How To Sleep Better At Camp
I have never been able to sleep well when I’m backpacking. I’ve done 11-hour hike days, arriving at camp completely exhausted, only to lie awake until 4 a.m. I would get so frustrated and I promised that I would look into this when I got home. There has to be a reason right why we are all getting bad sleeps at camp right? Let’s dive into some of the reasons we’re all insomniacs out on the trail.
1) Your pillow sucks
When you’re trying to make your backpack as light as possible, you prioritize things like a sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and tent. It’s easy to think "Oh I’ll just stuff my jacket into my sleeping bag stuff sack” or bring a super lightweight blow-up pillow and assume you’ll have a good sleep. Well, I’m here to tell you that a good pillow can make all the difference. I’m a side sleeper and I have always used a compressible foam pillow at camp but I realized that when I slept, my head was often lower than my shoulders. You want your neck to remain in a neutral position to ensure the most comfortable sleep as shown below. The inflatable pillows are often quite flat, noisy, and frankly, not very comfortable. So, what is the best pillow for backpacking? I think a combination of both foam and inflation is the best such as this pillow by Nemo. These types of pillows give you the loft of an inflatable with the added height and comfort of foam. Try out a few and see what works best for you!
2) You’re going to bed cold
I don’t know how many times I’ve crawled into my sleeping bag after sitting in front of the campfire, only to realize that my back half is freezing cold. I then jostle around in bed for 20 minutes to heat up before I’m finally comfortable. So instead of wasting time in bed not sleeping, get warmed up before you crawl into bed by doing a few jumping jacks or high-knees, it will make all the difference. One of my favorite tricks is to fill up a hot water bottle like a Nalgene (make sure it has a very secure lid), and bring it into my sleeping bag with me and cuddle it. It helps warm up your core and hands, or if you have cold feet you can put it near the bottom of you sleeping bag. Try this tip on your next trip, it’s one of my favorites!
3) You’re not using the right sleeping bag
Sleeping bags are actually much more complicated than you think. When I bought my first backpacking sleeping bag, I chose it based only on temperature rating and the color. As I mentioned earlier, I am a side sleeper, so the mummy sleeping bag that I picked out was probably the worst possible choice. A mummy sleeping bag is great for people who sleep on their backs...like a mummy… but very restrictive for any other sleeping position. Last year I saw someone on YouTube using a sleeping quilt and I was shocked, I had no idea these even existed. Wouldn’t it be cold? How do you prevent air from getting under? What about your back? It turns out that when you sleep in a traditional sleeping bag, you’re compressing the down/filling that is underneath you and the compressed bag is providing you no warmth. It is the fluffiness of the filling that traps the air and keeps the heat in next to your body, so if you’re squishing it, it’s not doing any of those things. If you have the proper sleeping pad for the conditions, that will be what keeps your back warm. Therefore, you do not need any blankets under you, so a quilt can be a great choice. A quilt also allows for much more freedom of movement while you’re sleeping, which is great for side and stomach sleepers. Most quilts will also have straps that help secure it to the sleeping pad, preventing drafts, and from it falling off in the middle of the night. Check this one out from Outdoor Vitals. It is also important to check the temperature rating of your sleeping bag/quilt. Sleeping bags have two ratings, the “lower limit rating” which is the lowest temperature the bag will keep a warm sleeper comfortable. The “comfort rating” is the temperature most people, especially women, will be comfortable sleeping. Women tend to be colder sleepers than men, so choose the comfort rating if that describes you. Another way to increase the warmth of your sleeping bag is to use a sleeping bag liner. As you can see, sleeping bags are a complicated topic!
4) Maybe it’s your sleeping pad
I think your sleeping pad is a bit short…
This past year I decided to invest in a thick sleeping pad with a high R-value. The R-value is a measure of insulation, or “resistance” to the cold traveling from the ground to your body. A sleeping pad with a high r-value will be better at keeping you warm when sleeping because as I mentioned earlier, the squished sleeping bag under you doesn’t do much to keep you warm. So pick a sleeping pad with an r-value that matches your camping conditions. The problem with this warm sleeping pad that I bought was that it is SO NOISY. Every time I move it sounds so crinkly and keeps me awake. I also do not think I picked the right pad based on my sleeping position, so I am excited to try different options this summer to get a night of better sleep. There are so many different sleeping pad configurations out there, like vertical line air chambers, or more waffle-cut air chambers. It is probably a good idea to try your sleeping pad at home instead of trying it for the first time in the backcountry like I did. That way you can return it if you absolutely hate it. If you sleep on your side and have a favorite sleeping pad please let me know! I have heard good things about the Nemo Quasar from various backpacking YouTubers.
I hope these tips help you get a better sleep out in the backcountry! I am always looking for ways to improve my sleep, and I will be trying different setups this summer :)