Cold sleeper setup- help!

[MTElkChaser]

And my tyvek became my ground cloth for processing elk!

Exactly! Great idea! We’ve also used them for gathering rain water into drinking water as well. Lots of great uses and while you can clean them for the next hunt, I treat them as ”disposable” after each hunt most of the time!

 

[Erussell01]

Exactly! Great idea! We’ve also used them for gathering rain water into drinking water as well. Lots of great uses and while you can clean them for the next hunt, I treat them as ”disposable” after each hunt most of the time!

That's what I did. Wrapped it up, packed it out. Used it to debone at the truck and then tossed it!

 

[EJFS]

You're set up last year is not a particularly warm sleep setup- I wouldn't really expect it to be comfortable below 35 or so to begin with. Pretty much everything has been said already but here ya go

- don't forget your head. A warm beanie or two, or a down hood goes a long way

- stoke the furnace. load up in calories before bed and if you wake up cold eat a candy bar or something.

- layer up. Wear all your warm layers inside your sleeping bag.

- keep dry. Moisture accumulates over time. Make sure you aren't exhaling into your bag when you sleep. Use a ground cloth to keep from wicking moisture up from the ground.

Bonus tip: don't sleep in low places where cold/damp air and dew settles at night.

 

[camelcluch]

I froze for a week straight on an elk hunt. I’m super sensitive to cold at night now. The Exped 9 series is crazy warm. You can actually feel the heat generating out of it. I also find Exped more comfortable than Therm a rest but that’s just a personal opinion.

 

[Erussell01]

You're set up last year is not a particularly warm sleep setup- I wouldn't really expect it to be comfortable below 35 or so to begin with. Pretty much everything has been said already but here ya go

- don't forget your head. A warm beanie or two, or a down hood goes a long way

- stoke the furnace. load up in calories before bed and if you wake up cold eat a candy bar or something.

- layer up. Wear all your warm layers inside your sleeping bag.

- keep dry. Moisture accumulates over time. Make sure you aren't exhaling into your bag when you sleep. Use a ground cloth to keep from wicking moisture up from the ground.

Bonus tip: don't sleep in low places where cold/damp air and dew settles at night.

That's huge. I didn't think about sleeping low the first year but man that makes sense why it felt so dang cold as the night went on.

I actually slept in my pickup last night . 20 degrees and my chilkoot 0 + thermarest was more than warm enough. So warm that I had to ditch my puffy and vent it out a little bit. Got me wondering if my moisture from my body would build up in the down bag over time and reduce its effectiveness

 

[EJFS]

Got me wondering if my moisture from my body would build up in the down bag over time and reduce its effectiveness

Definitely. You need to make it a chore to dry it out. Especially in winter or bad weather, take those potentially brief weather windows and work on drying out your bag and/or layers.

 

[rayporter]

we were floating down a river and it had rained for many days when the sun came out as we rounded a bend and saw a sandy beach with some 3 ft willows.
we stopped and covered all the willows with gear and sleeping bags. it looked like a low end trailer park.
it was nice to get the bags aired out for sure.