Hi All

this may seem lame but if you want to learn about winter camping and gear, start in your backyard and be sure you can get back into the house.

I have my wife's big old 8x8 30 pound tent set up in the front yard to hold her yard sale stuff. I also have a 3" thick full length piece of open celled foam from a futon. If I wanted to test a gear concept I'd go out there, sleep on the foam, and practice it in a safe place. Once yer in yer tent, it matters not where it is. First you need a warm sleeping bag or what ever. I personally would never take a quilt camping since I do have top end gear, BUT when I first started winter mountain camping, I used TNF bluekazoo which is overoptimistically rated at 20 degrees. I decided to wear my long underwear under my snow mobile suit inside the kazoo. It was cold and my hands froze because they weren't in the warm inside of the suit (after that I started carrying a spare 4 ounce pair of "hot hands" fleece gloves that are restricted to sleeping only.

You might try a summer bag with a quilt from home and test things out. Need a pillow? Try a balaclava - I have one right next to my sleeping gloves to wear in my bag. Don't worry about what anybody says or that it sounds lame, just take all this stuff into the tent and test it for yourself. You will learn that having you head inside a properly adjusted mummy bag hood will make you WAY WARMEWR. Never sleep with arms head or any part of your body out of your bag. Do not use a hoodless bag nor a square bag. The tighter the bag encloses you, the warmer you will be. Tucking extra bag under you will make it warmer. A cord tied loosely around the outside of the bag above your knees will make the bag warm enough to make up for a slight compression of a few feathers under the cord. You will be warmer draping your coat over you, either inside or outside the bag, depending on the amount of space available. Filling the extra space in your bag with a "warm material" will lessen its volume and make you warmer.

About the effects of clothes in a sleeping bag:
Insulated pants means your legs cannot warm each other. wearing your coat means the heat doesn't warm your hands or the rest of you inside the bag. Booties means cold feet as your feet cannot warm each other. Naked means if you turn you touch cold nylon to your skin - BBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Even socks can make your feet cold, which is counter intuitive, and its important to understand IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, THE CORRECT THING WILL SEEM COUNTER INTUITIVE. I call this "living room camping logic" and its the reason you buy useless junk that seems so cool until you take it camping. (see a thread on useless gear)

Imagine a big sock that encloses BOTH feet. Doesn't it seem that it would be the warmest choice? Then one big two footed bootee? A well made mummy bag has a small overstuffed foot sack built in. I almost never wear anything on my feet in my winter bag cause its warmer, its the one case where naked is best.

Forget silk and thin underwear. Wear medium or heavy long underwear of wicking material, by a reputable manufacturer, it will be the layer against your skin and will ultimately determine how comfortable and warm you be. Wear your long underwear and maybe a light breathable fleece jacket that lets out your perspiration and body heat to help warm the inside of your bag.

Winter camping IS NOT for claustrophobic people. My buddy had a -5 bag and always froze in it at 10 above because he refused to have his arms or head inside it.

Jim - Have fun. Oh yes - one more word - chocolate....