Quote:
Originally Posted by Spec-7
Unless camping in sub-zero temps, that goes against everything I've ever been taught and utilized in cold weather camping. Being in MN, maybe the OP actually is camping in sub-zero temps. A zero degree bag with 2 layers of clothing worn in the bag while the outside temps are decently above zero can lead to sweating which just compounds the issue.
I've found that if car camping/non-primitive camping near the thermal limits of my sleeping bag & pad combo, simply bringing a blanket or two works wonders. It also doesn't require getting out of the sleeping bag to make sleeping temp adjustments.
And I'll third the comments echoing a good sleeping bag. Do your research. I've found that a $100, 35 degree North Face synthetic bag versus a $165 35 degree Kelty down bag are not in the same league. The synthetic bag is useless under 40 degrees, whereas the down bag is good down to around 25-30 degrees by itself.
|
Maybe my use of the term “thermals” is off base, because I’ve never had a problem with sweating when it wasn’t summer and pushing 80 degrees at night. Then again, as was also mentioned above, I don’t zip up my bags when I sleep, in fact I completely unzip them and use them like blankets and pads, so perhaps I should have made that known and clear as well. Either way, there are a ton of ways that you can play around with different ways of layering, but I still think it’s good to have more than enough and not need it, than have too little, and be left wanting.
I agree with the sleeping bag comparison, and yes, down is going to be far superior and be closer to it’s rating that a synthetic. But as was also mentioned above, the ratings are definitely not what they make them out to be, especially if I can use a “0 degree” bag above 40 degrees and not sweat my balls off.
Lol, and yeah, if OP has a girlfriend, he shouldn’t be cold at night.
$2K can net you a decent camper shell and some goodies to go along with it if you don’t have the time/space to build your own trailer or what not. For the majority of the camping I do having a trailer behind me would be impractical, even though I would absolutely love one.
