In her , The Survivalist, Jessie Krebs writes about staying alive in dangerous backcountry scenarios. Krebs is a former Air Force S.E.R.E (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) instructor and owner of .

The fear of feeling cold and losing sleep due to cold stops a lot of people from going hiking or camping in winter. On the first night of my overnight survival classes, I 鈥渢uck鈥� my students in, visiting each shelter to give personalized advice on everyone鈥檚 sleep system. Here are my top tips for keeping toasty in the most frigid conditions.聽

Clothing

Keeping your clothing and equipment in good shape is important. With that being said, it鈥檚 not actually your clothes that keep you feeling warm鈥攊t鈥檚 dead air space. Clothing helps hold a layer of air near you, which your body heats up to make you feel warmer.聽

I remember playing out in the snow as a kid in Michigan. My feet got cold, so I put on another pair of socks, stuffed my feet into the same boots and went back out, but my feet felt even colder. I鈥檇 reduced the circulation in my feet and increased the conductivity. If I鈥檇 put on fluffy, looser socks and wore a half-size larger boot, I would have stayed warm.聽

There are five main ways in which we lose heat. In order to survive in the cold, I tell my students, 鈥� Radiation, Respiration, Evaporation, Convection, and Conduction.鈥澛�

Creating dead air space can help with all of these. I never wear winter gear that is form-fitting or tight. I want my jackets baggy, so if I start getting cold I can add layers under it, or stuff the sleeves and core with insulating debris like leaves and punk wood.聽

In SERE training, we used the following acronym to discuss clothing: C.O.L.D.E.R.聽

Keep it clean. Dirt under a microscope looks like little pieces of glass. Get that in your clothes and every time you move it slices up the fibers. Clogging the dead air space of your clothes also means it conducts the heat away from you faster.

Avoid overheating. If you鈥檙e sweating, you鈥檙e wasting energy and water, and when you stop you鈥檙e way more likely to go hypothermic. Survivors鈥� motto: If you don鈥檛 have to be moving, be standing still; if you don鈥檛 have to stand, sit; if you don鈥檛 have to sit, lay down; and if you don鈥檛 have to be awake, be asleep. Slow, deliberate movement is what we鈥檙e after in a survival situation.

Loose and layered clothes create dead air space and allow us to dress up and down based on the weather and our activity level.聽

Dry your clothes as soon as possible if they get wet. We sweat to cool down for a reason. If it鈥檚 cold or it鈥檚 going to be cold within an hour or two, do your best to stay dry. If you do get wet, there are multiple techniques for drying things out, Powdery snow, for example, can act like a sponge to wick moisture from cloth. You can wear damp clothes and move until you generate enough heat to dry them out. I recommend curling up in the fetal position inside your sleeping bag (or improvised sleeping bag) and clenching your muscles for a few seconds, then relaxing. Repeat this over and over to generate heat without moving excessively.

Examine what鈥檚 working and what鈥檚 not. If you have a white jacket and a dark sweatshirt on a sunny but very cold day, see if the sweatshirt will fit over the jacket to help you gather more radiant light. Hands cold?聽 Improvise a muff or gloves.

Repair problems ASAP. Most of us SERE instructors keep a threaded sail needle in our hat so if a seam opens or someone tears their clothes we can quickly stitch it up. It鈥檚 hard to thread a needle in cold weather.

Sleep Systems

There is such a thing as too much dead air space. If I sit naked in a sealed 6-square-foot room on a frozen lake, I鈥檓 not going to be warm. There is too much space for my little body to heat up. The same principle applies to sleep systems, which can be your ticket to surviving in the cold. Don鈥檛 be afraid to get creative: At one point, I was issued a sleeping bag that was designed for someone much taller and larger than me. To reduce the volume of dead air space, I turned it inside out, tied a line around the bottom section of the bag, then turned it back right side out. Now it fit my length better and had a fluffy 鈥減illow鈥� at my feet. Then I took my rain gear, zipped up the jacket, turned it inside out, and slipped it over the foot of my bag so it came up to about mid thigh. That pulled in the sides to make a still loose-fitting but comfortably snug area around my feet and legs that stayed deliciously warm.

, you can鈥檛 afford to deal with a popped, leaky, or too-cold inflatable sleeping pad. I鈥檝e used a single closed-cell foam sleeping pad between me and the ground for years. They are foolproof, and come in handy in situations where inflatables can fail, like around a fire with flying embers or on rough ground. You鈥檒l never have to worry about patching your foam pad, which can be especially tricky in cold weather (glue and freezing temperatures don鈥檛 often mix).聽

Plus, inflatables can have too much dead air space that traps cold鈥攅specially uninsulated or lightly insulated pads made for warm weather. Ever sleep on those inflatable mattresses as a guest in someone鈥檚 home? It can get chilly. If you like the softness of a nice thick inflatable pad, look for one with a high R-value or top it with a thin non-inflatable pad for warmth. Just remember that while inflatables might work fine for , a foam pad is most reliable if you find yourself in a high-stakes survival situation.聽

Hydration

Staying hydrated is key to surviving in the cold. Most water filters are useless in freezing temps. They freeze up and can鈥檛 filter or form micro cracks that ruin them. Learn which water sources in winter do not need to be disinfected, and make sure you have chemical purification available for those that do.聽

If you fill your water bottles to the top and then they freeze, they are likely to break or bulge. Leave an inch or so of air space. If you don鈥檛 want to or can鈥檛 sleep with them (there is danger of hypothermia if they leak into your sleeping bag) then there are techniques to keep them from freezing solid. Add some hot water to the container if possible. Flip the sealed container upside down (to help keep the lid from freezing shut) and bury it in about a foot of snow or bulky insulative material.

Electronics

can degrade or destroy most batteries. This can be dangerous in a survival situation when you need your electronics to navigate or signal for help. Remove the batteries from your devices when possible and keep both next to your body. The next best option is to keep your devices off and keep them warm (this means sleeping with your electronics). The least you can do is keep just the batteries warm and put them back in just when you want to use the device.

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There鈥檚 a new champion in the insulated sleeping pad category. The not only boasts more insulation than any other ultralight pad, but also sports an incredible warmth-to-weight ratio, beating out most of its competition. I spoke to its designer to find out what made that possible.

To give you a little context, here’s how this new pad stacks up against its competition. In 72 x 20-inch mummy form the $250 Nemo Tensor Extreme Conditions weighs 17 ounces, inflates to 3.5 inches thick, and achieves an 8.5 R-Value. Therm-a-Rest鈥檚 $240 NeoAir XTherm NXT is one ounce lighter, but also half an inch thinner, and only reaches a 7.3 R-value. The $220 Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Extreme is thicker at four inches, but weighs 25 ounces, and its R-value is only 6.2. The $240 Exped Ultra 7R Mummy weighs 17.5 ounces and is 3.5 inches thick, but only manages a 7.1 R-value.

The Nemo will pack smaller than either the Sea to Summit or Exped, which use lofted insulation, and sleeps quieter than the Therm-a-Rest, which also uses mylar baffles. Tensor Extreme Conditions also uses a 40 denier nylon fabric on its underside, which will make it durable and puncture resistant. Winter backpackers, mountaineers, backcountry hunters, and anyone else who camps out of a backpack in very cold conditions will benefit.

R-value is a measurement of how well a pad resists heat transfer. Lay down on a cold surface, and the ground, packed snow, or glacial ice will suck the heat right out of your body. Because a sleeping bag鈥檚 insulation is compressed by your weight, it鈥檚 the pad, not the bag, that insulates you from conductive heat loss. When a sleeping bag鈥檚 temperature rating is measured, that test is conducted using a 4.0 R-value pad. The higher the R-value number, the warmer you鈥檒l sleep.

鈥淟aying on the pad for the first time, even just in your living room, you鈥檒l feel it reflect your body heat nearly instantly, providing a stable, warm surface,鈥� describes Luke Scotton, a product developer at Nemo who led the Tensor Extreme Conditions project.

Scotton explains that Nemo was able to achieve such a radical degree of insulation without increasing packed size or weight by stacking multiple layers of mylar inside the the pad鈥檚 baffles.

鈥淣emo鈥檚 previous Tensor Insulated pads [above] used our rectangular Spaceframe baffle system that suspends mylar insulation at the top and bottom of the pad by mechanically trapping the mylar around each weld,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he new Apex baffle system replaces the rectangular Spaceframe with trapezoidal trusses [below] that allow multiple layers of mylar to be suspended within the baffle, distributing insulative power throughout the full inflated height of the pad and creating a much warmer pad without a significant weight penalty.鈥�

I also asked Scotton how he was able to design a pad with reflective insulation that doesn鈥檛 crinkle and crunch when you roll around.

鈥淥ur Apex baffle system suspends the mylar insulation without welding it in place, so you don鈥檛 get that potato chip crunch common to other insulated pads,鈥� he explains. The mylar is captured within the pad without making it part of the pad鈥檚 support structure, so it鈥檚 not disturbed as you move.

It鈥檚 the ability to 鈥渇loat鈥� those multiple layers of mylar inside the pad that makes Nemo鈥檚 new design unique. But it also requires that the pad be used with one surface always facing upwards. Tensor Extreme Conditions uses a two-tone design and thinner, 20-denier sleep surface fabric to make that obvious. And achieving that weld-free structure also meant redesigning both the pad baffles and manufacturing process.

鈥淭his pad was designed for backcountry enthusiasts looking for the highest warmth-to-weight possible, and it鈥檚 also a great option for cold sleepers or anyone looking to extend the backpacking season into chillier conditions,鈥� says Scotton.

The post Winter Campers Rejoice, This Sleeping Pad Boasts an Insane Warmth-to-Weight Ratio appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

If you鈥檝e never tried it, we鈥檙e here to tell you that sleeping outside in the winter is way more fun than it sounds. Today鈥檚 winter bags are constructed like mobile sleep spas: Our three favorites for 2024 are so technical and luxurious that they outpuff the comforters at most five-star hotels. With water-repellant outer fabrics and silky, breathable interior liners that keep damp鈥攁nd stink鈥攁t bay, cozy hoods that cradle your noggin on a billowy pile of down, and roomy-yet-swaddling mummy shapes, these three bags put our testers into deep hibernation, even when temps dropped below zero. The challenge was waking up the next morning to face the cold.

The Winners at a Glance

• Most Versatile: NEMO Sonic Down Mummy
• Most Comfortable: Feathered Friends Widgeon ES -10 (men鈥檚), Arctic Finch -10 (women鈥檚)
• Best Expedition Bag: Therm-a-Rest Polar Ranger -20

The Reviews: The Best Winter Sleeping Bags of 2024

Most Versatile: NEMO Sonic Down Mummy ($600)

Weight: 3 lb, 4 oz (Regular)
Size: Short, Regular, Long
Pros:

• Great temperature regulation

Cons:

• Small top vent zipper pulls
• Tiny exterior pocket

The Sonic mountaineering mummy was already Minnesota-based tester Patrick Greehan鈥檚 go-to bag for winter camping. And that was before NEMO gave it a significant upgrade last year, improving its ability to adjust to varying temperatures, giving it greater warmth retention, and making it more sustainable. We鈥檙e happy to report that over three campouts, nestled in a bivvy sack atop multiple feet of packed snow in northern Minnesota, with temperatures that ranged from three to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, Greehan slept better than ever before.

The most notable upgrade for Greehan was the bag鈥檚 redesigned 鈥淭hermo Gills,鈥� the two vents on top of the bag that can be opened or closed to regulate body temperature. The improved gills, which run vertically down the top half of the bag, now have internal and external zippers that work independently of each other to more finely tune ventilation and comfort. On the 20-degree nights when he fully unzipped, he was able to prevent himself from overheating. On the three-degree nights, he remained in that same comfort zone by zipping them back up.

To improve warmth retention, NEMO redesigned the draft tube along the side zipper and added a velcro tab to the draft collar to keep cold air from sneaking in. New chevron-shaped baffles hold the 800-fill power hydrophobic down in place and provide more uniform lofting. As a back and side sleeper, Greehan was able to snooze in both positions with no cold spots. A layer of synthetic insulation in the toebox protected the down from wetting out, a common occurrence at the bottom of a bag.

To complete the overhaul, NEMO updated the shell and liner fabrics, using plush, 100-percent recycled, bluesign-approved nylon for the shell and a silky, 100-percent recycled polyester for the liner.

Other exceptional features? The roominess of the hood, which Greeham could cinch tightly if needed, the bag鈥檚 excellent packability鈥攊t scrunches down to an XXL roll of paper towels despite an only average weight鈥攁nd a robust zipper that never got caught up on the lining.

Bottom Line: With its versatile temperature range, solid construction, and impressive packability, the NEMO Sonic Down Mummy is the only winter bag most of us will ever need.

Most Comfortable: Feathered Friends Widgeon ES -10 ($889)

Weight: 3 lb, 2 oz (Regular)
Size: Regular, Long
Pros:

• Extremely warm and comfortable

Cons:

• Narrow footbox

The Widgeon cocooned our testers in so much warmth and silky comfort that they could have happily hibernated all day. Already a frigid-weather favorite, the handmade-in-Seattle bag鈥攐riginally designed for a K2 expedition back in the 鈥�80s鈥攔eceived a major facelift this year. Feathered Friends added three additional ounces of responsibly-sourced 900-fill power goose-down. That down is sandwiched between a gossamer 10-denier nylon Pertex taffeta lining made from PFC-free recycled yarns and a water-resistant, breathable Pertex nylon shell with a DWR coating. The collar and hood keep your face snug, warm, and protected (but not claustrophobic) thanks to a gradually contoured cut. It can be cinched nearly all the way closed using a nylon cord that runs around the perimeter of the top of the bag.

With all that plush comfort, one might think the bag would sleep too hot. But even when camping in late March, Duluth-based tester Brian Hayden and category manager Stephanie Pearson never overheated while cowboy camping in temps that ranged from 15 to 28 degrees鈥攂almy compared to its negative ten degree rating. The reason? An additional Pertex nylon panel over the top of the bag vastly improves its breathability and venting. That Pertex layer blocks moisture, too: Despite waking up to a thick layer of hoar frost, they stayed dry in their bags, even as the morning sun warmed their tent.

Additional small-but-mighty upgrades include a second sidewall to ensure even insulation all around the circumference of the bag; more streamlined internal construction that cuts weight despite the extra down, and a generous draft tube to stop cold air from seeping through the zipper. That might sound like splitting hairs, but every warmth-preserving measure matters when you鈥檙e winter camping鈥攅specially on the flanks of K2. And, for a bag so lofty, it packs down impressively to the size of a 64-ounce beer growler.

Bottom Line: The Widgeon鈥檚 warmth-to-comfort-to-weight ratio is exceptional for nights in the zero-degree range.

Best Expedition Bag: Therm-a-Rest Polar Ranger -20 ($790)

Weight: 3 lb, 4 oz. (Regular)
Size: Regular, Long
Pros:

• Side zips for venting and hand-use

Cons:

• Three-quarter zipper is hard to get in and out of for taller sleepers

The Polar Ranger was one of the best expedition bags on the market when it came out in 2018 thanks to polar explorer Eric Larson, who helped design the mummy for its natural environment. The result was a pioneering three-quarter length zipper straight up the middle to cut weight and increase warmth. Zippered side vents made it possible not only to dump heat, but also sit up, shoot your arms out, and do anything from write in a journal to fiddle with a sat phone. 鈥淚n an expedition situation, every ounce of energy saved is key,鈥� Larson explained over email. 鈥淎fter spending years of my life in a sleeping bag, I found full length zippers unnecessary in most situations.鈥�

But the Polar Ranger wasn鈥檛 without its imperfections. The newest iteration comes with a slew of upgrades that make the bag even more livable. A fresh, 100-percent recycled DWR-coated nylon ripstop shell and a buttery-smooth 100-percent recycled nylon liner are silky to the touch. The newer version is also slightly larger in both length and girth after feedback from the field that the bag was too tight with heavy winter layers on. A redesigned snorkel hood is stiffer and shorter, too, which means improved breathing and ventilation, with a magnetic closure that makes it easy to break free in case of a claustrophobia emergency. Small but critical details? An added internal drawcord in the draft collar for cinching the bag around the neck and shoulders, and an internal pocket for keeping small electronics warm.

Our testers found the 800-fill hydrophobic down bag up to the task of keeping them warm on a -10 degree overnights with lots of wind in Minnesota鈥檚 Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. 鈥淚 used the arm holes way more than I thought I would,鈥� reported Minnesota-based tester Hansi Johnson who, as a side sleeper, was also impressed with the roominess of the bag and how it maintained its loft on all sides as well as on the back. The snorkel hood, on the other hand, took a little getting used to. 鈥淚t felt claustrophobic at first, but it kept moisture off my face. I was so warm I tossed my Buff.鈥�

Bottom Line: If you have an Arctic expedition or winter mountaineering project in your future, this is the bag to take along.

How to Buy

As a general rule, men tend to run hotter and women tend to run colder鈥攁lthough, as with anything, there is a spectrum. Throw in varying sleeping positions, body shapes, and sizes, and it鈥檚 quickly evident that while some bags offer superior materials and design, there鈥檚 not one magic winter bag that works for all. To find the one that will work best for you, here are four things to consider that keep you from investing a significant chunk of change in the wrong bag.

Intended Use

Are you purpose-buying the bag for a specific mission like Eric Larson鈥檚 14-day or to climb Denali? If so, you鈥檒l need one with an excellent warmth-to-weight ratio that will be relatively easy to haul, yet keep you warm enough in potentially life-threatening situations. Or do you intend to use it on shorter missions like weekend ice-fishing jaunts into Minnesota鈥檚 Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness? In that case, you鈥檒l likely be hauling a sled and will have fewer size and weight restraints. Or maybe you need an ultralight bag for a winter bikepacking trip that you can strap to your handlebars and only use in case of an emergency. Whatever the reason for buying the bag, think through the logistics of the journey and how that will affect the size, weight, and warmth of the bag you want to buy.

Insulation

Down bags are generally warmer for their weight and more compressible than bags with synthetic insulation. But if down bags get wet, they lose insulating capacity and take longer to dry out than synthetic bags. Many manufacturers use down processed with a hydrophobic chemical that prevents it from absorbing as much water. Others keep the insulation dry with a water-repellant finish or fabric. Pay attention to fill power. That number measures the volume taken up by the amount of down in your sleeping bag; the more loft your sleeping bag has, the more efficiently it will trap warm air. It will also weigh less and pack down smaller than bags with a lower fill power rated to the same temperature. Synthetic bags are more affordable, and therefore an excellent choice for new campers who are unsure how often they want to sleep outside, or backpackers who are headed to wet environments.

Shape

Most winter bags are mummy bags or modified mummy bags. Traditional mummies have a hood that gently tapers into the bag, is wide at the shoulders and narrows all the way to the footbox. Mummies are great for winter because they minimize dead space inside the bag and help keep you warmer by giving air less space to circulate. Some people find them cozy and cocoon-like, others find them claustrophobic.

For claustrophobes, a modified mummy comes in handy. While it鈥檚 generally tapered like a mummy, it鈥檚 cut more loosely in certain areas. Some offer slightly flared footboxes to give your toes more room, while others are wider in the body to accommodate side sleeping. Some have hoods that gently taper into the bag, others have removal hoods.

Temperature Rating

All bags on the market have EN (European Norm) or ISO (International Standards Organization) ratings, which is a standardized, independent test across manufacturers. The most commonly used since 2017 is the ISO rating. Note: ISO stops rating at -20C/-4 F, which means your -20 degree bag may require a test run before you head into truly frigid conditions.

With these standards, most sleeping bag manufacturers use a sliding range of temperatures for which a bag can be used. The 鈥淐omfort Range鈥� is roughly the temperature range at which the average female will remain warm. The 鈥淟ower Limit鈥� is the temperature range at which the average male can remain comfortable. This Lower Limit number is the temperature rating of the bag. That being said, your temperature tolerance will depend on much more than your gender, so it鈥檚 always best to err on the conservative side. Some bags offer a 鈥淩isk鈥� range, which indicates the lowest temperature in which the bag should be used. At this temperature, the bag might not prevent hypothermia, but it may prevent death. It鈥檚 always best to buy a bag rated ten degrees colder than the average temperatures you intend to use it in. For example, if you plan to camp in conditions no colder than 10 degrees, you鈥檒l want a 0-degree bag.

How We Test

Given the increasingly wild weather swings we鈥檝e experienced from climate change in the last few years, we gave our testers鈥攚ho were spread out between northern Arizona, Minnesota, and Norway鈥攁s much true winter time as possible. We started testing in mid-January and wrapped up the process in mid-April. During that 90-day window, temperatures swung from -20 to a freak 70-degree thaw. Northern Minnesota and northern Arizona had record snow years, which meant wintery wind gusts and white on the ground long after the calendar told us it was officially spring.

Each bag was sent to category manager Stephanie Pearson for testing before heading off to secondary testers around the globe. One tester took his kid ice fishing in Minnesota鈥檚 Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in January. Another went to Lillehammer, Norway for a late winter camping trip. Others spread their testing out over the course of the three months, bikepacking and sleeping out in their backyards to catch frequent aurora borealis sightings.

After the season was up, Pearson gathered the data, compared notes, and picked the winners.

• Number of Testers: 6
• Number of Nights Slept 国产吃瓜黑料: 20
• Coldest Night: -20
• Warmest Night: 50
• Highest Latitude Tested: 61掳6鈥�54.5鈥砃 (Lillehammer, Norway)

Meet Our Lead Testers

Stephanie Pearson has winter camped at Mount Everest Base Camp, in the Swedish Arctic, and in northern Minnesota. A fitful sleeper, she often gets better rest outside in a bag than in her own bed.

Hansi Johnson is a lifelong backcountry camper. His go-to winter spot is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to camp, ski, and fish. Johnson works for the Minnesota Land Trust advocating for Minnesota鈥檚 Natural spaces. He lives in Thomson, Minnesota with his wife Margaret and his son Tae.

Ian Derauf spent a year studying at a Norwegian Folk School based in Troms酶, where he learned the art of survival in the Arctic. He recently graduated from St. Olaf College and is headed to Sitka, Alaska, where his warm winter bag will come in handy.

Chloe Leege, a recent graduate of Duluth East High School, competed on the Duluth Devo Mountain Bike team for six years and is an aspiring bikepacker. She will attend Northland College, an environmentally focused liberal arts school in Ashland, Wisconsin, in the fall.

Patrick Greehan is an assistant coach for the Duluth Devo Mountain Bike Program. He currently races gravel, mountain, and fat bikes with a focus on long distance and ultra events. He is an avid bikepacker who pedals year-round in Northern Minnesota.

Brian Hayden is the founder of the Duluth Devo Mountain Bike Program who has logged a few months in Antarctica in a former life. He鈥檚 a reluctant winter camper, but can sleep through just about anything.

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