[pct-l] Re: New Revolutionary Gear Concepts Plus Eliminating the Sleeping Bag

[verber at gmail.com (Mark Verber)]

One thing to keep in mind is that you need approx 2x the insulation when
asleep as you do when you are moderately active (e.g. walking around camp).
If you bring clothing that is warm enough to sleep in, you are likely to
find that they are going to be on the seriously warm side when you are awake
and moving around.

The US army made a table of insulation recommended for conditions:

*Effective Temp* *Sleeping* *Light Work* *Heavy Work*   +40F 1.5" 0.8" 0.2"
+20F 2.0" 1.0" 0.27"  0F 2.5" 1.3" 0.35"  -20F 3.0" 1.6" 0.40"

So clothing which is warm enough to sleep in at 40F would be warm enough for
~ -10F camp wear.  Serious overkill.  For me, this would mean I would have
to bring additional (lighter insulating) clothing so I don't roast myself
before bed.  Rather I would recommend bringing insulating clothing which
will keep you comfortable as camp wear, and plan to make those cloths part
of your sleeping system, e.g. go with a lighter bag or quilt than you would
if you weren't wearing clothing in your bag.

Note: The loft listed is insulation on each side of you, typically sleeping
bag loft is reported at 2x this number, e.g. bottom loft + top loft.

My experience (yours might differ) is that the listed numbers are slightly
optimistic to be comfortable sleeping, conservative for light work, and
mostly on the money for heavy work except in warmest temp (40F) I need even
less while working hard.

--mark