Using fur to keep your face warm while you sleep

[Kevin Burton]

One thing I don’t really love about winter backpacking is how your face gets cold while you sleep.

Even if you have an amazingly warm sleeping back, warm underwear, huge socks, etc, your face and nose will still get warm.

I realized the other day that my cat sleeps with his tail over his face sometimes.

I wonder if this could be a decent way to keep your face warm while you sleep.  Basically, have a layer of fur over your face.

Your not trapping in all the CO2 (which would cause you to die) but you’re also keeping some of the air in so you can stay warm.

So I guess maybe some sort of fur lined hoddie would work.

This way when you’re going to sleep you just pull it shut and the fur will keep your face warm.

[David Thomas]

Or a fur-trimmed ruff to minimize air exchange near your face.  It’s impressive how much difference a good ruff makes on a tunnel hood when it’s -20F to -40F.  The air within the tunnel is an intermediate temperature – a balmy 30-40F, perhaps, and not the frigid outside temperature.  And yet there’s enough air exchange that I notice no stale air or high CO2, even while hiking or dog mushing during which I’m breathing much harder than while sleeping.  The finer the fur/fibers on the ruff, the better it works.

To be more UL, I’d put the ruff only on the inside edge – I think it does the most good there, although research done on traditional sunburst patterns found that, yes, that fur at a far distance from your face does help slow air flow past your face (but not as much):

[Jim Colten]

Fingers, toes and nose … if any one of these gets cold I don’t sleep.

I don’t like the confined feeling of a sleeping bag so I use quilts and keep my head and neck warm using two balaclava’s chosen from a short list 1) light smartwool, 2) heavy fleece (300 wt??) 3) 6oz/yd Primaloft One … depending on conditions.   The lighter of the two on the inside with a face hole just barely exposing my eyes.

I’ve only used these down to around 0F though.

David’s suggestion of a tunnel hood with fur ruff is pretty enticing though.

[James holden]

Put yr fleece jacket over yr face and head

this also prevents ur bag top from getting damp/frost from condensation

Thats all there is to it

;)

 

[Stephen M]

I wear a ballaclava and cover my mouth with a polar buff (tried a windstopper one and it was not breathable enough). A fleece eye mask keeps my eyes warm.

[Tipi Walter]

Years ago I sewed 3 rabbit fur hides together to form a ear-flap hat with a draw-string under the chin and let’s face it, rabbit furs are WARM.  (Put fur on the inside of course).  Here’s a pic of it in use during a backpacking trip in 2005—(I painted it red for looks)—

Then I upgraded to a down parka and the down hood makes all the difference at 0F or below.

[Justin Baker]

Is it true that only predator fur works for this? I have a patagonia essenshell with a hood lined with coyote fur ruff made by Dave C that I hope to try out it near 0 temps this year (If I get lucky).

[David Thomas]

“Is it true that only predator fur works for this?”

Any fur works and rabbit fur, for instance, has very fine hairs so it slows the wind and pools warmer air near your face nicely.

But canine and wolverine fur are preferred because they shed frost. I don’t know if members of Felidae have the same property or not.

Most factory-made parkas come with synthetic ruffs which aren’t nearly as fine nor do they shed frost.

[Kattt]

Maybe keeping some facial hair would help you guys too? Not the same as proper fur but still a bit of added warmth, no?

I know that if I get really cold having my hair down is better than having it in a bun or all braided up.

[David Thomas]

“Maybe keeping some facial hair would help you guys too?”

Pretty much all (male) dog mushers do that in the winter.  And you know how some guys just shouldn’t grow a bread because theirs is all scraggily and never really fills in?  When I see someone like that at a state-wide event or in the Anchorage airport, I ask, “Are you from Fairbanks?”  And they’re always, “Yeah, how’d you know?”

I notice not shaving for a few days helps a bit – I theorize it creates a thicker boundary layer of warm air next to my face.  If it’s <5F or <15F and windy, I’ll forego shaving for a few days until I have some work or social event come up.

Neoprene face masks work well if you don’t wear glasses.  And there are some thinner ones on eBay for like $1.25 each.  Many styles direct more air up towards my glasses, causing them to fog up.  “Buffs” and Turtle Fur scraf/hat/hajib things all work well and I can usually find a configuration that doesn’t fog up my glasses.

[Michael K]

I like to use the Serius balaclava both for very cold active outside activities and for sleeping at night at altitude , since I also don’t like that cold feeling on my face.

Serius Balaclava

1) When I use it at night, I feel that it is really important, since without it I unconsciously tend to pull my sleeping bag over my face and then cause condensation to happen on my sleeping bat.  The most comfortable combination to me is to use the down hood of my sleeping bag or of my puffy in combination with my Serius fleece balaclava.   I like how it has little holes near the mouth, which cuts down on condensation from breath and does not make breathing that much harder.  When it’s not severely cold, I pull the bottom half of the mask down a bit so my mouth breathes out the larger nose hole and my breathing is not restricted at all.

2)  This is the best balaclava for me because unlike most balaclavas, it allows me to wear my glasses and it allows for only pretty much my eyes to be exposed

[Link .]

Andrew Skurka had his mother sew a coyote fur ruff to the hood of his Golite hooded Cady jacket for his

ALASKA-YUKON EXPEDITION  and was part of his winter kit

[Author]

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