warm ideas for sleeping in winter.

[spork.]

alot of roof tops have a big warm air vent. it'll de hydrate you like crazy, but thev'e worked for me in a pinch.
bank vestibules. the kind you need a card to get into and are open 24 hours. this work work too well in cities (security guards), but in small towns...
waxed cardboard is always a good idea.

 

[pillowtron]

yeah, i have always thought about squatting...then thinking about the repercussions in the winter. (i live in the states, PA, and it can go down to 10F or less even sometimes.)

 

[Ravie]

no. i wont fucking do it. 20 degrees or less...fuck. that. if i cant be decent cuddling with my boyfriend and dog with a sleeping bag on top and bottom then i go south or find me a winter squat with a fire place. no fucking way am i going out to piss and my pee freezes on my boots. i dont think ive even felt 10 degree weather and i dont plan to.

well now that my wining is over, i heard good things about the vents. and my best advise is find a cuddle buddy. it adds 10 degrees man. and sleeping with a thick hoody is a good idea. beanies, bed mats, fires if out side, wear wool socks, and tuck yourself in before bed(no air comming in through top, tucked in on sides) oh and if you sleep with another person zip the bottom sleeping bag up to the knee and put both yours and their legs in em. keeps you nice and toasty. i like this thread.

 

[Angela]

It seems like I've seen this post on here somewhere else and responded already. Oh yeah that was the New Jersey folks trying to stay warm. Anyway, lots of layers including a couple of pairs of one piece long underwear and a zero degree sleeping bag will keep you nice and warm pretty much anywhere. I've stayed warm in temperatures below 0 Fahrenheit for extended periods before that way. But going to warmer climates is definitely always an option.

 

[wokofshame]

yeah the fire's essential homies, always make a reflector, put high wall of stones or debris or build against concrete or rock wall which will reflect the radiant heat away from it and back towards you, also helps the smoke go straight up and not blow in your face, stops some wind too and genrally focuses the heat of the fire towards you instead of dissiapating 360*

 

[moe]

Trying to sleep throughout the night in cold february didn't work out for me at all.
i wish i could gotten tips like these sooner, but oh well.
well, i was talking to this local bum, cool dude, he told be about his 'crib' in the alley (right around the corner from my house)
and he said that drinking as much alcohol as you can will keep you warm as hell.
haha, so that was my next tip for sleeping in the winter.

 

[Ravie]

it actually makes you colder to drink. it raises your body heat to yor skin, releasing more heat. it only gives the illusion of warmth. thats how drunks die in the cold, they cant tell they're so cold its dangerous.

 

[Seldom Seen Smith]

My friend is an Eagle scout and does a lot of winter camping, when I asked him for handy boy scout tips, first thing he told me is to never get a cotton sleeping bag (apparently cotton absorbs the moisture from your body, making you colder). If you have a zero or sub-zero degree bag (I hope you do in -2!!), he said piling on layers doesn't work at keeping you warm as well as having skin exposed to the sleeping bag, 'cause it works off of your body heat. I haven't tried that - the thought of taking off clothes in the winter is not appealing - but I trust his advice since he's still alive and whatnot.
That's all I can think of, but good luck!

Your friend is 100% correct about that. Typically eagle scouts have good advice when surviving in extreme weather. I wish I would have stuck with eagle scouts for the sole purpose of learning more survival skills but I was young & dumb at that time.

I have personally screwed myself over by wearing clothes in a sleeping bag before. I have a zero degree bag and was riding a piggyback (there was nothing else to ride) on a very cold night. It was a short ride (couple hundred miles) so I was going to just weather the cold out. I wasn't going to get naked on a piggy back so I kept my heavy clothes and went to sleep in my bag. I woke up and my clothes were soaking wet and I froze my ass off for about 75 miles. Quite possibly one of my worst train hopping experiences ever. The wind was blowing, my shit was flying off the train, and I was freezing.

I learned two things from that ride. Fuck piggy backs and wear lighter clothes next time so I don't wake up cold. I haven't road piggy back in many years, and I wont unless its an absolute necessity or the weather is nice and its a short ride.

If you want good advice on surviving in the cold there are some wilderness survival forums around on the internet. I have seen some good advice here but you might want to check them out. Some of them have good advice that hasn't been mentioned here.

 

[sharks77]

yeah if its that cold stay away from alcohol. it makes you feel warm but actually lowers your core temp

 

[L.C.]

When its cold keep of the ground. Sleep on card board or anything to prevent contact with the ground. 3 hand warmers strategicly saved my arse before,1at your feet one a the top of your thighs, and one at your chest.if your bag is good you might get hot. Sewers hold heat,but it can be hard to access and find a dry place to sleep. If you have a fire warm rocks near the fire and use inside your bag. Make sure their not to hot. Also rotate them.in urban areas take advantage of white flags at shelters. If its below acertain temp. They let you inn with out the usual hassles. They just let you flop.

 

[matt]

Ray Jardine talks about how you will stay warmer by not sleeping with a lot of clothes on here: Ray-Way Quilt Kits by Ray and Jenny Jardine. Of course, if you haven't got a warm enough sleeping bag to begin with, it won't work.

 

[seke]

God bless -40 sleeping bags hahahaha

 

[barnaclebones]

cayenne pepper capsules, ramen noodles with peanutbutter and cayenne before bed and yes, not sleepin in your clothes inside the bag is key. you sweat, you die. i house sit for a guy in maine who does anarctic expeditions, and party with all of his pals who do the same.... and all of them sleep naked or with a thin layer of clothing to avoid waking up in damp clothes.

also- have a rotating sock system. warm tootsies are key to winter success.

hmm... but yea... i will SWEAR by ramen noodles with a huge spoonful of peanutbutter and some cayenne. any of those warming foods actually induce a very slight spike in your core temperature. it's VERY slight, but half a degree makes a difference! metabolism is your friend!

also... even cutting some cedar or pine boughs before hoppin on would cut the warmth suckage of the metal floor. and its free!

 

[barnaclebones]

also... L.L. Bean sleeping bags have Climashield. Mine is a 20 degree mummy bag with Climashield (i guess its a fabric technology that forms a barrier between you and outside moisture) and i woke up covered head to toe in hard frost... but i was toasty warm. keep that in mind when lookin for a bag.

 

[sleep]

Catalytic hand warmers work and are refillable. The only problem is they sometimes leak or smell like lighter fluid.


Hakkin is one of the better brands but others probably work just as well.
http://www.hakkin.co.jp/

 

[nitepeepole]

shit..i just try to avoid winter. helllllllllo south east asia.

 

[sleep]

I got something like that a while ago for cheap that zippo made(Zippo hand warmer). A little bit of gaz last for 12 hours, double it, 24h. This is the maximum. Here it's only autumn and it was already -10 at night.

These thing get FUCKING hot, beware. Buying individual handwarmers up here is a never ending story. It's a must have for northern street kids.

Like some of you know, I've spend several years in the streets of Canada, mostly on the east coast and I can't believe I haven't bought this before. Back than my trick was to do Speed at night so I can watch my lone ass for protection in Montreal and stay up, and sleep during the day when it's warmer and easier I would sleep at various buildings. Needless to say my health got bad. But I guess you could always do that.

The Zippo hand warmers look good and are probably easier to find than other brands in the USA or Canada.

 

[boucaneer]

at a push a garbage bag stuffed with straw would make a good insulator to sleep upon in your bag.

 

[snakefoot]

I know this thread is a few years old, but I wanted to chime in for those who may still be reading it
(you can never have too much good advice floating around).
I've had great success staying warm, even without a snuggle buddy, by 1., staying the hell OFF the ground. Get off the ground any way you can-- hammock, pallets, cardboard, I've stuffed leaves into a trash bag and slept on that during the fall, etc. get creative!
2. drafts and wind SUCK, so barricade yoself in! even if it's just enough room for you to curl up or lay straight down on, make sure that where you are sleeping is as sheltered from wind and drafts as possible. You can be nice and toasty until a little gust of invisible icy shit sneaks up on you and steals all your hard won heat. This also goes for shifting positions in your sleep, but that's not as easily controlled.
3. keep your head, feet and hands as bundled as possible. Put three hats on your head if you can. i've slept in a beanie that was covered in a scarf that i covered with my jacket hood (I was sleeping outside in the colorado mountains during winter). it made a HUGE difference, and sometimes it makes all the difference, and LOOSE clothing, all the way. someone mentioned something about cotton being bad, and they're right. use animal fibers if you can (wool, fleece, etc), or synthetic stuff if you have access to it. If all you got is fruit o the loom, then keep your shit DRY and CLEAN, because clean holds more heat (the fibers are loose and available to trap and store heat when it's clean, and when it's dirty, they stick together and get bogged down, making less room to trap heat in)
4. SPACE BLANKETS. I always carry at least two heavy duty space blankets because the light flimsy ones tear way too easy, and that defeats the entire purpose of their function. use the space blankets INSIDE your sleeping bag, so you trap the heat made by your body against your body to keep your body warm... putting it on the outside of the sleeping bag doesn't do shit unless you're making a tent/wind break with it, which is usually why I carry two. the benefits of the heavy duty space blankets is that they not only don't tear as easy, but they trap in more heat, you can use them as a sleeping pad if you really need to, and they last forever. I had one that lasted for two years of regular use on the road and it was STILL going.
5. having clean clothes isn't always a top priority for dirty kids, but folks, clean clothes trap more heat than dirty clothes so if you can't wash them, pick the cleanest ones you got and sleep in those. all that grit and grime destroys the insulation properties of any fabric, which is shitty during the winter.
6. try and eat something before you go to bed. digestion makes the body warm...ever notice how when you eat too much in the summer, you get so hot you get sick? shitty in summer, awesome sauce in winter! eat something and drink a little something- though not so much that you will have to pee in the middle of the night and ruin all the heat you've been building-- just before bed. Just make sure you piss before you go to sleep.
that's all I got for now

 

[AlwaysLost]

I know this thread is a few years old, but I wanted to chime in for those who may still be reading it
(you can never have too much good advice floating around).
I've had great success staying warm, even without a snuggle buddy, by 1., staying the hell OFF the ground. Get off the ground any way you can-- hammock, pallets, cardboard, I've stuffed leaves into a trash bag and slept on that during the fall, etc. get creative!
2. drafts and wind SUCK, so barricade yoself in! even if it's just enough room for you to curl up or lay straight down on, make sure that where you are sleeping is as sheltered from wind and drafts as possible. You can be nice and toasty until a little gust of invisible icy shit sneaks up on you and steals all your hard won heat. This also goes for shifting positions in your sleep, but that's not as easily controlled.
3. keep your head, feet and hands as bundled as possible. Put three hats on your head if you can. i've slept in a beanie that was covered in a scarf that i covered with my jacket hood (I was sleeping outside in the colorado mountains during winter). it made a HUGE difference, and sometimes it makes all the difference, and LOOSE clothing, all the way. someone mentioned something about cotton being bad, and they're right. use animal fibers if you can (wool, fleece, etc), or synthetic stuff if you have access to it. If all you got is fruit o the loom, then keep your shit DRY and CLEAN, because clean holds more heat (the fibers are loose and available to trap and store heat when it's clean, and when it's dirty, they stick together and get bogged down, making less room to trap heat in)
4. SPACE BLANKETS. I always carry at least two heavy duty space blankets because the light flimsy ones tear way too easy, and that defeats the entire purpose of their function. use the space blankets INSIDE your sleeping bag, so you trap the heat made by your body against your body to keep your body warm... putting it on the outside of the sleeping bag doesn't do shit unless you're making a tent/wind break with it, which is usually why I carry two. the benefits of the heavy duty space blankets is that they not only don't tear as easy, but they trap in more heat, you can use them as a sleeping pad if you really need to, and they last forever. I had one that lasted for two years of regular use on the road and it was STILL going.
5. having clean clothes isn't always a top priority for dirty kids, but folks, clean clothes trap more heat than dirty clothes so if you can't wash them, pick the cleanest ones you got and sleep in those. all that grit and grime destroys the insulation properties of any fabric, which is shitty during the winter.
6. try and eat something before you go to bed. digestion makes the body warm...ever notice how when you eat too much in the summer, you get so hot you get sick? shitty in summer, awesome sauce in winter! eat something and drink a little something- though not so much that you will have to pee in the middle of the night and ruin all the heat you've been building-- just before bed. Just make sure you piss before you go to sleep.
that's all I got for now

If you use a hammock in winter you will need an under quilt otherwise you are just trading conduction of the ground for convection of the wind. Its called cold butt syndrome and its aweful. Sleeping bags don't help cause the insulation gets squashed when you lay on it. But you can make under quilts out of old sleeping bags or plastic drop clothes filled with leaves/debree.

Putting a sleep pad and some mylar like those giant windshield reflectors beneath you help as well. Then a wool blanke or a 0 degree bag to keep the top of you warm.

Just some tips for winter hammock camping