Absolutely serious - it works really well - I wouldn’t try it if I was gnawing penguins and waiting for Shackleton to return, but in normal-to-chilly camping conditions, where you’re not going to be stuck outdoors after doing it, it works really well. The same thing will happen to your hands if you go out and play snowballs for a couple of minutes, then return indoors, even if the indoor temperature isn’t particularly hot.
They feel tingly warm but they aren’t actually warm/hot. To the touch they’re still cold. Seems like a false feeling of warmth??
Suggestions here are good. The important one is being dry (as you can be) and having good, real good insulation from the ground. A good thearmarest should do. Three split between two people is better. This is also important if you have dogs with you.
Depends on your bag and how you share a tent.
IMHO, sleep in your clothes. I used to take the hood off my down parka and put it on. I don’t like to ‘mummify’ in my bag, I move too much for that to be comfortable.
I also bring all gear into the tent. Coats, backpacks and all. They make a good pillow in a pinch. And provide insulation. It’s also nice that all your stuff is right there and not covered by 10 inches of snow. A backpack between you and the outside of the tent helps too.
Always, always bring your boots into the tent. Keep them warm. You will need them. Be they x-country ski boots or hiking boots. Starting a fire to unfreeze boots so you can put them on is not fun in 4 feet of snow in your socks (it does get you a lot of points from your friends though).
Sleep on boots or your pack with a coat over them for a ‘pillow’. Keep them from freezing. Keep them close. A coat and down vest can also help cover your head and face.
Sleep in down booties. Or wool socks.
Always, always pick up what you put down. Don’t expect it will be there in 10 minutes if it’s snowing.
Keeping one’s feet insulated individually, if one’s circulation is slow, can actually make it a lot slower to get them warmed up. Removing your socks will allow you to move a foot to, say, a calf muscle, and warm that foot up. The best practice though, once the feet are warmed sufficiently, is to put dry woollen socks on them.
Perhaps dipping them in icy water first is something I’m overlooking though. I’ve never heard that before, but it does make sense.
The icy water trick is, well, let’s just say counterproductive. There’s no good reason to put your extremities in cold water in an effort to get warm. The blood rushing back into your feet might feel warm or tingly, but you could also end up pushing yourself into hypothermia. A better solution is to do 25 jumping jacks right before climbing into the bag; gets the body cranked up, pushes warm blood to the extremities, and doesn’t get you chilled. Also, a small snack just before going to bed makes sure your furnace is stoked.
I’ve heard the “chill your hands/feet” theory before. I think the premise is that the cold will make the blood vessels contract, so when you get into your sleeping bag, the amount of heat you’ll lose will be dramatically reduced.
Or so I’ve been told.
Depending on how cold the air is, liquid water, no matter how cold, could well be warmer than the air. If it’s -20 C and your fingers are white, it might be a good idea to see if you can find some water to “warm” them up to merely cold instead of literally below freezing. This is a trick you can use in frostbite prevention when you can’t get to warm shelter and you need to get your extremities warmer than the air right now, before they start forming ice crystals.
Same thing with snow. Getting a decent thickness (about a foot or two) of snow over your feet will provide some insulation. If they are cold enough to have shut down blood flow completely, the snow sure won’t be melting to get you wet and they might be warmer buried in snow than in your boots, depending on how good your sock and boot insulation is. These are probably not things you should do as a routine, but it just might save some toes or fingers if you’re really and truly screwed without good shelter or with substandard equipment and you’re in danger of getting frostbite.
Wearing clothes in a sleeping bag depends on the temperature outside, the insulation of your bag, and how your body’s internal thermostat tends to adjust while you sleep. I have a bag that’s supposedly good to -15 C, though I haven’t slept unprotected in conditions quite that cold.
I can’t wear anything more than underwear — no t-shirt or socks — in that thing unless it’s below freezing. I routinely used it to sleep in during my first winter here, where the temperatures inside the house were down to -12 C (colder than most of my tent camping, I might add). I made the mistake of wearing my usual t-shirt, socks, and underwear on a night when it was just below freezing (only about -1 or -2) and woke up a couple of hours later, soaked in sweat and shivering with incipient hypothermia. The rest of the night was pretty miserable as I’d soaked half the sleeping bag too. I had to make do with all my regular blankets instead, after I’d changed out of my wet clothes.
Something you need to remember is that the ground will suck heat out of you much faster than the air will. You need about twice as much insulation under you as above you if you want to stay warm. If you have a good sleeping pad — a full-length one is highly recommended in winter or fall — then that should be good. If you’re rough camping or survival camping, you need something between you and the ground, boughs with dry leaves or grass piled on top of them would work well. Anything that gets you off the ground and gets some air space or other insulation under you will help. All of your sleeping bag insulation gets compressed when you lie on it, so it’s basically useless by itself for protection from the ground.
I usually buy a fitted bag that’s longer than I need so that I can undress inside the bag and stuff the clothes down in the bottom. Keeps them a bit warm, and it’s not so painful to get out of the bag when you’re at least partially dressed.
Not true. They actually get hot.
I find the most effective method is to lay the sleeping bag out in a nice hotel room, and call room service for a cup of hot chocolate. Then you sleep in the bed.
Tris
Nice hotel rooms are, alas, in short supply on Everest.