How do you warm up fast in the morning after camping in the cold?
February9
I absolutely love camping and spending time outdoors, but one thing that always gets to me is waking up in the cold morning hours and dealing with the cold temperatures after an entire night of my body not generating heat from being active. After about 20 minutes or so I start to warm up, but the initial seizing shivers and low core temperature are an annoyance to say the least.
What can I do to speed up the process and get warm fast?
Are you sleeping directly on the ground? That will just sap the heat from you! I camp in Montana in the snow (not frequently, but it has been done.) A good sleeping bag and pad will do wonders!
hot drinks,
tea, coffee, cocoa
edit: I heat water the night before and put it in a thermos, so it will be ready when I get up in the morning.
You should be warm when you wake up. You need a better sleeping bag and wear layered clothing to trap your body warmth while sleeping. You have to use a good pad as well to lie on and don’t sleep on pavement. Stay on grassy areas or go into a cave.
You would need to raise your core temperature levels up when camping out in cold weather. Especially before and during the sunrise hours.
A way to do this is to prepare and drink hot tea or coffee when you just wake up. Soup is another option.
If you are doing a lot of physical activities out in the cold wilderness, you will need to also pack meals that are packed with calories. Because more likely than not you will be moving around significantly enough to lose basic calories. Lost calories means lost core temperature heat. You need fat to stay warm.
Simple things such as setting up a tarp, tent, camp fire, organizing your kit, helping out with finding wood, etc etc can easily cause you to lose about 170 calories per/hour in cold weather conditions. Now multiply 170 calories by several hours.
Experienced wilderness enthusiast say that you should pack a MINIMUM of 6000 calories if you are planning to camp/hike for a one 24/hour outing. However, it is said one can burn close to 6000 calories in only a couple of hours if doing a lot of physical activities.
So if you are planning to camp/hike for a few days, it would be wise to pack more than the minimum 6000 calories in meals.
Oh yeah, and remember to have lots of drinking water!!
During winter camping I have learned to drink something hot (or at least warm) when I first wake up. This could be a hot drink pre-prepared in a thermos…once I even drank the warm water in my nalgene bottle that I threw in my sleeping bag the night before (to keep me warm at night)…even a warm drink helps. Also try eating something small like a granola bar. The most helpful thing for me is to do some quick calisthenics to get my blood going. This could be situps, pushups, or anything that will tell your body its time to get up and get working again.
PS: I think some people interpreted this to mean you are cold while in your sleeping bag…I assume you mean you are cold for the first 20 min. after getting out of your bag and starting the day around camp.
If you are cold when you first wake up then you were too cold while asleep.
* Is your sleeping bag rated for the temperatures you’re experiencing? Try adding a liner to get another 10* protection.
* Is the sleeping bag dry? Hint: don’t bury your face in the sleeping bag, because the moisture from your breath will make the insulation damp and reduce its effectiveness. Unzip and air-out your bag every morning before packing.
* Is your head well covered, either by the hood of your mummy bag or a scarf and pullover cap?
* Do you have a good pad? An Exped DownMat has an R-Value of 9 (and is comfy).
* Are YOU dry when you get into the sleeping bag? Exertion causes perspiration that will be retained by your underwear, base layer, clothing. I suggest changing into dry clothes immediately before going to sleep, and let the clothing you took off air out to dry before packing away for the next night.
In the cold you want calories from protein and fat to keep your inner fires burning.
Drink hot liquids before going to sleep.
Prepare a thermos of hot tea, coffee or other beverage for when you wake.
Warm-up large rocks by the campfire and put them around your sleeping bag at night.
Bring a tightly-sealed Nalgene bottle full of hot water in your sleeping bag at night.
Chemical hand/foot/bag warmers can provide up to 8 hours heat.
More bodies = more BTU’s. Share tents. Share sleeping bags.
Wake-up sex. Or Jumping Jacks. (Sex is more fun).
Make some sort of insulation in your tent before you go to bed. put something under where you sleep, like straw or something. Put a blanket on top of that and sleep on the blanket with another blanket over you. Also have something warm ready to drink like Coffee or tea.
Some people think it’s uncomfortable, but I sleep wearing a pair of sweat pants, a sweatshirt, a beanie, and insulated socks. This way, when I get up, my warmed up outfit keeps me from getting chilled to the bone while I put on my warmer clothes (it’s also helpful if I have to pee in the middle of the night). To save space when 4 wheeling camping, I use my insulated jacket as a pillow… which has the added benefit of keeping it slightly warmed up.
If don’t have one already, I would also invest in a 800 fill down jacket. They will start warming your body up faster than any other jacket I’ve tried.
Cut wood for the fire…it gets the blood flowing and you`ll warm right up from the aerobic activity….cut the wood while the coffee or hot water for tea or hot cocoa is brewing. You`ll be warm in under 5 minutes
I’m employed 40 hours each week year around in all weather. My attire is layered. The core is
synthetic fabric designed to wick away moisture and 3-piece (i.e, shorts, baggy trousers, and
long sleeve 3-button neck). I like bright colors for safety. I’ll strip down to this working in snow.
Middle wear is polyester. It also dries quickly and unlike cotton won’t kill you in a couple hours.
Outer wear is blended wool to contain warmth even if wet, be ich-free, but this attire is bulky.
2-piece rain suit is ever-ready. My choice is Ruf-Tuf bib pants with suspenders as they slide over most boots. The coat is a zipped La Crosse parka in neon yellow with silver reflective. Boots
are industry coded orange (www.cofra.it) and I kick bears with them. My day starts with a hot
quart of English Breakfast tea and cold fruit flavored scone. This I’ll do naked. That and knapsack big enough to store clothing as it comes off is all I need. Oh, and pleassssssse don’t step in Elk poop.
When you get out of the sack start jumping up an down flail you arms and yell as loud as you can – gives you a good mental and physical feeling.
I would suggest that you change you clothes right before you go to bed. Yes it will iniatially be cold, but the moisture and sweat that you body produces during the day will collect in your clothes and make you clothes damp (which is very bad for staying warm when you sleeping) and secondly I would recommend eating something fatty right before going to sleep. A snickers bar works great as it will make your metabolism work into the night, keeping your core body temp. higher. Also wear a cap when you go to sleep…most of you body temp. exits your head and this will keep you warmer.
A trick that I use for young scouts who get cold is to heat up a dutch oven lid (a large rock will work as well) and wrap it with a towel and place it at the bottom of your sleeping bag and this will keep you warm all through the night!
If you are serious about camping then it wouldn’t be out of the question to purchase a tent heater. You can turn it on right when you wake up and get out of your sleeping bag when the tent is nice and steamy!
Other than that, make sure you wear layers and get something to eat and some coffee in the morning. A campfire or heater will do the trick to get your body warm and circulating after staying dormant all night.
Good luck in the future camping!
sleep naked and put your clothes for the next day in the sleeping bag with you… wake up get dressed inside the sleeping bag,,, get out turn on the stove or start a fire and make some hot chocolate or coffee and sit by the fire …. I always try to be the first one up to have a nice fire going when people wake up