it also acts as a physical barrier between you and the inner liner. Having this barrier helps to reduce soiling and prevents body oils from saturating the bag fibers and reducing thermal efficiency.
If you know you are a particularly cold sleeper or if you are using a sleeping bag that is a little under-rated for the conditions, throw on a puffy jacket or other warm piece of clothing that you have with you. Each additional layer you wear will help trap body heat closer to your skin and keep you warmer. Wool and synthetic clothing items work best for this because of their warmth and moisture wicking properties. On really cold (<20°F) winter camping trips I will frequently wear a puffy jacket to supplement my down sleeping bag (15°F Bag) and sleep toasty warm all through the night.
Insulating Layer
The ground is typically colder than your body and will act like a giant heat sink, drawing heat away from your body at any point it contacts. When you are in your sleeping bag, any part of your body that contacts the ground will be collapsing the insulation within the sleeping bag and making it ineffective. To prevent these contact points from bleeding out heat it is important to sleep on an insulating layer between you and the ground. This is most commonly a ground pad but mattresses and elevated costs can work as well. Just beside that if you are on a cot and the air is cold, that you have an insulating layer between you and the cot mesh.
Hydrate
To stay worm in any condition your body must first produce heat. If your body is not producing enough heat, no amount of insulation will be comforting. A key component to human metabolism (and heat production) is hydration. It may seem counter intuitive, but drinking sufficient water to avoid dehydration will boost your metabolism and increase body temperature.
Eat
The other component of metabolism that we can influence is diet. Eating enough food throughout the day and consuming additional calories prior to bedtime can also encourage increased metabolism and body heat production. Consider a warm beverage and lite snack before bedtime.
Exercise
Time for those sit ups you have been avoiding! Ok, lets not go crazy but physical activity can help you get off to a good nights sleep.
People commonly go on (more) short hikes during the day when they are camping. These campers also find sometimes that there legs produce significantly more heat during the night than usual. This is because the increased daily activity has increased blood flow and metabolism in the leg muscles that you can feel while you are resting. This same phenomenon can be used to assist in your sleep. A few sit ups or some other physical activity for a minute or two can help warm you up before you slip into your bag for the evening.
Warm Water Bottles
One trick for particularly cold sleepers or for people who have reduced circulation in their feet is to preheat a water bottle or two and put it in the foot-box of their sleeping bag. This secondary source of heat can help get the sleeper’s sleeping bag up to temperature sooner and warm any cool extremities.
Watch Outs!
The Camp Fire
One of the biggest watch outs, especially when sleeping outside is being too close to the campfire. While the radiant heat is extremely comforting on a cool night, flying and cracking embers are plenty hot enough to cause burns to your face or melt holes in your nylon sleeping bag. You may stay worm for a night, but you might also wake up with a sleeping bag that resembles Swiss cheese.
Sweating
Don’t sweat. Besides making you feel clams and uncomfortable, sweating can put you at risk of being colder later in the evening. Sweat is like any other moisture in that it will pull heat away from your body while at the same time reducing the insulating properties of the sleeping bag. If you start off the night sweating because it is a bit warmer, by the late evening and early morning (when the temperature will be its lowest) you will likely get chilled because you are wet. Regulate your body temperature by removing your hood or unzipping the sleeping bag enough to stay comfortable while not overheating.
Touching the Tent
Another common mistake while sleeping is being too close to the walls of the tent. Condensation commonly collects on the inner walls of a tent and direct contact will transfer the moisture to your sleeping bag. Not only will the bag become soggy but the moisture present will reduce the thermal efficiency fo the bag and create cold spots.
Rain and Moisture
Both synthetic and down insulation are effected by moisture. While synthetic insulation will retain some of its heat retention properties, down insulation will retain almost none. Regardless, neither insulation will perform anywhere close to their normal ratings when wet. Always consider expected weather and avoid getting any part of your sleeping bag wet. If moisture does become present, set your bag out to dry during the day before the next nights sleep.
Conclusion
Staying warm while sleeping is of vital importance to enjoying any outdoor camping trip. Follow the advice above and always error on the side of being too warm than being too cold. It is far easier to unzip a bag a little or take an extra layer off than it is to fight the cold once the chill has already got you.