Why am I still cold with this winter quilt?

One other hint with a quilt…

when I find I am pushing the conditions I will sleep on my side (this is slightly warmer that back or stomach sleeping), keep my limbs together, bend my legs to make me a bit shorter than when I am full stretched out, which lets me get my head under the quilt. If I am out for just a couple of nights I don't worry about the moisture in my breath effecting the quilt. Not been a problem on a short trip. On longer trip I get my nose/mouth mostly outside the quilt, but have most of my head and neck covered by the quilt.

–mark

I find that I'm warmer on my back or stomach. Maybe it's because I have a very warm pad??

I've experienced something similar when wearing my jacket and Cap2's in my sleeping bag…sure my core is more or less warm, but the bag interior and the air inside the bag feel cold. With this, since I don't carry down booties or gloves, my hands and feet are cold. I have discussed this with some fellow hikers around the campfire and one theory is this: having my body core covered and insulated prevents that area of my body from warming the rest of the sleeping bag. Those areas (core and legs) contribute very little to warming up the bag and thus the inside of the bag "feels" cold. My feet, hands, and neck will be cold in these consitions unless I also add insulation to those areas. At this point, with all my body covered by a similar level of supplemental insulation, I can then sleep comfortably below the rating of the bag. In my case, not sufficiently insulating my feet will doom them to be chilled by the cool air within the bag. Someone went as far as to suggest I was better to not wear any insulation to bed, thus allowing my entire body to contribute to keeping the interior at least somewhat warm.

If this theory is at all valid, the take home lesson would be, if I'm going to wear extra insulation to bed, I should make sure I can add a similar layer on all parts of my body. Time to carry the booties and gloves if temps might dip below the bag's rating.

What do you think? Make sense?

Yeah

I wear insulated jacket inside my sleeping bag, have to wear booties to keep my feet from getting cold.

40 or 50 F bag. Synthetic jacket maybe 1 inch loft. Booties maybe 1/2 inch thick that go up to mid calf. Either thin long pants or maybe synthetic insulated pants that are 1/2 or 1 inch thick. Good down to 20 F.

Don …

A few suggestions

– instead of wearing yr jacket in yr bag try using it like a blanket inside … The problem with wearing jackets is the same as glove vs mitts … Your body parts are seperated and thusr minimizing the warmth sharing between them … As a bonus you wont waste crushed down … Youll neee good ground insulation and minimal drafts (bag) of course

– if you have extra insulation you can stuff it on top of yr legs orr aroubd yr feet .. You can also put yr rain or wind jacket on top of the outside

-Fill up the dead air space for max warmth

– do sit up in the bag till it warms up

@Jason: I sent you a quick PM to follow up on your winter quilting. We'd love to see if you're staying warm after making adjustments.

(FYI: I use a JRB High Sierra quilt, Exped Downmat 9, and MLD Superlight bivy under a tarp, though I'm currently waiting for a Duomid and have an MLD Alpine bivy to toss into the mix for my next trip. I manage to stay warm to around 10 degrees and wonder how far I can push it comfortably.)

Just get a peroperly rated sleeping bag and be done withthe hassle of a quilt.

Hassle? It's so much fun, though. Honestly, with a DAM, hooded down parka, and proper technique, why can't a quilt be as useful in the winter as a mummy bag?

Here is my solution to draft-free quilting –

I added grosgrain loops, thin shockcord, and a cordlock or two. Makes it real easy to get the "backside" pulled in tight, and keep it there.

I didn't read the all the replies, so sorry if this has already been mentioned. I have a JRB Sierra Sniveller, the three season version. What I do to get a good seal at the neck is run both ends of the drawchord through a single chordlock, and pretty much leave it that way all the time.

So I lay down, put my feet in the footbox, put my head through the loop formed by the drawchord, tighten the chord around my neck, then do my best to slide the quilt along the chord to cover the back of my neck instead of just the chord. I think this also helps to keep the quilt tucked in around the sides too.

Hope that helps.