Protecting from rising cold

closed cell camp mats (the cheap foam roll-up ones) under the self-inflating mats

Get a couple of these and glue them together with some silicon or the like.

2 or 3 layers should do the job.

If you want to get fancy make a flannelette slip over cover for them.

If you are going to stay in the one place for a while, there is a cheap option.

Get a bale of straw or hay and put it under the tent floor first.

I carry a couple of 7' lengths of roofing sisalation .... The blue & silver stuff ... left over from a little renovation job.

Duct taped the edges and keep them rolled up in the tube with some maps.

Seem to help heaps under the swag.

Alexisv
Having cold air beneath you is a guaranteed recipe for a bad night's sleep, or worse, irrespective of the top cover. Avoid air beds in the cold at all costs. Don't have experience with open cell but I expect they would be significantly better.

I'd be inclined to put the foam mats OVER the OzTrails (if you can stop them sliding around of course), so that the sleeping bag is not in direct contact with cold air in the open cells. I'd also use the extra ground sheet, inside or outside the tent.

With a zero rated bag you (well, I) would not want to go anywhere really cold without some extra protection. To boost ('lower') the temperature rating of your sleeping bags get/make some SILK liners. Not cheap to buy ($40+) so may not be an immediate option, but they are excellent insulators, will last a long time, and keep your bags clean at the same time. And, make sure the kids either wear a wollen beanie (and socks for that matter), or use the sleeping bags' hoods - about 40% of body heat is lost thru the head.

Or, take a doona/qullt from home and put it between the OzTrails and the sleeping bags.

Cheers

For years I have had a big red(furniture removalist blanket) which I put on the floor of the tent. I still like an air bed but put a 1in foam mattress under neath it.
Admittly I avoid real cold areas in winter.
Cheers Pete

Old NEWSPAPER...the cheapest and best....4-5 sheets/layers under the mats keeps out the cold no problem , our kids slept in tents and sleeping bags with it under them and we never heard them complain of the cold after we started using it...cheers

I cant recall ever feeling cold "rising " from the ground when camped, & I've
woken with frost on the blankets on The Bidgee in winter many times. Apart from
some waterproof underneath whatever you are sleeping on, I suggest you need
to reduce body heat loss above that point. For example warmer layers around you
when you sleep & more clothes if required. Head covering is important...take
beanies or hoodies. I think far more heat is lost to the air than the ground. Air
temp may fall below zero on a frosty night from a high above 20 deg, ground temp is much more stable,
goes up or down in small steps.
We find warm clothes are the answer, rather than piles of warm sleeping gear
that takes heaps of space to carry. I dont dispute any of the gear you mention
may help but another layer of clothing will do the same thing.cheers......oldbaz.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not planning on anything antarctic! - just maybe Bunya Mtns or Girraween in June.

In the past I've gone to bed toasty warm only to wake in the wee hours chilled to the bone - as if the ground cold has crept up through my mattress and sucked the heat out of me. I've also heard horror stories of wearing too many layers of clothes or sleeping bags/blankets that have caused excessive sweating and then subsequent chilling cos of damp....

We bought a camper trailer with an inner spring mattress.
First night out in the middle of August.............Absolutely frozen!!!

Went out next day and bought some of the cheap foam camping matts.
Placed them under the mattress. Huge difference!!!

Then bought a good quality fitted underlay.
Even bigger difference.
Sheets of ice on top of camper and we were still cozy......

Don't wear too much to bed as this only causes your body heat to help heat up the clothing, losing it from your body.
Let the sleeping bag do the work.

Hope you have a warm nights sleep.
Brian

Know exactly what you are speaking about.

My first couple of nights on an air bed were extremely comfortable until the cold got me.

I had on hand a piece of that thick felt like stuff the furniture removalists use as padding. A piece of that on TOP of the air bed made all the difference. I have since found that the same stuff makes a fantastic blanket when in the zero temperature type zones.

Ian

Gidday

I’d recommend a closed cell mat covered by a natural fibre, such as an old woollen blanket. Then lay the sleeping bag on top of that, or a mattress of your choice.

However, even that won’t do you much good in cold conditions if the head isn’t protected. The cheap way to do that is to buy a woollen beanie which covers the head.

Regards

Kim

Thank you everyone - this has been very helpful.

Gday Alexisv

Little Wes and i use 3mm rubber under our sleeping bags. I sleep on the ground and Wes sleeps in his tent.
Dont get me wrong, i dont sleep with my son , but the rubber keeps out the moisture .
Murray

Be careful with any impervious layer beneath you, especially if you sweat at night - some of us sweat more than others so our beds need to "breath" if they are to stay dry. If they get damp then they get cold pdq. We used to use air mattresses and managed to keep the cold out by putting an old non synthetic sleeping bag and a woollen blanket on top of the mattress - but it got quite damp under the one of us that sweats while asleep!

Now we use foam mattress in Troopy - had to drill some holes for air flow under the damp side, otherwise the underside of the mattress stays damp and that side of the bed is cold as a result.

Cheers

A few years ago I did some cross country skiing, sleeping in tents. The instructors with us recommended those without a thermarest to use 2 of the foam camp mats. As I couldn't afford the thermarest at the time, I went with the foam mats.

So from the bottom - there was snow, thin tent base, 2 foam mats with my sleeping bag on top and it worked really well.

Cheers,

Mark.

Just back from a few cold night camps. Swagging it.

Do you have room for a few woollen blankets? If so, I would suggest a household woollen blanket between the self inflating mat and the bottom sheet.

On really cold nights like -5 or cooler I place one blanket between the bottom sheet and the mattress in the swag. Other mileages would vary of course but I think maybe 3 layers above the body and 1 under as a rule of thumb.

I have a reasonably thick thermarest and an older thinner one but never found them that warm. Prefer the mattress that came with the swag.

Flynnie

yep woollen blankets are the go. I use the brown and green army blankets available at good disposal stores. Thermarest then blanket folded in half sleepingbag then another blanket on top, end of story goodnight!