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Guest Post by Sarah of Sleep Advisor
Getting out into the wild and reconnecting with Mother Nature is not only great fun, it’s also proven to be good for our mental health.
What isn’t so much fun is when a day hiking through the bush is ruined by a night of sleepless shivering. Not only is that night ruined but the next day’s adventures are also spoiled. A day of hiking with a heavy bag is much less enjoyable when you have to contend with heavy bags under your eyes too. Not cool!
What’s more, when we’re sleep-deprived we make a lot more mistakes, we’re more prone to poor decision making and we’re more likely to suffer an injury – all of which can be very dangerous when you’re deep in the bush and miles away from help. Especially during cold weather!
So getting a good night’s sleep when camping isn’t just good for morale, it’s imperative for your safety too. Below are three tips to make sure you don’t end up a campsite popsicle!
1. Don’t Skimp on your Sleeping Bag
‘Always be prepared’, is the Scouts’ famous motto. While the woggle-wearers might not be the most fashionable when it comes to sartorial choices they do know a thing or two about outdoor advice. Being prepared, even over-prepared, is essential when the weather drops. This is true if you’re hiking deep in The Rockies or just in the hills twenty miles from home.
Getting your gear right is an easy win. This might sound obvious but considering how many campers head out into the hills ill-prepared for all eventualities, it bears repeating, and repeating, and yes, repeating.
Just because it’s shorts and thongs weather when you are loading your gear into the ute doesn’t mean it’s going to remain like that when the sun falls behind the treeline and you have to bed down on the unforgiving forest floor.
What I’m getting at is the night is dark and full of shivers so bring the right sleeping bag for the season. The right sleeping bag is a good multi-season one and not a festival reject you found in the bargain bin at the op shop! Even if a proper sleeping bag adds a little extra weight to your load, so be it.
If you’re lucky and the night is mild, then bringing the bigger bag isn’t such a bad thing. You can always just sleep on top of it. Think of investing in a good sleeping bag as the same thing as home insurance. You would rather not have to use it but you’re sure glad it’s there when you’ve left the stove on and your house burns down!
Top tip: Don’t leave the stove on!
2. Always Bring a Beanie
You might have heard it said that we lose 80% of our body heat through our heads. Well, to be honest, that’s complete bullshit. The only way that would be true is if you had a head 80% the size of your body!
Which, I presume you don’t. No matter how confident you are!
We lose heat pretty equally across our body, it’s just generally the rest of our body is covered by clothes and our head isn’t. Although, with all that said, when you’re camping and cocooned in your sleeping bag at night it’s your head that is exposed. So cover it. Pop a beanie in your bag. If you haven’t got one I’m sure your gran will knit you one!
And while you are at it, always bring extra socks and gloves. Research has shown that while the body likes to be cool humans will fall asleep more quickly if their hands and feet are kept toasty.
Top top: Spare socks double up as great gloves!
3. Always Change for Bed
No matter how warm the day has been when that sun drops behind the hills the night can get cold quickly. Once the shivering starts it can be hard to stop it. One trick to keep toasty is to always make sure you also have one set of dry clothes spare come nightfall.
If you get into your sleeping bag in clothes that are even slightly damp then as the night progresses this moisture will evaporate and you will lose body heat quickly. Not only could this spoil your sleep it could be very dangerous too!
Never use the clothes you’ve been tramping about in during the day as your pyjamas. While they may feel dry and probably even nice and warm, they will likely be at least a little bit damp. Either from moisture collected during your day’s adventures or just from sweat.
Have a spare set of clothes, ideally base layers, tucked away in your backpack. If you’re being sensible, and you are, these spare clothes will be in a dry pack to keep them moisture-free even if you happen to drop your pack in the creek.
Top tip: Don’t drop your pack in a creek!
Well, there you are camping fans – three top tips to help you keep your toes nice and toasty when out in the bush. Be sensible, be prepared and have fun!
About the Writer
Hi, I’m Sarah from California. I love getting back to nature, not only does it clear the mind it also helps me fall asleep. Sleep is something I’m very passionate about. So much so that when I’m not doing it, I’m researching and writing about it for the Sleep Advisor blog.
Do you often go cold weather camping? What would be your tips when camping in the great outdoors? Please share your thoughts or questions in the comments below.
1 comment
This is very effective to to fall asleep in the outdoor. This is very nice tips. Thank you for the post.