My Five-Ounce Sleeping Bag

Okay, it wasn't a significant sleeping bag. However, it had been only five ounces, also it kept me warm as the temperature dropped towards the low forties about the bank from the Manistee River in Michigan. The key was the fifteen minutes we spent gathering dead, dry bracken ferns to construct a two-foot thick mattress. We set the tent on that. Then, with all of my clothes on, I had been fine.

Actually, I've rarely slept too camping when i did that night. As mentioned, it wasn't a sleeping bag, but usually a sleeping bag liner. I purchased it from Campmor, but I've since sewn an easy among bargain-bin plastic ($1/yard) obtained at Walmart. Whether it's possible to remain warm having a light sleeping bag liner in autumn, in a few degrees above freezing, this tactic should work nicely for summer nights within the sixties.

Using A Liner Like a Sleeping Bag

Be cautious, obviously, backpacking with only a liner for any sleeping bag. It may be dangerous, or at best uncomfortable enough to ruin your vacation. Experiment near home, and know yourself as well as your enviroment.

Become familiar with a few tricks. Whether it isn't too humid you are able to inhale your bag, and will also be much warmer. Most backpackers will explain to avoid this, because you will be damp each morning, however in a dry enviroment you will be fine when you hit the trail. Just dry the liner out throughout a break.

Another trick is by using a mattress of dried plants. Try dead leaves, palm fronds, grass, cattail leaves, some tree barks, etc. A mattress of the sort insulates you against the floor, which usually takes away a lot of your body heat. Scatter the leaves each morning so that they won't smother the plants underneath.

Another ideas to try: Herbal tea prior to going to rest... Exercise a little... Cover yourself with extra clothes... Raise your feet slightly... Fall asleep earlier or later. Experiment to determine what works well with you.

Also, retire for the night warm. If you are warm when you are getting into your sleeping bag, you're more prone to stay warm during the night. It's tough to warm-up, particularly in a thin bag, should you begin shivering.

I am not recommending backpacking with merely a sleeping bag liner, but it's a choice. I've gone out without a penny greater than a bivy sack during my coat pocket, but I am not recommending that either. Case to provide all of the possible choices for the ultralight backpacker.