Right now it's great weather here in Missouri and I've been having a great time backpacking in the Ozarks.

But soon it will be cooling off at night and that got me to wondering about keeping warm while I sleep.

What I have found is that keeping my body warm isn't that hard. It's my feet that get cold. Even in wool socks my feet are sometimes cold when the rest of me feels fine. It occurred to me that many people probably buy a warmer bag in this situation but I was thinking that some nice down booties would probably do better for less weight.

Anyone out there use booties for sleeping, instead of or in addition to wool socks? How do you like it?

I have booties, but don't wear them in my bag. I wear really thick Patagonia socks though.

However, I recommend wearing a fleece hat or balaclava if you can stand it. I find a balaclava too confining at night, but a hat like Turtlefur works well.

The old saying is "If your feet are cold, put on a hat" and there is some truth to that.

I'd go with TomD's suggestion--start with the hat!

I used to sleep in the next day's hiking socks. Last spring I bought a pair of fleece socks specifically for sleeping. They are so soft and cuddly that my feet sigh with gratitude when I put them on. And the next day's hiking socks are not stretched out of shape before I start hiking.

I have to get up several times each night, and find that it's better to have something on my feet that my shoes (or Crocs) will fit over. I wouldn't want to walk on the wet grass in booties and then put the wet booties inside the sleeping bag.

In SCUBA diving you learn that 30% of your heat loss is through your head. Your hands are up there pretty high too.

Check your bag, but as tom mentions, put on a hat. I take booties winter camping in Canada (i.e. a LOT colder than you are) and I typically do not wear them to sleep in (I do sleep in a heavy merino wool sock). However I have a good bag/quilt combo at that point and I do wear a balaclava to bed in wintertime. Unlike tom I can stand wearing one to bed (probably because I couldn't stand the cold otherwise <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Make sure that you put on dry socks before you climb into bed. Socks damp from the day's exertions will suck the heat right out of your feet. Yes, I have been known to wear down booties to bed in the winter, but a better solution is to fill a nalgene bottle with hot water and, after making sure it is sealed tight <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />, put it in the bottom of your bag with you. I prefer the hard nalgenes for this as I have had the soft ones almost collapse from suction as the water cools.

I've tried wearing a balaclava in my bag and it just feels like I'm suffocatiing in the darn thing. I'll wear one in the day, but at night, just can't do it. Wish I could, I'd probably sleep warmer, but my fleece beanie seems to do a pretty good job.

30 below, I might change my mind. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Funny, you describe almost exactly my feelings about a balaclava in a sleeping bag when I was 16.. and pretty much exactly the way I changed my mind <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I recall I was young and knew everything, and the night was bloody cold, and the resulting trips to gather wood in the middle of the night and keep a fire going built character.. lots and lots of character...

And you're still a character, right? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I agree with the hat. I quit carrying my booties - they just did not help much, and were too much weight. If you really want to heat your feet - like, say its gonna be really cold - wear produce bags. Just get some free produce bags at Walmart or the grocery, put the produce bag on when you get to camp or before you go to bed. Put one thick wool sock over the produce bag. Try it - its free. I saw a post about this a year ago and started doing it. I even hike with a produce bag under my hiking sock sometimes, especially if its raining. Its the cheapest, most comfortable VBL sock that I have ever heard of.

Integral Design's hot socks.....start cool....warm up even when wet and are usable in a bag...at 4 ozs a bargin....They're always in my pack...

I hope this isn't too far off topic but if guys are going to recommend a FLEECE cap, I would think about making that a merino wool cap. I switched over from fleece to merino wool and have never looked back.

Tom D

re: booties - see end... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

If you feel like you're suffocating in a balaclava in a sleeping bag, then try a Colombia bomber winter hat with faux fur lining. The 2 sides Velcro together under your chin, so its warm and less apt to turn and cover your face. That said, since I know that you don't own a real Winter bag yet, you should definitely wear a real warm hat, as they say you lose half of your body heat from your head - true? I think If you're trying to extend the warmth of a sleeping bag the first things are hat, loose sleeping socks, close up the hood to a breathing hole - learn to think like a seal, of course if that was easy for you, you wouldn't have a problem with the balaclava. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> AND the important one - do something about the extra air space in your bag. My bag has added elastic bands to keep it snuggled up around me. It can expand to easily take a down coat, but my winter coat may be damp and I don't want it in the bag with me, so I always put it over the bag over my torso. My feet are generally warm bare and I am most comfortable sleeping in light weight long underwear and balaclava, and light soft gloves only. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> wearing a down coat in a sleeping bag is too constricting for someone claustrophobic. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I think the REAL PROBLEM is that we wake up too warm or feeling like we can't get to air and an immediate exit from the bed is necessitated. You can pull the hood around your head providing you have a hat on and lay on it and hold it in place with your hands so that you simply push upwards and the bag opens. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

On my last trip with Longhair I was using a WM Iroquois and my down air mattress DAM. It got into the lower 30s, which was cold enough that I stopped using the bag as a quilt and got inside it <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> I woke up too warm and in a panic to escape and I found that the pull cord adjuster was so light that the bag simply opened - tada -without having to find the zipper pull or the hood adjust. Perhaps changing the cord clips or not even using it, just pull the hood cord up tight around your head and then let it go. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

My old camping buddy was so claustrophobic that even at zero degrees F, he refused to get any deeper than his armpits. It his arms "were trapped" he went nuts and certainly NEVER got into his -5 bag and closed it up ever. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />
Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

BOOTIES <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Oh yes booties. Most booties are a total waste in the Winter. All you need is some warm loose wool socks for tent and bag. You can put your feet in stuff sacks and tie them around your ankles for shoes. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

The worst thing about booties is the lessened protection level. You COULD step onto or into something that could damage your foot while in camp, and for that reason, I think, If you have light boots/shoes, wear them in camp also, you never know where you might end up wearing booties otherwise. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Ok my winter camp booties are from Campmoor, with a waterproofed shell and a pair of short gaiters sewn and seam sealed to the openings so they extend up my leg and over my pants like gaiters. The bottoms are cordura and I use a wax sealer on the outsides. I bought the xlarge ones, they are way over stuffed. My finished boots weigh 23 ounces, BUT they are warm at any temperature and can be a life saver, as well as letting you take off your ski boots. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Jim, ya mean like one of these?
http://www.supercasuals.com/Mad_Bomber/Mad_Bomber_303N03.cfm

Or maybe a Marge Gunderson hat (you did see Fargo, didn't you?)

But, not sure I want a dead bunny (what they euphemistcally call "natural resources) on my conscience just for a warm hat. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Here's their pro-fur argument; not sure I buy it.
http://www.supercasuals.com/Mad_Bomber/Mad_Bomber_303N03.cfm

ps. before anyone gets started, I'm not a vegetarian and have leather upolstery in my SUV.

I've got SD booties, but they arent really waterproof. I sprayed them with something so they are fine for a few minutes. I wouldn't wear them too far since the bottoms aren't all that grippy.

“Anyone out there use booties for sleeping, instead of or in addition to wool socks? How do you like it?”

There are a lot of ideas here. Sometimes it’s just best to try and see what fits your metabolism.

Me and one of my hiking buddies sleep in our SD booties (found on sale a while back for $15). I love them. They are warmer than wool socks. I wear a thin liner with them so that the booties stay cleaner (on the inside).

And they complement my foot system very well. As you know, I’m a sandal hiker most of the year (except for maybe 2 months in the winter). Down booties fit my Teva Terrafi2’s nicely. The straps are long enough to accommodate the bootie. This bootie does not have a reinforced bottom (like some w/ stiff souls) otherwise it would not fit in my sandal too well. Thus w/ the bootie on, my foot is still protected. And if I want to do a bathroom run at night, my down booties are already warm and I just slip on my sandals for protection and go.

I have found it’s a little too hot to hike in my down bootie above 30F. So I mostly just wear them around camp; and if the day warms up (>30), I change over to wool socks for hiking. I love backpacking in my down booties (w/ sandal). It’s like hiking in your slippers and I wonder “am I cheating” because life is not supposed to feel this good.

And while I’m on a down bootie soap box, I’ll also put in--- I love biking in them. I bike in them a lot. Feet get colder biking than backpacking.

I only wish now I had a higher fill power (850 vs 600). They would be lighter (of course). But there’s a BIG price difference, and thus only a wish.


May everyone find their foot zen <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />.

-Barry