This week's
Monday Tip
is all about sleeping well and
maximising
the performance of your sleeping bag. Remember, the
lighter and more marginal your bag is for the conditions, the more
important your ability to maximise its potential.
We're assuming you've got the basics right, in particular, using a
decent sleeping mat to minimise heat escape from the compressed
insulation under your body, but there are other things you can do to
make your bag work as hard as possible for you.
Use the hood and the zips to minimise heat loss. That's what they're
there for and if your head is poking out of the top of the bag, you're
losing heat unnecessarily. Add a fleece beanie for extra insulation
and/or if you really can't stand being inside the hood of your bag.
Next, remember your body works a bit like a furnace and needs fuelling
to keep warm. A good feed before you turn in gives your body the fuel
it needs to keep burning and keep churning out the heat, so eat well.
Remember, you are pre-heating the air trapped in the bag filling, so
the more warmth you give off, the better.
On the same principle, some quick exercise before hitting the sack will
raise your metabolism and speed up both initial warming of the air in
your bag and your overall warmth. Try some press-ups or star jumps,
though on a cramped bivvy ledge that might not be practical...
Lastly, by all means wear some extra clothes, but make sure they're dry
and don't get too carried away - too many clothes could actually
compress the insulation of your bag from the inside and be
counter-productive.
Finally, a lighweight bivvy bag or sleeping bag cover will add some
extra warmth by trapping a little extra air and increasing
wind-windproofing.
Getting the basics right can make the difference between a warm,
comfortable night and a miserable, shivery one. Sweet dreams...
