I’m a cold sleeper, so I use a 950 fill down 0 degree quilt with 2 Oz extra fil. I use a Nemo tensor extreme, with a sea to summit reactor liner. The general rule with sleeping bags is, buy one that’s at least 10 degrees warmer than you need. For pads, you need at least a 5R value pad for winter, your pad is just as important as the bag.
It took me a few years to go through that educational process as well. I will tell you it is simple once you understand how the body works at producing and radiating heat and how heat loss occurs through convection and conduction. For winter sleep pads I have found the self inflatable open cell foam filled pads are the warmest . For sleeping bags a good high quality down fill counts for a lot. I always take the sleeping bag temperature rating and add 20° to that to know what my comfort level might be. I would highly recommend also adding a lightweight breathable bivvy bag. If you put your sleeping bag and possibly your sleeping pad in there it makes a huge difference. This protects your body from heat loss due to convection and the pad protects you from heat loss from conduction . Your body will radiate heat into that sleeping bag and the greater The Loft, the more heat it can hold but it can only hold so much before it starts escaping. Adding the extra layer of a bivvy bag will retain more and it will also block any kind of Breeze and will hold heat in while you move around in the sleeping bag . Just make sure the bivvy bag is made of a breathable material so condensation does not build up inside. I could go on on this subject for a very long time but you will always learn more from this process by trying it out for yourself. As a side note I have a hike and bike 30° sleeping bag and it is designed to be light and compact by not having down under you. I thought that was a great concept since I have a good sleeping pad but I am a side sleeper and I move around a lot so when I lay to my side and then move to the other side I have no insulation covering my back or butt. It is a failed concept.
I think its a combination of things. Tent/pad/bag/clothes/hot water bottles? I looked at fill weigh over temp rating, 2 years ago when look for a bag. Ive taken my 0 down to -17F testing in back yard. Nemo sonic 0, dont think they make it anymore... id love to get a -20 in same stylenthatbwas made back then!
Not sure if you already know but you need to look up Wiggy's. Also Baselayer should be fishnets, Wiggy's makes a set also Brynje make wool or synthetic. But watch Wiggy first.
🎊 Don’t pay any attention to the “lower limit” or the “survival” rating, those numbers mean absolutely nothing! Worst case scenario, if you feel compelled to rely on their “comfort rating,” add at least 10°F…and add 20°F to their advertised general rating. If you’re camping on the side of a snow covered mountain a SAFETY FACTOR needs to be incorporated in your survival plans!!! A sleeping bags “ratings” are worthless if you’re stuck in a white-out for 3 days with a wet bag or you’re bleeding feathers for some reason…or you broke your leg! 30° over someone’s “advertised” rating MIGHT just allow you to survive. Remember, in a hostile environment, it’s better to be OVER PREPARED than to live on the edge of some advertised/arbitrary rating. Back-in-the-day, in Alaska, we rated our bags by how much down was in them. 3 lbs., 4 lbs., etc. If we didn’t have to unzip somewhere along the line, because we were too hot, we were cutting it waaay too close. I was on a ptarmigan hunt at 30° BELOW ZERO and was toasty with my down bag INSIDE of my holofill synthetic bag. (I wasn’t going to buy a -40°F sleeping bag for a once-in-a-blue-moon Winter bird hunt.) Also, I had an air mattress on a thick foam pad and that was before “science” entered the picture. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is: Drop your pencil and just plan on the worst case scenario. “This is my Winter sleeping bag…and this is my Summer bag.” You can justify the extra weight as a Safety Factor…and you’ll NEVER regret it. Happy Trails. P.S. The more I think about it, there’s no such thing as a “cold sleeper” or a “warm sleeper.” When the 💩 hits the fan we’re ALL cold sleepers. Except in the Summertime, when it’s 80°F, you may be able to get away with using those advertising “catch phrases” …but when there’s a threat of HYPOTHERMIA, you better plan on being a “cold sleeper.”
@@Ou81gi812 I really appreciate you taking the time to share your perspectives. It definitely opens up the conversation, especially as we move into the winter months. I would hope the beginners out there aren't backpacking in conditions like that, but obviously a big chuck of people watching aren't beginners at all. Thanks so much for watching and sharing... oh, I ate one too 🙂
@ 🎊 Thank you for listening. It’s better to learn from someone else’s experience than to try and “reinvent the wheel.” There have only been 2 times in my life when things got so bad that I said, “I’d give away a million dollars just to be home in my nice warm bed.” One time was in Mexico; getting robbed by the police (with M16’s) and taken into the jungle for “the long ride.” The other was on a Dall Sheep hunt in Alaska (16 years old; 1971), soaking wet, 33°, raining, and playing “rotisserie” around a campfire for 24 hours. You’d get so close to the fire that the steam would burn you; all the while your eating smoke and your back is freezing cold 🥶. Seeing salmon carcasses beside bear tracks; no guns, because they were in the Jeep that got lost crossing a rising stream that was raging with clanging boulders during a constant rain; miles away from your base camp because you were just on a “scouting expedition,” preparing for the next day’s hunt. After surviving all of that, a 4x4 Ford full of G.I.’s from Ft. Wainwright heard our story…and their response was, “That was a Jeep, this is a Ford.” They had to be rescued by an army helicopter…and the Indians found their truck a mile downstream. They didn’t even make it across one of the smaller mountain streams we’d crossed in our “little ‘ol Jeep.” Your take-away should be: Don’t put yourself in a position where you’d say, “I’d give a million dollars to be home in my nice warm bed!!!” Don’t buy a sleeping bag that is on the edge of your “comfort zone.” Go above and beyond. Treat yourself to some luxury. Be toasty warm on the side of that mountain. Out there, you might as well be a million miles from help & safety…so don’t let a few OUNCES of down stand between you and a safe, comfortable, journey. Take care; plan on the worst. Also, always bring a handgun. No one needs to know that you have it, either. 4 legged predators are bad; the 2 legged ones are worse. 3 shots in rapid succession is a universal call for help…your screams won’t go 100 yards.
I’m a cold sleeper, so I use a 950 fill down 0 degree quilt with 2 Oz extra fil. I use a Nemo tensor extreme, with a sea to summit reactor liner. The general rule with sleeping bags is, buy one that’s at least 10 degrees warmer than you need.
For pads, you need at least a 5R value pad for winter, your pad is just as important as the bag.
@@SparkyOne549 Sounds toasty! Thanks for sharing.
It took me a few years to go through that educational process as well. I will tell you it is simple once you understand how the body works at producing and radiating heat and how heat loss occurs through convection and conduction. For winter sleep pads I have found the self inflatable open cell foam filled pads are the warmest . For sleeping bags a good high quality down fill counts for a lot. I always take the sleeping bag temperature rating and add 20° to that to know what my comfort level might be. I would highly recommend also adding a lightweight breathable bivvy bag. If you put your sleeping bag and possibly your sleeping pad in there it makes a huge difference. This protects your body from heat loss due to convection and the pad protects you from heat loss from conduction . Your body will radiate heat into that sleeping bag and the greater The Loft, the more heat it can hold but it can only hold so much before it starts escaping. Adding the extra layer of a bivvy bag will retain more and it will also block any kind of Breeze and will hold heat in while you move around in the sleeping bag . Just make sure the bivvy bag is made of a breathable material so condensation does not build up inside. I could go on on this subject for a very long time but you will always learn more from this process by trying it out for yourself. As a side note I have a hike and bike 30° sleeping bag and it is designed to be light and compact by not having down under you. I thought that was a great concept since I have a good sleeping pad but I am a side sleeper and I move around a lot so when I lay to my side and then move to the other side I have no insulation covering my back or butt. It is a failed concept.
@@KdawgCrazyOutdoors Thanks so much for taking the time to share. Always an opportunity to learn something new no matter how long I've done this 🙂
@GeezerBoy65 I use a Sierra Designs backcountry bivy but just recently I purchased one from 3F UL Gear that is made from Tyvek house wrap.
I learned something new about the ISO standards. Thanks!
@@HikingWithCam Thanks for watching 🙂
That opening joke was hilarious!
@@RotasOpera Thank you ☺️
I think its a combination of things. Tent/pad/bag/clothes/hot water bottles? I looked at fill weigh over temp rating, 2 years ago when look for a bag. Ive taken my 0 down to -17F testing in back yard. Nemo sonic 0, dont think they make it anymore... id love to get a -20 in same stylenthatbwas made back then!
Sounds like a fantastic bag. Thanks for your thoughts. I'll be trying some bags out this winter...
Not sure if you already know but you need to look up Wiggy's. Also Baselayer should be fishnets, Wiggy's makes a set also Brynje make wool or synthetic. But watch Wiggy first.
@@Fanatiiick Thanks so much. I'll check them out!
🎊 Don’t pay any attention to the “lower limit” or the “survival” rating, those numbers mean absolutely nothing! Worst case scenario, if you feel compelled to rely on their “comfort rating,” add at least 10°F…and add 20°F to their advertised general rating. If you’re camping on the side of a snow covered mountain a SAFETY FACTOR needs to be incorporated in your survival plans!!! A sleeping bags “ratings” are worthless if you’re stuck in a white-out for 3 days with a wet bag or you’re bleeding feathers for some reason…or you broke your leg! 30° over someone’s “advertised” rating MIGHT just allow you to survive. Remember, in a hostile environment, it’s better to be OVER PREPARED than to live on the edge of some advertised/arbitrary rating. Back-in-the-day, in Alaska, we rated our bags by how much down was in them. 3 lbs., 4 lbs., etc. If we didn’t have to unzip somewhere along the line, because we were too hot, we were cutting it waaay too close. I was on a ptarmigan hunt at 30° BELOW ZERO and was toasty with my down bag INSIDE of my holofill synthetic bag. (I wasn’t going to buy a -40°F sleeping bag for a once-in-a-blue-moon Winter bird hunt.) Also, I had an air mattress on a thick foam pad and that was before “science” entered the picture.
Anyway, what I’m trying to say is: Drop your pencil and just plan on the worst case scenario. “This is my Winter sleeping bag…and this is my Summer bag.” You can justify the extra weight as a Safety Factor…and you’ll NEVER regret it. Happy Trails.
P.S. The more I think about it, there’s no such thing as a “cold sleeper” or a “warm sleeper.” When the 💩 hits the fan we’re ALL cold sleepers. Except in the Summertime, when it’s 80°F, you may be able to get away with using those advertising “catch phrases” …but when there’s a threat of HYPOTHERMIA, you better plan on being a “cold sleeper.”
@@Ou81gi812 I really appreciate you taking the time to share your perspectives. It definitely opens up the conversation, especially as we move into the winter months. I would hope the beginners out there aren't backpacking in conditions like that, but obviously a big chuck of people watching aren't beginners at all. Thanks so much for watching and sharing... oh, I ate one too 🙂
@ 🎊 Thank you for listening. It’s better to learn from someone else’s experience than to try and “reinvent the wheel.” There have only been 2 times in my life when things got so bad that I said, “I’d give away a million dollars just to be home in my nice warm bed.” One time was in Mexico; getting robbed by the police (with M16’s) and taken into the jungle for “the long ride.” The other was on a Dall Sheep hunt in Alaska (16 years old; 1971), soaking wet, 33°, raining, and playing “rotisserie” around a campfire for 24 hours. You’d get so close to the fire that the steam would burn you; all the while your eating smoke and your back is freezing cold 🥶. Seeing salmon carcasses beside bear tracks; no guns, because they were in the Jeep that got lost crossing a rising stream that was raging with clanging boulders during a constant rain; miles away from your base camp because you were just on a “scouting expedition,” preparing for the next day’s hunt.
After surviving all of that, a 4x4 Ford full of G.I.’s from Ft. Wainwright heard our story…and their response was, “That was a Jeep, this is a Ford.” They had to be rescued by an army helicopter…and the Indians found their truck a mile downstream. They didn’t even make it across one of the smaller mountain streams we’d crossed in our “little ‘ol Jeep.”
Your take-away should be: Don’t put yourself in a position where you’d say, “I’d give a million dollars to be home in my nice warm bed!!!” Don’t buy a sleeping bag that is on the edge of your “comfort zone.” Go above and beyond. Treat yourself to some luxury. Be toasty warm on the side of that mountain. Out there, you might as well be a million miles from help & safety…so don’t let a few OUNCES of down stand between you and a safe, comfortable, journey.
Take care; plan on the worst. Also, always bring a handgun. No one needs to know that you have it, either. 4 legged predators are bad; the 2 legged ones are worse. 3 shots in rapid succession is a universal call for help…your screams won’t go 100 yards.