How to sleep warmly in the nature?
Have you ever gone camping and struggled to sleep because of the cold? Did you think that sleeping in a tent during the summer meant dying from the heat? In this article, we'll go over all the tips and good habits to stay warm during our tent adventures! Happy reading!
Chapter 1: The Myth of the Tent
Contrary to what one might think, the type of tent doesn't play a fundamental role in keeping us warm during the night, but it is essential for protecting us from the wind. Not all tents are the same; there are specific features that can limit the heat lost by the camper due to cold wind convection. The main ones include:
The inner tent: A tent with an inner layer made entirely, or partially, of fabric limits the flow of cold air more effectively compared to a tent with a completely mesh inner layer.
The skirt: Found only on the outer layers of four-season tents, which are designed for winter and/or alpine conditions. It helps seal the tent against the elements by using snow.
However, before setting off on an adventure, remember that these tips are for cold and windy conditions. It's also essential to ensure proper ventilation inside the tent to prevent condensation. Internal condensation is annoying and can affect both the perceived temperature and the performance of your sleeping bag.
Chapter 2: The Secrets of the Sleeping Bag
The sleeping bag is, unlike the tent, the most important piece of gear for keeping us warm. The sleeping bag helps reduce the heat lost by convection to the surrounding environment. The insulation, whether down or synthetic, creates air pockets that thermally isolate us, allowing us to retain our body heat.
However, not all sleeping bags are the same, and each provides a different level of protection. To understand how warm a sleeping bag is, it's useful to focus on 3 key temperatures measured according to the European standard EN13537 (a standard man is 25 years old, 1.73m tall, and weighs 73kg. A standard woman is 25 years old, 1.6m tall, and weighs 60kg). The 3 reference temperatures are:
Comfort upper temperature: The temperature at which a standard woman, or generally a person who feels cold, can sleep lying down without feeling cold.
Comfort limit temperature: The temperature at which a standard man, or generally a person who feels warm, can sleep lying down without feeling cold.
Extreme temperature: A temperature that should essentially be ignored (along with the maximum temperature if present). This represents the minimum temperature at which the sleeping bag can protect us from hypothermia for 6 hours.
However, the correct use of a sleeping bag isn't as simple as it seems. There are a few things to pay attention to:
The sleeping bag doesn't isolate us from the ground—that's what the sleeping pad is for (see next chapter). This happens because the back part of the sleeping bag is compressed by the weight of our body and thus cannot create the insulating air pockets.
If the sleeping bag becomes damp or even wet, its insulating power can significantly decrease. The insulation can no longer trap air properly. This effect is more pronounced in down sleeping bags compared to synthetic ones.
If the sleeping bag isn't warm enough, you can use the trick of modularity: two sleeping bags can be combined to provide greater insulation. To maximize the insulating power of this process, it's necessary that the two bags are not compressed against each other, so they have space to fill with air.
Chapter 3: The Sleeping Pad, Always Underestimated
The sleeping pad is often underrated by many campers, and some even choose to go without it. However, it is essential for isolating us from the cold coming from the ground, which isn't blocked by the sleeping bag, as explained in the previous chapter.
Not all sleeping pads are the same, so it's important to compare them. To do this, you need to look at the level of insulation, which is measured by the R-value (R stands for resistance). The colder it is, the higher the R-value of the pad should be. The R-value can have different values:
Summer use: 1 < R < 3. Examples include foam pads, self-inflating, and low-cost inflatable pads.
3-season use: 3 < R < 5. The classic example is a 3-season inflatable pad. They come in various lengths, shapes, and widths.
Winter use: R > 5. The most common example is the 4-season inflatable pad. However, there are tricks to reach this R-value, such as combining a 3-season inflatable pad with a foam pad underneath. The R-value is additive, so with a foam pad R=2 and an inflatable pad R=4, the total R-value would be R=6.
Finally, we’d like to conclude the article by emphasizing the role of the pillow. The pillow doesn't contribute much to keeping us warm, but it helps us sleep comfortably. There are different types: padded, inflatable, or you can use a bag of clothes as a pillow. Just stuff your sleeping bag and clothes into a sack, and it becomes your pillow!
Chapter 4: Extra Tricks and Tips
In case, for any reason, you find yourself in a situation of extreme cold, there are some tricks that could help you have a warm and restorative night of sleep:
Hot Water Bottle: Before going to bed, heat 1L of water with your stove and pour it into a plastic bottle that can withstand high temperatures, like Nalgene. Then, place the bottle inside your sleeping bag.
Clothing: Wearing dry and clean thermal underwear during the night inside your sleeping bag is very helpful. It keeps you warm, breathes, and doesn't take up much space, so it won’t compress the sleeping bag. In the evening, before going to bed, feather pants and down slippers can also be useful.
Physical Exercise: Just before getting into your sleeping bag, do 2 minutes of physical exercise (e.g., squats) to warm yourself up. This way, you will avoid the unpleasant feeling of cold during the first half hour inside the sleeping bag when the air inside is still warming up.
Sleeping Together: Sleeping in the same tent with others helps a lot. You can benefit from each other's body heat, which will help warm the air inside the tent by a few degrees.
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