Last night was clear and cold, and I wanted to test the limits of my summertime camping gear.
So, I met up with Klinutus and his jolly band of miscreants in the middle of the woods.
Soon, we had a roaring fire, some festive beverage, and all was right with the world.
The stars were out, there was no real chance of rain, so we camped manly style. No tents, just an emergency blanket, a therm-a-rest, and a sleeping bag.
Sleeping pods
In my case, I was rocking the Ridgerest and a 40° North Face Allegheny.
This is the gear I normally use in the middle of July, but the bag says 40°, so I gave it a go.
It got down to just a hair above freezing, and I was friggan cold. A couple of times I was woken up by coyotes making noise, and I was damn near frozen.
I probably would have been OK, but I’m 6’5″, and I just can’t get my shoulders all the way into the bag.
I have a 20° bag and a -15° bag, and I don’t want any more bags, so I think I may buy a bivy sack to upgrade the Allegheny for colder weather.
Klinutus has made this system work with his quilt.
Klinutus’ bivy system
I think something like the Hilleberg Bivanorak would probably make it possible to sleep out under the stars down to maybe 25°.
After that I could switch to my 20° bag, and I wouldn’t need a tent until the snow flies.
The Bivanorak is cool because there are sleeves, so you can stick your arms out to hold your beer. Plus it’s a nice shade of green to make it easy to hide from the authorities.
