Hunting Camp Beds: Thoughts, Methods

[Harleysboss]

Kodiak canvas ( the ones that make the tents) have a canvas square style sleeping bag. It's flannel lined and has a flannel lined pull over neck gator. Can't recall the degree rating but my son and I each got one a couple years ago and we stay warm (even after the fire lays down in the stove). Not a back packing bag but for drive up camps they are the ticket. A good quality foam pad on a cot as mentioned is a winning combo for us.

 

[Bobbygun]

Kodiak canvas ( the ones that make the tents) have a canvas square style sleeping bag. It's flannel lined and has a flannel lined pull over neck gator. Can't recall the degree rating but my son and I each got one a couple years ago and we stay warm (even after the fire lays down in the stove). Not a back packing bag but for drive up camps they are the ticket. A good quality foam pad on a cot as mentioned is a winning combo for us.

I've been looking at those and like what I see. Haven't pulled the trigger - YET.

 

[Certaindeaf]

 

[P7M13]

Still primitive here, although I stayed in a rental for the few times i went hunting last fall.
I have a pop-up camper, but hate hauling it behind the truck.
In my experience, whatever the bag temperature rating, add 20°F.
I use a Klymit R-8 air mattress, sleeping bag and a thermal shock bag that acts like a sock. Toasty.

No section of Forest will be warmer than the next, especially at night

Not so. The soft needle beds of a pine forest. Valleys and Southern exposures tend to be warmer too.

 

[echo1]

I've hunted and backpacked when the weather turned south. When packing I've used 1man tents, good ones, but found that a 2 man the best one person. On a hunt, 4 man is perfect for a single cot setup. At 70+ and having had a triple bypass, a cot is a must, I go solo a lot and don't like sleeping in my truck shell, so now days I've been using an oversized Tent-cot. They come with dense cell foam padding, then I use another thick waffled pad under a rectangular bag. It's warm, sturdy, weather tight, and easy to setup and stow. I still have a mountain of pack gear, but those days are behind me. PAX

 

[orygun]

From Dad I got three wool sleeping bag mummy inserts. Old military stuff. Has a drawstring hood and a zipper with the tab on the inside. If I was tent camping, it's weight would be worth the packing. These days I use it up to my waist when sitting in a treestand all day. Some old tech is good stuff.

 

[Member 34319]

Kodiak canvas ( the ones that make the tents) have a canvas square style sleeping bag. It's flannel lined and has a flannel lined pull over neck gator. Can't recall the degree rating but my son and I each got one a couple years ago and we stay warm (even after the fire lays down in the stove). Not a back packing bag but for drive up camps they are the ticket. A good quality foam pad on a cot as mentioned is a winning combo for us.

Looking at these, I'm certain I'd even stay warm in there! Now I'm looking at them thinking they would be worthy investments!

Thanks for posting!

 

[Harleysboss]

The Kodiak bag is very warm and the neck gator feature is nice to keep the drafts at bay. I'm just slightly over 6 foot tall and I will say with the bag zipped all the way up, it's close to being almost too short. I bought mine two years ago so maybe they are a little longer. If you are 6'2" might be worth an inquiry with the company before committing as they are not just giving them away $$

 

[Bobbygun]

The Kodiak bag is very warm and the neck gator feature is nice to keep the drafts at bay. I'm just slightly over 6 foot tall and I will say with the bag zipped all the way up, it's close to being almost too short. I bought mine two years ago so maybe they are a little longer. If you are 6'2" might be worth an inquiry with the company before committing as they are not just giving them away $$

Stop it already! Man, now I'm moving that bag into the "gotta have" category. LOL Then my wife and son will want one as well. You are killing me here. Like you said, they definitely aren't giving them away.

BTW I looked at their website and for $10 more they offer an XLT version advertised to fit 6'6" 300 pound people. I'm not even 6', so I can probably get by with the regular bag. If they were looking for input on how to design a bag, my ideas would correlate strongly with what they came up with.

 

[Harleysboss]

XLT version? Huh. I could probably use the xlt version just for room to roam . At 6' 225 I fit the original just right. However I could sell mine and get a new XLT. The new owner of mine would have to put up with Elk camp farts is all. But hey they ain't called fart sacks for nothin!

 

[Jay Walk]

I insulated my moto van, 6 foot roof. Insulated and upholstered myself.

Fold down bed is 15/32 strand board with a 1x4 surround that a piece of 3" foam from fred meyer is placed into and stays there when folded up against the wall. On top of that I place a1" camping pad, my sleeping bag is rated for 30 degrees and in the summer needs to stay unzipped. I have a comforter to wrap the sleeping bag in when it gets down towards 30. The coldest night yet was 14 degrees over in central oregon, my water bottles froze, boots frozen to the floor and doors frozen shut in the morning but I was not cold sleeping in there. I refuse to install a heater. I do not want any systems to worry about. I already have an RV if I want a bunch of nonsense to mess around with. Actually leaving tomorrow for eight days in utah. Longest stretch without the rv.

My advice is stay off the ground and off from air mattresses, almost froze to death on one of those.
Maybe a cot if you are in a tent.

 

[Spitpatch]

Air mattresses only function in very cold weather when the air mattress is small enough for your body (through your sleeping bag, mind you) to heat that air.

Example: "Rubber Betty" (the coffin-shaped...prophetic?....heavy rubber air mattresses from the Korean War),) or the "self-inflating" backpack pads. These work.

Worst: the big double-bed (Kwik-Bed type) air mattresses. There is no way even two people can heat all that air, and if you ever tried to sleep in an unheated water bed, this is not a step-up.

Air mattresses were crossed off my list many years ago. The portability is negated by their poor cold weather performance.

 

[orygun]

Air mattresses were crossed off my list many years ago. The portability is negated by their poor cold weather performance.

Me, too, after waking up each night with the air all gone...

 

[The Heretic]

Air mattresses only function in very cold weather when the air mattress is small enough for your body (through your sleeping bag, mind you) to heat that air.

Example: "Rubber Betty" (the coffin-shaped...prophetic?....heavy rubber air mattresses from the Korean War),) or the "self-inflating" backpack pads. These work.

Worst: the big double-bed (Kwik-Bed type) air mattresses. There is no way even two people can heat all that air, and if you ever tried to sleep in an unheated water bed, this is not a step-up.

Air mattresses were crossed off my list many years ago. The portability is negated by their poor cold weather performance.

I can attest to this having spent nights on an air mattress (and they always leaked); a foam mattress, preferably closed cell, has air in it and the air doesn't circulate. I can speak to how cold it is when sleeping on packed snow when it is well below freezing without some kind of insulation under the sleeping bag; i.e., it is downright uncomfortable.

That said, I have been considering getting a cot with a tent/shelter, and some bunk bed cots. These would be used while camping and for emergency beds. The cot that has a tent/shelter would be for use inside an unheated (or poorly heated) shelter (like my shop) during SHTF; say if an earthquake hit and destroyed my house, and I needed to take up residence in my shop, or family came, or whatever. The tent/shelter would provide additional warmth by trapping air inside it.

 

[echo1]

That said, I have been considering getting a cot with a tent/shelter, and some bunk bed cots. These would be used while camping and for emergency beds. The cot that has a tent/shelter would be for use inside an unheated (or poorly heated) shelter (like my shop) during SHTF; say if an earthquake hit and destroyed my house, and I needed to take up residence in my shop, or family came, or whatever. The tent/shelter would provide additional warmth by trapping air inside it.

Go for it. As I mentioned, I have Kamp-Rite Tent Cots. I have the type with peaked flys (discontinued) and they came with dense cell foam pads in a sleave underneath. I use an extra pad or a Thermorest when the temperature drops. One is oversized (my personal unit) and 2 doubles. The doubles are wider but have a center support bar running down the middle, the oversize doesn't, will accommodate an oversized sleeping bag and has room for a rifle and other gear. When they're setup under my 10x12 canopy it makes a nice fairly weatherproof community for 5. They also fit inside my 10-man Coleman tent. I picked up mine off Craigslist barely used or new for cheap. PAX