Secret weapons for night's cold

[Mike]

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:

1. 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.
2. Hat: a silk balaclava is small enough and lightweight enough to come with me everywhere.
3. 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.
4. 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.

[MacGyver]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

Those space blankets are great. I originally got mine to drape over my canoe so I could take naps when it got too hot to fish. I was amazed when I pulled it to the side to sit up and it felt like I'd opened an oven door in the 100° heat. They definitely reflect heat better than anything else I'd ever tried. As it turns out, it's also close to the perfect size to use as a floor saver for my tent. Now I'm considering buying another one for my smallest tent to drape over the top in Winter.

[Mike]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

Those space blankets are great. I originally got mine to drape over my canoe so I could take naps when it got too hot to fish. I was amazed when I pulled it to the side to sit up and it felt like I'd opened an oven door in the 100° heat. They definitely reflect heat better than anything else I'd ever tried. As it turns out, it's also close to the perfect size to use as a floor saver for my tent. Now I'm considering buying another one for my smallest tent to drape over the top in Winter.

That is a neat use of the space-blankets, McGyver. It rarely gets hot enough on the water up here to worry about using a reflector blanket to keep the heat out, but it is interesting to know of that application. I suppose they would be handy in desert situations too.

[Irate Mormon]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

My secret weapon is a beach towel. The Hitch-hiker's Guide got it right.

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

I use one of those blankets as part of my hammock camping setup. Place it underneath me and then over the top. Forgot it one time and paid the price. It is currently in my winter survival kit, in the truck.

[Mike]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

The one drawback of the reflector blankets is that they trap moisture, so you have to hand the sleeping bag and the reflector blanket out to dry in the morning.

[Bigdog57]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

In very cold camping, the chemical warmers do come in handy. I use the biggest size, and put one down in the foot of my sleeping bag, and one at my chest. They last longer than the "18 hours" stated on the package. Smaller ones in my pants pockets during the cold day help keep my hands warm if I am not able to wear gloves - like when wrenching on the bike. Just stick my hands in my pockets for blessed warmth!

[ppine]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

Mike,
I like the way you think. A big furry dog is my favorite secret weapon for a lot of things. I have carried space blankets when hunting in cold weather, but have not heard about the heavy-duty ones. Where do you find such an item? Chemical hand warmers were very popular in the 1960s but I have not used one since. A Nalgene bottle full of hot water does the same thing.

The only things I would add to the list are a good hot meal, hydration and minimal alcohol before bed. Sometimes the micro-climate where you sleep can vary a lot in a small area. I like to avoid depressions, and exposed ridges and nestle into the tree canopy for thermal protectionand and think like an elk.

[rajncajn]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

Try the Therma-rest heating pads for your back.

[MacGyver]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

I like to avoid depressions, and exposed ridges and nestle into the tree canopy for thermal protectionand and think like an elk.

I wish I could I could talk some sense into the gang I go camping with. They always seem to scoff at my attempts to keep us higher up in colder weather. Hopefully they'll remember the trip we went on last weekend where we wound up at a low lying site right next to a creek. The temps weren't too bad - high 30s at night - but the wind that whipped through the site made it feel bitter cold.

[tplife]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

I guess my "secret weapon" would be my sleeping system. I have a Large sized ThermaRest compressible pillow that I use with my Marmot Osprey 0-degree GoreTex sleeping bag over a CampRest ThermaRest sleeping pad. Inside a tent to cut the wind, it has never let me down. It has two places where you can open double-zippers, one in the foot, and one along the side (besides the upper side zipper) for ventilation so I can use it year-round. I own a pair, they are actually US-made Marmot bags, and while they are the single most high-dollar items in my camping equipment, as circa 1987 models they have paid for themselves many times over. They still machine was up thick and high with no clotting of down and no loss of insulation - just unbelieveable performance and quality. I even got to use the GoreTex outer cover once, when my infant son decided he couldn't wait to go outside to pee.

[ppine]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

I spent last night in the woods on a fishing trip (Nov 14). I used the ol canvas bedroll with a down bag and a wool blanket inside the canvas. I had a furry dog and a warm hat. This time of year the nights are long and cold. It was around 25 degrees but damp. The coyotes in the woods were howling like wolves, not the yipping and singing we have here. The moon was almost full with lots of shadows in the tall ponderosa piines. The fishing conditions were challenging, but I did manage to catch an 18 and a 19 in rainbow, plus a few smaller ones.

[actad]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

I think there are more fuzzy fleece pajama options for the women on the forum than for the men. I can stay pretty toasty by wearing my fuzzy pink fleece pajamas inside of a fleece liner inside of a sleeping bag topped off by my wool hat. Most of the men's fleece pj's seem to be thinner.

[sarahspins]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

My secret weapon for below freezing is just to make sure I have extra layers I can put on if I need them (not just fleece pants, but an extra base layer top and bottom), plus a baclava and gloves, and some warm wool socks. That and having a sleeping bag of an appropriate rating for the anticipated temperatures - I remember camping as a kid in freezing weather using a warm weather bag (the kind more suitable for sleepovers than actual camping) and being absolutely miserable, so I set out to figure out how to be more comfortable in the cold, and it worked out well.

It froze every night we camped in yellowstone a few summers ago (temps around 30˚, it might have dipped into the upper 20's), the kids never complained about being cold at night (in 20˚ bags with a fleece liner and fleece PJ's) but boy were they unhappy in the mornings when they had to get up and get dressed just to go to the bathroom

It actually froze when we camped close to home last January, and since it warms up faster here in the morning (we're definitely not at any elevation!) it wasn't bad at all when we got up. I did bring hand warmers on that trip but it turned out that no one really felt like they needed them.

[Mike]

Re: Secret weapons for night's cold

I learned the hot water bottle trick on my 21st birthday back-country ski-camping in Wisconsin on top of 4 feet of snow.

The temps dropped down to -15 F and my sleeping gear at that time was not made for that kind of cold. I was freezing already by 10:00 PM and knew I would have a long night of it. When you are freezing in your sleeping bag when the night is still young, you know you are in trouble because there is no escape. Your sleeping bag is the great escape from the cold and if isn't working, you can go from miserable cold to dangerous situation pretty fast. When you backcountry ski-camp, there is no car to escape to or any man-made building or anything to save you.

My kind and inventive friend knew I was going to be in trouble that night, so he came up with the idea of filling a peanut jar with hot water and then wrapping it in clothes. First, of course, we had to eat all that peanut butter which was a challenge in itself. The forthcoming hot water jar was a life saver. Not only did I survive the night, I was comfortable and slept well.