Monday Kit Tip - Max Your Bag

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...