[pct-l] Tent vs Bivy Sack

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

Tim, the purpose of the tent is to keep the weather off of you, not  
keep you warm. Air is supposed to blow gently through. It keeps you  
from being trapped inside what would otherwise be a plastic bag  
raining from the inside from moisture consolidated from your breath  
and body heat.  Your sleeping bag is what keeps you warm. Keep your  
tent and get a better, warmer sleeping bag. A 15-20 degree bag with  
top-quality down will do the job and on the colder nights, you can  
wear your down jacket and even your rain gear. Also, you will adapt a  
lot while on the trail. Cold won't seem so cold and indoors will seem  
hot and stuffy.

On Jan 17, 2012, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Hi,
>
> So I went for a "training" trip this weekend at Henry Coe park with my
> Eureka Solitaire tent.  The tent was woefully inadequate for the cold
> temperatures overnight - I'm not sure exactly, but I would say it got
> down to perhaps 25 degrees or so.  There was a significant
> accumulation of ice crystals inside and outside the tent.  Since it is
> a 3-season tent, it doesn't ever "seal shut" - the tent is no-see-um
> mesh covered with a second layer that is essentially a rain fly, but
> since the rain fly doesn't zip shut (it stakes to the ground
> separately from the rest of the tent), there was no good seal around
> the perimeter of the tent and I got a constant draft through the tent
> all night.  I wound up "cocooning" myself into my sleeping bag and
> holding closed the top as I slept.