Heres a quick tip. If you wake up in the middle of the night cold but not extremely cold.....Just do some planks inside your sleeping bag. It will warm your core and wont make you sweat.
Thank you Ken, for explaining everything so well! Warming up before getting in the sleep system never crossed my mind but it makes perfect sense now. You have saved a small Portuguese girl from getting cold in Scandinavia :))
I use a 30f sierra designs bag with a sol bivy inside and im comfortable with all clothes and jacket in -15f. It weighs all together under 2lbs. I also live in Alaska in a current -40f.
Big thumbs up on the climashield in the quilt. I was going to ask about the vapor from your breath but questioned answered. Continuous filament fibers are much better than chopped stapled which is everything else but climashield. I am not an ultralight person but decided to watch the video anyway and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was 👍.
I do like my hot water bottle, as I’m often rather worn and drowsy when going to bed. It’s no time to be jumping around, for sure. Heat it with the dinner, and put it into the sleep system to pre warm it. Best place to keep a hot bottle if you really need it is between the legs or under your arms, as you have big arteries there, but near the stomach also works. At the feet I think is a waste, as while you may feel cold there first it’s a poor place to put a heat source. “If your feet are cold put on a hat”, as they say. If your body has heat enough to spare, it can heat up those feet pretty easily.
Have watched all of your videos - and just love your style. Thanks so much for taking us with you into your ultralight hiking world. There really is nothing to beat experience, and you clearly walk-the-walk.
Yep, ya gotta wuna really go winter camping to pack all the Xtra gear !!!! But, that was REALLY great info about what you do in the morning !!!! Ones camp routine is more important than MANY think !!!! AND how ur gear comes out of the pack is important.!! Can the tent you have chosen for camping able to be set up with the fly first and then the inners . in the rain or heavy snow this can make a huge difference on how much moisture gets inside your tent and on your gear. ... And so forth.... cheers n happy holidays to all 😃😃.
I am getting my winter gear... it's difficult to choose from either synthetic or down pants and jackets... condensation is problem....so I go synthetic...rather more weight and less insulation but still functional
Outstanding tips! Here’s a couple more- bring hand warmers to put inside the down booties. Fill your cook pot with water the night before so if your water freezes, you don’t have to deal with thawing it in the bottle, just boil it in the pot!
Hi thanks! maybe it was missed, but I actually use two small water bottles (yoghurt bottles here in sweden) that I put warm water in when I make breakfast.. while I am eating the two hot yoghurt bottles warm up my shoes :)
@@Backpackinglightse I usually heat the water with dinner and drop the hot boot bottles into the foot of my sleeping bag to start warming it. In the morning I reheat the bottle water quickly from their already-warm temperature and drop them into my boots. Also, I find a change to dry socks really helps keep my feet warmer at night and avoids putting the previous day's moist socks into the cold boots. I leave the day's socks in the sleeping bag and they dry out fairly well during the night, I just add them on top of my base layer in the morning to heat and dry them further in the morning.
Superb video thanks. I'm looking at buying the sestrals quilt. What size do you have please? I'm wondering about the width in particular as the wide version has a larger footbox. I wondered if there is enough room in the medium size especially when layering. Many thanks Paul
Hi Paul, thanks! I have the Wide/Large version. The As Tucas are considerably larger build that most over quilts, or all quilts that I know of. They are made much wider than standard as they don't fasten to a pad, and instead are gathered around the sleeper much like a sleeping bag. In fact, I would probably consider the As tucas to be more a sleeping bag than quilt to be honest in that respect. With that said I would imagine, though can't gurantee, that a regular wide should be big enough for what you want to do.
Very nice video! Personally I think I’ll switch to a single warmer sleeping bag in the future, rather then layers, like western mountaineering or cumulus; btw, have you had the chance to look at the Excuistic? I’ll go to Lapland in May for a 10 days hike in the woods. Expected temperatures will be: 6C/-6C. Here’s my sleeping system: Enlightenment Equipment Convert 0F Sea to Summit Down quilt 10C Mammot UL Bivy Exped UL down pad Sea to Summit insulated pad I’ll use a 3mX3m Silnylon tarp which I’ll wrap as a tent using my poles in order to have an extra floor.
How'd you rate a down/synthetic jacket as a middle layer vs a layer or two of (thin and/or medium and/or thick, depending on temperatures) wool sweaters? Is it the case that you'd always go with the the jackets or is there a (for you) likely scenario in which you'd go with wool? Also, is it a question of preferences or do you consider one option superior to the other?
Very good video. Outstanding methods. You inspired me to make my own video about the same subject. I liked it so much I subscribed just now. In my case, when I pee in my bottle, I keep it in between my legs inside of my sleeping bag. You can also drink your own pee because it e stabilizes your body temperature. You can do this in the worst case scenario. It’s a very safe thing to do. You can research RU-vid about urine therapy. This is how I learned about it. Thank you so much for sharing this video. God bless you.
No problem with the kamleika. It's my mountain shell and works perfectly, has far superior breathability compared to the eco shell. So you won't sweat as much
What are these shoes? Are they zero drop? I need winter shoes but have not found some with good insulation yet zero drop (sole height difference between heel and toe). Anyone with suggestions?
It's the Kamleika v4 backpackinglight.dk/clothing/the-omm-kamleika-jacket - I prefer this one myself as it's a bit more breathable in my experience, and damn comfortable.
Celcius is what the rest of the world is using and will be using. I hope one day all Americans will find the right path from their Fahrenheit & ounces & pounds to the old continent's system of Celcius, kilograms and meters.
Might one consider swapping the down outside the synthetic? Down lofts more and likewise compresses more with weight on it, therefore the down should be the outer layer? Vapor barrier should be outside the down layer, not a clothing layer. Trapped vapor's exiting one way or another and it makes no sense to try to trap it in an inner layer. Recommend a mylar or metalized layer as a radiant outermost barrier. Blizzard makes a baffled blanket performing both radiant and convective insulation for less than five-oz. Adds up to an amazing 30°. Blanket allows vapor to escape (sides). Alternatively, a metalized eVent blanket or bivy? Tyvek makes a metalized wrap that breathes and weighs less than three-oz for a blanket. Of course, making any of these changes will disrupt your pretty color coordination and that might not do?
Well I'm glad you like my color coordination, can't say I thought of that. I have tried many of the suggestions you come up with here to varying degrees of success. Yes down lofts more and generally weighs less and in theory should be on top.. this is excellent for overnight trips when moisture doesn't matter.. however on prolonged trips the down breaks down much faster being on top as it takes on the brunt of the moisture both from in the air and from the body. With the synthetic on the outside it takes that pressure and handles it better. with regards to vapor barrier I'm guessing it's not something you have used often? it most definitely should not be on the outside of your down clothing.. The whole point of a vapor barrier is to trap your bodies moisture and in this effect creating an extra heat element and safety element from keeping the bodies moisture from escaping into the bags. With that said, my barrier is something I rarely use and is not one to replace a proper heat reflecting barrier - mine is simply a make shift that adds extra heat in desperate situations that gets the job done. It's more like wearing a plastic bag over your long johns. Keeps the heat in and you wake up in a bag of hot sweat.. not very pleasant - but vital on longer hikes. The Metal layer on the outside is something I have tried on a few occasions, but I can't say it has given me 30 degrees of extra warmth. Often I found my bags to get quite wet, considerably wetter than on a two bag system, as the two bag system still allowed moisture to escape. But it might be worth a try again as it was a few years ago. The metalized tyvek might be worth a try, though I'm guessing it doesn't allow moisture to escape better than two bags? I will have to give it a try. Other aspects to keep in mind are length of trip, style of camping and actual temperatures. The weather I winter hike easily gets down to -30 celcius for days at a time while I am out. This creates all sorts of problems with moisture especially when I am out on my touring skiis and sweat like a pig during the day. Hence the shoes on the outside of my bag. In traditional hiking where gear is heavier it's not unusual for example to put your down parka jacket on top of your sleeping bag - this works great. But doesn't work so well with lightweight gear as the gear itself is so light it doesn't stay put, slides off or can't create a good seal on top. The traditional parkas like the Fjällrävens can weigh several kilos. Snow caves are also a great way to stay warm as it's easy to keep the internal warmth of the cave rather warm in comparison to outside air temperatures. You could also bring reindeer hide, ride around on a scooter and have a tent with a fireplace. Which is quite lovely. This however is a system that works for me that I have built upon, tested and retested over the last 20 years. But I am seriously considering just going over to cottage camping in the winter and ditching tents altogether :)
@@Backpackinglightse - Only Blizzard baffled blanket achieves such added warmth and only in some instances (e.g. no drafts). It only breathes on the sides (under and around the blanket). But it solves a lot of external condensation issues with single blanket. Most of those external moisture considerations are non-issues at -10°C and below. Most don't realize it, but clear sky temperature at night is hundreds of degrees below zero. Sky doesn't conduct or convect, but it does radiate. Cold is a combination of all three and surface-layer icing is largely a factor of the insanely cold sky vs radiant layers. Therefore, single-metallization layers will reflect warmth toward the user, but will be cold themselves. Typically, much colder than the air temperature. The baffle blanket has two layers of metal; the outer cold and the inner warmed by body heat. Baffles reduce convective and conductive heat loss. But, it doesn't breathe. Metalized tyvek breathes and reflects radiant heat, but no added convective or conductive insulation. I carry the baffle blanket, mostly as insurance. Sub-five ounces for an emergency thirty-degrees is gold. But don't do -30° either. Often carry metalized tyvek as ground cloth. On snow, for example. Metalization only adds a few grams to regular tyvek ground sheet, it's hard to pass-up. Sleeping bags are designed to breathe. Done properly, one can go to bed wet and wake up dry. Body heat drives out moisture. If that moisture freezes on the way out, life sucks. The best of all worlds is when the moisture exits before freezing. Metalized layers can help achieve the sleeping system drying goal. Rarely will they make things worse. Knowing expected temperatures, humidities and clouds (cloudy skies are warm skies) can make for much drier nights? Raise good points about slippage of multiple layers. Especially mylar and tyvek, which blow around with the slightest draft. Maybe a few tabs of velcro?
Tom Noyb nope used reflective Mylar a couple of times close to 0oc and no longer consider it a viable option unless you are using it as a tarp. Also reflective Mylar adds next to nothing as insulation when used on the ground reflextix for instance has less than 1r value so it's not worth carrying as insulation better to use a closed cell foam. I have tried many different system and reflective coatings only work with an air gap with out moving air so as a ground cloth they are worthless. Had a very bad night when my down sleeping bag got very damp due to condensation putting a Mylar space blanket over it only made things much worse due to not letting moister out. Just slept in my down jacket and my mate synthetic jacket over my legs much warmer.
Well, around here we can't afford to play around with a mediocre setup (northern sweden). Overnighters are fine with a limited setup, but if your going out for longer treks in -30 degree weather, one bag is not going to cut it. Granted you could leave the xTherm at home, but i like the extra cushion, however I would never trust my life with only an xTherm.
