Poor sleep camping

[Will_m]

I’ve narrowed my problem down to a mummy bag I think. Sleep terrible when camping mainly from either super light sleep or waking up every hour or two.

Has anybody else dealt with this and what did you do? Quilts?

 

[LongWayAround]

Cot, good pad, good bag/quilt, pillow = pretty comfortable

You might elaborate on what you're using and what the problem is.

 

[Olympics777]

I agree with the guy above, you need to elaborate.

 

[Bobbyboe]

For me its comfort. To sleep decent/good I need a wall tent, wood stove, cot, pad, roomy sleeping bag and my from home pillow. Good food and a few drinks help too. No way I'd even consider sleeping without all those things, unless it was an emergency. Probably not the answer you were looking for.....

 

[Will_m]

My bag is an REI Magma mummy and I have two pads. For backpacking I use a neo air and truck camping I used the mondo king. The latter is huge but I don’t seem to have an issue with either. I probably need to try a different pillow but I’ve used inflatables and one from home.

I’m thinking it’s the mummy because I’m a side sleeper and I move around a good bit in my sleep (I think). I can barely move in the thing.

 

[Soj51hopeful]

Z quill is my go too. I don’t sleep well at home so camping or anything away from home I need a little help.

 

[tdoublev]

Zenbivy is far more comfortable than any quilt or sleeping bag. And a fillow pillow.

 

[Will_m]

Zenbivy is far more comfortable than any quilt or sleeping bag. And a fillow pillow.

My man. This looks incredible. Much appreciated!

 

[brca005]

Zenbivy is far more comfortable than any quilt or sleeping bag. And a fillow pillow.

^^^This!

I can't sleep for nothing in a mummy bag, I'm a side sleeper and toss and turn throughout the night.

I've only got 1 night with my Zenbivy set up, but I slept just as good in it as I do in my own bed. I toss and turned throughout the night without getting all tangled up in the bag.

 

[Skerhunter]

I have found a few different things that mess up my sleep when camping. The two main ones are inflatable pads and noise from the tent moving. Even in a nice base camp I toss and turn a lot with an inflatable pad. Now I use a foam pad or mattress. I also avoid tents that are prone to flex/flap (tight free standing).

 

[wapitibob]

^^^This!

I can't sleep for nothing in a mummy bag, I'm a side sleeper and toss and turn throughout the night.

I've only got 1 night with my Zenbivy set up, but I slept just as good in it as I do in my own bed. I toss and turned throughout the night without getting all tangled up in the bag.

I'm interested, any model you recomend?

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

A wide pad made a huge difference for me. I still go mummy bags but try to get the larger cut ones, side sleeper as well.

 

[*zap*]

My bag is an REI Magma mummy and I have two pads. For backpacking I use a neo air and truck camping I used the mondo king. The latter is huge but I don’t seem to have an issue with either. I probably need to try a different pillow but I’ve used inflatables and one from home.

I’m thinking it’s the mummy because I’m a side sleeper and I move around a good bit in my sleep (I think). I can barely move in the thing.

Maybe try a bigger bag...
Sleep in it at home sometimes also and get used to it.

 

[Seeknelk]

Question: How wide is your neoair? I absolutely hate the standard 20" pad, way too narrow and even more so, WOBBLY! As a side sleeper, feeling like I'm balancing is a huge issue. I use the thermostat NXT now in wide rectangular and sleep great but adjusting the inflation is critical. Being able to settle into it but not too far matters.
Oh, and YES! the zen biby is incredible! I used a plain quilt before that and liked it but the ZB is a big step up.

 

[brca005]

I'm interested, any model you recomend?

I've got a 25 degree, light large model. I got it when they were running their "better than Black Friday sale". So I can only "recommend" that one, as it's the one I have. I got the 25 degree, as I think it's pretty versatile to be used in August/September but if needed in October or November, I can just layer up, or at least that's my thoughts.

I contemplated between the loops or zipper and decided on the loops so when the quilt is in my pack, the zipper isn't being scrunched and also the loops are color coded so it's easy enough to know which loop connects to which hook.

I'm a wider than average human, so that's why I went with the large. It's also nice because it's as if the quilt is hugging you from being held in place by the loops connected to the sheet. I have a wide pad as well, the sheet attached to my 25" wide pad just fine and didn't slide or move at all.

 

[wapitibob]

thank you

 

[Axlrod]

I’ve narrowed my problem down to a mummy bag I think. Sleep terrible when camping mainly from either super light sleep or waking up every hour or two.

Has anybody else dealt with this and what did you do? Quilts?

I got a custom memory foam queen mattress to replace the stock mattress in my trailer.

 

[tdoublev]

I'm interested, any model you recomend?

All the models are good. I have both the loops and the zipper versions - you pay a fairly significant weight penalty for the zippers but I'm not much less warm without them. I do highly recommend the convertible footbox option to maximize the utility of the system.

The pro tip for the Zenbivy is to only loop/zip one side of it and leave the other side lose. You can roll it over/under yourself however which way you want and it feels like sleeping in a normal bed with a blanket. Still just as warm, and I'd argue warmer that way.

 

[Chris in TN]

I'm gonna piggyback on OP's thread because I'm not there yet - and that terrifies me because not being able to sleep well in a tent really limits your DIY elk hunting options - but here's what I have found thus far:

-Ground must be flat. Not just close, but flat-flat.
-I can side sleep in a large mummy bag just fine, at least as far as the bag is concerned. But it has to be a larger bag.
-I still need my knee pillow or some good substitute for it, like a balled up piece of gear, ideally stuffed into a 'stuff sack' so I can use it like a pillow and have it roll when I roll. Easy with a pillow, hard with a balled up jacket.
-Ear Plugs are an absolute must. I've even thought of adding muffs over the plugs.
-I've slept down to ~25 degrees in my cheap 0 degree bag and it was just fine and I honestly think I could have went down another 10 degrees or more without adding a blanket, and I believe that a thin puffy style blanket could easily add another 10 degrees to that, and a large one could be shared between 2-3 campers.
-A good pad ('good' meaning it doesn't compress enough to let your butt touch the ground anywhere and is thick enough that your butt doesn't get cold) is absolutely vital.

My biggest problem: noise.

I could turn a single night's campout into an essay on noise. Dogs, teenagers shooting guns at the old bridge down the road, roosters, coyotes, owls, helicopters, and if the tent isn't very well staked down sometimes a breeze makes it flap and when that happens I am wake right up. Sometimes our cows/pigs/goats make noises, especially the night we camped after the snow/ice we got a few weeks ago. Cows walking near you on frozen ground make sleep impossible.

I've heard that Colorado mountains get downright quiet in October at night, but have yet to experience it from inside a tent (ETA: At least not recently). Of course all it would take is a single bear snuffling around at 3AM to ruin my night.

I have considered getting a tent then pitching a floorless, larger tent over top of it - I don't mean the two-layered tent designs. I mean, do the usual mesh tent with a rain fly of more waterproof stuff, *THEN* put an open-floored, heavier, less breathable material, outer shell over that. If it condenses much- and I don't think it would be bad in the dry October air - it should largely leak down the sides of the outer part and not be a huge bother. The inner part should stay dry, should be a bit warmer with the outer shell slowing air/heat movement, and if anything perhaps the extra layer would make a quieter sleep.

Also, I have considered some sort of way to stretch a thin sheet maybe a foot above my head, to retain at least some part of the warm air I exhale, so my face isn't cold. The cold face doesn't stop me from sleeping, but when I wake up, I always notice it. It's not a danger, just an annoyance at 3am when you'd like to go to sleep again.

 

[The_Jim]

Try a bigger bag. Stone glacier is great. I’ll also sleep in my puffy and leave the bag unzipped so I don’t feel so restricted if it’s not too cold.