Poor sleep camping

[westernarcher]

zenbivy is my go to system now. I now sleep in light base layers, top and bottom, because your laying directly on the pad. That alone helped tremendously because in a mummy I slept in just my briefs and my legs and torso would be sweaty & clammy from the days exertions. I use Sea to Summit etherlite XT insulated version. I did use zenbivys sleeping pad and it was not as good, but close. A bear got into camp last year and destroyed the zenbivy pad. So back to Sea to Summit with no regrets. Sorry if I'm rambling but that's all I got for now

 

[Pilsner]

I LOVE my SG bag as it is big enough to toss and turn in - my wife jokes that my sleep pattern is the same as a rotisserie chicken.
If I have to sleep in anything more than my sleep shorts/boxers and a t-shirt then I can't sleep well. I also very, very rarely get cold while sleeping. If I get even sorta warm then my sleep quality goes to sh!t. For instance, I keep our bedroom at home around 55 degrees when the wife lets me. Left to my own devices I won't close the bedroom windows until the temps get into the 30's.
As for sleeping with skin contacting the pad and getting clammy, I have found that a single sized fitted sheet over my pad makes a huge difference. I have several of them that I snagged at Dollar General for something like $1.50/ea. Cotton is the best for me in this case.

 

[North of 60]

This probably seems foreign to many as it was to me for decades...give a properly fitted hammock a try for blissful sleep.

I'll never willingly sleep on the ground again unless it is above treeline.

 

[Scottf270]

Work and hunt harder....you'll sleep.

 

[Poser]

The single most significant factor contributing to sleeping well while camping is to spend lots of time actually doing it. If the only time you camp is that one week a year you go hunting out West, then you likely aren't going to sleep well. Its not the same as your bed at home, its never going to be the same as your bed at home. But, regardless of what your setup is and what works well for you, when you lay down to go to sleep, it needs to be both familiar and comfortable. Familiarity and comfort is achieved through repetition and experimentation. If you spend 30,40,50 nights annually out in a sleeping bag, you'll be dialed in and when you slide into the bag, it is the 2nd most familiar sleeping situation for you: You know, by feel, the exact PSI your air mattress needs, what pillow combination you need and where you want them positioned, where you like your water bottle, headlamp etc and the sounds of the forrest are not foreign.

Show up to your $3,000 hunting vacation having not spent a single night in a sleeping bag that year, you're going to be complaining, uncomfortable, spending the first few nights dialing it in and getting comfortable in that environment.

 

[The_Jim]

The single most significant factor contributing to sleeping well while camping is to spend lots of time actually doing it.

This is a great point. I often sleep better camping than in my own bed, but also suffered through some miserable nights to get here.

 

[Dos Perros]

Work and hunt harder....you'll sleep.

This is what I came to say. If you get in the bag tired you'll sleep good.

 

[Wprinkle]

ZenBivy for the win.. solved three issues. Im a side sleeper, my bag was constantly slipping off the pad when I would roll over and I swear its warmer than my WM Badger with the same temp rating....

 

[Will_m]

The single most significant factor contributing to sleeping well while camping is to spend lots of time actually doing it. If the only time you camp is that one week a year you go hunting out West, then you likely aren't going to sleep well. Its not the same as your bed at home, its never going to be the same as your bed at home. But, regardless of what your setup is and what works well for you, when you lay down to go to sleep, it needs to be both familiar and comfortable. Familiarity and comfort is achieved through repetition and experimentation. If you spend 30,40,50 nights annually out in a sleeping bag, you'll be dialed in and when you slide into the bag, it is the 2nd most familiar sleeping situation for you: You know, by feel, the exact PSI your air mattress needs, what pillow combination you need and where you want them positioned, where you like your water bottle, headlamp etc and the sounds of the forrest are not foreign.

Show up to your $3,000 hunting vacation having not spent a single night in a sleeping bag that year, you're going to be complaining, uncomfortable, spending the first few nights dialing it in and getting comfortable in that environment.

Definitely don’t disagree with this logic, but 30 nights a year is probably not doable for me. I’d say I can hit a few weekends a month in the spring and through May before the bugs and heat become unbearable. Then camping is pretty much out of the question until September. Maybe if I lived in a different climate things would be different.

I won’t say I’m uncomfortable and I don’t have a problem falling asleep. It’s just the constant waking and not feeling rested.

 

[Chris in TN]

The single most significant factor contributing to sleeping well while camping is to spend lots of time actually doing it. If the only time you camp is that one week a year you go hunting out West, then you likely aren't going to sleep well. Its not the same as your bed at home, its never going to be the same as your bed at home. But, regardless of what your setup is and what works well for you, when you lay down to go to sleep, it needs to be both familiar and comfortable. Familiarity and comfort is achieved through repetition and experimentation. If you spend 30,40,50 nights annually out in a sleeping bag, you'll be dialed in and when you slide into the bag, it is the 2nd most familiar sleeping situation for you: You know, by feel, the exact PSI your air mattress needs, what pillow combination you need and where you want them positioned, where you like your water bottle, headlamp etc and the sounds of the forrest are not foreign.

Show up to your $3,000 hunting vacation having not spent a single night in a sleeping bag that year, you're going to be complaining, uncomfortable, spending the first few nights dialing it in and getting comfortable in that environment.

That stings. Because I know it’s true.

I really need to start treating camping out like hiking/biking/shooting. It’s all training for hunting. Getting more comfortable being less comfortable.

Put another way, I need to camp in the yard the way Happy Gilmore needed time in the batting cage.

 

[Macintosh]

Eh, its not just if youre tired or do it all the time. Spent too many sleepless nights after big, big days, unfortunately its just not as simple as being tired=sleep or sleeping out a lot=sleep. That may be more true for a young guy, but introduce some cartilage damage, a little osteoarthritis, or maybe a sprinkling of back issues, and you can be close to dead, highly practiced, and still not sleep. Not saying those dont help, but they are definitely not “the” answer for many people. I cant claim to have it figured out, but for me a few things that help:

**dont be too hot or cold. I cant sleep if its too hot. So venting, not having too much insulation, kicking your feet out, etc makes a big difference. Same with too cold—having a hat, down jacket, booties or socks, etc handy in case you get cold can be helpful.
**being able to move. A wider bag or a quilt, or just using your bag as a quilt makes a big difference.
**space to move in the tent so your buddy isnt waking you up every time they move.
**a pad that allows me to either back or side sleep without torquing my back is helpful. Neoloft pad is heavy but its made a huge difference for me.
**dont over-inflate your pad. This may mean a shortie foam pad or your sit pad is needed under your main sleeping pad to keep your hips from being rigjt on hard ground, both from a comfort and insulation standpoint.
**a real pillow. For backpacking I cut a full-sized foam pillow into a 8” slice. So its relatively small and light, but still supportive.
**a calcium/magnesium supplement may be helpful
**half a tylenol PM can help in a pinch.

 

[Poser]

**dont be too hot or cold. I cant sleep if its too hot. So venting, not having too much insulation, kicking your feet out, etc makes a big difference. Same with too cold—having a hat, down jacket, booties or socks, etc handy in case you get cold can be helpful.
**being able to move. A wider bag or a quilt, or just using your bag as a quilt makes a big difference.
**space to move in the tent so your buddy isnt waking you up every time they move.
**a pad that allows me to either back or side sleep without torquing my back is helpful. Neoloft pad is heavy but its made a huge difference for me.
**dont over-inflate your pad. This may mean a shortie foam pad or your sit pad is needed under your main sleeping pad to keep your hips from being rigjt on hard ground, both from a comfort and insulation standpoint.
**a real pillow. For backpacking I cut a full-sized foam pillow into a 8” slice. So its relatively small and light, but still supportive.
**a calcium/magnesium supplement may be helpful
**half a tylenol PM can help in a pinch.

Back to my point about spending a lot of time camping, your list are all things one would have dialed in simply by spending more time out camping. If you do it enough, you'll get good at it.

 

[Macintosh]

Back to my point about spending a lot of time camping, your list are all things one would have dialed in simply by spending more time out camping. If you do it enough, you'll get good at it.

Fair. I had understood what you said to mean that if you just practice sleeping outside WITHOUT making any adjustments to how you do that, that it would get better. I dont agree with that. But yeah, if you use the time out to experiment and find what works, I completely agree. It probably wont look the same for everyone anyway. Apologies if I misunderstood what you meant.

 

[jonnyviceroy]

I tend to backpack 30-40 nights per year and this year was the first year I slept with earplugs in. Made a huge difference for me in falling asleep and also getting back to sleep when I wake in the night.

For me it brought to life that ignorance is bliss haha, wind, small critters etc making noise. Maybe a few places in Montana and Wyoming are the only places I wouldn’t want to sleep with them in. Even at that point if a grizz is close enough to me to wake me up I don’t love my odds anyhow.

Anyways I’d recommend at least trying it, this year was the best sleep I’ve ever gotten consistently in the backcountry.

 

[Chris in TN]

A couple of things I am (idly, at this point, to be clear) toying with. I need to investigate these this summer:

1) A 10x20 outdoor 'canopy' (or portable carport?) with sidewalls for a base camp. Set it up on a roadside flat spot (I scouted last fall and found such spots OK). Put our bigger tent inside it, pushed up against one side. The tent becomes our sleep space. The balance of the space under the canopy, maybe 10x12, becomes a 'living room' of sorts. The canopy gives us an extra layer of insulation from the sounds and cold and should make the tent easier to keep halfway warm, while also staying dry - in the typical dry October air condensation should be minimal; if it gets bad due to a rain front, the condensation should still run down the inner canopy walls harmlessly to the dirt we aren't using anyway. The tent itself should stay dry. Also, the living room becomes a great place to hang clothes, etc. Most importantly, the inside sleeping room should be quieter, and it has crossed my mind to buy a pack of moving blankets to muffle noise around the tent even further, or possibly eliminate the tent altogether and just build 'walls' with the blankets. Obviously, this is a roadside camping idea only. I ain't packing such a contraption more than 100 yards from the car.

2) One of those little latrine tent kits. Dig a big hole and keep a shovel handy to scoop dirt as a 'flush'. Maybe bring a small bag of lime.
3) Better air mattresses. I've already got my eye on a particular one.
4) If we're car-camping on the side of the road, I am fairly certain I can build an actual bedframe to allow us to sleep off the ground without it being too heavy or bulky. Also, everyone who is hunting will have a pack that can hold an emergency ground cloth and some sort of small tarp, plus a sleep quilt, so we can stay out overnight if we get into critters 'deep' or if we kill something and need to work on it late or have an emergency.

 

[5MilesBack]

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

Maybe I'm missing something, but it appears that Zenbivy is a quilt and a pad. Why is it far more comfortable than any other quilt and pad?

 

[Wheels]

The only way I can get a good nights sleep when tent camping is having white noise. I sleep with a white noise machine at home and have a white noise app on my phone which I use when camping. Sure, it uses battery power on my phone but I have it charging while I sleep.

 

[Chris in TN]

The only way I can get a good nights sleep when tent camping is having white noise. I sleep with a white noise machine at home and have a white noise app on my phone which I use when camping. Sure, it uses battery power on my phone but I have it charging while I sleep.

I didn't sleep with noise until I got married and my wife did it. Now I struggle without it. We will likely bring a battery noisemaker next time we camp.

 

[Drenalin]

Maybe I'm missing something, but it appears that Zenbivy is a quilt and a pad. Why is it far more comfortable than any other quilt and pad?

It's supposed to solve the biggest issue people have with quilts, which is drafts, by the quilt clipping to the sheet. I also imagine the sheet is more comfortable than being directly on an inflatable pad. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm leaning toward buying a sheet and converting my EE quilt to work with it.

 

[5MilesBack]

It's supposed to solve the biggest issue people have with quilts, which is drafts, by the quilt clipping to the sheet. I also imagine the sheet is more comfortable than being directly on an inflatable pad. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm leaning toward buying a sheet and converting my EE quilt to work with it.

I always sleep with my base layers on when hunting, so a sheet doesn't do anything for me. I also use a long wide quilt on a long wide pad, so it easily tucks under the pad and still leaves lots of room for moving around at night. Haven't had any draft issues.