I was camping this weekend and the temps dropped from 55 degrees in the daytime to below freezing at night. I woke up cold and had to do something to warm up or spend the night getting colder and more miserable.
I always bring a couple of "just in case" secret weapons with me to add warmth to my sleeping gear. I have these on hand for when temps fall far below my expectations and I have to add something to my sleeping bag in the middle of the night. These are lightweight, easily packable, low cost solutions.
There are few things as unnerving as waking up at 1:00 AM in the middle of nowhere COLD and looking at suffering through the rest of the night.
Here are things that I can access while still inside my bag that have pulled me through some cold nights:
I always bring a couple of "just in case" secret weapons with me to add warmth to my sleeping gear. I have these on hand for when temps fall far below my expectations and I have to add something to my sleeping bag in the middle of the night. These are lightweight, easily packable, low cost solutions.
There are few things as unnerving as waking up at 1:00 AM in the middle of nowhere COLD and looking at suffering through the rest of the night.
Here are things that I can access while still inside my bag that have pulled me through some cold nights:
- Heavy duty reflective metalized blanket. This is not one of those cheap plastic sheets, this is a multi-layer laminate with one side being metalized. It is very impressive how effective these blanket are at retaining heat. They weigh almosts nothing and roll up no bigger than a shirt.
- Hat: a silk balaclava is small enough and lightweight enough to come with me everywhere.
- Chemical Hand Warmers: I am not truly convinced that these are worth their weight, but my friends and family are glad to have them when they get cold, so I bring these handwarmers for them. If you do use them, but them on your stomach, kidneys, and/or neck under your clothes for best effect. You can literally put them inside your pants. I remember when you could only get these things in Japan and the only thing available in the USA were solid fuel sticks or lighter fluid fueled devices that sometimes would catch your pants pockets on fire! Life is better now thanks to international trade.
- Big Dog: Of course, my wife would be the best cuddly warmer, but she usually WON'T camp, but my dog always WILL camp, so I end up camping with my dog mostly. My big fluffy full size collie has saved me many times when winter camping by either sleeping next to me or on top of me. He doesn't need the warmth, but he seems to understand that I need him. Of course, this trick has been used for centuries by animal herders, but it still works for the recreational tent camper.
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