Staying warm while backpacking in cold weather, and bivy's

[Greenthumbed]

There are some water proofing sprays like Scotchguard and Nikwax that you could look into.
I have a down bag but, I let the wife use it. It might be a bit warmer than the synthetic bag, I’m not sure. I use the synthetic bag nowadays because it suits me fine and it was cheap to buy (I paid $75 for it used) and easier to wash.
For base camp I use a nice big LL Bean synthetic with a flannel liner. It’s a lot nicer against the bare skin.

[firebird]

X therm pad I think it’s a R7 and a -18 hydrophobic down bag no matter if it’s september lol and I’ll carry a hammock tarp.

Mountain hardwear phantom -18 and now a Stone glacier -18 they are roughly 2.5lbs

[Getbent]

When we were kids the old
man used to take hot rocks out of the fire and wrap them in newspaper and we’d put them in our sleeping bags.
Pretty old school for sure. Mind you this was 45+ years ago. I realize this isnt
practical for many reasons but my kid thought it was great the couple of times I did it for him while tenting for mulies…

[35rem]

I have done a fair amount of winter camping and quickly realized that staying warm during the night so you get a good sleep is essential. My setup is a Thermarest X-therm pad with a Thermarest Z-lite closed cell foam pad underneath (mainly to ensure the X-therm does not get punctured accidentally). I use a Western Mountaineering Puma sleeping bag with a Dutch army Goretex bivvy bag. The WM Puma is rated to -32C and their ratings are considered conservative. I prefer the Dutch bivvy over the USMC model as the Dutch bags come with a small hoop over the top part creating head space whereas the USMC bags do not. This keeps the bivvy off your face when you have to zip it up because of precipitation. It
also has loops on the underside that keep the pads from sliding away when you turn.
I have slept in this setup wearing only a light merino underlayer at below -22C and still had to leave the sleeping bag open a bit. It was probably colder, but my Kestrel temperature logger quit at this temperature..
You can get the Dutch bag in extra long (tall people, the Dutch) which will give you more room for clothes and other stuff you want to keep close and dry.

[kimbernuck1]

If it were me I would go with a high end 4 season tent then I would use a closed cell sleeping pad then a insulated exped air mattress or the like on top. Get a Feathered Friends, Western Mountaineering or a Taiga Works expedition down sleeping bag. High end bags have water resistant shells and you can get a dry compression sack for packing it as well. I sleep with merino under layers and socks. Also wear a fleece toque. Pitch your tent in a protected area, away from wind if you can. However, it isn't me its jmo. Good luck.

[TheObserver]

What kind of ground pad are you using?

SSS

Thermarest trail-lite r value 3.2, all I could afford this year

[TheObserver]

What brand sleeping bag?

Unless its truly rated by ISO and from a real company, you can't trust anything. For every companies, and they still do, will tell you what ever they want on their product. There is nothing preventing a company from calling a +10C bag a -10C bag. Or nothing preventing a company from saying their air mattress is R-value 4+. Lots of air matress companies off amazon were doing this like Kylmit. There said theirs had an R-value of 4 but after testing it was 1.7

Your sleep set up with be expensive if you want a good one. I Would say between $1000-1500. $300-400 or so on the air mattress and the rest on the bag. For the air matress, I would stick with the big guys, therm-a-rest, Nemoi, Big anges, etc. I run a SG 15 sleeping bag, its fantastic. Roomy, lightweight for warmth rating, packs down small. Other good brands Kuiu, western mountaineering, Taiga(local store in Vancouver).

Can't cheap out on the sleep system if you want to be comfortable. A good nights rest makes a big difference in the back country.

Brand of sleeping bag is hotcore, not sure if it is garbage bought it at cabelas thinking it was made in Canada

[Greenthumbed]

Brand of sleeping bag is hotcore, not sure if it is garbage bought it at cabelas thinking it was made in Canada

Sadly, I think those Hotcore bags are garbage. I bought them for my boys and one for the wife too. The boys don’t mind them because they’ll sleep in anything, but the wife froze to death in hers while summer camping and it’s rate -10C. That’s when I gave her my down bag. I tried it and found that I was even uncomfortable in it. The thing seems too short and I think to save weight and bull they go light on the fill on the underside. They’re rational is that you don’t need the fill in the underside because you have the pad on the bottom. This doesn’t work if you roll around in your sleep.
I’d say save up and buy a good bag and you’ll be on your way to a better nights sleep.

[kevingm1987]

Brand of sleeping bag is hotcore, not sure if it is garbage bought it at cabelas thinking it was made in Canada

Same issue I had with my first bag. It was a brand named Teton. Said it was rated for -7 or something. Was useless in cold temps though. Just looked up hotcore, same issue. Sleeping bags are a big investment. Save the money, even if it takes some time and buy quality.

[kevingm1987]

My down bag is hmmm 30 years old ,ii has a Gortex shell any recommendations on what I could spray on the surface to freshen up the surface ? I try not to walk it too much but when I do it’s with Nokias down wash in the bathtub and make sure when rising the water is clear . It’s a lot of work !
Arctic Lake

30 years! If only it could talk, would probably have a few stories.

As for DWR re-application. I have a product I bought from Miendl for my boots. It just sprays on and wipes off. I haven't tried it on tent or sleeping bag but assume it would work.