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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?
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the_lucas2mo 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.
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jordanl826d ago
That exact same thing happened to me on my first winter trip near Breckenridge. I had this old foam pad too and thought it would be fine with my 20 degree bag. Woke up at 2am with my hips aching from the cold ground seeping through. Bought an inflatable pad with an R value of 5.5 after that and it made a world of difference. Also totally agree about the tent vents, I used to think closing everything up would keep me warmer but now I always leave at least one vent cracked open.
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kevin_martin2mo 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?
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