Sleeping pads for snow-ski-camping ?

[Sven]

Time to try snow-camping on skis. The first time will be very timid,
just 100's of yards from the car with a working heater. A typical Hudson
expedition trial.

We're pretty well set with equipment except I have some concerns about
maintaining warmth sleeping in a tent on packed snow. What are the best
alternatives for insulating sleeping pads that are light enough to carry
on skis ?


Thanks,




-Sven

[Gary S.]

On Sat, 01 Nov 2003 20:02:51 -0800, Sven
> wrote:

>Time to try snow-camping on skis. The first time will be very timid,
>just 100's of yards from the car with a working heater. A typical Hudson
>expedition trial.
>
>We're pretty well set with equipment except I have some concerns about
>maintaining warmth sleeping in a tent on packed snow. What are the best
>alternatives for insulating sleeping pads that are light enough to carry
>on skis ?
>
A common setup for backpackers for winter camping is to use a 3/4
length Thermarest 1.5" thick (or more) and a 3/4 or full length closed
cell pad. Seems to work down to -20 or -30 F.

Actually, camping on snow is less cold than sleeping on bare frozen
ground.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

[Martin Thornquist]

[ ]

> We're pretty well set with equipment except I have some concerns about
> maintaining warmth sleeping in a tent on packed snow. What are the best
> alternatives for insulating sleeping pads that are light enough to carry
> on skis ?

With a really warm bag the thin closed-cell foam pads are good enough.
However, with a more reasonable bag a Thermarest (or similar
inflatable foam-filled) makes a very noticeable difference. With one
of the thicker Thermarests the bag is what limits the temperature
range, not the pad.

That said, I have been out in some moderately cold weather (near -30 C
in a -35 C rated bag) with a thick closed-cell pad, to no ill effect.

The Thermarest + closed cell pad combo Gary proposes has the benefit
that if you get a hole in the Thermarest (a Thermarest with no air
doesn't isolate much) the other pad is adequate for emergency use.


Martin
--
"An ideal world is left as an exercise to the reader."
-Paul Graham, On Lisp

[Gary S.]

On Sun, 02 Nov 2003 11:10:07 +0100, Martin Thornquist
> wrote:

>[ ]
>
>> We're pretty well set with equipment except I have some concerns about
>> maintaining warmth sleeping in a tent on packed snow. What are the best
>> alternatives for insulating sleeping pads that are light enough to carry
>> on skis ?
>
>With a really warm bag the thin closed-cell foam pads are good enough.
>However, with a more reasonable bag a Thermarest (or similar
>inflatable foam-filled) makes a very noticeable difference. With one
>of the thicker Thermarests the bag is what limits the temperature
>range, not the pad.
>
>That said, I have been out in some moderately cold weather (near -30 C
>in a -35 C rated bag) with a thick closed-cell pad, to no ill effect.
>
>The Thermarest + closed cell pad combo Gary proposes has the benefit
>that if you get a hole in the Thermarest (a Thermarest with no air
>doesn't isolate much) the other pad is adequate for emergency use.
>
Yes, exactly the point. Belt and suspenders.

Also, this allows use of the same 3/4 length ThermaRest used in the
other 3 seasons (few camp in winter only).

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom