Tips and tricks for a cold night

[Kumquat]

Spooning maybe forking.

[Mart]

A bottle filled with warm water and put into a sock makes a great hot water bottle

[Al]

In addition to hats, I find that some sort of scarf or other thin, loose material draped over my face and neck helps. It warms the air around the face and that I breathe in, whereas otherwise that cold air often bothers me and keeps me awake. Less of an issue in a tent than in a bivvy bag.

A similar thread cropped up a while ago. Amidst all the recommendations about hot food, hot drinks, jumping around etc, I followed Verena's line of thought. The surface area of lungs is apparently about half the size of a tennis court, with direct access to the blood circulating your whole body. Breathing, say, 6 times a minute, you're exposing your bloodstream to freezing air ALL night. Somehow pre-warming that air must help? Biologists?

I read something years ago on a lightweight backpacking discussion threat that was advocating wearing a diy dust mask as it warmed the air you breathed in. Never tried it as it sounded horribly claustrophobic- but I guess we’re all a bit more used to it these days

[nagasaki45]

Thanks for the great advice everybody!

We are back from our trip and here's the report

According to the forecast temperatures dropped to ~1c at night. Our sleeping bags are rated 5c comfort, and our mats are non insulated klymit static v. My girlfriend has a thermolite reactor extreme sleeping bag liner that suppose to improve the sleeping bag by up to 15c. That's quite a ridiculous claim I must say. Overall, I had quite a good night, but my girlfriend was cold. Usually I'm the cold sleeper, but I guess my body takes abuse better when outdoors

Some of you said that the sunscreen won't do much. I think it does. It's of the type that has bubble wrap sandwiched in tin foil, not the thin reflective thingy. Following Landslide advice we put it on top of the mats and it wasn't too slippery. I think it made the mats much less comfortable though. We also fully inflated the mats which, in my experience, makes them less comfy but there's lower chance of getting really close to the cold ground below.

We filled a hot water bottle for my girlfriend before going to sleep. It went completely cold when the temperature dropped to minimum (I guess around 4-5am). Then she used a disposable heat pack which helped, but not enough.

The winning trick though is to put a thin scarf on the head to warm up the air we breath (thanks Verena!). I did so and I think it made a huge difference. I have a very sensitive throat and when I get cold it usually start hurting first. Having slightly warm air to breath helped tremendously.

I don't think we will camp in similar weather anytime soon, but if we do, here's what I would change:
- Although I think that the sunscreen insulated fine, it's falling apart and is not comfortable. It will be replaced with a CCF mat for future trips.
- No more disposable heat packs. We might get a reusable one, or make the effort of waking up properly in the middle of the night to refill the hot water bottle.
- I'm considering upgrading our sleeping bags (also due to bulkiness).

Thanks for all the help again,
Tom

[thenorthwind]

Well done for getting out I didn't fancy it myself, what with the considerable windchill unless sheltered and already very cold temps. Sounds like you did pretty well considering your sleeping bag ratings (that sleeping bag liner claim ) and uninsulated mats.

I had assumed the sunscreen was just the woven material with a metallic coating type, rather than like bubble wrap. Yes, that will provide a bit of insulation - it's essentially the same as CCF, just with bigger cells. The smaller cells make CCF more durable though (as well as probably a bit better insulating).

Sounds like the experience hasn't put you off completely so I can only assume you'll be back for more Apart from freezing your bits off, did you enjoy it?! That's the important bit.

[Verena]

Spooning maybe forking.

[Verena]

Thanks for the great advice everybody!

We are back from our trip and here's the report

According to the forecast temperatures dropped to ~1c at night. Our sleeping bags are rated 5c comfort, and our mats are non insulated klymit static v. My girlfriend has a thermolite reactor extreme sleeping bag liner that suppose to improve the sleeping bag by up to 15c. That's quite a ridiculous claim I must say. Overall, I had quite a good night, but my girlfriend was cold. Usually I'm the cold sleeper, but I guess my body takes abuse better when outdoors

Some of you said that the sunscreen won't do much. I think it does. It's of the type that has bubble wrap sandwiched in tin foil, not the thin reflective thingy. Following <b>Landslide</b> advice we put it on top of the mats and it wasn't too slippery. I think it made the mats much less comfortable though. We also fully inflated the mats which, in my experience, makes them less comfy but there's lower chance of getting really close to the cold ground below.

We filled a hot water bottle for my girlfriend before going to sleep. It went completely cold when the temperature dropped to minimum (I guess around 4-5am). Then she used a disposable heat pack which helped, but not enough.

The winning trick though is to put a thin scarf on the head to warm up the air we breath (thanks <b>Verena</b>!). I did so and I think it made a huge difference. I have a very sensitive throat and when I get cold it usually start hurting first. Having slightly warm air to breath helped tremendously.

I don't think we will camp in similar weather anytime soon, but if we do, here's what I would change:
- Although I think that the sunscreen insulated fine, it's falling apart and is not comfortable. It will be replaced with a CCF mat for future trips.
- No more disposable heat packs. We might get a reusable one, or make the effort of waking up properly in the middle of the night to refill the hot water bottle.
- I'm considering upgrading our sleeping bags (also due to bulkiness).

Thanks for all the help again,
Tom

Well done you two for getting out there on such a cold night - the rest of the year will be easy!