RE: [Paddlewise] Tenting Tips

From: Chuck Holst <CHUCK_at_multitech.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 13:28:00 -0600
>>
> Re the value of sleeping nude: One night in a quinzhee where it was
> relatively warm, I decided to sleep in a damp pair of wool pants,
> thinking to dry them from my body heat. The pants so chilled me, even
> inside my winter bag, that I took them off. I slept comfortably the
rest
> of the night.
>

Chuck, and all,
This is only partly true I feel. The bag is not doing the heating, only 
the body. If the body had been able to maintain good core temp AND extra

for drying the clothes, it would have. The problem was the "wet"
clothes, 
not the clothes.
I'm one of those people that live by the rule, "if you aren't wearing it

to bed, your packs too heavy". :-)
>>

You are right, of course. My story really illustrates that no clothes
are better than damp clothes; however, clothing can pick up moisture
from the body inside a sleeping bag, especially if you are using a vapor
barrier liner. When winter camping, I make my down parka and vest do
double duty by velcroing them on top of my sleeping bag, rather than
wearing them inside. 

It is true that the sleeping bag does not generate heat, but it does
raise the temperature inside by retaining heat generated by the body.

When I used to read about arctic explorers as a kid, I wondered why they
slept nude in their sleeping bags. Now I know; it was because their
clothes were always damp.

Chuck Holst
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Received on Tue Nov 30 1999 - 11:24:42 PST

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