Just realized my sleeping bag was making me cold at night

Used to think a -20 bag was all I needed for winter camping in the Rockies. Last January I froze my butt off near Evergreen even though the bag was rated fine. A guy at REI told me I was compressing the insulation by sleeping on it wrong. Now I use a foam pad underneath and it made a 15 degree difference easy. Anyone else find out their bag was way less warm because of their sleeping setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_lucas19d ago

Bought a 0 degree bag a few years back and thought I was set for winter trips in Colorado. First night out near Leadville I was shivering all night. Turns out I was just using a thin foam pad and the ground cold was soaking right through. Picked up a thick inflatable pad with an R value over 4 and it turned that same bag into something I can actually trust in the teens. The ground steals your heat way faster than the air if you don't have proper insulation underneath. Also learned the hard way that sleeping in a tent with vents closed traps moisture which makes your bag lose loft fast. Always crack a vent now even when it's snowing.

kevin_martin19d ago

@the_lucas nailed it with the ground heat loss thing, I learned that same lesson the hard way after spending a night shivering on a tiny foam pad thinking I was tough. Pretty sure I could have warmed myself up just by laughing at how dumb I looked curled up like a burrito on a sleeping bag that was basically a cold sandwich. You ever wake up with frost on your nose and realize the problem was your own stubbornness?