Basics of Winter Camping

Sleeping (Bags)

1. In this note we will discuss the ever-important art of staying warm while sleeping in the cold! Believe it or not, it is not very hard.
2. If you have a sleeping bag…that's a good start! Having a sleeping bag is fine, but do you know what the temperature rating is? Probably not. Most bags that ordinary people like us use are rated usually no lower that 30*. And actually, this is usually not a correct rating as most of you have probably found out already. So, how do we take a sleeping bag made for summer use and convert it to a winter bag?
   1. First, we can use a fleece sleeping bag. These are also called liners. These can be found at most stores for about $15-$20. You slip this into your regular bag and can add 10-20* to your bags factory rating. For example: you have a bag rated for 30*, you slip in a fleece sleeping bag, you can figure, to be safe, that you just added another 10* to your bag making it now a 20* bag. This means, theoretically, that your bag will keep you warm to 20* if conditions are "perfect".
   2. Second, you can use a blanket to line your bag. When I was a young scout, I had a very thin, cheap sleeping bag. To go winter camping, I simply used two wool blankets in my bag. This combination would keep me warm to 0*! I used it very effectively for a number of years! There is a method of lining your sleeping bag with blankets that I will show you. When using a blanket, I would recommend wool, fleece, or a blend. I would stay away from cotton incase you sweat, cotton will stay wet, while the other fabrics will allow your body to breath at night.
3. Now, if you INSIST on buying a winter sleeping bag, that's fine. However, unless you plan on using it a lot, you may be wasting your money! Most good quality, high rated winter bags will run easily over $50, most costing well over $100! I would suggest modifying your current bag to fit your needs.
4. Insulation between you and the ground is VERY important in our sleeping equation. An inch of newspaper just under your sleeping bag will work like a charm for insulation! Under the newspaper should be a ground cloth of some sort. A thin foam sleeping pad will work as well for your insulation layer. Whichever way you do it, you need a good layer of insulation between you and the ground.
5. An air mattress in winter is not the best of ideas. The air pocket underneath you will contain cold air!
6. It is against the BSA Safe Scouting guidelines to have a space heater of any type in your tent while camping as scouts or scout families. Sorry
7. If your son is very small and he has a large sleeping bag, this means he will have a lot of dead space to heat in his bag. Try putting his next day's clean clothing in the bottom of his bag. This will help with dead space and also allow him to have warm clothing in the morning! This will work for adults too!