How many of you Leverage you Gear insulation w/ your Sleeping bag

[rbljack]

It got damn cold for me last fall during my elk hunt and I don't know what the temps were, but it felt like it was 10 or 15 degrees. On opening day we hiked in thru 10-12 inches of snow and deeper in other places. I had my floorless shelter, and packed the snow flat to set up on top of it. Long story short, my bag was a WM badger (15 degree rating) and my pad wasn't quite warm enough with R value of 5. It got cold, and I was glad I brought my FL puffy pants!! Slept in them and it made a difference, along with dry socks base layer top and my fleece top. Worked well! I wore a beanie too, but that damn thing kept falling off because I toss and turn a lot.. next time I think I will be going with the balaclava to prevent it from coming off all the time.

 

[WhiteOak]

Now this might be all in my head and it's been my practice since I was in the army but I try to sleep with as little on as possible a base layer and beanie at the most. I may stuff clothes or insulation peices in the bag but I want to be able to get out of the bag and put clothes on to warm up. Not get out of the warm bag fully clothed out into the cold with your body already used to all those layers. I also always have my woobie probably good for an extra 10*.

 

[LandYacht]

I’ve started sleeping in a merino top added to a thin merino beanie. My two bags are a WM Versalite 10* and WM Caribou 35*.

I find that I sleep more soundly as the top keeps my arms warm as they often find their way on the outside of my bag. I’m sure they supplement my bag warmth some as well, but the main benefit is it’s a lot easier to get out of the warm bag on a cold morning with that merino top on. The top also doubles as my sleeping bag liner now and works better for that purpose. So it now serves triple duty, which is the key to drastically cutting pack weight.

I found the best thing I could do for supplementing my bag’s warmth though was to up the R value on my sleeping pad.

With a Big Agnes clear pad with an R value of zero, my two bags were pretty much spot on for their respective temp ratings. With a Neoair X Lite I can push them an easy 5-10 degrees cooler, depending on the bag, just on their own. Putting them in a bivy to keep the wind off (especially the Caribou with its box through stitching) really made a difference too.

Don’t underestimate the power of doubling your bags either. Adding my two bags together gets about a -15* rating. It’s beneficial that they have full length zippers so they don’t compress each other as much as a half zip bag would. The reason I bring up doubling your bags is that I can basically cover every temperature range from 60* nights down to -20* with just two bags, some base layers, and the right pad. With the Caribou weighing one pound and the Versalite weighing two pounds that’s an impressive feat.


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[Chucklehead]

My most commonly used system for mountain hunts, Aug-Oct. is a 35° EE quilt and my puffy pants/jacket, sometimes base layers as well. I figure I’m taking the puffy gear regardless, so I may as well use it to sleep in (if need be), and that allows me to only carry the 14 oz. quilt.


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Funny, I was thinking about doing this exact thing just w/ a 30° this year. I also just carry a set of down booties to sleep in because my feet are always the first thing to get cold.

 

[idahohikker]

So how much affect do you all think a tent has on the sleep system? I have never used a four season, double layered tent? Is it necessary for you at some point, say 20 degree low?

I think I'd be pretty comfy sleeping in some warm clothes with a 15 degree quilt in 15 degree weather even if I'm in a 3 season tent. I haven't tried a quilt yet so I don't know for sure.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I also just carry a set of down booties to sleep in because my feet are always the first thing to get cold.

Yeah, I’ve done that a couple times too. I also always carry some kind of beanie and I wear that to bed every night as well.



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