How do I enhance my cold weather bag an d pad?

“I recently purchased a Big Agnes Storm King 0-degree down bag and a Big Agnes insulated sleeping pad which is rated R-15. The sleeping bag is the type where there is no down on the underside of the bag and the pad slips into a pocket. On a recent cold night, when the temps got down to about 30, Nemster and I tested the gear outside on a concrete patio. (This was the coldest night here in central North Carolina.) The upper part of the bag kept me plenty warm (as expected for a mere 30 degrees), but I felt some coolness underneath. My concern is that this “coolness” will turn to “COLDNESS” in much colder temperatures, like down into to the teens.

Anyway, I want to improve the efficacy of the insulated pad, and of course I don’t want to spend a ton of money or carry a lot more weight.  I know one of those cheap Wal-Mart pad would work, but that’s a lot of bulk to carry. Any other ideas?”

“piece of aluminum bubble insulation.”

“I use a closed cell foam pad, gossomer gear makes a nice one. You won't really need the whole length, I cut some off and made a sit pad. 3/8 thickness for winter.”

“Sticks, that's the same idea nemster thought up. He bought a couple of XL windsheild visors and cut them to size. Mine slips into the pocket nicely. The "aluminum" fabric is only on one side though. I am hoping this works, but I am worried about discovering that it doesn't work when I am already out there and it's too late. It just won't get cold enough here before our Thanksgiving trip for a proper test.

1camper - I will check into the gossomer gear pad.

thanks guys!”

“1camper - is this the pad?

http://gossamergear.com/sleeping/3-8.html”

“There's an r15 rating? I thought it was only 1-4 for pads...anywhoo, my vote is for closed cell foam. Works great for me in winter snow camping coupled with a thermarest. I've had it down to -10 and was comfortable.”

“Yep, that's the one...out of stock, sucks. I looked at mld and they were out of stock too. They should get some soon. Try a Wal-Mart deal maybe but I'd hold out.”

“I read somewhere that it had an R-15 rating. Maybe I read that wrong. I looked at so many sleeping pads.”

“Ok, thanks for checking, 1Camper.”

“Reflectex is about a R4. I would think that is about as good as you will get for the weight.”

“Bag liner”

“I think I would redo your test laying on the ground instead of a slab of concrete. You will be colder on it than the ground.

If you need something to keep your legs warm look at the JRB Down Sleeves. They work on your arms or legs.

http://www.jacksrbetter.com/Sleeves.htm
last edited: 11/15/11 1:55:35 PM”

“I have a bag liner and I don't think it would help with the coldness underneath me. I think I need something extra to insulate me from the cold ground.”

“Since the outside temps were not very cold, we intentionally used the concrete because we thought it would be colder than the ground and a better test.”

“best thing for stretching the rating of a bag is to use a hot water bottle

that said try putting a closed cell pad on top of the R15 pad - I had to do this with a down filled air mattress I used to use in winter because it took a fairly long time to warm up the pad and I was cold while waiting”

“I am lucky that I have never had this problem even in sub 0 temps and sleeping on frozen earth/no snow.

You might want to check a crafts or sewing store. A lot of them carry closed cell of different thickness.”

“Thanks!”

“I use a tent heater and always unzip my bag.....ADK trip a fews years back at -20 4 of us were in my Hilleberg with a tent heater at +50...we all slept very well.”

“close cell foam pad works great and so does a bubble pad. Another thought is to team up with mateable sleeping bags with your mate of course and let him sleep below...”

“Must refrain...^%&&*^##^&*&^%^$##$%$^&*(*&^*(*())”

“They do have the 1/4", would probably be enough.
http://gossamergear.com/sleeping/1-4-wide.html

That 3/8 is just nice tho.. it has a film on one side that makes it tougher. I told you I cut it and made a sit pad.
Here ya go:


It's one of my favorite pieces of gear. The tyvek keeps it clean and waterproof and it slides into a full pack easily. Just don't stand or sit on it on an incline, you'll slide too.
I use it for a spare piece of insulation, kneel/sit pad, hotpad, doormat for my tent, stand on it entering and exiting the hammock and even shower standing on it to keep my feet clean!

Gossamer list it's weight under 6 oz. full length. You can have a sleeping pad and a sit pad and still not use the whole thing.”

“Find a remnant of floor pad cut to fit. Bulk will be an issue no matter what you use. I saw some PCT hikers they were using felt floor pad. Heavy. Cardboard, newspaper,, extra clothes, backpack any thing that would act as a thermal break. TRY to avoid alcohol a couple of hours prior to sleeping.Warm your body doing squats (not in the bag). wow my fingers are tired. May be my longest post! YO BEAR!”

“Bear is the KING of homemade gear....just don't leave him alone with your Ole Lady too long....”

“8UP
last edited: 11/15/11 6:47:57 PM”

“I do alot of winter camping sleeping directly on snow. My go to never sleep cold kit is the Classic Thermarest (about 15 years old) and a Thermarest Z-Rest (closed cell foam). The Z-rest on the bottom. If directly on snow then I'll place a garbage bag between the snow and pad. I also have the BA Insulated Air Core. On snow make sure to not inflate fully and place on closed cell phone.

Sleep like a baby!”

“a closed cell phone might be kinda lumpy so you might want to stick with a closed cell foam pad. =0)”

“I like Fridge's idea of having nemster sleep below. He is rather hot... :))))

If that doesn't work out, I think I will go with the the aluminum bubble wrap method. I think this will be the least expensive, lowest weight and least amount of bulk option.

Thanks for all the ideas!”

“You can get mylar/ looks like aluminum coated bubble wrap insulation and Lowes or home depot. It's stiffer than the usual bubble wrap and makes a pretty big difference in temperature.”

“Hey Creeky..yall coming to Mt Rogers for TDay????”

“Pee in a 32oz gatorade bottle and stick in the bottom of your sleeping bag.. Oh, dont forget to close it tight.... just sayin;

'32oz”

“Hey Sunni! Yup, we will be going to Mt. Rogers for the holiday, but we won't be meeting up with everyone until Saturday night. We are doing a different route because we just did fridge's planned route for this trip a month or so ago.

That's a disgusting, but efficient, solution 32oz. How's the toe, btw?”

“Toe is doing great.. Thanks for asking!!

Did 33 miles last weekend and planning another 30 or so this weekend...

Looking at doing a 60 mile section of the Foothills Trail over Thanksgiving Weekend. Starting at Burrell's Ford and Ending at Table Rock State Park. Was going to try to do all 77 miles, but I dont want to risk it. Besides there are a couple of side trails to some waterfalls that I want to take...

Need to start on the MST trail in the Spring..

'32oz”

“Glad the toe is better. Must be to be able to hike that many miles.

Only 7 people did a thru of the MST this year. I thought that number would be higher. I suppose a lot of people avoid doing a thru of the MST because of all the road walking. There are some beautiful secitons, however.

Let us know what you think of the Foothills Trail. We were looking at doing this at some point. So many trails, so little time.”

“Gem and I have been section hiking the Palmetto Trail.. Same deal as the MST. Bunch of road walking then some neat scenery.. Alot of what we did last weekend looked like something right out of the dukes of hazard. Long straight dirt back country roads. We did meet some pretty cool people though..

'32oz”

“well maybe we will see you Saturday nite...maybe...hehehe...”

“I wonder if the R-15 is really R-1.5?”

“I don't know where I got R-15 from. The pad has a comfort rating of 15 degrees. Not an "R" rating of 15. I don't know the R rating for the pad.

http://www.rei.com/product/815002/big-agnes-sand-mountain-sleeping-pad-regular-special-buy”

“I have a similar bag and pad as you and that 15* is optimistic, imo. Anything colder than about 25* and I want a pad too.”