Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Sleeping bag advice

Plus Wiggy’s makes some rectangular and wider bags that make sleeping in a sleeping bag so much more comfortable. And they are toasty. I use a quilt for backpacking but man a rectangular or semi rectangular superlite wiggys bag is the bomb in a cold truck or wall tent camp.

KC has put together a mini-manual on sleeping in the cold, along with a lot of good stuff from others in this thread.

I'd add that in a camp or truck situation, I take an extra full zip rectangular bag along that I can unzip and throw over my main sleeping bag like a quilt, or pull over it as an outer bag. Versatile and easy way to make a medium cold bag into one that will do in deep cold if the weather changes, or use only the lighter bag if it turns warm. On a vehicle camp whitetail hunt in the Canadian Rockies with a young grandson, the weather turned from 5 above to 30 below. We had good bags but throwing the open quilt bag over both of us turned shivering nights into toasty warm.

Re KC using his short closed cell pad to salvage a night with a leaky air pad: use your head and use what you have.

Duff, leaves, pine needles or fine twigs piled up under lower legs with a daypack, gaiter or stuff sack over them can keep your legs warm from frozen ground. I have placed a mitten inside my bag on my upper hip point and/or knee when those spots got cold in the bag, and gotten an hour or two of good warm sleep before the mitten slides off and I have to reposition. Zip gaiters together and lay over your hips or lower legs, or shoulders or wherever cold seeps in. None of these “cold patches” make for as comfortable a night as at home but they make a world of difference in how warm and how much sleep we can get when a bivy night goes sideways.

But as to the original query, in a camp or truck, take plenty, more than you need. Then be prepared to improvise with towels as blankets, whatever it takes if plan A isn't working.

Marmot Helium works for me. Mummy it up and wear a cap and you will be fine. A puff jacket keeps you toasty even in that “wet” cold. I recently switched to a 4 season neo air pad. Something like 2.5 inches thick. Cost me an arm/leg but a significant improvement over the old pad I was using.

Storage is everything with the Helium’s. Keep em loose, and they stay fluffy. I did bring mine back to life once by sticking it in the drier with a shoe.

I have a hybrid bag (down on top and synthetic on the bottom.which is rated at -15C and is comfortable at -10 C if I use a liner and wear long underwear. I have an arctic survival bag (down) which is comfortable at -25C . If possible, I like to make up a bed of boughs from whatever tree is available. A 6 inch mat of pine and spruce is warm, dry, and comfortable. Put a foam pad on top and it's better than a lot of hotel beds. GD

That applies to ALL bags, down and synthetic alike. I once ruined a couple really good synthetic bags by leaving them tightly rolled all winter. They never fluffed up again. A mesh laundry bag from Walmart only costs a few $$ and will allow the bag to breath while stored. Hanging is best if you have the closet space.