[Closed] Camping this weekend.. staying warm in 0 degrees

Decent sleeping bags and keep all your clothes on.

Book a bnb 👍

Lodge a with a hot tub.

Layer up

You need to be well insulated from the ground. Better than just an air mattress.

And don't pile stuff on top of sleeping bags or they'll not lift and you will lose their insulation.

Get warm before going to bed. You warm the bags up, not the other way around. Do star jumps or something.

Good insulation from the ground is really helpful. In Iceland last September I had a down filled mat, and a 3 season bag, and was fine, others with cheap mats were freezing even with all clothes on in bag.

Also vent the tent, all flaps flapped. Otherwise you'll be soaked in condensation.

Foil between bag and ground. Even a survival blanket does the job. Plus try a liner in the bag. Cotton ones are cheap, just not as nice as silk.

Unroll the sleeping bags well before sleeping time giving them time to uncompress properly. Also get in the sleeping well before sleeping time to warm it up.

Cheap foam mats under whatever you usually sleep on will help. All the other advice is good. A hot water bottle makes a huge difference. I use a 500ml plastic coke bottle in a sock when I'm going lightweight.

Small tents, ground insulation and everything said above

Woolly hat makes a big difference

Shared body heat - huddle together

Don’t bother ?

Upgrade to electric hook up and electric blanket?

closed cell foam sleeping mats under whatever you’d normally sleep on - it’s an amazingly effective insulator, with the added benefit of being cheap.

Take some earplugs. Not to keep the inside of your ears warm, to keep the noise of everyone out complaining about being cold.

Blimey. I dug out my ancient Rab Atlas 3 season sleeping bag for the Easter weekend in Aviemore where the overnight temps were 5-6. I was sodding boiling.

Everyone car camping should be sleeping on an Outwell Dreamcatcher. 10cm of squishy foam loveliness.

A foil backed foam sleeping mat under whatever you are sleeping on.....and pjs.

Burn your tents. Then find a hotel.

As above:

Get a decent sleeping mat - CCF are cheap but not the comfiest, best are insulated inflatable mats. Look for something with a high "R-value", unfortunately there are two systems, American and international but the numbers are far enough apart that you won't confuse them. R-values are additive so a cheaper inflatable + CCF is fine.

Get warm before getting in to your pit - exercise (not in front of the children!) helps but also eating something high in fat like cheese will cause your digestive system to work and heat you from the inside. A makeshift hot water bottle as per @Spin's suggestion (or a real one if you've room in the car).

All well and good wearing clothing to bed but if it means that everything is so squished up then it's counter-productive, the sleeping bag's insulation can be squished from the inside as well as the outside. You shouldn't need more than the equivalent of pyjamas so: pyjamas; thermal long johns and long sleeved top; shell suit (which is what's used in the EN13537 sleeping bag tests) that sort of thing. Should be dry so you aren't using body heat to drive the moisture out of the clothing and in to the sleeping bag. Socks and hat especially for the kids.

If the kids are small and using full length sleeping bags use a belt to shorten the bag so they aren't heating up a large volume of air inside the bag that they don't need to.

Vent the tent but not at sleeping level, you don't want draughts around you but you do want an airflow to deal with condensation.

Ignore the naysayers, they're just jealous. Have fun!

Forgot to mention: where you camp has an effect as well. Camping by water will be colder for example as cold air sinks. Even on one campsite you can have many micro-climates within a few metres of each other.

Did this before the warm spell, a 5cm self inflating mat and 2 sleeping bags and I was toasty. Thin skin tight base layer so it doesn’t tangle in the bag, thin socks and gloves and hat. Was boiling by the morning. Decathlon is great for £1 gloves, and neck warmers.
We did drink quite a bit of mount gay though.
I really liked waking up hot on a really cold morning.

What everyone said ^, so decent mat, 3 season sleeping bag or more, vented tent, long pjs. In addition, can you have a fire or take a portable firepit? Toasted marshmallow smores and hot chocolate before bed usually keeps kids cosy from the inside.

I always take the kids on a 'Dad's freezing camping trip' in April. I fully recommend getting one of those 10cm thick self-inflators, they're amazing. Also, I chuck a quilt over the two of them in their bags and don't forget proper pillows, the insulation and comfort from not sleeping with your neck cricked make a real difference.

Then find a hotel.

In the countryside for £30/night for four? You find one, then let me know ok?

We're going camping this weekend but we have a big down duvet, a thick woollen blanket, a bottle of whisky, aaaaaand a camper van with a heater 🙂

here in Sweden you have to consider of the ground is frozen then how will you put your pegs in?

also yes pitch tent at 90% to prevailing winds for venting your tent. Well important. Two insluation mats

But yes 0 degrees isn't that cold. enjoy!  If it is shite, at least it will be memorable. Send photos!

LOL it's not sounding very appealing.

Bivvying on an island just off the coast tomorrow, great fun. Nowt like a bit of a chill to keep the less quality campers away. Have fun.

Thanks for all the tips.. bought some extra foam roll mats from Harrods (as my youngest pronounced the sign as we pulled up outside) big fleece blanket on that, variety of of fexped or alpkit mattresses. Variety of different rated bags. Everyone in warm base layers. Youngest is complaining about being too hot.
Holy crap Mrs cloudnine is utterly useless at navigation.. she had a map,, and Google maps and still managed to direct me the wrong way about 5 times adding about 40 mins to a 5 hour journey...

A little late , but -
shoving your feet/legs into the arms of a fleece top as you take it off for the night and keeping that on inside your sleeping bag always worked for me. in fact it was too warm after a time .

I've found the layer up advice to be counter intuitive. Your sleeping bag heats up and retains the heat of your expelled warmth. If you sweat too much by having more clothes on then this could result in cooling too. I change into a thermal t shirt and dry boxer shorts. When it goes below freezing I put my dry socks on. Always been toasty year round camping and I'd consider myself to be a cold person.

Thanks everyone.. everyone stayed nice and warm once inside the tent and in their bags. All well insulated from the floor and huddled up like emperor penguins. Had a great weekend, it was my eldest daughters first big sailing event and was great fun..

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Tell her to put a lot more outhaul on in those wind conditions, get her bum over the side and to ease the main when those gusts hit.
A flat boat is a fast boat!
Looks like she's having fun though which is the main thing.

(Great little boats, Tera's)

We use those foam jigsaw tiles they sell for workshop/gym flooring to cover the whole of the footprint of our tent, they take up a lot of space in the boot, but means no cold spots when anyone rolls off of their individual sleeping mat.

Dogs also make excellent heaters. 😀

Top tip.

Don't throw your sleeping bag across the stream to save another freezing wade. Even if you are REALLY sure you can do it.

Thats what I heard anyway.

I was camping at Cannock at the weekend so read this thread beforehand with interest, having seen the forecast - some great tips up there meant I was toasty warm. The several pints of Moretti probably helped me sleep as well. Waking up at 05:30 for a wee wasn't ideal but the dawn chorus was amazing, I was stood there for a few minutes just listening to all the different bird calls. You don't get that in Manchester...

Glad you all had fun @cloudnine and great photo 🙂