Camping Sleeping Bags

Sleeping outside has health benefits! If you don’t believe us you might take a look at the facts. Here are 5 benefits of sleeping outside.

Well, this shows regular campers and hikers are in the best of their health. Talking of health, good sleep is the most necessary and relaxing activity to look forward to at the end of the day. No, this is not a guide on how to get sound sleep while camping, we have another article on that topic.

Comfort is the crucial luxury we all want to seek while sleeping, clothes play a major role in making you comfortable while sleeping, especially when you sleep outside in a bag.

Using sleeping bags depends upon when and where you go camping. The weather decides the number of clothes you would require while camping. Clothes provide an extra insulation layer from the outside temperature and trap your body heat inside your body.

You are fine with just normal pajamas you sleep in at home if you are an RV person. If you are a backpacker then you have to think about controlling the weight of your backpack and pack wisely.

We are here to solve your problems with What Clothes To Sleep In While Camping? And to break some myths maybe.

Let’s get started, shall we?

What To Wear In A Sleeping Bag?

“Humans spend 1/3rd of their lives sleeping.”

That is why we should never compromise our sleeping time and comfort. We talked about weather will decide that what should we wear while sleeping in a sleeping bag.

We have a guide to guide you according to the climate of your campsite.

1. Normal Chilly Nights

These are the days when the weather is just fine all day long but as soon as night falls the temperature starts to fall. That is temperature dropped more than you predicted.

• Sleeping bags already comes with warm insulation to your body from the ground, and prevents heat flow from your body to the ground.
• Wearing a full sleeves t-shirt and pants will give you enough warmth for the night.
• Do not wear too many clothes as this will isolate your core from getting warm from the sleeping bag.
• Wear hats/beanies and socks to keep the extremes of your body warm.
• Keeping your head and feet warm is important as this is the area from where you lose most body heat.
• Choose your socks wisely, the fit of the socks should not be too tight as it will hamper your blood circulation in your legs which will go cold easily.
• The fabric of the clothes in use also plays an important role in keeping you warm. Fabrics like cotton will get cold after getting damp from your sweat.
• Fabrics like wool or polyester are preferred, as they will keep you warm even after they are damp.
• There are socks and hats specially designed for camping.

2. Snowy Cold

Keeping yourself warm during the brutal winters of the US can be a mammoth task. You can suffer from hypothermia if you were not smart about your clothes enough. It’s always better safe than sorry.

• The main goal should be trapping your body heat inside your body.
• Sleeping bags are not that efficient at midnight (unless it’s an electrical one).
• Layering will help you with keeping your core warm.
• There is no hard and fast rule for layering yourself during winters. Layer as much as you think is required for you.
• You can be as layered inside the sleeping bag as you were outside of the sleeping bag.
• You can always increase or decrease your layers on the clothes if you feel too hot and sweaty. Trust me the last thing you want on a winter night is sleeping with sweat.
• Increasing the layers would not hurt you in a sleeping bag, just not too much to sweat.

The layering can help until the sleeping bag and your clothes are not compressed down. You can lose a ton of heat because of conduction through the ground.

The layers will be of no use, therefore don’t leave your sleeping bag on bare ground.

3. Moderate temperature

According to me, this is the best time of the year for camping or outing. The spring or autumn time, when it is not too cold or not too warm.

• You are just fine a normal t-shirt or boxer/ long underwear.
• This will be a base layer of warmth.
• You can add socks for extra warmth if you want to.
• The sleeping bags with 30 degrees label will provide you the warmth with the base layer.
• Just ensure to wear breathable material and stay away from sweat.
• Wear fresh dry clothes.

4. Hiking season

If you are from the hiking community then you will have to think about the weight of your backpack and the clothes you will require for the hiking trip.

• Carrying separate clothes just for sleeping is the right idea but it is not a practical idea.
• It will just increase your bag weight.
• Here is a trick or a thumb rule to follow: Sleep clean, hike dirty.
• You can think of wearing the same clothes you want to go hiking in the next day.
• A t-shirt, lightweight pants, long underwear, gym shorts, or sweatpants are preferred for sleeping and hiking as well.
• It is important to change clothes before going to sleep.

Sleeping Naked In A Sleeping Bag Is A Myth?

To answer your question, YES it is a myth. Whoever told you to do so does not care about you or either has never been to a camping trip and definitely not slept in a sleeping bag. You should not take advice from them.

Insulation is the only way to stay warm while sleeping outside.

The absence of clothes will be the absence of a base layer of warmth. Putting on clothes will only add up the warmth.

99% of the situations that might occur while you are sleeping during camping, you would want to face them with clothes on.

Wildlife emergencies like an encounter with a bear or a bugler can happen anytime. Trust me, this is the last thing you want, to face them naked.

What Not To Do While Sleeping In A Sleeping Bag?

These are the list of don’t while sleeping outdoors in a sleeping bag.

• Avoid wearing ill-fitting clothes like tight socks or pants with tight elastic bands. This will hamper the blood flow in your body parts and it will lead you to feel cold even faster.
• Don’t wear damp or moist clothes.
• Damp clothes will compromise the insulating power of your sleeping bag.
• Don’t sleep in the clothes you cooked in. Wondering why? Check out our article on how to keep bears away from the campsite for the answer.
• Too much layering will harm you as it breaks out sweat and it will make you cold at night.
• Avoid sweating in the sleeping bag. Decrease the layers if needed.
• Changing clothes is very important before sleeping because the clothes you wear all day long is already sweaty and damp.
• Always change into fresh and dry clothes.
• Don’t leave your sleeping bag multiple times at night. The sleeping bag also loses heat faster than it gains.
• When you leave your sleeping bag, the temperature drops very quickly.
• Never leave your sleeping bag unattended, as some crawling friends may visit your bag for warmth. Check our article on how to get rid of snakes during camping.

FAQs

Conclusion

I hope this article helped you with clothing problems while sleeping on a camping trip. Think of it in this way- warmth and health are more important than fashion clothing while you are outdoors.

You do not want to get hypothermia while on camp and destroy all the fun you could have when you are healthy. I think adjusting according to the climate is the key to your sleeping comfort.

If you have any good suggestions or new ideas you are free to use the comment section. We would love to hear those.

Check out our articles and guides on our website.

Until the happy camping!

Camping is an activity that has become very popular recently and here in the US camping industry has blossomed like no other. Because of this, the demand for all the accessories associated with camping has also increased. And as we know with the increase in demand, the prices of these accessories also go up.

It becomes a very expensive camping trip if you end up buying every single accessory required for camping. So, you have to look at what are the things that you can do without, for the trip.

One such thing is a sleeping pad. You need to have a sleeping bag for sure, but a sleeping pad can be easily substituted by other means. This means you will not require spending any extra money, do Camping Without Sleeping Pad and substitute it by very common means.

• Have a sleeping cot or Underquilt
• Choose the right location  
• Have an insulating layer inside the sleeping bag
• Have a hot water bottle or bag
• Have a campfire
• Wear Appropriate Clothes
• Have a good quality tarp
• Replace it with some other pad

So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Need For A Sleeping Pad

Before we look for its substitutes, we must know what is a sleeping pad, what it does, and why it is needed.

So, a sleeping pad is a foam mattress, that is meant for providing comfort. A sleeping pad is about half a centimeter thick but the material is highly insulating from cold. When you go camping, if you have a sleeping cot with you, a sleeping pad isn’t necessary at all.

But if you are going to sleep on the floor, the ground can be cold at night. At that time, if you don’t have a sleeping pad, you most probably are going to wake up in the middle of the night feeling cold on your back.

Thus, we know that a sleeping pad is necessary for camping, it goes inside your sleeping bag, and that it keeps you warm at night by insulating your back from the cold seeping through the floor of your tent.

How To Do Camping Without Sleeping Pad?

Now that we know what a sleeping pad is, what it does, and why it is needed, we can look for alternatives to a sleeping pad.

1. Have A Sleeping Cot Or Underquilt

First off, if you don’t have a sleeping pad to give you insulation from the ground, you can take your back off the ground and sleep on a sleeping cot. A cot is just like a bed, so even if you don’t have insulation, you can just sleep in a cot with a sleeping bag.

For hammocks, your back is already on the ground, but with the wind passing below you can lake off the heat from your back. But if you have an underquilt, the heat will stay trapped because of it and you can do without a sleeping pad.

The sleeping cot and underquilt are accessories many people carry for camping anyway, so it won’t be something extra. But if you don’t have these two, you can look for other alternatives that don’t involve anything that costs money.

2. Choose The Right Location  

 If you don’t have a sleeping pad with you, you have to choose the location of your tent set up very precisely. The place where you set up your tent shouldn’t be damp at all. It had to be completely dry or the dampness will make the floor of your tent wet and as a result, you will feel cold.

You can only choose a rocky terrain to set up your tent, but you have to use a thick ground tarp for that type of camping.

For hammock campers as well, choosing the right location is very important when camping without a sleeping pad. Your hammock can’t be in the path of a flowing breeze. You should try to find a spot that is well shielded from the wind. This way your back remains safe from wind that carries away your body heat.

3. Have An Insulating Layer Inside The Sleeping Bag

Basically, how a sleeping pad works is that you place it inside a sleeping bag and you sleep over it. It provides insulation from the ground. Now, if you don’t use a sleeping pad, you can add some thick cloth beneath you and sleep over it.

The cloth can be a blanket, made of winter clothing, a bed sheet rolled in multiple layers, or even some of your sweaters laid properly.

This can be a solution for the cold, but with clothes, the thickness increases quite a bit and thus you will have less room for movement inside your sleeping bag. But other than this, it is one alternative to a sleeping pad.

4. Have A Hot Water Bottle Or Bag

No worries if you don’t have a sleeping pad, you can generate your own heat inside the sleeping bag, then there is no need for insulation. You can have a water bottle or water bag filled with hot water and you can hold it close to you while sleeping.

The sleeping bag will trap the heat generated inside it by the hot water bag or bottle and keep you warm all night. It is an easily portable and efficient alternative for a sleeping pad.

5. Have A Campfire

In the last point, we told you that you can do without a sleeping pad if you have a source of heat generation inside the sleeping bag. The same applies to the sleeping bag. If you lie with a sleeping bag without a sleeping pad, near a campfire, you aren’t likely to feel cold at all.

Along with being a source of heat generation, a campfire can also be a leisure activity and a place for cooking as well. So, seeing at the multiple benefits of a campfire, it is a fitting alternative to a sleeping pad.

If you want to know how to light a campfire, you can look at How To Make A Campfire? Easy Step By Step Guide.

6. Wear Appropriate Clothes

If you are camping in winter, you will probably pack a lot of sweaters and winter wear for your trip. This can be a handy alternative to a sleeping pad. You should always try to wear multiple sets of clothing before getting inside a sleeping bag. This will help in trapping your body heat and then even without a sleeping pad, you can easily spend the night with a comfortable sleep.

For the summer season, however, wearing multiple sets of clothes is not feasible and so, this alternative works best for the winter season.

7. Have A Good Quality Tarp

Having a good quality tarp for the ground can help you save the money for a sleeping pad. The tarp however can be a bit more expensive than the general ones. The tarp has to be thick and highly waterproof. It should insulate you totally from the ground beneath.

A good quality tarp can become a good investment for the long term, given that you take care of its waterproofing by handling it in the right way.

8. Replace It With Some Other Pad

Finally, the last but the best alternative to a sleeping pad is some other pad. At your homes, you probably have already got the best alternative for a sleeping pad lying somewhere. You can save the money for a sleeping pad, and just carry a similar pad that is already available to you to the camp. Some of these alternatives can be:

• Yoga mats
• Portable Mattresses
• Gym pad

Yes, your yoga mat or your gym pad can be your answer to a good sleeping pad alternative. You can also use a pile of leaves as a cover for insulation. All of them however aren’t adequately thick enough to provide you with the same level of insulation as a sleeping pad, but nevertheless, they are an option available to you readily.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Conclusion

When we go camping, the alternative to a sleeping pad that we like to use the most is to have an insulating layer of some clothing beneath us. This works exactly like a sleeping pad, and our money gets saved by just packing some extra clothing.

Remember that all these substitutes work fine, but no substitute can totally replace a sleeping bag and it is up to you how much you can adjust to the changes. It is best to practice in your backyard with these alternatives a few times before you go on the actual camping trip.

Do share your adventurous stories with us and tell us if there are some other alternatives to a sleeping pad that we may have missed out here, through the comment section.

Best of luck to you and Happy Camping!

A sleeping bag is like the cover of your smartphone on a camping trip. It provides you with cover, protection, and warmth. It is just unimaginable how a camping trip would be if you don’t have a sleeping bag with you.

The temperature here in the States drop drastically at night, especially in places at higher altitude. Even in the months of summer-like in June and July, the weather can suddenly change and drop the temperature below your comfort level.

At, that time, you need your sleeping bag to provide you with as much warmth as possible so that you can get a good night’s sleep. So, let us dive right in and find out How To Stay Warm In A Sleeping Bag

Right Way Of Lying In a Sleeping Bag

Many people find it difficult to fall asleep in a sleeping bag at night, particularly if they are camping after quite a while. Having the perfect setup with your sleeping bag can help you avoid this problem of insomnia, but everything will have to be right, and you will fall asleep in no time.

There is no one right way of lying inside a sleeping bag and for finding your best position inside a sleeping bag, it may take you two or three nights with the bag. So, it is best to practice sleeping inside your sleeping bag a few times in your backyard before the main camping trip.

Sleeping Bag Temperature Guide

Before buying a sleeping bag, you should always look for the temperature ratings of the bag. There are two types of bags available, when we talk about sleeping bags, down bags and synthetic bags.

• Down bags have a fill of natural materials like wispy plumage found beneath a water fowl’s exterior feathers, the most popular one being of geese. They are very good for comfort and providing heat inside. They are costly though but in terms of portability, down sleeping bags are a very good option.
  
• Synthetic bags have a filling of synthetic material on the inside. As synthetic material is cheaper than natural material, synthetic bags are cheaper than down bags. They are heavy and less durable than down bags. But when it comes to water resistance, synthetic bags are the best. Also, they tend to dry very quickly when they get wet. But they do not provide much insulation in cold weather.

So, you have to know the condition in which you are going to camp and choose the sleeping bag according to that.

If you are camping in a cold but dry area, you can use down bags, but if the conditions are going to be wet, you have to get synthetic bags.

Also, after you choose the type of bag, look for the lowest temperature at which the bag is suitable for camping. If it is lower than the lowest temperature you are expecting to encounter, you have found your ideal sleeping bag.

For chilly nights here, your sleeping bag has to have a temperature rating of at least up to 15 degrees F.

How To Stay Warm In A Sleeping Bag: 7 Hidden Tricks

So, now that you know how to set up your sleeping bag and how to fall asleep, you have to take some measures to keep your sleeping bag warm throughout the night. Because you don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night feeling cold and have to worry about how to get to sleep all over again.

1. Keep Your Bag Clean:

First of all, starting with a basic one, you have to clean your sleeping bag every day. After sleeping overnight, dirt and dried sweat get collected in your sleeping bag. If you go to sleep the next day on the same bag, these dried sweat particles can take away some heat from your body and keep you cold.

So, after you wake up from sleeping, you should clean the sleeping bag, to make you feel better and keep yourself warm the next night.

2. Keep Your Bag Dry:

This is the most important point for keeping yourself warm inside a sleeping bag. You cannot stay warm if your sleeping bag is dripping wet, it’s as simple as that. To keep your bag dry, you can use different techniques like using a waterproof bag, hanging your bag to dry every morning, and sleeping away from the tent walls.

If you want to know how to keep your sleeping bag dry, in details, you can check our article How To Keep A Sleeping Bag Dry While Camping: Keep Your Nights Comfortable.

3. Use Heating:

Your sleeping bag can stay warm if there is a source of heat-generating or getting trapped inside your sleeping bag. The best way to having a heating source inside a sleeping bag is by keeping a hot water bottle with you inside the bag. Instead of a water bottle, you can use a hot water bag as well, because it can keep water warm for a longer time.

A hot water bottle can be easily manageable and for a camping trip, it works best. If you don’t want to sleep with a hot water bag or bottle though, you can opt for lighting a campfire nearby your sleeping bag. This will surely keep you warm throughout the night and you can have a sound sleep.

You can find the best way of lighting a campfire in the article How To Make A Campfire? Easy Step By Step Guide

4. Invest In A Sleeping Pad:

If you are camping in a tent, you will most likely, sleep on the ground. Now the ground will have tarps laid and you may have sealed it for preventing water from seeping in. But still, the temperature of the ground will be lower than your sleeping bag, and so when you sleep at night, the heat from your back will slowly go out outside and you may feel cold.

So, try to bring a sleeping pad with you on your trip. This will prevent heat from escaping to the ground by insulating your back from the ground. For hammock camping as well, a sleeping pad is a very good option.

5. Wear The Appropriate Amount Of Clothes:

When it comes to sleeping inside a bag, you have to make sure that the appropriate amount of clothes are worn by you at all times. You have to cover your hands, feet, and head with the right number of layers.

• For the head, you can wear caps made for the winter season and make sure that your ears are covered by the cap at all times.
  
• For feet, you have to wear socks at all times, and you can add another layer of winter clothes as per your convenience.
  
• Hand gloves are also important when it comes to sleeping inside a bag. You have to keep your body’s core temperature to yourself and prevent any heat from escaping.

Other than these, you have to wear multiple layers of clothing for your body as a whole if you want a warm and cozy night. You can use sweaters, sweatshirts, etc. and it would be best to wrap a blanket around you. Also, the area around the neck is very susceptible to catching a cold. Keep it unattended and you will wake up with a cold or cough without you even realizing the problem.

So, try to cover every part of your body especially the head, neck, hands, and feet.

6. Have Multiple Persons Inside The Bag:

If you have a partner or lover with you in your camp, it is best to have both of you inside the same sleeping bag. Snuggling between both of you can help in retaining heat inside the sleeping bag and your body heat will keep both of you warm.

It works even better if you are camping with your family, and you can sleep in between two persons. They will block the exterior heat from reaching you completely.

7. Use Liners And Eat Well:

Have a liner for your sleeping bag to add more insulation to your sleeping bag. Also, eating food rich in fat can keep you warm, so maybe have a candy bar, hot chocolate, or something similar before you go into your sleeping bag.

These aren’t scientifically proven, but we can from our experience in camping that they do help sometimes.  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

Conclusion:

Other than all the things we have mentioned, you can have some extra clothing to cover your feet because feet get cold before any part of your body since it is farthest from the heart.

Also, try to pick out a location that is blocking wind from flowing through your tent or hammock. This will surely help your sleeping bag from getting cold.

Now that you know everything about how to keep your sleeping bag warm through the night, you can head out camping in the cold without having to worry about anything.

We prefer to have a good quality sleeping bag that is insulated properly for our trips and you can do the same and we are sure you will also not be disappointed.

Share with us your adventurous camping stories and tell us if these tricks helped you survive the chilly nights throughout the year, through the comment section below.

Happy Camping Mates!

Camping here in the States is beautiful during winters.

So, while camping, especially during this winter season in the US, you need to keep yourself dry and warm. For that, most campers use a sleeping bag and that is very necessary.

But if you are using a sleeping bag, one thing that you have to make sure is that it isn’t wet or there is no condensation on it. Imagine yourself on a cold night inside a tent and you are just about to go to sleep when you open your sleeping bag and see that it is dripping wet.

So, instead of a comfortable night, you are stuck with a wet sleeping bag and lots of chills to worry about.

That is why we are here with an article on How To Keep A Sleeping Bag Dry While Camping, just dives right into it and make your camping night warm and cozy.

What Makes Sleeping Bag Wet And Why Keep Them Dry?

Just like with any situation of life, if you want to solve a problem, you have to know about the problem first like why is it a problem and how did it arise.

So, for a sleeping bag, what does make them wet? Well, the reason for your bag getting wet is the environment and partly your bag as well. A sleeping bag gets wet because of condensation. Now, there are different scenarios of condensation.

• In warm weather conditions, your sleeping bag is very likely to get wet on the surface even inside tents. The humidity is usually high during warm weather and that means the presence of water vapors in the air. These water vapors, when they come in contact with the relatively cooler surface of your sleeping bag condenses and makes it wet.
  
• In cooler weather conditions, vapors present in the moisture inside the sleeping bag condenses on the shell material.
    
• Inside the sleeping pad, the breath of the user can also get condensed on the surface of the sleeping pad.
  
• Condensation under the sleeping pad occurs because the sleeping pad may be rested on a cold tent floor.
  
• Finally, while sealing sleeping pads, moisture can get trapped inside a sleeping bag. Then, if the dry bag is used for paddling or boating, this vapor can get condensed.

The condensation can cause a lot of problems for you but the most significant is the problem it causes in not letting you sleep. You cannot sleep on a wet sleeping bag, simple as that. In rainy seasons, you don’t even have the luxury of drying your bag, so in such situations, you have to keep your sleeping bag dry.

Also, one issue with wet sleeping bags is that wetness can lead to the formation of mold. Mold and mildew can mean that your sleeping bag cannot last for long and a new sleeping bag needs to be bought earlier than expected.

How To Keep A Sleeping Bag Dry While Camping

Condensation is a natural phenomenon that no one can stop, but what makes the vapor condense more are these situations listed below.

• After a hot humid day, the evenings get chilly
• The big temperature difference between the inside and outside of your tent
• Rain
• More people inside your tent
• No air circulation inside your tent
• The proximity of your tent to water bodies like lakes, ponds, etc.

These problems exist it doesn’t mean that you have to give up on camping because of it in rainy or cold weather. You can use some preventive methods as well as some tips and tricks to play along with nature a bit.

1. Choose The Type Of Sleeping Bag

If you want to enjoy a dry camping trip, you need to begin planning for it even before the camping trip, at the time of buying the sleeping bag itself. You must already be familiar with the two types of sleeping bags available in the market.

• Down bags have a fill of natural materials like wispy plumage found beneath a water fowl’s exterior feathers, the most popular one being of geese. They are very good for comfort and providing heat inside. They are costly though but in terms of portability, down sleeping bags are a very good option.
  
• Synthetic bags, as the name suggests have a filling of synthetic material on the inside. As synthetic material is cheaper than natural material, synthetic bags are cheaper than down bags. They are heavy and less durable than down bags. But when it comes to water resistance, synthetic bags are the best. Also, they tend to dry very quickly when they get wet.

As a camper, if you prefer comfort, down bags would seem logical, but actually, synthetic bags are the best option. They won’t get wet and even if they do get wet, they will get dried very quickly. So, if you are going camping in wet conditions or cold conditions, you should carry a synthetic sleeping bag.

2. Choose The Right Location Of The Camp

After you are done with choosing your bag and have reached your campground, you need to look for the right place to set up your camp. As you know that if you set up your tent near a water body, you are more likely to face the problem of condensation. So, don’t camp right next to water sources or even hollow places where water can gather.

Other than that, you can choose a semi-open spot for your tent, which isn’t in shade, because that will make the tent cooler. Pitching under trees is a good idea but you have to inspect the trees first whether old branches are lurking above you about to fall off.

3. Pitching Of The Tent

If you have found the right place to camp, next up is pitching your tent. Pitching a tent can affect the number of issues you face with condensation.

You might be inclined to the idea of isolating your tent from any sort of wind flow, but this increases the condensation inside your tent and sleeping bag. So, keep a ventilation system in your tent at all times. No this might not be possible when it is raining outside, but then there will be a natural inflow of wind inside your tent.

Also, your flysheet should be hung in such a way that no rain reaches your tent, but also it doesn’t touch the tent.

4. Covering Of The Sleeping Bag

If you want to keep your sleeping bag away from dew or condensation, you should always use a bivy sack or a bag cover to protect your sleeping bag. You can also wrap raincoats around your sleeping bag and it can act as a water repellent. However, your cover has to be breathable to avoid internal condensation.

5. Use Liners

You can use liners if you are camping in wet conditions. It can prevent your sleeping bag from soaking the moisture from the air. You can use a trash compactor bag with a liner, or just use the trash compactor liners inside of your sleeping bag container. If the weather is extremely wet, you can also use double liners.

Some Bonus Tips And Tricks For Campers To Keep A Sleeping Bag Dry While Camping

The above methods are tried and tested in keeping your sleeping bag dry, but after camping by ourselves for a long time, we found out a few of our tips and tricks to keep a sleeping bag dry.

1. Hang Your Sleeping Bag

Every morning at the camp, you must hang your sleeping bag to dry. This will make it usable at night, after becoming wet in the morning because of dew and condensation. In windy or sunny areas, your bag will dry up quickly but even in wet conditions, you should keep it hanging as long as it takes to dry out.

Synthetic bags work better for this because they dry up quicker than down bags.

2. Keep Bag Away From The Tent Walls

There is a lot of precipitation on the walls of a tent, either on the outside because of rain, dew, etc., or on the inside because of interior condensation. Now, if your sleeping bag touches the walls, your bag is also likely to get wet and you would feel the chills.

So, try to set your sleeping bag in the center of your tent away from any wall.

3. Use A New Bag

There is a waterproofing layer coated on your sleeping bag. This layer slowly gets worn off as the days go by and you wash your sleeping bag. After a while, as your bag gets old, this waterproof layer gets worn off and the water-repelling property of your bag goes with it.

So, it is advisable that you change your sleeping bag after a couple of years or you run the risk of catching hypothermia in the cold with your old bag.

4. Tent Floor Waterproof

When you go camping in a tent, you most likely are going to lie on the floor with a sleeping bag to get into. Now, suppose your sleeping bag is waterproof but the tent floor isn’t, you will face problems then. The water that seeps through the floor will wet the surface f your sleeping bag and make you cold.

So, whenever you are going camping, keep a waterproof floor tarp to enjoy a camping night fully dry.

5. Don’t Wipe Down The Beads Of Water

If you had a sleeping bag in wet conditions, you must have seen droplets of water on the surface of your sleeping bag. This indicates that the waterproof barrier is working. You will be urged to wipe those droplets off the bag, but you shouldn’t do so. It a rookie mistake. When you wipe those droplets, the water seeps deeper into your sleeping bag and can get trapped there.

So, instead of wiping off, you can keep it hanging for the droplets to evaporate into the atmosphere.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Final Words

So, you can use several hacks to keep your sleeping bag dry, from some based on choices to some based on execution, but nothing can be done a hundred percent, not even sealing a sleeping bag from the water.

So, your sleeping bag will get wet on the outside and a bit on the inside despite giving your best efforts to keep it dry, but with these tricks, we can assure you that you will get a comfortable sleep on a wet and chilly night.

Do share with us, your stories of camping and what sleeping bags you used, and if these tips helped you in some ways through the comment section below.

Happy Camping!