Will a two person quilt help my wife sleep warmer

Hi Chris,

I’d suggest having her continue to use her sleeping bag, for you to use the two person quilt as your primary sleep system, and have her sleep in her sleeping bag under the two person quilt.

Also, I’ve found that it’s tough to warm up in a sleeping bag if I’m cold when I jump in it.  Some light calisthenics (I SWEAR that’s not a euphemism) before jumping in the sleeping bag to warm her up but not enough to start sweating helps a lot here.

Edit to add: If she’s likely to do a lot of backpacking without you, then I’d opt for a warmer bag.

Anyway, it CAN be a euphemism if you want it to be.

On topic:  Does shifting down really, actually work?  IMO she may have too much on her torso and it really wont be that warm.  The first thing that I’d try personally is more pad (often dismissed)  and maybe have her put the warm jacket over her legs instead of her torso to fill the airspace in her leg area.  Also it sounds like the ol’ hawt nalgene trick would work well.

But I do think a quilt will work, but then the crack between the pads becomes a topic then a double pad is a thing and your out $600+ for a double quilt and pad.  Although if you go often enough it may be worth it.  We use this and love it.

I have to say I do hate drafts.  Since my other half gets up to pee often in the night, we have separate quilts.  The body heat from him was nice, though, in the days we zipped together in bags.  Perhaps a two person quilt is not as disruptive as zipped bags in terms of getting up – perhaps someone with experience can weigh in.

Hi Chris

Despite your comments, I would suggest starting by getting your wife a warmer mat. This may not ‘solve’ the problem, but it will certainly help. An inadequate mat is a common mistake.

Next, sleeping together under a double-width quilt WORKS. My wife and I both use rather light-weight quilts. If ever my wife is a bit cold in the middle of the night, I get a poke and a muffled “I’m cold”, and I know what to do. I snuggle up and chuck the side of my quilt over her as well. It works every time. In addition, we have used our UL quilts with a double-width overquilt in the snow, with snuggles. That too worked fine.

Cheers

Depending on how many nights that you are out and that it’s not too much weight, get her a Hothand warmer to put in her bag each night. Or take a small Nalgene bottle and put hot water in it and put it in a sock to keep it from being too hot.

I need my space, not a cuddler.

“she has a hard time getting warm, but is fine once she finally warms up.”

That’s my wife as well.  At home, we’ll often cuddle as long as I can before I get too hot.  Hopefully, she’s warmed up by then.  It works best if one side of me is pressed against her while my back, leg, head – as much as I can – is out of the covers or only lightly covered.  Then I last longer and get her more warmed up.  Then she’s good to go and comfortable and **slowly** warming up on her own.  3 hours later, she’s hot and throwing back the covers herself, although, on average through the night, she needs warmer covers than I do.

You’ve had success with the hot water bottle so increase that.  Consider a 3-liter platy, some other soft-sided water carrier, or (super cheap) a 2-liter pop bottle.  Get it pretty hot but wrap it in clothes so it isn’t uncomfortably hot to the touch.  That combo (hotter water and more insulating covering) will also last longer into the night.  The water will still be 80-100F the next morning and make the the morning coffee and oatmeal go that much faster.

Has she tried some mild exercise before bed?  Not enough to really raise her heart rate, but enough to warm her body up a bit?

Thanks everyone for your input and ideas.  We’ll definitely increase the insulation of her pad and have her do some light calisthenics right before getting into her bag.  We can continue doing the hot water bottle trick (and will try a larger water bottle) until we figure out something better.

Ultimately, I think we’ll end up getting a twin quilt or a much warmer bag.  Aside from drafts when one gets up in the middle of the night, sharing sleep space, and pad separation are there any other major downsides to a twin quilt?  My biggest worry is that I’ll overheat.  For those who use twin quilts, do you find that this is a problem?

Thanks,

Chris

Ah … a twin quilt by itself is NOT necessarily a good idea. Try it at home: there’s this huge gap in the cover around your necks. With a double sleeping bag it can be very drafty.

Now, if you have ENOUGH quilt width, like on a bed at home, this is not a problem. You can pull the quilt down between you. But if the quilt width is minimal – drafts down the middle will happen!

My wife and I do use a double OVER-quilt in the snow sometimes – but that is over the top of two UL summer quilts. The individual quilts cut the draft.

Regardless, you both need either hoods or probably fleece head covering. And you need some sort of foot box so the foot end does not drift sideways off your legs and feet.

Cheers