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Sleeping Bag Temperature Ratings
Sleeping bags come with temperature ratings to give you a general idea of how cold it can get and if the bag will still provide adequate insulation to keep you warm. These ratings are averages and should be used only as guidelines. Some people sleep “colder” than others, so you may need a bag with more or less insulation to be comfortable at a particular temperature. Also, ratings differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. To calculate the temperature rating you will need, look at the lowest normal temperature for the trip location and season you are going, and then subtract 10° or 15°F (9° or 12°C) from that temperature. This gives you a margin of safety in case the temperature is colder than expected. For example, if the usual nighttime temperature is 50°F (10°C), bring a bag that goes to about 35°F (2°C). Here are some general guidelines for sleeping bag ratings:
Sleeping Bag Styles
The following are three general styles for sleeping bags:
Mummy A form-fitting bag with a hood. The bag tapers in width from the shoulders to the legs, with little room. This snug fit means that there is less convective heat loss in the bag, making for a warmer bag. Mummy bags use less fill than comparable rectangular bags and will weigh less.
Rectangular Simple rectangular bag typically without a hood. These are the roomiest bags but also are heavier since they are just as wide at the feet as they are at the shoulders.
Semi-rectangular This bag is rectangular at the top without a hood and it tapers somewhat to the feet. It is not as warm as a mummy bag but provides more room, and weighs less than a comparable rectangular bag.
Specific Features to Look for
A hood allows you to insulate your head to prevent heat loss in cold weather. If this is a summer weather bag, a hood may not be necessary.
The draft tube is an insulated tube that runs along the zipper line and prevents cold spots at the zipper.
A draft collar provides a closure at the neck area to reduce the bellows action of heat leaving the bag. Good for cold-weather bags.
Well-designed zippers allow you to open and close your bag easily from the inside and allow some level of ventilation.
Sleeping Bag Fit
Fit is as important in a sleeping bag as it is in clothing. In sleeping bags, you want the bag to snugly conform to your body. If the bag is too big, you will have large spaces for convection currents and you’ll be cold. You might even need to wear extra clothing layers to help fill up the space. If the bag is too tight, the insulation may actually be compressed, decreasing its effectiveness. How comfortable you feel in the bag can also affect your night’s sleep—some people feel confined in a snug sleeping bag and need more “wiggle room” than others.
Insulation Types
When we talk about how warm a sleeping bag is, we mean the loft of the bag. Loft is the amount of dead air space created by the fill used in the sleeping bag. There are a variety of fills for sleeping bags, but they break down into two categories: synthetic fibers and down (see pages (#ulink_b6ff3b67-dfec-54e7-aab9-a3b04d624511) for details).
Sleeping Bag Care
Keep in mind that sleeping bags age. Over years of use, the fibers that create the loft in the bag break down and dead air space diminishes even though the bag stills weighs the same. This means that the bag is no longer capable of keeping you warm at its original temperature rating. Here are a few things you can do to prolong the life of your bag:
Stuff your sleeping bag into its stuff sack rather than rolling it. Rolling compresses and ultimately breaks the fibers in the same direction, decreasing loft faster. Stuffing is a random pattern of compression that helps your loft last longer.
Don’t keep your sleeping bag in its stuff sack between trips. Keep the bag unstuffed in a large breathable bag like a laundry bag.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for washing your bag and wash the bag only when necessary (repeated washings tend to reduce the loft of the bag).
Sleeping Bag Extras
Here are a number of sleeping bag extras that can be useful on your trip:
Sleeping Bag Liner Sleeping bag liners can serve as a lightweight cover for sleeping on top of your bag in hot weather. Tightly woven fabrics like silk can even work as mosquito netting. In cooler weather, a lightweight liner of Thermolite weighs only a few ounces and can add 10° to 15°F (8° to 9°C) of warmth to the rating of your bag. For long-distance hikers, you can mail the liner home when you no longer need it. Liners also can help keep the inside of your bag clean, reducing the number of times the bag needs to be washed.
Vapor Barrier Liner A vapor barrier liner can add about 10°F (9°C) to the rating of your bag by reducing evaporative heat loss. You may feel a little moist inside, so wear polypropylene or other hydrophobic wicking layers against your skin.
Bivouac (Bivy) Sack This waterproof outer shell can add 10° to 15°F (8° to 9°C) to the rating of your bag.
Overbag This is actually another lightweight rectangular sleeping bag cut to fit over a regular bag. Depending on the amount of insulation, an overbag can add 10° to 25°F (8° to 11°C) to the rating of your bag. A properly matched sleeping bag/overbag system can be a great combination. The overbag alone can be used for a summerweight bag. The sleeping bag alone can be used for fall and spring, and the combined bags can be used for cold weather (but may not be warm enough for a full winter trip).
TRICKS OF THE TRAIL
Sleeping Warm Your sleeping bag will be whatever the ambient air temperature is. Here are some tricks for warming things up before you crawl into your bag to sleep:
After dinner, fill a water bottle with hot water. Put the hot bottle inside your bag before you get in to preheat the bag. The water should stay warm all night. (Make sure you have a bottle that seals tightly.)
Get in your bag and do a bunch of sit-ups. The surge of body heat will warm you and the bag.
Change into dry clothing (like polypropylene) before getting into your bag.
Wear extra clothing, if necessary. How much clothing to wear in your bag depends on how much extra space there is around your body in the bag, whether you are adequately hydrated, and whether you sleep “warm” or “cold.” If there is space, wear extra layers to increase the dead air space around your body. Remember, you will need to warm up all your layers as well as the bag.
Head out or head in? Some people like to pull the hood drawcords so tight that only their nose is sticking out. This makes me feel a little claustrophobic, so I’m a head-outer. But that makes me colder, so I bring a good fleece hat. When bugs are about, I use a mosquito head net.
SLEEPING PADS (#ulink_48981505-4ec0-530d-8882-f30d752bca68)
Sleeping pads serve two functions: comfort, cushioning your body from rocky ground; and more important, insulation. In cold conditions, a sleeping pad is essential to maintain your body heat by preventing conductive heat loss to the colder ground. Sleeping pads come in two basic types: closed-cell foam such as Ensolite or inflatable pads such as Therm-A-Rest pads. Closed-cell foam pads are lightweight and roll up to a small diameter. They tend to get a little stiff in cold weather. Inflatable pads are typically open-cell foam covered with coated nylon and have an inflation valve at one end. Some people feel that inflatables are more comfortable, although they tend to be a little slippery—tough if your tent is pitched on a slope. With inflatable pads you should carry repair items (good old duct tape) to patch any holes that develop in the nylon outer layer. A leaky inflatable is almost useless.
For three-season camping, a pad that is
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inch thick (10 millimeters) is adequate. In colder conditions, you should have
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inch (12 millimeters) of insulation between you and the ground. Pads are available in either full length or partial length (three-fourths or two-thirds). You can save weight by not using a full-length pad. Full-length pads are essential only in very cold environments, so that no part of your sleeping bag is in contact with the cold ground.
GOING ULTRALIGHT – SLEEPING BAGS AND PADS
You can cut down on sleeping bag weight in a couple ways: fill and features. Going with a “superlight” synthetic fill or a down bag will decrease the weight for a particular temperature range of bag. For warm weather camping you don’t need features like draft tubes that add weight. You can get 40°F (4°C) sleeping bags that weigh 2 pounds (4.4 kilograms) or less.
While I like the comfort of an inflatable pad, and there are ones that are very light, I think a foam pad is actually a better choice in an ultralight setting. Foam pads have many more uses than just insulating your body from the ground. If you are carrying a frameless rucksack, your rolled foam pad can create the “frame” for additional support. In first-aid situations, they can be cut up for splints; you can pad your blistered heels with them; insulate pots from the cold ground; and on and on.
SHELTER (#ulink_6bc19bb2-74cd-5df2-a55b-27ccf801a7cb)
When planning your trip, you need to know whether you should bring your own shelter or there will be shelter options available on a daily basis along the trail. If you need to bring your own shelter, there are a number of options:
Tarpaulins Pro: Lightweight. Inexpensive. Less condensation. Con: Not as weatherproof as a tent. Does not provide bug protection. May require trees to set up.
Tents Pro: Good weather protection. Good bug protection. Con: More condensation. Heavier. More expensive.
GENERAL SHELTER TIPS (#ulink_47265916-358e-5eed-a10b-f9dd4548db35)
Whenever you use a tent or tarpaulin, think carefully about site placement so that you leave no trace. A tent or ground sheet on grass for more than a day will crush and yellow the grass beneath, leaving a direct sign of your presence. Stakes can damage fragile soils, and guylines and tarpaulin lines can damage trees.
Find a resilient or already highly impacted location. Try to find a relatively flat location; hollowed-out areas pool water in a storm.
If possible, identify the prevailing wind direction and set up your tarpaulin or tent accordingly. If rain is a possibility, set up so that the openings don’t face the oncoming wind.
TARPAULINS (TARPS) (#ulink_7abd6215-c6df-5d3c-aec4-8959fb7c5a9b)
Tarp setup can be an art. You typically use a ground sheet underneath to provide a floor and protect your sleeping bag and gear from wet ground. You need trees located an appropriate distance apart in order to set up a tarpaulin, although you can also rig a tarpaulin from overhead branches or trekking poles. There are many variations, but the most weatherproof is the basic A-frame.
A-Frame Tarpaulin Setup
Select an appropriate location in your campsite to set up your tarpaulin (see page (#litres_trial_promo)). Have a tarpaulin line of sufficient diameter (
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inch or 6 millimeter braided nylon) to prevent knots from slipping.
Tree Method Secure one end of the tarpaulin line to a tree using a bowline knot (see “Bowline (#litres_trial_promo),”) at an appropriate height for the size of your tarp, and stretch the running end to the other tree. You can set your tarp line height so that the bottom edges of the tarp will lie several inches/centimeters above the ground sheet, allowing for ventilation, or wrap the edges of the tarp under the ground sheet for better weather protection (but less ventilation).
Wrap the running end of the tarpaulin line around the second tree and tie it off using an adjustable knot such as a tent hitch or a lorry hitch (see “Tent Hitch (#litres_trial_promo),” “Lorry Hitch (#litres_trial_promo),”). This will allow you to set and later reset the tension of your tarpaulin line. To tighten the tarpaulin line, simply slide the tautline hitch or pull on the trucker’s hitch and tie it off. The tautline hitch is preferred since it can be easily retensioned.
Place the tarpaulin over the tarpaulin line and stake out the corners of the tarpaulin at 45 degree angles. This can be done using stakes or by tying the guylines to rocks or other trees. Make sure the tarpaulin is adequately guyed out so that strong winds won’t tear it down. Or you can fold the edge of the tarpaulin underneath the ground sheet and weigh it down with rocks on the inside to create a very rainproof shelter.
Pole Method If you don’t have trees available, you can use sticks or trekking poles at either end of the tarpaulin. Stake out the four corners of the tarpaulin at 45 degree angles. Raise the pole at one end of the tarpaulin and either use two half-hitches (see page (#litres_trial_promo)) or a simple tension wrap around the top of the pole, then run the guyline down to the ground and stake it out. Do the same on the other side. You will need to make sure both ends are staked down well and the entire line is under tension in order to properly support the tarpaulin. Some tarpaulins have side lifters that, when guyed out, prevent sagging and increase headroom under the tarpaulin.
A-Frame Tarpaulin
Tree Method A simple tarpaulin setup is to locate the entrance next to a tree and guy the center point onto the tree while guying the front corners out. The rear end can be staked out with a pole or stick for more ventilation or flattened out to reduce the number of stakes and lines needed.
Tarpaulin Tips
To prevent rainwater from running down the tarpaulinline into the tarpaulin, tie a bandanna on the line just outside the tarpaulin. It will redirect the water drips to the ground.
You can create your own grommets for guylines by placing a small stone on the inside of the tarpaulin and tying parachute cord around it from the outside. The free end of the parachute cord can then be staked out. This is useful if grommets are broken or if more support is needed for the tarpaulin.
Rain ponchos can be used as makeshift doors to prevent wind and rain from blowing in through the ends of the tarpaulin.
If there aren’t trees around, try boulders, rock outcroppings, or other objects to string up your tarpaulin.
TENTS (#ulink_00bfb5e9-40c9-51fc-9747-c18e21a202d5)
A multitude of tents are available—everything from simple A-frames to complex geodesic domes. When selecting a tent, consider the following:
The size of your group and how many people each tent sleeps.
Freestanding tents are generally preferred over nonfreestanding tents. A freestanding tent has a pole arrangement that maintains the tent’s functional shape without the need for guylines. However, in windy conditions nothing is really freestanding, so all tents come with guylines and you should be prepared to stake the tent down and stake the sides out.
Single-wall Tent versus Double-wall Tent. Most tents use a rain fly—an outer waterproof layer that is separated from a breathable layer beneath. This double-wall system allows moisture inside the tent to pass through the breathable layer and then escape, reducing condensation in the tent while the waterproof layer overhead keeps rain out. It also helps provide better insulation by increasing the layers of still air. There are also single-walled tents. Some are completely waterproof and rely on ventilation systems to reduce condensation inside the tent. Others are made of waterproof–breathable material. A single-wall tent will be lighter than a comparable double-wall tent. Single-wall nonbreathable tents are prone to interior condensation.
Examine the floor space of the tent and the usable internal volume. Dome-style or arch-style tents typically have greater usable overhead space than A-frame tents.
What season(s) the tents are designed for. Summer tents are double-walled tents with much of the inner breathable layer being mosquito netting. They are lightweight and allow for lots of ventilation in hot weather. Three-season tents do well in three-season conditions but are not sturdy enough to take heavy snow loads. Convertible tents are four-season tents where you can leave off some poles to make the tent lighter. Four-Season tents have stronger poles and are designed to be able to withstand snow loading. They can also be used as three-season tents but weigh more.
Fastpack tents have a tent fly that can be rigged with the poles and attached to a tent footprint as a floor, leaving the rest of the tent at home. Basically you are building a tarpaulin and ground sheet with poles. This is a nice feature to look for when buying a tent as it allows you to cut down on weight when you don’t need a full tent.
Tent Tips
Each tent comes with its own set of instructions. Practice how to set up your tent before your trip so you can do it in the dark, in bad weather, or in bad weather in the dark. I set up mine at home the first time to get to know the tent, then try to do it outside at night with a headlamp.
Make sure you bring pole splints or extra poles with you in case a pole breaks.
Make sure that you have the right tent stakes for your environment. Ever try to hammer one of those narrow wire tent stakes into rocky soil and watch it bend at a right angle? Lightweight/strong steel or titanium stakes are much better than the cheap aluminum ones. In soft surfaces like sand or snow, you will need a stake with a much greater surface area (especially for sand). In snow, you can create a “dead man” by tying your guyline to a branch and then burying the branch in the snow and packing the snow down on top. When the snow sets, the dead man will be solidly fixed. (You may have to chop it out when it’s time to go.) In sand, fill a stuff sack with light bulky items, tie your guyline to it, and bury it.
Use a tent ground sheet, a space blanket, or a tarpaulin to help protect your tent floor from rips and tears (better to put a hole in the cheap tarpaulin than your expensive tent).
Always stake your tent down if you are going to be in windy areas or will be leaving your tent during day excursions.
Avoid cooking in a tent. The material most tents are made of is flammable, and the water vapor from cooking leads to extensive condensation inside the tent. Carbon monoxide gas released from a burning stove in a confined space like a tent can lead to suffocation and death. (See “Carbon Monoxide (#litres_trial_promo),”.)
GOING ULTRALIGHT – SHELTER
If you are going ultralight, the first question is, Do you need a shelter at all? If you are on a trail like the Appalachian Trail designed for through-hikers, there will be shelters at hikeable mileages for the entire trip. Of course, you can’t be sure that you can always make the mileage, so you should carry a basic tarpaulin or bivy sack as an emergency shelter, but you don’t need to carry a full tent.
If you are bringing a shelter, there are a number tarpaulins that weigh under a pound (454 grams) and some superlightweight tarpaulins weighing less than 8 ounces (226 grams). Ultralight tarpaulins are often made of silicon-impregnated nylon (sil-nylon). This is one of those lightweight fabrics that takes care to keep from puncturing or tearing it. There are also ultralight tents from companies like Big Agnes, GOLITE, Mountain Hardware, MSR, and Sierra Designs that weigh under 2 pounds (900 grams).
COOKING EQUIPMENT (#ulink_ceba3201-f429-5ab6-a322-ac705339f223)
Basic cooking gear is listed in the general equipment list on pages (#litres_trial_promo), but here are a few necessary items:
Pots It’s best to bring at least two pots. A pot set that nests is easiest to carry. The pot size depends on the size of your group: for one to three people, use a 1.5-liter and a 2.5-liter pot. For groups of six, try a 2-liter and a 3-liter pot, and for eight or more, go with at least a 2-liter and a 4-liter. Pots should have lids that seal well. Flat lids allow you to build a small fire on top of the lid for baking. Having a rim on the outside of the pot is essential for picking it up with a pot-gripper. Stainless steel pots weigh a little more than aluminum but will last longer. There is a great debate about pots with nonstick coatings. The nonstick coating makes it easier to clean the pots, but you can’t use harsh abrasives to clean them, which eliminates some of the best natural cleaning materials, such as sand.
Frying pan One per trip is usually plenty. Choose your size based on the size of your group (or how big you like your pancakes). Frying pans are generally available in 8-, 10-, and 12-inch models. Using a frying pan with a cover will reduce your cooking times. A pot cover that fits your frying pan saves weight.
Utensils Lexan plastic utensils are basically indestructible. Be careful cleaning them. Harsh abrasives can create scratches that will hold dirt and bacteria.
GOING ULTRALIGHT – COOKING GEAR
Titanium is lighter than either steel or aluminum and just as durable. You can cut down on weight by using titanium cooking pots, cups, fry pans, and utensils. The only drawback is that titanium items are significantly more expensive. For solo hikers, bring only one small pot and lid. A spoon is the only utensil you’ll probably need.
BACKPACKING STOVES (#ulink_4afaa6bf-b8c3-5b47-a86e-7ca2a7c19b8f)
There are three basic types of backpacking stoves based on what they burn: liquid fuel, compressed gas in a canister, and stoves that use solid fuels like a fuel pellet or wood. Most backpackers rely on liquid fuel stoves.
Liquid Fuel Stoves burn Coleman fuel (a.k.a. white gas), kerosene, or alcohol. Pro: Fuel readily available (alcohol and kerosene available worldwide). Con: Require more maintenance. Some stoves don’t simmer well. Alcohol doesn’t burn well at high altitude (over 7,000 feet or 2,133 meters).
Compressed Gas Stoves burn butane, isobutane, or propane. Pro: Easy on and off. Low maintenance. Easy to control temperature. Both the stove and the fuel canister are lighter than liquid fuel stoves. Con: Don’t work as well at colder temperatures. Difficult to tell amount of fuel left. Disposal of pressurized canister. Butane doesn’t burn well at high altitude (over 7,000 feet or 2,133 meters).
Solid Fuel Stoves burn flammable pellets or wood. Pro: Easy on and off. Practically zero maintenance. Con: Pretty much either off or on, hard to control temperature. Small, hard to use for large group cooking.
How Petrol/Kerosene Liquid-Fuel Stoves Work
