The last few nights in the Cascades have been freezing, less than -10C last night. My water bottles took till near noon to thaw.

Im in Bend about to head to REI either for a new sleeping bag or bed socks.

Sigg bottles? Put hot water in them at bedtime, then put them in a spare sock. You now have a hot water bottle and you can drink the water next day when it has cooled down.

It’s all about good kit and plenty of layers.

A good down sleeping bag and plenty of layers to keep you warm in there. Put your water bottles in the bottom of your sleeping bag to stop them freezing.

I use a pretty simple approach, and just treat the comfort rating on a sleeping bag as being its extreme limit, rather than actually being a comfort limit. Has not failed so far.

Getting off the ground helps too, especially if things are damp but some mats end up making things worse, my old inflatable one was tiny, but on the downside was also ****.

Sleeping bag, but you can also sleep smart – use the hood of the bag properly to conserve heat, maybe wear a hat as well. Make sure you’re well fed, so you’re heated from the inside and consider some exercise (press-ups work) before you turn in to raise body temperature – bear in mind that initially you’re going to lose some body heat warming the air trapped inside the insulation of your sleeping bag, a bit like getting into a cold bed, so everything you can do to keep your body churning out the heat helps.

And make sure you have a decent sleeping mat as well or you’ll lose a lot of heat to the ground.

Wear a face mask/buff over your mouth/nose.
Great deal of heat loss from respiration can be stopped.
Trying to find links to info/videos….

We used a tent stove down to -30 in Finland. Really toasty!

Failing that saw a program about someone in Alaska, they had the really counter-intuitive approach to wet their feet in a cold river and that was meant to help them keep warm. Have never tried it though…

-10C in a tent. How to say warm?

You all missed it: it’s probably something like ‘w w w w warm’

Guess it’s time for my coat…

FTFY 🙂

Platypus bottles are better than sigg for the hot water/carrying water combo as they’re lighter.

Eat a chocolate bar before going to bed.

star jumps before getting into your bag.

How to stay warm at -10 in a tent – naked company always works for me 😀

As above really warm before getting into the bag.
Hat on or hood up.
Better bag.
More people in the tent

Why has no one said MTFU yet? This is STW is it not?

If you are really suffering with the cold, consider replacing your sleeping bag & getting yourself a decent roll mat (not a bed, I personally can’t risk a puncture). We train in up to -35C in Norway so I know the worth of a decent sleeping system.

With the water/ice, either keep it close to yourself at night or invest in some smart fangled kit. I usually just heat the water in my bottles before getting my head down and then use it to keep my feet toasty during the night.

Some interesting stuff here: http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/maximising_your_bags_warmth

tips include:

Fuelling the fire
In November of last year I spent a cold week waiting in the Hornli Hut for the weather to improve on the Matterhorn. Although my bag was rated to -18°C and I had plenty of clothes on, I froze my ass off even though the hut temperature could only have been just below zero. We’d only had our hill food to eat, which comprised of small portions of couscous and after two nights of poor food and sleep we decided to walk down to Zermatt and get some better ‘soul’ food. That night after slogging back up to the hut again (why doesn’t the téléphérique go all the way to the hut?), we ate a mountain of pasta, cheese and tomatoes and then crawled into bed. Wow! What a difference. My sleeping bag turned into an inferno and very soon I had all my clothes off and my feet sticking out of the bottom.

The lesson is that scrimping on fuel is a false economy if you want to stay warm. Fuel the fire and you can get away with a lighter bag. Fats are what you’re after as they produce heat due to inefficiency in digestion. On cold routes I now carry a small Nalgene bottle full of olive oil and also take nuts (pine nuts are great things to add to any meal) and cheese.

good mat to insulate you from the ground.

wearing base layers can help, but conversely if the bag is down I think that too many layers can be counterproductive as you don’t heat the down up so well.

tighten the hood/neck of the bag up.

Wear a hat, use your rucksack liner/emergency blanket as a partial bivvy bag. Remember having to put my legs in a bin liner at Mt Robson to stop my toes from pretending to fall off.

+1

If you insulate yourself too much, you’ll not “loft” the down in the bag. The other effect is that the dew point can move closer to your body and can end up within the sleeping bag which will make it damp and useless. I don’t know how much of an issue this is in drier climates.

I’ve heard people swear by these. No personal experience though.

Central heating.

Exped downmat, good down sleeping bag, merino thermals and plenty of calories before bed. I also wear fleece boots/slippers, silk glove liners and the hood from my down jacket.

Try a big fat lass, never fails to keep me warm on a cold winters night.

Thanks for the tips folks.

I’m in a one man MSR Hubba mesh lined tent on a Thermarest NeoAir full size mat. I have a Mountain Hardware synthetic bag and a Rab silk liner. My core is toasty with a merino base layer, I’ve been wearing merino leg warmers too. I bought some merino hiking socks from REI to help my feet. I will wear my buff on my head tonight.

I usually go straight to bed after a ht supper with some hot tea.

I’ve slept outing Scotland to near minus twenty without worries, but this morning I nearly fainted trying to stuff my sleeping bag back into it’s stuff sack. I’m pretty warm blooded, but when my hands get cold packing inn the morning I struggle to get warmed back up.

Below abour -10C I find that chemical hand warmers are lovely for when you have to take gloves on and off a lot, or liners inside mitts. I also drape my jacket over the sleeping bag for more warmth but at some point warmer bag is the answer…

Mostly already been said, but a couple of things that I’d add:

– NeoAirs are great, but in those temperatures you start to notice the fact that (unlike all other Thermarests) they have no foam / insulation, other than the air you’re putting in. I’m not long back from the Himalaya where I used one with a good (closed cell) sleeping mat and was warm and comfy at a lowest temp of -17 deg C. I put the warmth down to the sleeping mat and the comfort down to the NeoAir.

– The advice about star jumps before bed is not to be underestimated, if you get into your bag cold, all it’ll do is keep you cold.

– give your bag a really good shake out before getting in (help ‘loft’ it). If you can, then get it out in the sun to air / dry off at some point (while you make B’fast or in the afternoon, when pitching tent).

– Keep a pair of clean, dry socks for sticking on in your bag, take the ones off that you’ve been wearing and have them in your bag to dry out. Give your feet a really good rub / warm up before putting them on (maybe even talc up – try Gold Bond blue talc if you’re in the states).

– Loads of hot food / drink (if you’re worried about having to piss in the night, then carry a spare Nalgene….. just don’t let it freeze, as trying to melt / hack frozen piss from one the next morning is fairly emotional).

Any chance you could stick some photos of your trip up once your back? I quite fancy heading out that way sometime.

Cheers.

Layer up, but no

As above.

Try to get the best seal at the top of the bag as possible. Nice and snug above your shoulders and the hood pulled tight.

I’ve woken up chilly in -20, closed up the bag tight and then warmed back up to a nice cosy temperature. Once it gets proper cold, every bit of retained heat (or lost heat) counts.

Also, keep some easy to eat food next to your bag, so that if you wake up cold in the night you can have something to munch. That bit of energy helps towards getting you warm again, but you’re not likely to go looking for it in the dark corners of the tent

Use a hand warmer but put it high up between your thighs, against your femoral artery, It’s betterer than a hot water bottle.

If you get cold in the night do some sit ups. Do them again before you get out of your sleeping bag in the morning and you’ll be grand.

Tauntaun sleeping bag?

lol@mussed!

Surely by now you should have made a wood-store and be able to use that to keep warm 🙂

If you can get one, get an army-issue doss bag. Yes they weigh a bit but are unbelievably warm & are very very hard wearing.

Put your water in a flask. Shouldnt be frozen in the morning.

Invest in a good sleeping bag. I “forgot” to hand in my army doss bag when I left. Although bulky, it’s the best sleeping bag I’ve found. (spent 3 winters in Norway)

Dew liner for doss bag helps, but don’t bother if you are packing light.

Most heat is lost from head, ankles and wrists. Head = hat. Ankles = extra socks. Wrists = wristlets. Wirstlets are amazing!

I always slept with my boots and jacket betwee my legs as it makes it easier to get out of your doss bag in the morning if these bits of kit are already warm.

Dont bother with fancy air roll mats. Never had a problem with “karrymat”.

We always had a candle on the go. Although it didnt give off heat, phsycologically it works wonders. (also good for drying kit. Sit with knees up to chest. Place candle on floor below knees. place wet kit over knees like a mini tent)

Dont bother with fancy air roll mats. Never had a problem with “karrymat”.

This is quite subjective though since mats (provided they insulate) are for comfort.

I can sleep on my back no problem, but mrs peterfile sleeps on her side and closed cell mats are really uncomfortable for her compared to a Thermarest or Exped.

Given how light a thermarest is, and how cheap you can pick them up, the additional comfort is really worth it for some. No point spending lots of money on good kit and still ending up getting a crap sleep 🙂

Tauntaun sleeping bag?

Dunno if that’s gonna work – surely it’ll just make you Luke-warm 🙂

Where you camp makes a difference. Not on a summit or in a frost hollow! Check for cooling draughts as well.

Not on a summit

Nonsense! That’s the best place to camp! 😉 🙂

Dont bother with fancy air roll mats. Never had a problem with “karrymat”.

This is quite subjective though since mats (provided they insulate) are for comfort.

I agree its personel choice, I just never had a problem with foam roll mat. When I was out in Norway it was always a “rushed” affair (pull pole) so an air roll mat would have been to much like extra faff to deflate and put away. I have one now though to go camping with the GF!