How to keep warm in a sleeping bag whilst camping?

[Yeahyeahyeahnooooo]

I'm a very reluctant camper but the dc really want to go. Last time I was too cold to sleep and absolutely miserable - any tips?

I've only been a few times as an adult but always with an electric hook up so I can have a heater. (apart from when it was a very boozey trip so had my beer coat on!)

Yes, but I don't want 10 camping holidays a year.
As a scouting/girl guiding family we are often away with scouts and guides doing all seasons. We have done -15C to 30C in tents, open air sleeping and cabins without heating.
Tbh I find it not cheap but of course we have a good basis of gear after this life style for years.
A good winter sleeping bag and a decent winter sleeping mat can cost the same as a budget hotel for four days.
We do regular holidaying as well.

You need a blanket under you.

Ski wear. Two hats. A duvet.

A hotel you don't risk being eaten in the middle of the night or being blown away.

Bedbugs will definitely eat you in the middle of night and come home with you.

I’ve not been blown away yet 😬

Better take your ruby slippers just in case 🤣🤣

Maybe my camping fridge can weigh down the tent along with my fat ass 🤣🤣

Though I don’t camp on cliffs so if we get blown away it will only be to the next field thankfully.

you can get quite thick long mats for under sleeping bag

If DC want to go let them do it in the garden and you sleep in the house. Everyone’s happy. DH can sleep in the tent with them.

The only stars I want to sleep under are those at a hotel.

You see this is crazy. OP you no doubt have a perfectly good house to sleep
in with walls and a roof, heating and a comfy bed.

What about attaching said camping gear to yourself or a bike's panniers, hiking/cycling for several hours, setting up basic camp, sleeping, and then doing it all again, for hundreds of miles 😁

The first time we camped I was miserable, not because I didn't enjoy it but my body just seems to shut down when I'm cold so overnights were awful, we soon upgraded our gear and ALWAYS have electric hookup, so we can have a heater on overnight, run our coolbox etc.. as soon as we did that I started loving it!

It’s about not getting cold. Once you’re cold in a tent, it’s a nightmare to warm up. If you stay warm enough throughout you’ll be alright. Put a jumper on as soon as the temperature drops, have a warm shower and then wrap up straight after it, and keep socks on, cold feet on a tent floor is the worst! And keep yourself as far off the floor as you can because that’s the coldest bit.

It depends when you are going. We always took quilts and sheets to go over blow up beds and this was 20 years ago.

Once tent is up, make sure pods are zipped so no damp can get in. Woke up quite toasty most times from May - August.

You need to dress warmly for sleep. When we used to go camping when the kids were young, we used to always wear thermal underwear (ie thermal vest and either long johns or shorts) then jog pants, a warm jumper or sweatshirt, thick socks and a woolly hat for sleeping in. We had big, thick sleeping bags too - and I always had a hot water bottle.

I'm intrigued by so many people saying get a self-inflating mat not an air bed. Surely a self-inflating mat is also full of air! It's just thinner than an air bed (and much less comfy! I've slept on one, it's like sleeping on the floor and I wake up with bad back/hips!

We use air beds with foil backed rollmats underneath. Also proper 3/4 season sleeping bags are warmer than a duvet as there's no air gaps round the edge.

I agree with those who say get warm in pjs plus layers inc winter coat round the fire early as once you're cold you can't warm up and you don't want to be taking clothes off in a cold tent to put on pjs.

This is my strategy tested over the years. Get a 3-4 season sleeping bag (regardless of when you will be camping) with womens comfort temperature of zero degrees or lower, from a proper outdoors shop. If it doesn't come with temperature ratings, it almost certainly won't be warm enough. I like a mummy bag so I can put the hood over my head. You should pay equivalent of several nights in a hotel for it along with a high quality insulated sleeping mat - this can go on top of an air bed or camp bed if you don't want to sleep on the ground. Wear your best merino thermals and wool socks. Take a thick wool blanket just in case. I seem to sleep colder with every year that passes so I'll be taking a hat and hot water bottle next time.

Alternatively go camping in the south of France!

But if I drink wine I'll have to get up in the night and go out in the freezing for a wee! 😆

I think camping is an expensive way to holiday, buying all the gear then needing lots of storage space to store it the rest of the year. The worst is buying something fairly expensive, "but it's OK because we'll use it lots of times", use it once and it wasn't quite right or good enough. Next time you go you buy a new thing. My husband is a fiend for this. He's got 4-5 versions of every piece of equipment.

I also have cold issues while camping. I wear snow pants and a puffer jacket inside my sleeping bag, literally.

She carries all her stuff miles to her camping spots stuff so just utilises one of her virtues she carried drinking water in as a hot water bottle is un-necessary weight. Heat your sleeping bag before climbing in.

This made me wake the cat up laughing

@FruitFlyPie that sounds like a husband thing. We are super basic campers because we only do it occasionally, so it doesn't make much sense to buy & store a lot of stuff. Plus I am limited to what will fit in my ford fiesta with kids in the back.

I'm sure your camping is more comfortable than ours though.

Ok I'm sorry but how can this be fun, really???

Woman in friggin snowpants, in a tent??

Come on!