View Full Version : Keeping your feets warm at Night
Hi everone my feet get cold when i am sleeping not a big at home i just put on a pair of old wool socks i have. I was thinking about bring them with me. What to you folks do to help keep your feets warm at night Thank
:sun
I wear a hat, & oversize wool socks or down booties. Keep your socks loose so you don't constrict the blood flow in your feet.
littlelaurel59
01-30-2009, 19:22
I HATE cold feet! I have a special pair of "sleep socks." Nice fluffy wool socks that are not used for hiking. That way they stay fluffy and dry. Sometimes, I stick my feet inside a fleece jacket for extra warmth. Since I use a 3/4 pad on the ground in the winter, I put my pack under my feet for insulation from the ground.
CrumbSnatcher
01-30-2009, 19:30
Hi everone my feet get cold when i am sleeping not a big at home i just put on a pair of old wool socks i have. I was thinking about bring them with me. What to you folks do to help keep your feets warm at night Thank
:sunboil some water,let it cool off for a few minutes,pour the water into a nalgene or water bottle with a good sealable lid, throw the bottle into your sleeping bag down by your feet. great hot water bottle. being inside your insulated sleeping bag allows the heat from the bottle to slowly release, lasting a few hours;)
The Will
01-30-2009, 19:49
I keep a pair of "sacred" socks in the same stuff sack as my sleeping bag. These are only used for sleeping. Always dry. Nice to look forward to on a cold night or after a day of wet slogging.
Down booties... weigh about two oz more than if I kept a pair of designated socks...
Iron Oxide hand warmers. Throw one or two in your bag and it will warm up by 10 degrees.
When preparing for my hike with began 3/1 I talked to a young from MS State Univ who had thru'd in 07. He told me to be sure and carry sleeping socks. I hadn't though about it till then. So I took his advice and it was a smart move. I never used these socks for anything but sleeping and they stayed inside my sleeping bag until I wasshed them with my other things. I also carried a very light, almost silk weight polyester insulated underwear. These too always stayed packed inside my sleeping bag. Several times I was glad I had them.
Enjoy your hike. :sun
SGT Rock
01-30-2009, 20:31
Wool socks. Shelters were littered last year with those chemical warmers. If you can pack em in, please pack em out.
smokymtnsteve
01-30-2009, 20:42
make sure your socks are dry...even socks that are just a little damp actually makes your feet colder than no socks at all.
Ditto with the sleeping socks and the hot-water-Nalgene. If my feet are cold when I put on my sleeping socks, they never will warm up on their own. I've got to warm them by some other means.
If you go the hot-water-Nalgene route, after you fill it and screw on the top, turn it upside down and shake it a bit. If it drips at all, dry it off, tighten, and test it again. You really, really don't want it to leak in your sleeping bag.
I, too, carry a pair of socks that are only used around camp and to bed when necessary.
Farr Away
01-30-2009, 21:22
...
If you go the hot-water-Nalgene route, after you fill it and screw on the top, turn it upside down and shake it a bit. If it drips at all, dry it off, tighten, and test it again. You really, really don't want it to leak in your sleeping bag.
Also wouldn't be a bad idea to put the nalgene in a ziploc. Can't hurt.
bigcranky
01-30-2009, 21:34
Dry wool socks. Add down booties if it's below about 15-F overnight.
Blissful
01-30-2009, 22:00
The Acorn polartec socks are nice too.
During real winter (January qualifies, even though I'm talking about North Carolina), I bring a pair of Smartwool thick socks, plus a pair of Acorn fleece socks to go over them. One of these years I might spring for down booties.
The Acorn polartec socks are nice too.
Yea, I have a pair of them. You can walk around in them too because they have a light weight soul of sorts on the bottom.
But they are heavier than socks.
Panzer
button up my down vest put it over the end of my sleeping bag, gives a little more coverage for my feet, won't work for you skinny minnies
yaaah multi-functional:clap
ChinMusic
01-30-2009, 23:38
I've been cold in a sleeping bag before but I don't remember my feet being cold. I always sleep barefoot. I carry down booties in winter but take them off once it's time for bed.
I never realized others were different.
Johnny Swank
01-30-2009, 23:58
Spare socks, hot water bottle, and rain pants over my feet have down the trick. I also put my pack, and any other insulation under my legs and feet to get them off the ground. I also took neoprene socks for the last month of my SOBO thru-hike, but those got pretty juicy after a few days. Warm though.
button up my down vest put it over the end of my sleeping bag, gives a little more coverage for my feet, won't work for you skinny minnies
yaaah multi-functional:clap
I'm not really a skinny minnie, but I've put my feet in a vest or jacket around my feet INSIDE my sleeping bag.
In extremis, I've put the foot of my sleeping bag inside my backpack. It'll keep your feet warm, but your sleeping bag will be wet in the morning, which can be a problem the next night.
My feet are always the coldest thing both in camp and in my sleeping bag. I bring a pair of sleeping socks in the winter as well as down booties. Sometimes that isn't enough and I use chemical warmers (I always pack them out).
The Will
01-31-2009, 13:19
Just a note to the uninitiated considering the Nalgene of boiling water: my experience is that it is best to put the bottle in a sock or wrap it in other clothing. The hot water can burn. Also the insulation around the bottle will keep the water warmer longer through the night.
If the temperature drops WAY below your sleeping bags capability, than a pint Nalgene in the groin provides a great source of heat that hitchhikes on the large arteries to the feet.
boarstone
01-31-2009, 13:22
Here's my 2 cents on keeping warm...when warranted--women's panty hose works great under MOST but not ALL conditons. Maybe when just a little is needed etc. Try it you might like it. Your women friends can help you guys out there in this dept. for size and all. I use them for hiking, camping, sleeping at camp while hiking, hunting, fishing etc. when a little warmth is needed but not the weight or bulk....can be used in conjunction w/other thermal leg layers....
hopefulhiker
02-01-2009, 09:36
I just used an extra pair of dry socks, I could use them for hiking too. In really cold weather. I would put on everything I had on.. two pair of socks. usually carried three pair..
I have even slept with wet stuff on in order to dry it out for the next day..
Note: The tighter the socks, the colder the feet. I don't wear socks in the bag and my feet stay warm. I usually put a coat over that part of the bag. I also sleep on my clothes for an extra padded layer.
Kerosene
02-02-2009, 18:01
I was given a pair of PossumDown socks (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/possumdown_socks.html), which have proven surprisingly warm given their light weight (< 2 oz) and thinness relative to a dry pair of SmartWools (4 oz). They are expensive at $30 and you can always use your camp SmartWools for hiking socks on the last day of your section hike, or for good handwarmers on a nippy morning.
Heat water with a stove, put in water bottle, put water bottle in spare sock, put bottle and sock in bottom of bag, have warm feet and warm water to start breakfast with tomorrow. Straight forward.
mkmangold
02-02-2009, 19:27
Iron Oxide hand warmers. Throw one or two in your bag and it will warm up by 10 degrees.
Put the warmers ON TOP of your feet. Blood flows from there to the toes then to the soles.
BTW: how does one get down off a possum?
hootyhoo
02-02-2009, 19:36
I found this out a while back. I put Walmart produce bags on my feet and then whatever socks I plan to sleep in. Then another set of produce bags and then my boots. I do what ever I want in camp - meanwhile my sleep socks stay dry. When its time to get in the bag I take the boots and outer produce bags off and get in the sleeping bag. Feet are warm as toast all night and there is no condensation issues at the foot end of my bag. Classic vapor barrier technology.
In the morning I remove all layers from my feet and let the cool air hit them - ohhh what a good feeling. Dry feet, put hiking socks on, hiking pants, gaiters, boots. Out of tent ready for more.
For sturdier vapor liners try the Walmart Umbrella bags/vapor liners at the entrance of the store.