Hot tent camping in -30°c/-22°F

[thinkofsomethingkwik]

Hey all,

I currently have a -7°c sleeping bag and a -20°c sleeping bag. I'm not new to camping, although I am new to winter backcountry camping. Currently the weather is -24°c overnight and it's only getting colder.

I know the stove in my hot tent shouldn't be expected to heat me more than an hour or two at night and as such I am looking for suggestions.

Should I be buying new bags or getting liners for my current ones?

I'm trying to save money currently and I'm not sure if buying two $300 bags is in the budget.

 

[thinkofsomethingkwik]

the views from nearby my current camping spot

 

[Hectocotylus]

Are you in the back country or at the car? That sounds proper cold. I’d stuff that -7 inside the other bag and you should be good and toasty.


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[TX_Diver]

I have minimal experience with anything like that, but make sure you consider the sleeping pad too. If you're pad doesn't have much insulation you may want to upgrade that first. Are you packed in or at the truck (asking as you seem to have cell service). If you're at the truck bring some extra blankets too.

 

[*zap*]

-30 is worth a good warm bag.

 

[thinkofsomethingkwik]

Are you in the back country or at the car? That sounds proper cold. I’d stuff that -7 inside the other bag and you should be good and toasty.


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Back country camping! Shoot, I hadn't even thought of that to be honest

 

[Archerichards]

Ditto on the value of a sure-enough cold weather sleeping pad underneath your bag. Super important. You should think of them as a system.

 

[thinkofsomethingkwik]

-30 is worth a good warm bag.

I agree, I think I'll spend the $$ on a better rated sleeping bag. I've been scouring Facebook market place for some cheapest in the -25°c range

 

[sneaky]

Properly rated sleeping pad, then lay one bag over the other. Stuffing one inside the other is going to compress the fill and defeat the purpose. Use what you have if you can handle packing both bags

 

[JeffRaines]

There isn’t a sub $300 bag I would trust down to those temps.

Summer camping is one thing - yeah, it might ruin your trip but if your $50 20 degree bag only works down to 50 you’re not gonna die.

If your -20 rated bag only really works down to 0 or 20 you’re likely boned in the worst way.

If you intend on spending more nights in these conditions, you need to bite the bullet and buy a proper rated bag from WM or FF. Yes, they cost an arm and a leg, but this is your life you’re talking about.

 

[FLATHEAD]

If it's that cold, I'm in my bed.

 

[thinkofsomethingkwik]

There isn’t a sub $300 bag I would trust down to those temps.

Summer camping is one thing - yeah, it might ruin your trip but if your $50 20 degree bag only works down to 50 you’re not gonna die.

If your -20 rated bag only really works down to 0 or 20 you’re likely boned in the worst way.

If you intend on spending more nights in these conditions, you need to bite the bullet and buy a proper rated bag from WM or FF. Yes, they cost an arm and a leg, but this is your life you’re talking about.

That's a very fair point, I am more than likely going to spring for a -40°c sleeping bag now.

 

[thinkofsomethingkwik]

If it's that cold, I'm in my bed.

Can't say I blame you! If you were here you would be in that bed for the next four months it's a minimum of -10°c/14°F overnight for the next 10 days

 

[thinkofsomethingkwik]

Well folks, it got super cold this morning and last night. I will most definitely be investing in a -40°c sleeping bag before this weekend.

 

[Bubblehide]

Great advice above. Make sure you heat the tent well before getting into your sleeping bag(s). You want be be very warm to hot yourself, and if possible the bags should be warm. I have hung my high in the tent in the past. That conserves your body heat for when everything cools, so you stay warm. During an extreme cold hunt, I have had to refill the stove and reheat the tent due to excessive negative temps and severe wind. It sucks, but you do it and fall back asleep very comfortable.

 

[bpietila]

A cot makes a big difference if you keep the stove lit. It lets the warm air circulate underneath you.
A good pad underneath is essential too.

Stoking the fire every few hours is an option too.
In my experience I will wake up from the cold and then build the fire back up to get it warm again.

My kids all have wiggys bags (1 antarctic and 2 ultima Thule) and they don’t wake up from the cold. My wife and I both use older Cabela’s synthetic -20 bags that are not great, but they suffice. Either my wife or I will wake up from the cold and stoke the fire.

We have a trap line camp that the family camps a couple times a month in the winter. The boys and I camp a few additional weekends through trapping season.

When we take the kids we go when the temps are predicted to stay warmer than -20. If it’s calling for colder than that we stay home.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Convert to F but here is the formula so folks can stop WAG'ing:

Dual sleeping bag rating
x -(70 – y)/2 = z

Where:
x = first bag (higher rated/lower degree)
y = second bag (lower rated/higher degree)
z = rating of doubled bags

Example (WM Antelope and WM MegaLite - COMFORT ratings)
5 - (70-40)/2 = -10F


Do not forget an appropriate pad (R values are additive with them).

 

[rclouse79]

It got down to -8 last weekend when I took my son elk hunting. By the second day, water left inside a cooler inside the suburban was starting to freeze. We slept inside the suburban, and even with the Mr. Buddy running it was cold. I woke up around 4 a.m both days and started the heater using a 0-degree sleeping bag.
The biggest life saver of the trip was setting up my four-person insulated Eskimo ice fishing shelter with a Big Buddy heater hooked up to a 20 lb propane tank. Within minutes of turning the heater on high it was t-shirt temperature. I set up one heavy duty cot that acted as a bench and gear storage. It was an awesome place for four people to hang out after the sun went down and to get ready in the morning. Using the heater liberally for two days used about half of the propane in the tank, which came out to about ten bucks.
I also recommend a portable toilet. Digging a hole in frozen ground is pretty much a no go. Firing up the heater in the morning and temporarily moving the John into the warmth made a task that would have been miserable almost enjoyable.

 

[NorthernHunter]

I use a cimarron and stove on most of my hunts. If you learn to play with the stove you can get a full stove with good coals to burn for roughly 3 hours. (It took quite a bit of messing around to start to figure it out) Also helps if your putting larger chunks in there. Usually when it is that cold I will start the stove and get it super hot while I make dinner. Keep it hot until I'm ready for bed and then fill the stove one last time and fall asleep. Usually wake up when I start to feel a chill about 3 hours later. Load stove one last time and it's time to get up when it start cooling down again. I use the XL stove from seek outside with the small cimarron tent. I have a 0 degree bag but it isn't super high level. Maybe good to about 20 F or so. When I upgraded the sleeping pad to a much better r value that helped too.

 

[Dr.Chill]

There isn’t a sub $300 bag I would trust down to those temps.

Summer camping is one thing - yeah, it might ruin your trip but if your $50 20 degree bag only works down to 50 you’re not gonna die.

If your -20 rated bag only really works down to 0 or 20 you’re likely boned in the worst way.

If you intend on spending more nights in these conditions, you need to bite the bullet and buy a proper rated bag from WM or FF. Yes, they cost an arm and a leg, but this is your life you’re talking about.

What Jeff said. Those are serious temps. You need a serious bag. What price can you put on comfort, in the best case scenario, and safety/survival in the worst case scenario. Haven't tried FF but have 3 WM bags and feel they're the best bags made in the world. Can actually trust their temp ratings, and with proper care, they'll last most of your adulthood.