cold weather - how can I stay warm?

[karoberts]

I have not done tons of cold weather backpacking because whenever it is below 65 degrees and I stop moving, I am freezing and miserable.

I am wanting to do some cold overnight backpacks this winter.

How can I stay warm after I stop moving? How can I stay warm at night?

Here is what I already do:
I have a 15 degree down bag and sleep on a foam pad.
I get into dry fleece pants and top and a hat before I sleep.
I wear dry socks to bed.
I pee before going to bed.
I bring a Nalgene of hot water into the sleeping bag with me.

I am still freezing! What additional gear or clothes should I get? Price is not a factor.

[Mrs Baggins]

We found ourselves in 20 degrees on Gooch Gap last year, without decent weather gear and had to be taken out and back to the Hiker Hostel. Now we have down sweaters (full zip down jackets), -5 REI Sub Kilo Plus down bags, better fleece, balaclavas, smartwool base layers, and windproof gloves.

[bloodmountainman]

Make sure you eat good warm foods like soups or stews. Hot beverages are a plus also.

[mts4602]

1st: Are you still cold when you are in your sleeping bag? If so, how cold was it, and what kind of bag do you have?

2nd: It's all about layering as I'm sure you already know. Here is what I use in camp during the winter.

-Expedition weight poly pro bottoms (you could use wool), Smartwool, North Face, ect
-Fleece pants
-Rain pants (with fleece pants is quite warm) you could also get a pair of montbell thermawrap pants...I plan to

-Expedition weight poly pro Top
-Montbell Thermawrap Parka/jacket
-Rain jacket

-fleece/knit hat
-bavalclava (however that is spelled)
-poly pro glove liners
-heavier snow gloves

-Wool Socks

This keeps me pretty warm, of course, sometimes its just too darn cold to not be in your sleeping bag...

[sheepdog]

I use two sleeping bags in real cold weather. One inside the other.

[bigcranky]

I am still freezing! What additional gear or clothes should I get? Price is not a factor.

Still freezing at what temperature? Your bag is rated to 20-F -- what kind of bag is it? (Plenty of "20 degree" bags are, um, optimistically rated.)

My wife is always cold. Always. I still try to drag her out in fall and spring, with mixed results. She's okay down to freezing or so, but it took some work. She always wears and carries far more clothing than I think necessary for any given trip -- but she uses it all.

When you say you want to do winter overnights, what sort of conditions do you have in mind?

[karoberts]

Last time I was freezing was a few weeks ago an it was in the upper 30s all night. My bag is an REI Sub Kilo (just checked and is rated at 20, not 15).

[gaga]

get a good quality emergency blanket and roll and cover your sleeping bag with it like a Taco...

[Egads]

I am still freezing! What additional gear or clothes should I get? Price is not a factor.

Start a fire, Eat some hot food and tea. Set up a tarp to block the wind. If that doesn't work buy a better bag with a lower temp rating. Buy one with a rating for ~20* below the lowest temp you expect to camp in. You can't go wrong with Montbell, Western Mountaineering, or Feathered Friends. Do not store your bags packed, else your insulation will damage. Store your bag fully lofted.

You did not say if you are using a tent, hammock, or shelter. Use a tent. A Hilleberg will keep you a few degrees warmer than outside the tent.

If you decide to use an emergency blanket, use it inside your bag. You need to keep your vapor barrier between you and your insulation, else your insulation will wet out.

One last resort, go camping in the tropics.

[Froggy]

More food, and include a decent amount of protein.

Next, make sure that your camp site is out of the wind, and if you're using an open shelter or semi-open shelter (i.e., one of the various tarps or tarptents) ensure that it's oriented properly so there's no air movement on you.

Try a thicker pad.

Pull the hat down well over your ears, and your forehead if possible.

If your bag is a mummy bag, close up the head opening as much as possible. It should cover your eyes and the top of your head, leaving an air passage so you can breath.

If your bag has a zipper baffle and other baffles like a neck baffle, make sure they are oriented correctly.

Consider wearing your other clothes, particularly a jacket and long pants, to bed with you.

If you're camping on the snow, try using a space blanket as a ground cloth.

[sticks&stones]

pack up fast, down jacket, firepit, hot liquids, balaclava, keep movin, down bootys, floofy bag, and stay outside of heated structures as much as possible

[gsingjane]

I second the tent idea. Sleep in a small-ish tent with a nice warm person. Two people can create terrific body heat (no not that kind!). My daughter and I were out last April and it got extremely cold at night, into the teens (much colder than we were geared for) but we actually stayed mostly warm, sleeping curled up in our tent together. It traps the body heat.

Jane in CT

[Cool AT Breeze]

get a good quality emergency blanket and roll and cover your sleeping bag with it like a Taco...

You will wake up soaking wet.

[Father Dragon]

I do a lot of sub freezing hiking so ...

A few ideas that don't require the purchase of expensive gear

Load up on fats before turning in. Fats burn slow and will provide your body's power plant with sustained fuel to stay warm.

Wear clothing that does not compress to your body. Air is the best insulator and often times people make the mistake of wearing too much to bed thus reducing the amount of air under the many layers of garments. I like the nylon pants that have the mesh lining in them.

Think warm thoughts .... I'm not joking at all.

Try adjusting your sleeping bag so that the zipper is under you. I do this so the draft tube seals better.

Pick your campsite well. Contrary to what many people think, lower elevations are often colder than mid elevations due to the convection of air currents in the mountains at night. Stay away from tight valleys.

Chemical hand warmers work great!


Hope this helps!

[Lyle]

What kind of "foam pad" are you using? Needs to be a thermarest or closed cell foam. Open cell foam will not insulate. Adding a second pad will add a lot of warmth.

[take-a-knee]

A 20 degree bag should be five-plus inches thick for a normal sleeper, add an inch for a cold sleeper, add an inch for each ten degree decrease in temperture. It it is thinner than that, it isn't a 20 degree bag.

[Jim Adams]

You didn't state whether you are cold before you get into your bag. A sleeping bag does not create heat, it stops heat loss. If you are already cold when you get in, then it will take alot of metabolism to warm you up while just lying there.
Put on DRY clothes and a down jacket as soon as you stop hiking then do as most of the others here have suggested....eat, eat, eat and drink warm liquids. Definitely sleep in a tent, wear some wool undies and a balaclava and make sure your neck baffles are pulled tight. Run 100 yards up the trail and back before turning in but DON'T make yourself sweat and don't use a vapor barrier type blanket.
If you do all of these things then your 20* bag should keep you comfy down to at least 10*F outside.
A good mat is very important for insulation from the ground.

geek

[Summit]

I agree with Jim and others that food in your belly is essential when it's very cold. I sometimes keep something I can snack on in the tent in the event I wake up cold (usually toward early morning). Gotta keep your body's metabolism pumping out heat.

I find what works best for me in a good sleeping bag is less clothing. A mummy works best if it has your body heat to work with. Keeping your body heat confined inside layers of clothing can make the bag seem to never get warm. I rarely wear more than a long sleeve synthetic t-shirt and polypro long underwear (infrequent).

[JAK]

I have not done tons of cold weather backpacking because whenever it is below 65 degrees and I stop moving, I am freezing and miserable.

I am wanting to do some cold overnight backpacks this winter.

How can I stay warm after I stop moving? How can I stay warm at night?

Here is what I already do:
I have a 15 degree down bag and sleep on a foam pad.
I get into dry fleece pants and top and a hat before I sleep.
I wear dry socks to bed.
I pee before going to bed.
I bring a Nalgene of hot water into the sleeping bag with me.

I am still freezing! What additional gear or clothes should I get? Price is not a factor.

I am cold adapted, but some days less so than others.

1. Food does seem to help. Try different foods to see what works best for you.

2. Also if you are hotter to begin with it is easier to stay hot, so you need a jump start now and then, like resting in your sleeping bag while drinking hot soup or hot chocolate.

3. Try wearing more clothes of course, but also more even coverage. Your might be feeling the cold in your gut, but it might actually be your legs and hands and head that is losing the most heat.

4. Consider a wool sweater as a mid-layer, and/or wool long johns as a baselayer. Your body gives off moisture even at rest, which gives up heat to the wool when it recondenses. The wool will eventually lose the moisture and this heat with it, but it acts as a thermal flywheel and might help trigger your body to stay warmer, especially through periods of changing levels of activity like around camp.

[JAK]

Oh yeah. I read this recently.

Try sleeping at home with less covers and a cooler room temperature at night.