We are coming from Florida, and are not the most avid campers…but we had planned on bringing an air matress to sleep on untill some one told me that air matresses are not good to sleep on in cold weather because the air in the matress does not warm up, and it winds up zapping all of your body heat. Is this true?? If so, what is the most comfortable way to sleep & stay warm???
Are there any other cold weather/altitude camping tips that I need to know to keep my wife a “happy camper”???
An air mattress should be fine as long as you put some blankets between the air mattress and your sleeping bag to insulated it from the cold air. :flower
We place a feather bed on our air mattress and top it with sheets and a down comforter!
It gets cold at night, especially for you coming from Florida. Bring clothes for snow, rain and sun! Don’t forget sunscreen as the sun is intense here at altitude!
It’s only half true because it’s easy to fix- bring a lightweight closed-cell foam pad like a Ridgerest to put between your sleeping bag and the air mattress for insulation. You get all the comfortable benefits of an air mattress without the heat sucking downside.
Have a bag that’s rated for at least 20 degrees. Check the heater thread here on the forum, a warm tent late keeps everybody happy ;), it’s nice early morning too.
A comfortable, warm headcover for sleeping is a good idea also, as is a pair or two of sleeping socks.
My first year at FESTIVVVAAALLL!!! I had an old wool blanket that I found at a thrift store, washed in hot water and then dried the blanket. It worked great! It was my first layer on the ground and all else went on top of that blanket.
Someone else here on the forum suggested one of the “emergency blankets” under and on top of the air mattress, which is lightweight and inexpensive. I thought that was brilliant!
Floridian here also. Where do y’all live? In our first year we froze out at illium. Our tent door even broke :eek. Wind just whistled through our tent we might as well have been sleeping in a screen room. We froze. We have invested heavily in los of merino wool, a four season tent, great sleeping bag and this year a tent heater. Cant ever be cold like that again :thumbsup
We’re live Sarasota…flying out of Tampa into Durango. My folks moved out to Cortez a few years ago and are picking us up at the airport and giving us a ride. They are in charge of finding us some camping gear to borrow while we are out there, so there is no telling what we will end up with!!! So I am hoping to get some good ideas to help keep our thin blood warm!!!
My tent also has a door that the zipper broke… I usually just attach a sarong to the rain fly and just deal with it… I wonder if I should try to buy a new tent in the next couple weeks…? Not really in the budget, however I don’t wanna freeze to death… Hmmm, what to do!
I sure hope you’re right, Ron… My best defense against freezing will just be to stay up really late (shorten that cold time) and drink as much alcohol as possible, lol… Keep warm from the inside!!
:cheers
Looking at yr profile pic your bringing the one thing that is guarenteed to keep you warm.
Im leaving mine at home thjats how Im keeping her a happy camper :lol
:wave I heard that too. So I set my tent and air matress for about a week and checked it out. Yes you need something under your matress as well as a matress pad and down comforter and flannel sheets…
I’m not a huge fan of air mattresses b/c I’ve got a bad back and any soft bed puts a hurtin’ on me, but the advice about cold is all true. It will be cold. Then it will be hot. Then it will get cold again. You essentially have to pack for going to the beach and also for going skiing. Bring fuzzy hats, gloves and socks, down jackets, flip flops, and extra blankets.
As for altitude, there’s one critical tip, and you’ll see it in many posts - DRINK LOTS OF WATER. It sounds silly, but it’s true. The water will help you adjust to the altitude more than anything else. So drink a ton of water. Then, drink some more. Then drink a cup or more of water between every beer or cocktail. Without the water, sea-level folks will be prone to headaches, hangovers, dozing off early, cramps and all sorts of easily-avoided maladies.
and drink as much alcohol as possible, lol… Keep warm from the inside!!
I think you are just joking BUT I want to give a warning here… A few years ago ( think it was 1st night of arrival or so), I got a pretty nice buzz going and spent several hours in the evening enjoying townpark… I think I only had my shorts on, fleece jacket and crocs… I was feeling no cold nor pain… When I did crawl into bed, Steve was seriously concerned ( from a medical standpoint) of how cold I was. He said, it took quite awhile for my skin to warm under covers and with him rubbing it… So, just a small word of caution especially for us warm weather folks…
Is this a warning about pacing yourself and dressing appropriately or is it a warning to not let Steve use his old “I’ll rub your skin for you” trick? :lol :lol :lol
To stay warm, you will need some designated “Dry clothes.” If you just put long sleeves, and pants on OVER what your wore all day, the sweaty matieral against your skin will make you cold. I tend to even have a 3rd pair of “Tent Only” clothing to ensure it is dry.
The wool hat is essential unless you like to really mummify yourself in the bag.
Get yourself off of the ground, the emergency reflective blankets are great for insulating yourself from the ground.
I have heard good things from a friend who used it last time he went to do his research near Potosi, Bolivia (elev. approx 15,000 ft.). I am going to get some before I join him on his next research trip in August (if I can I will get some before Telluride, just don’t know if I will have time to get to a doctor before I leave). I didn’t have any problems in Telluride, but I spent the first day and a half drinking almost exclusively water. I personally don’t have much trouble until about 10,000 to 11,000 feet, but everyone is different.