This Isn’t a Gear Smear

It’s just my frosty fear

Having a Frosty from Wendy’s is awesome, especially with French fries (cue the haters in the comments). Turning into a frosty overnight on a backpacking trip is not awesome. Ever wish you could hop into your handy time machine and go back and give your younger self a juicy nugget of info that could save you a lot of agony? Of course you do, everybody does. I’m not talking about saving the world from evil people, though that would be amazing, but small, simple things. For example, I would go back to 2016 and tell myself to buy better sleep equipment for the John Muir Trail.  I spent so much time researching gear for that trail that I thought I knew everything. I thought I had bought the *BEST* stuff I could at the price point I could afford. What I would really like to tell her is “Go ahead! Buy the more expensive, higher quality stuff. It will save you money in the long run, and help you sleep better!”  My smug self would likely shrug off that suggestion, though.  I was hesitant to spend a lot of money on backpacking gear for two reasons:

1. I didn’t even know if I would LIKE backpacking.

2. Gear, especially ultralight gear, is really expensive!

The brat in me would have replied “Nah, I’ll stick with this and suffer the consequences.” Suffer, indeed. I suppose this is what parenting is like, except that the younger you has half your DNA.

In this blog, I’d like to specifically talk about the sleep systems I’ve used in the past compared to what I use now.  I will be using my current setup on the Superior Hiking Trail later this year. There were hard lessons learned for this perpetually cold sleeper.

I had never backpacked before my adventure on the John Muir Trail in 2016. That meant I had to buy the bulk of my gear almost all at once. I know there are ways to buy used gear, or even rent gear, but using gear that had already been abused seemed like a surefire way to have it fail on me in the field. I didn’t have any outdoorsy friends I could borrow from, either. Lots of people in Nebraska go camping, mostly in RV’s and trailers, but not many go backpacking.

There once was a fantastic outdoor sporting goods store in Omaha called Canfields. I dropped a load of cash there during their mega going-out-of-business sale. This place had everything, high-quality, name-brand gear, and even military surplus. Much of my gear closet (er, now it’s more like gear basement) is filled with items I bought there. I miss that store so much, but the family-run store just couldn’t compete against the big names. But I digress, let’s get back to sleep systems.

If I have one singular memory that tops all memories from that trip, it’s that I was freezing cold every night.

I got very little quality sleep, and my pad and sleeping bag were the culprits.  When a backpacker is finally ready to be horizontal at camp, there are three major items to consider: sleeping pad, sleeping bag/quilt, and shelter.

Sleeping pad

Before R-values for sleeping pads were standardized in 2020, it was a hot mess trying to understand the warmth a certain pad would offer. Yes, a higher R-value means a warmer pad, but each brand had their own values, so trying to compare across brands was a disaster for a backpacking newbie. Overwhelmed, I decided to just use the lightest weight one I had bought at Canfields. I knew I would want the comfort of an air mattress versus a foam pad, and settled on the 3 inch thick, 18 ounce, non-insulated Nemo Cosmo AirLite, with an R-value of “20”. Oh my, what a mistake. For a cold sleeper, that pad is a summer pad only, not meant for the High Sierras where the overnight temps dipped down into the upper 20’s.  I could have layered a closed-cell foam pad under the inflatable pad, which would have raised the R-level a touch. I owned one, but didn’t want to carry the additional bulk and weight.

I’ve used two other pads on several trips, the insulated Klymit Static V Lite (“4.4R”, 20 ounces, 2.5 inch thickness) and the insulated Nemo Astro (“20R”, 27 ounces, 3.5 inch thickness). I purchased all three pads pre-standardization, so I’m unsure of their equivalency. I DO know that none of those pads offered me the warmth I needed. These three pads are good pads, and they work for a lot of people, but for me, probably not until overnight temps are 50 degrees or more.

I now know that a sleeping pad is the number one factor in the battle against the cold.

It is the shield between you and the ground. It is the protector of your sweet dreams, the knight in shining armor. The low R-value (R=resistance, as in the resistance of heat transfer) meant that whatever heat my body DID generate, the cold ground was just sucking it away.  

This past year I FINALLY broke down and bought a pad with a ridiculously high R-value of 7.1, the Exped Ultra 7R. With that amount of insulation, and a thickness of 3.5 inches, it comes at a weight penalty of only 22 ounces for the size medium (with included stuff sack and patch kit). Good sleep in the backcountry has become paramount for me, and that pad is totally worth every ounce. I used it on the Tahoe Rim Trail and the Ouachita Trail, and slept cozy and warm.

Picking the correct pad out of the lineup of perps

See what happened there? I wasted money and much sleep on three other pads when I could have just found my one true love. On a side note, I’d like to whisper to my younger self to let a little air out of the pad as well. It’ll be so much more comfortable, just saying.

Sleeping bags/quilts

On the JMT I lugged a 3 pound Slumberjack Star Lake sleeping bag. Where did I even find this thing? I remember boasting to my husband that I had just bought a 20 degree bag for X number of dollars, like I had just found the most amazing bag for a bargain. Then, when it came in the mail, I took a practice nap in it on my living room floor. Of course I was warm! It was probably 70 degrees in the house!! For all my research, I didn’t really understand temperature ratings. Temperature ratings and comfort ratings are two different things, and when combined with a low R-value pad, alas, I found myself shivering and miserable on the trail. The darn thing just wasn’t very packable, either.

Jumping forward a few years, I discovered the 15-degree Nemo Rave. It’s spoon-shaped, which is great for a side sleeper. I think this is what hooked me. Never mind that it’s still a sleeping bag (we’ll get to that point in a second)and weighs over 3 pounds, but I must have accidentally bought the long version. Now my body has to work harder to heat up dead space. Just irresponsible at this point.

And what’s with the hood? Do I put my head inside it? I tried it, didn’t like it. I found myself just laying my pillow on top of it.

This past year I FINALLY broke down and bought a backpacking quilt. Correction: two quilts. One for me, and one for my husband who sleeps a lot warmer than me. I now cuddle inside a 10 degree El Coyote quilt coming in at 27 ounces for the regular length and width, and the other is an Outdoor Vitals Stormloft 30 degree model, at 20 ounces.  Let me just say that I don’t really remember quilts being a thing back in the day. If they were, maybe they were just emerging as a hot new item, or more likely I just dismissed the idea, sticking with the status quo of a standard sleeping bag.

For those of you on the fence about switching to a quilt, hear me out. They are more packable than a bag because there’s less material. There is no hood or backside to a quilt to have to shove into your backpack. Additionally, for those same reasons they weigh less than a bag. They come with straps to keep your quilt attached to your sleeping pad. Genius! My quilt stays put as I toss and turn from side to side.

You might be wondering about the absence of insulation around your back. The warmth of a bag or quilt comes from the loft and the heat trapped within. With your body squishing the insulation on the backside of a sleeping bag, there is no loft, thus it’s really offering no warmth anyway. As described above, the pad is really the star at providing the insulation beneath you. I used my new El Coyote quilt with a cinch-closed footbox on the Tahoe Rim Trail, and tried my husband’s Outdoor Vitals quilt with a sewn-closed footbox on the Ouachita Trail. Both performed admirably.  

As an added treat for those with cold feet, try a pair of down booties. They are sublime.

This new super combo of high R-value pad with a properly used quilt has changed the sleep game for me. In the morning my body feels more rested and recharged, and after a long day on trail, quality sleep improves your body’s ability to heal. My old sleeping bags will still keep their place in my gear basement, likely to be used on car camping trips. Using a quilt instead of a standard sleeping bag might be an acquired taste, but just like eating cinnamon rolls with chili, don’t knock it ‘til you try it.

My El Coyote quilt is el gato approved!

Shelters

I just want to briefly touch on shelters. I’m a tent girl. I think it’s my aversion to bugs. I want to sleep without worrying about a spider crawling into my mouth. I used a Marmot Eos 1 person tent (2 pounds, 7 ounces)on the JMT, and had no problems with it. It was easy to set up, and I had no issues with durability, even using it without a footprint.

I’ve since switched to a Z-packs Classic Duplex for the weight savings. I have put this tent through much abuse, including rain, hail, high winds, and varied terrain. It’s withstood all that pressure, and I’ve never used any sort of groundsheet with it, either. It’s only 1 pound, 8 ounces (with stuff sack and 8 stakes), and is an absolute palace for one person. One issue with it, as with all single-wall shelters, is the condensation sometimes found on the inside walls.

My sleep system at work on the Colorado Trail.

This article is about sleeping warm though, and it’s the sole reason I brought tents into the fold. If a tent can capture water vapor, it sure can capture warmth. I’d like to believe that, compared to a tarp, and certainly cowboy camping, using a tent offers the sleeper at least a few degrees of added warmth. Kelly Floro describes an experiment in her article “Be Honest. Do Any of You Actually Like Cowboy Camping?” here on The Trek. She regularly recorded inside temperatures 8-10 degrees higher than the outside temperature, while using a tent.  I’m no scientist, but I’m willing to bet those precious degrees would be lost to the atmosphere if using a tarp, or no shelter at all.

Look, I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself an expert backpacker. I’m not a triple-crowner. I’m not even a one-crowner. But I HAVE been out enough to have made some mistakes. I’ve put in the dirty work of finding what works, and what doesn’t.  And by no means should anyone go out and specifically buy exactly the gear I described above, just because it worked for me. But if you are a cold sleeper at all, hopefully you find this information useful. Perhaps this article will be the DeLorean you need in your life.

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Comments 7

  • Susan Kenworthy : Jan 21st

    No equipment comments, BUT I had never heard of chili with cinnamon rolls until my DIL served it once. She’s from Kansas. I would categorize it as an acquired taste. Thanks for your equipment knowledge.

    Reply
    • Misty Klement : Jan 22nd

      Thanks for reading!

      Reply
  • Casey : Jan 22nd

    I’m pretty sure my friends think the 10° quilt and 4.5R pad I got for the JMT are overkill, but I know myself, and I’m cold so often. Thank you for the validation!

    Reply
    • Misty Klement : Jan 22nd

      You’re so welcome! Another nice perk to a quilt is that if you DO get hot, they’re easy to vent the heat.

      Reply
  • Jess : Jan 27th

    I have definitely cheaped out on gear/talked myself out of extra ounces… and suffered the cold for it… more times than I’d like to admit 😂😭 Love this thoughtful reflection on your sleep system, Misty! Thanks for sharing 🫶

    Reply
    • Misty Klement : Jan 28th

      Thanks for reading, Jess!

      Reply
  • Andi : Jan 28th

    I think you’ve talked me in to trying a quilt. Cold is always my nemesis on trail.

    Reply

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