How to Stay Warm at a Cold Camping Event

HOW TO STAY WARM AT A COLD CAMPING EVENT
(Note: Another article is at http://www.meridies.org/as/dmir/SCALife/1705a.html )
Camping in An Tir can sometimes be a cold and wet event. These tips will hopefully make your camping more comfortable, no matter what kingdom you are in. Any notes not attributed to other authors are mine. Since there are varying degrees of authenticity in the SCA and reenactor communities, I will leave it up to the reader to decide which techniques work best for their style of camping.
--Dame Mira Silverlock

WHAT TO WEAR

WOOL! It will keep you warm even when it's pouring rain. If your skin is sensitive to wool, put silk or linen next to your skin (silk is better), and layer on the wool.
Don't just wear a cloak at night. If your persona would've worn a cloak, put an extra pair of sweats on underneath your pants, or layer your tunic with an extra wool one. My persona uses a type of coat, anbd I found that a linen-lined silk coat over a single layer of wool works really well.
Bundle Up at Night--For wandering around in the cold--wear a head scarf under your cloak. Add layers. Long underwear is lovely, as is an extra shawl under the cloak. Wear a couple of layers of socks, and keep your feet dry. And a hand muff is nice to keep your fingers from stiffening into icicles. --contributed by Gwendolen Wold
Silk sock liners, with nice fulled wool slippers. If you're me, they get slipped off sometime in the night unless it's *really* cold, but they'll take the warmth with your feet if you have to get out of bed for any reason.--contributed by Devora bat Shimshon
Wear a nightcap when sleeping---sounds goofy, looks goofy, but at really cold events it makes a big difference. I use a wool cap
Sleeping Clothes - You DO wear clothes to sleep in, don't you? You want to cover your extremities (feet, head, hands) because these lose heat more rapidly than the trunk of your body does. Surface area ratios and stuff. Wool is good. If you can't stand wool socks, invest in some angora socks. You aren't going to wear these anywhere except in bed, so don't worry about their durability. A hat (touque, watch-cap, etc.) keeps your head warm. You lose 60+% of your body heat through your head, and this is if you have a full head of hair. For the rest, a long-sleeve 100% cotton t-shirt and a pair of long underwear work just fine. Fleece pants and sweat shirt work well too. If you really want to go whole-hog, invest in the silk longjohns that L.L. Bean

contributed by Aldreada of the Lakes

More about Sleeping Clothes--One thing I would pass on to you is the PJ's I made for myself and hubby. I got some robe velour in plain colors and made a chemise for myself and a tunic and pants for my husband. Warmest things I've ever slept in and has the advantage of at least looking period when I have to make those midnight or early morning runs to the port-a-johns. Made matching robe velour night caps too but hubby will only wear his inside the pavillion where no one can see it.--contributed by Lady Constance (ladypdc@aol.com)

Sleeping Hood

--contributed by HL Ellen Fraser (n7pyk@amsat.org)

Dry Socks-- I learned putting on DRY socks every night to go to bed a good thing. --contributed by Ailinia aka Christine Miller

BEDDING

Get your bed off the ground. A cot or mattress of some type will make a huge difference in how comfortable you are.
Try a curtained bed--period and practical, and keeps the heat in
Put some bedding UNDER your sleeping bag. I use three sheepskins.
Don't trust your sleeping bag rating. I know I have one that was supposed to keep the user comfortable at below freezing temps--it was an evil lie!
If you're not allergic, a feather bed is the warmest investment you'll make- but keep it clean and dry, or it will develop dust, and you will eventually develop problems with it.--contributed by Devora bat Shimshon
Pile wool blankets (or your wool cloaks or coat or whatever you have) on top of your sleeping bag before you burrow in. It'll be heavy, and you may actually need to peel some layers off later because it gets too warm, but I'll take that over a cold backside any day. Also, it is better to start off TOO warm, rather than trying to warm up later.
For people who REALLY like to be warm. Sheepskins or a double-bed quilt folded in half length-wise. (Sew the edges of the quilt together to prevent "creeping". Get the quilt from the Good Will/VV or Army and Navy Store. Cheap is ok as long as it is clean and has no thin spots). This layer adds extra insulation to prevent the cold, cold ground from leaching heat out of your poor little bod. Put the wool side of the sheepskins up if you are using this option.--contributed by Aldreada of the Lakes.
..and for that really cold butt or icy feet....buy some of the little instant hot packets, which start to heat when exposed to air. They are cheap, last all night, and are an instant rush of warth for heating that sleeping bag before you crawl inside.
Take a hot water bottle with you into the sleeping bag. Or, better yet, warm a fist sized rock in the fire before bed. Rake it out, let it cool enough so it isn't red hot, wrap it in a towel, and run it over your sheets before you crawl in. Then curl up around it. (Mira's note: Some rocks explode when heated--use caution!)--contributed by Gwendolen Wold
Heated fire bricks--What about heating a couple of fire bricks and wrapping them in flannel really good? That's what my dad would do when he had his

contributed by Sabrina (SabKath@aol.com)

Let the sleeping bag do the work-- I disagree with the suggestion of wearing lots of clothes while sleeping, if you have a well sealed sleeping area, like a quality "mummy bag" or really tight blankets. By wearing very few clothes your core body heat can warm up the entire space. This can help warm your extremities. This only works if you can keep wind out and don't have any gaps for heat to leak.--contributed by Asbjorn
Your sleeping bag should be checked regularly for thin spots, shifted stuffing, etc. Get it dry-cleaned once in a while, too. If it has a nylon interior, buy a flat flannel single-bed sheet and make a liner. (Nylon is non-insulating, slipper, and non-absorbent. ie, nasty to sleep on.) One generally doesn't need an Arctic 5-star rated bag for most SCA events, but if you camp in Avacal or in the mountainous regions of An Tir, get one that is rated to -20'F or something like that. As a rule-of-thumb, you will be comfortable at a temperature of about 20' warmer than whatever the bag is rated for. Again, YMMV, depending on your bod's particular thermal characteristics. Note: age does not necessarily mean a bag is not any good. It's condition, original quality, size in relation to your size, cleanliness, etc. are more important.--contributed by Aldreada of the Lakes
If you have to get up in the middle of the night to tend to kids or a call of nature or something, don't leave your sleeping bag open. All the nice warmth will float away by the time you return.--contributed by Aldreada of the Lakes
Keeping your gear in good condition : after every event, make sure you check the condition of your stuff. Is it dry? Has it been aired out? Take the sleeping bag, ground quilt, etc. down to a commercial laundromat and run them through the drier on "air fluff/ low heat" once in a while to shake all the dust out of them. Wash the liner after each trip. Store the liner, the air mattress, the extra quilt, the Space Blanket all together, next to the Sleeping Bag in its own bag, all in a clean, dry, reasonably cool place (ie, not right beside the furnace).--contributed by Aldreada of the Lakes
Pillows: If you are a fussy sleeper, bring your regular bed pillow from home. It will do an amazing job of convincing your lizard-brain that it is OK and safe enough to go to sleep "here" whereever "here" is. If a pillow doesn't matter so much, keep one with your camping stuff.--contributed by Aldreada of the Lakes (and Mira agrees wholeheartedly!)
Emergency Blankets--And for an emergency backup, get one of the "rescue blankets. Not thecheap pocket sized ones, but the ones that look like a foil backed tarp. The pocket sized ones are essentially "use once and throw away. These come in brown and green as well as the "bright" colors. And if you have underestimated how cold it'll get, you can throw one over thetop of your bedding and get *much* warmer. Just remember that they don't breathe, so you want a sleeping bag or blanket between them and you. --contributed by Eirikr inn kengr
Warm Nose--A little cold weather camping trick I learned some time back is to put a fold of blanket in front of my face. It takes a little adjusting toget it right, but it bounces your exhaled breath back a bit. This warms the outside of your nose, without making you re-breathe the exhaled air. It makes for a *much* more comfortable time if your nose isn't half-frozen.--contributed by Eirikr inn kengr
Warm Feet--Or just take the remains of an old, worn blanket, and fold them over to make an insulating "pad" that goes over the foot of the bed. Your feet will be warm (they get cold because they are *losing* heat too fast, not because they don't have circulation), and the rest of you won't overheat.----contributed by Eirikr inn kengr
Put an extra blanket *inside* the sleeping bag. Have another small cuddly blanket to cover your head, leaving just your nose sticking out.--contributed by Gwendolen Wold
Fill your tick with straw. Fluff it nightly and refill as needed. The airspaces in the straw go a long way to keeping you warmer and after a night of burrowing into the straw the tick etc gets pretty mashed down --contributed by Anne-Marie

TENT

If your tent can be properly ventilated and is canvas, get a propane heater--one of the nice larger ones. If you have a zip-up nylon tent or tent with a sewn in floor, you'll have to be very careful of proper airflow. Read the directions, and follow them.
Consider insulating your tent--make an extra layer/cozy for the outside of your mundane tent--just another layer of fabric makes a huge difference. If you have the space, make a 'sleeping berth' (the Native Americans called it an ozan) by attaching fabric to the wall, draping it across a rope that has been strung wall to wall, and making sure it extends at least a couple inches lower than your body, so it keeps the warm air by you, instead of escaping.
First layer - tent floor. Make sure it is dry. Use a ground sheet if necessary. Second layer - a heavy duty "Space Blanket", shiny side UP.--contributed by Aldreada of the Lakes
Chamberpot--Put a covered bucket and TP in your tent, so you don't have to brave the cold in the middle of the night for that run to the portapotty.--contributed by Gwendolen Wold
Insulate Your Tent-- insulate your tent. Take a bale or two of straw from the archers (after asking permission, of course) and break it, scattering it around the bottom edge of your tent. This will cut down on drafts, etc. . Put a good layer of straw on the floor of your tent. This will keep the cold from coming up through the ground somewhat (hey when its snowing and sleeting there's limits :)--contributed by Mistress Anne-Marie

IN CAMP

At night, have a pot of hot water on the stove at all times, with cider mix (or your favorite hot drink) available. A hot drink hits the spot, and warms the hands.--contributed by Gwendolen Wold.
Eat warm foods, and plenty- your body is expending energy to keep you warm.--contributed by Devora bat Shimson

AND IN CASE ALL THIS DOESN'T WORK....

Sleep with a friend! :) (or if you are timid or solo, go with lots of wool and the little hot packs....)

To email Mira Silverlock, click here

Home\Tent links\Tent gallery\People gallery\Resources\Costuming\SCA\ Needlepoint\Site Stats\Tent Info\Camp Cooking\ Tents for Sale\ Art Gallery\FAQ\Pennsic\ Great Camping Ideas\ Packing List\ Sacred Spaces Newsletter\ Furniture