sleeping in the snow..help needed

[ali yuksel]

ok,
i have got a stupid question..
its winter..and assuming you got a waterproof sleeping bag(or using duct taped rubbish bags) and you are using a vapor barrier liner inside your bag.. and no tent, no shelter, no snow caves… is it beter to sleep on the snow in the open or would it be warmer to cover your sleeping bag with snow, like buried inside..
snow is an insulator so perhaps the temp of the snow touching the bag will be higher relative to air temp.? or will i lose more heat due to conduction? what if its very windy? perhaps the rate of heat loss due to convection in strong wind will be more than the heat lost to the snow that covers you which stops the wind??
even if some snow is melted its waterproof and due to vapor barrier liner the sleeping will not be soaked with your sweat.
please comment

[Roger Caffin]

It doesn't take all that much effort to raise the temperature inside a good well-made igloo (Hi Ed) to about 0 C – even though the temperature outside might be -20 C with a strong wind.

Cheers

[Jim W.]

Snow directly on top of your bag will probably compress the insulation and make it much colder.

The simplest "snow shelter" is a trench. It blocks the wind but doesn't make it warmer.

Next simplest is start with the trench. Put your skis and poles across the trench, cover with a tarp, and shovel a few inches of snow on top. This will be much warmer.

Warmest of all of course is a snow cave or igloo with a seal oil lamp warming it up to about freezing.

I suggest some practice fun within 1/4 mile of a lodge or parked car where you have spare warm gear.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Get "Allen and Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book"
80% of it is on winter camping and a lot on snow shelters.

It's a thin book B/C at least half of the info is in the cartoon style drawings & their captions, so it is a very "info dense" book despite its size. Best winter camping book I've ever seen.

[Author]

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