We’ve all done it when we were newbie “tenderfoot” campers… We’ve gone to our first camp outside in a tent and taken a cheap sleeping bag that’s not up to the job of keeping us warm on a cold night.
I was about 11 years old at the time, and my awful sleeping bag was a kapok-filled bag that I’d bought by mail order while I was a kid at boarding school. I took that sleeping bag on an overnight camp in England, and by one or two o’clock in the morning I was wide awake. My teeth were chattering, and I was much too cold to sleep.
All you can do is sit huddled up in your sleeping bag and wait for the first light of dawn so you can stumble outside and throw some kindling on the nearly-dead coals of last night’s camp fire, and fan the glowing coals into a flame.
So now you know the sleeping bag isn’t worth a tinker’s cuss, and yet you’ve got to get through another night without freezing your buns off. What can you do?
The first thing you can do is add as much insulation underneath the sleeping bag. People who haven’t camped before will assume you need more on top, but the cold comes up to grab you from below when you’re camping and all you’ve got below your sleeping bag or blankets is a waterproof ground cloth (or groundsheet).
Next time, as well as having a decent sleeping bag, you will know to bring along a closed-cell foam sleeping pad. You can buy a cheapie from Kmart or Walmart for a few dollars, but a good quality camping mattress will insulate you better and will be thicker and thus more comfortable.
Tramps and hobos sleeping out rough on park benches and the like have long known about the excellent insulation properties of newspaper. Go scrounge a good pile of newspapers, because they’re going to keep you nice and warm. Tramps stuff the newspaper into their clothing, including sleeves and trouser legs. It works for them, but you will use the newspapers underneath your sleeping bag between you and the groundsheet, ground cloth or the built-in waterproof tent floor. That’s your first improvement. You can add all of your dry towels and spare clothing on top of the newspapers as well. This increases the insulation a bit more too.
The second improvement will be to add extra insulation on top of your sleeping bag. Find a travel rug, blanket, Space Blanket, raincoat, dressing gown (robe) or overcoat… you could even use a spare tarpaulin or groundsheet. Place this on top and tuck it in or tie it down as much as you are able, so it doesn’t slip off you while you are sleeping — unless you want it off.
Now add extra clothing to your pyjamas. A fleece track suit would be ideal. And beg, borrow or buy a pair of woolen socks and a woolen balaclava or a beanie. Your uncovered head is a major source of heat loss, so wearing a hat of some kind — or having a hooded sleeping bag — helps your body to conserve its core heat.
A third improvement to your sleeping comfort on a cold night is to take a hot-water-bottle to bed with you. I love the things, and swear by them. But if you can’t find or buy one at the chemist /pharmacy, you can jury-rig one with any bottle as long as it has a tight fitting screw top. My family has used empty Lime Cordial bottles with great success over the years. Just fill it up with boiling water right to the top, then screw on the top and wipe it dry. The glass shouldn’t crack if you are careful. You can wrap a towel around it so the hot glass doesn’t burn you. Use it at the bottom of your sleeping bag to keep your feet warm as toast.
Now you can enjoy a good night’s sleep. Just make sure you’re not too hot!