How did people ever camp in cold weather without a sleeping pad?

[Mike Islander]

I've lived outside off and on for somewhere around 9 months of my life. I used a cot some of the time. I made a wood floor out of planks in a cave. I slept on warm sand in summer. Then many years went by. I got wiser. And when I started camping again I bought a nice insulated pad. I never had to camp in freezing temperatures, so I'm wondering how it was done?

QUESTION: How did folks survive sleeping in sub-zero temperatures on the ground while in the backcountry before there were sleeping pads? Did they lay down a wool blanket or something? Seems like whatever it took, it must have added a lot of weight and bulk to a pack. I was thinking tree boughs would work, but above the treeline what would you use; moss? Just curious, and thinking it could save me if I'm out in the cold and my pad fails.

 

[*zap*]

Hot embers from the fire buried in the ground under you. Pine/cedar boughs, leaves. If your above the tree line, walk downhill for a while.....

 

[beachbunny]

i was young and dumb and full of.........

 

[Yellowknife]

I'm no pro... but snow is a decent insulator. The few times I've rough camped in the winter, I built up a platform of snow and then covered with boughs. In those temps, moss usually buried/frozen so I haven't had the opportunity to use that.

I've done a fair amount of camping in sustained freezing weather and I usually bring a cheap foam bad to slide under the air pad. This makes a significant difference AND gives me a backup pad that can't fail.

 

[Missahba]

Pine boughs over snow.

*edit to clarify and share a story. I’m old enough that I learned the pine bough method. However I never camped anywhere it was feasible.

My Boy Scout den leader was supposed to mentor me. He did, by showing me his pads, foam, and thick sleeping bag and sweats to sleep in. Problem is he did it in the tent as we were setting up at the campsite in Michigan in Febr. In a tent he pitched on Eastern hardpack, aka ice.

I had none of the accessories. Just a Coleman 3 lb synthetic summer sleeping bag. I can vividly recall the frozen sleepless night on that ice. Don’t ask me why but I didn’t complain, or leave the tent, or ask for a spare blanket. Nothing. Just stuck it out. That’s my story.

 

[zpooch]

Ever pick up a bison hide?

 

[1shotgear]

When I was a kid I only had a horse blanket and fire to keep me warm. I use to make a good firer and heat up rocks and make a good bed coals. then I would berry the coals and use the rocks as a hand warmer at me feet and chest and I could last the night. It takes practice though to get it just right or you will spend the night freezing or you will jump out of the bed when it try's to cook you alive.

 

[Mike Islander]

Hot embers from the fire buried in the ground under you. Pine/cedar boughs, leaves. If your above the tree line, walk downhill for a while.....

Saw that movie too.

My buddy and I did that once, sleeping on the banks of the Mokelumne River. Worked great for a few hours, but cold by morning. We each had a wool Army blanket and that was it!

 

[Wrench]

"Not enough dirt. Seen it right off."

 

[FLAK]

When we were kids, we'd camp out like that, without a pad. Never knew such a thing existed. Just laid our bags or blankets right on the ground. We froze our A$$'s off.
But anybody who left was a Sissy Boy. And we would do it on the coldest nights.
SMH.

 

[Piscatory_4]

People were just tougher back then...

 

[Mike Islander]

People were just tougher back then...

I know I was. Tougher...and dumber.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

1. People used to be tougher, generally we are getting softer as comfort, in every way, is more accessible than ever and dictates our life more and more
2. Pine boughs, moss, snow, etc.
3. Buried hot rocks/embers, kept fires stoked throughout the night with some sort of shelter set up that would hold/reflect heat
4. They still probably froze their asses off and didn't sleep as good, but didn't matter because see #1

 

[tdot]

I've spent many nights either in a 3 season tent or in a snow cave with nothing but a down sleeping bag and the snow as pad. It really wasnt that bad. But it was a -20 bag plus clothes to stay warm in -10 conditions. I remember the first time I hauled a 1/4" foam pad in to sleep on. I hated it. I kept sliding off. It was the most sleepless night I'd had in along time. But then the insulated air pads showed up... now that was a true game changer.

The joy of skiing in with an 80lb pack was that I was so exhausted by the time I got to camp at night, that I could've passed out anywhere. These 50lb bags leave a guy with too much energy at the end of the day, so we contemplate things like comfort....

 

[Texasbuckeye]

Lol, my first thought, if you don’t have the correct gear why be above tree line? That’s a no brainer to me.

 

[rayporter]

i enjoy books about the old timers. one tale of a fellow that kept finding trees that were split and charred. finally he found a trapper that knew how the trees came to be.
an old trapper did not believe in a cabin [cause you got lazy and did not trap] so he would split a tree and lay it over buried coals to sleep on. as the story goes he was well smoked.

 

[Brian Fahs]

I generally just froze and could not sleep

 

[Desk Jockey]

Have also more nights than I care to recall without a pad. You would be surprised how well you can sleep once exhaustion takes over.

Having said that, I have read a few accounts of old timers with bed rolls that consisted of a mix of blankets and firs and waxed cotton ground clothes. It isn’t as though people just slept in the dirt until thermarest came along and saved us.

 

[Ross]

Yep watch Jeremiah Johnson pilgrim I’ve slept on boughs only not good on old bodies and believe yes they were much much tougher than us wimps

 

[Crowmangler]

A method I used to keep warm is wrap up a rock from the fire ring in aluminum foil & put in the bottom of my GI surplus mummy bag. Not one that was scalding hot of course. If it was really cold we would bring a few inside the tent as well