sleep wear,

[mcplkelly]

what do you all wear and sugest should be warn while sleeping in your sleeping bag? In a mummy sleeping bag, should I sleep in my undies, night clothes (over sized army t-shirt and army shorts), or should I sleep in the buff? W

[kanga]

the less things you have between you and your sleeping bag, the warmer you will be

[BumpJumper]

MC. Have you ever hiked or camped before?:rolleyes:

[Mrs Baggins]

I wear a long sleeved poly shirt (no bra) and nylon yoga pants (just above ankle length) - - lightweight and they dry fast when washed. I can wear them around camp and don't have to get dressed for that midnight pee.

[mcplkelly]

no I haven't, nothing more than a day hike where I have only carried what I needed for the day.

[booney_1]

This is a good question. When it is cool or cold it is important to change from what you wore during the day. The main reason is that clothes worn while hiking will contain a lot of moisture. You need to change into dry "stuff". Some people prefer lightweight (wicking) long underwear.

You need to wear a knit cap or hat to keep your head warm and to retain body heat.

After that it depends on the temperature and your sleeping bag. If it's real cold and your pushing your bags sleeping limits, fleece at night is very nice.(top and bottom). I grew up in upstate ny and camped in below zero conditions. Then I had some quilted long underwear that I wore in my down bag. very warm!

As a beginer the most important lesson to learn is flexibility. You need a clothing and sleeping system that will work for a variety of conditions. A reasonably warm bag, accompanied by clothing layers to augment it is needed.

Let me reiterate the two most important points:
1. DON"T SLEEP IN YOU DAY CLOTHES
2. WEAR A KNIT CAP

While I would'nt take a cotton hoodie on a long backpacking trip, if you are just starting with some overnighters, they are very good for keeping warm.
Fleece can be expensive.

Also, just get out there and try it. Everybody sleeps differently (warm/cold), and has different comfort levels. Even sleeping in your backyard is a good experience..

[JAK]

I think it depends on how cold it gets, and what you are doing in terms of clothes management.

If I have some wet synthetic clothes I take them off, squeeze them damp, and then hang them to dry. If they get more wet or freeze it is no big deal. If they freeze all the better because I can beat the ice crystals out of them dry in the morning. If I have a damp wool skin layer I am more likely to wear them a bit longer with the other layers removed before I take them off, and I might be more careful where I hang them, but they are thin enough that even if they do get wet and freeze I can put them back on and dry them that way when I'm fixing breakfast. If its really cold than I work one half my body, then the other.

My wool sweater is a little different. I wear it all the time by day so manage it so that it never gets saturated and never frozen except maybe on the surface, which easily brushes off. At night I will use it as a pillow. If it is colder I might use it as a chest blanket, or maybe kick it down to my feet. If it is extremely cold, well below my bag rating, I will wear it, along with some skin layers and socks and mitts and hat, with a wool scarf of something around my breathing hole. Mid winter if I am out for long and there is chance of delays and -30F then I will bring along my heavy long wool underwear as sleep gear and emergengy extra clothing layer. It fits in well as a 4th layer over the skin layer and under the other layers.

Wool is a very robust sleep wear for extreme cold and also cold and wet conditions because even if it is a little damp it is capable of absorbing more moisture than it would give up. It is true that a sleeping bag works best alone, but if your bag is rated to 20F and you get hit with -20F or -30F you gotta do something and wool is a good way to do it. You just don't want to have too many wool layers laying about though. A mix of wool and synthetics is best, and in my opinion down is best if its all built into the sleeping bag.