Camping sleep system

Sleeping kit is where people economise most readily, and what they regret fastest. A cold or uncomfortable night ruins the day that follows; for the same money, a very good mat and a decent sleeping bag usually beat the other way round.

Insulation comes from the ground first

This is the least intuitive part of camping: under your body the fill of a sleeping bag is crushed flat and stops working. Heat leaves downwards, by conduction. The mat, measured by its R-value, therefore makes a far bigger difference than a few degrees printed on the bag’s label.

As a quick guide: under R 2 for summer, R 2 to 4 for three seasons, over R 4 as soon as the ground turns cold.

Reading a sleeping bag’s temperature ratings

The EN 13537 / ISO 23537 standard usually gives three figures. The comfort temperature is a night slept without feeling cold; it is the only one to use for ordinary purposes. The limit temperature assumes a sleeper curled up on the edge of discomfort, and the extreme temperature describes a few hours of survival, never a night of your holiday.

The fill completes the picture: down offers the best warmth-to-weight ratio and packs down remarkably small, but loses its properties when wet and costs more. Synthetic is heavier, bulkier, far more tolerant of damp and much cheaper.

Mat or camp bed

The choice turns less on comfort — both can be excellent — than on context: a camp bed lifts you off the ground and ventilates, but it is heavy and travels by car only. A thick air mattress gives comparable comfort at a fraction of the packed size. The subject is covered in our comparison of air mattress or camp bed.