What special stuff do I need for cold weather camping?

[tplife]

Re: What special stuff do I need for cold weather camping?

Wear a cap to bed in cold weather if you want to, but don't let it bother you. You only lose 10% of your body heat through your head, so if you're laying against your sleeping bag with your face exposed, it's not a big deal. You "feel" colder without the cap because the face, head, and chest are more senstitive to changes in temperatures than the rest of the body, not because you lose a significant amount of heat from being exposed there.

[Oudoorsman]

Re: What special stuff do I need for cold weather camping?

The first time I camped in below 20 weather I brought an air matress but not an air pump and wound up sleep on the ground I also wore cotton, it was not a fun night. But I have learned a lot since then.

I use a Big Agnes sleeping bag rated at 20 degrees (it is a mummy bag), wear nylon pants and synthetic shirts (no cotton anywhere), fresh dry wool socks and an inflatable thermarest on the ground and then I have a foldable styrofoam mat I stick in a sleeve in the bag (the bag has no bottom insulation only room for a pad). I used this config in Bryce Canyon over Thanksgiving it dropped to the single digits and was quite warm.