Staying Warm Overnight During Cold-Weather Campouts
Nothing ruins a camping trip more than spending a long, cold night shivering in a sleeping bag. While this problem might be attributable to the weather or a less-well insulated sleeping bag, more often than not it is due to a scout not following the simple guidelines, outlined below.
Basic/Must-Do
- Wear dry, never-worn-on-this-trip clothes to bed. Everything (including underwear). Clothing that has previously been worn contains perspiration and skin oils that act as a channel to sap heat away from your body into the cold night air. I recommend getting an inexpensive set of fleece pajamas to wear in your sleeping bag (and nowhere else). These work very well to keep me warm. Be sure to tuck top into bottom so you don't get an exposed middle if you move around. Also, before putting on your fleece pajamas, change into fresh, dry, never-worn-on-this-trip underwear (which you can wear until bedtime the next day).
- Wear dry, never-worn-on-this-trip woolly socks to bed. Your feet are highly prone to putting oils and perspiration into socks (even those that you changed into at the end of a hike, before dinner). A pair of woolly "sleeping socks" (socks that are only used for sleeping) is highly recommended. And tuck you pant legs into the socks too.
- Wear a dry, never-worn-on-this-trip woolly or fleece hat to bed. Your head bleeds away heat rapidly (there's a lot of blood flowing through your scalp). Some people prefer a fleece hood (about 15" in length with a drawstring at the neck and another drawstring around the face like on a regular hood), being less restrictive than a hat. Even if you use a mummy bag, wearing a hat or hood means that your head is covered -- even if you move your head around. Don't use the hat you wore during the hike as it will contain oils and perspiration; you should bring a second ("sleeping") hat.
- Wear dry, never-worn-on-this-trip woolly gloves to bed. This will keep your hands, and in particular, your fingertips, from getting cold.
Notice the theme: "Dry, never-worn-on-this-trip." This is VERY IMPORTANT. Lots of boys think, "I didn't sweat much" -- or think it is too cold to get changed -- and go to be in their day clothes, only to wake up in the middle of the night shivering, and needing to add more layers (by then, the night has gone form comfortable to miserable, and will take a long time to get warm and get back to sleep). Take the time to change your clothes BEFORE you go to bed.
Advanced Trickery
- Shortly before going to bed, have a cup of a decaffeinated hot beverage (e.g., herbal tea or hot Tang; avoid cocoa or coffee). Don't drink a lot (so you won't have to get up in the middle of the cold night and pee), but just enough to give you a "warm tummy feeling."
- Hot-water Nalgene bottle. Fill your Nalgene bottle with hot water, seal the top VERY well, put it in a sock, and take it into your sleeping bag with you. Not only will this keep you warm, but it also ensures that your water won't freeze overnight. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THE BOTTLE DOESN'T LEAK!!!
- Hand and/or foot warmers. They're not just for ski slopes or the trail. Put them in your socks for the night, for example.
- Keep tomorrow's clothes handy, because in the morning, you'll want to pull them into your warm sleeping bag to pre-heat them before getting up and putting them on. If you don't, and you get out of your warm sleeping bag, take off your warm clothes, and put on cold ones, you'll be sorry!
- Put a reflective "space blanket" down on the floor of the tent, with the mylar side up. These reflect radiant energy away from the cold, absorbing tent floor, helping to preserve the heat you add to the interior tent volume. This makes a big difference when the ground is cold.
This page was last modified: November, 2013