Cold Feet

[micah]

Does anyone else here suffer from cold feet? I can be wrapped up with loads of layers (including 3 pairs of socks and a spare jumper stuffed into the bottom of my sleeping bag), my top half is too hot and yet my feet are freezing. It's enough to keep me awake all night.

Anyone got any solutions/ideas?

Micah

 

[Shewie]

Wear a hat, or failing that take some ginkgo biloba


Rich

 

[irishlostboy]

ya, i suffer from this. you need to get better circulation probably. for me, i find changing my socks very regularly helps. go barefoot more if you can (indoors of course) and dont be afraid to bring a hot water bottle if you need to. you have nothing to prove by suffering, and a good nights sleep is vitally important.
hope this helps

 

[big_swede]

Get some cheap down socks. Toasty and nice, packs down to nothing and weighs in at less than 100 grams.

 

[Greg]

It might be an obvious statement but make sure your boots aren't too tight!

 

[big_swede]

I thought this was when he was in his sleeping bag?

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Circulation - make all extremities warmer eg hat and neck over, hopefully then the socks will help as well.

Nick

 

[John Fenna]

Do not stoop to using a hot waterbottle! This means carrying extra weight in the form of the bottle, fuel water etc!
Use the small of your partners back instead - my wife uses this technique on a regular basis!
A hot rock, well wrapped in a cotton or wool cloth makes a field expedient bed warmer -if you have no partner/single sleepingbags/small hammock, but be sure to use non explosive rocks, wrap them well (to avoid burning yourself or your sleeping bag as well as keeping your sleeping gear clean) and you can get away with leaving the rock behind insread of carting a bottle around!
I once avoided hypothermia by constantly using a NATO waterbottle as a hot waterbottle - refilling it with hot water as soon as it cooled - when I had a bit of a bivvi-ing epic in the Beacons one year....
Nowt wrong with a hottie bottle - lots wrong with dying!

 

[Shewie]

Similar to Johns` advice is a platypus bottle, they can take boiling water. Wrap one up with socks or a fleece and they stay warm long enough to get to sleep.

Rich

 

[Cairodel]

Believe it or not, I think Shewie's advice is probably spot on..!!!
The head is where most body heat is lost, and camping in the desert in "winter",
I was waking up cold after less than an hour. Pulled on the hood of my sweatshirt,
and was snug as the proverbial bug for the rest of the night....

 

[xylaria]

Check your sleeping bag. My sleeping bag is old, i thought it was just me getting old, until i checked it thoroughly and found a patch in the filling around the feet. Packs down like a four season and performs like a two .
Check you are not diabetic or have something like raynards syndrome. Or you could wrap a silver sheet around your feet, they are great at keeping the juices in. If all else fails get a dog or child to lie at feet.

 

[Shewie]

Believe it or not, I think Shewie's advice is probably spot on..!!!

What you trying to say like Del ???


I do have my moments when I contribute something constructive to this site. Not many though it has to be said, it`s usually just mindless drivel.



Rich

 

[Mikey P]

Get some cheap down socks. Toasty and nice, packs down to nothing and weighs in at less than 100 grams.

Here here! Polartech if you can't get down. Make sure the feet are warm before you get into the bag - sleeping bags don't warm you up - they just retain heat.

 

[Neanderthal]

At the end of the day, wash and dry your feet and then massage them with some antibacterial powder, then put on clean dry socks. The massage will get the blood flowing in your feet. Tip: Stick your feet in a plastic bag when using the power to stop it covering the entire contents of your tent.

Don't forget to insulate under your legs and feet to protect you from the cold ground.

Make sure you have eaten something before sleeping to keep you warn in the night, 9 o' clock cake is a great tradition. Insulation stops you getting cold as fast, but doesn't warm you up.

Stu

 

[Greg]

I thought this was when he was in his sleeping bag?

LOL!:11doh: Your completely right there!

So as we are on that subject when I was in the army we were issued thermal boots/socks to wear whilst in your sleeping bag on winter deployments to Norway. They were basically made of the same material as a sleeping bag. You might be able to pick them up at a surplus store! They were the dog's dangly bits!

 

[Cairodel]

What you trying to say like Del ???

I do have my moments when I contribute something constructive to this site. Not many though it has to be said, it`s usually just mindless drivel.


Rich

Exactly that, Shewie.... wear some kind of hat - it affects
all parts of the body when yer "out and about"...

 

[tommy the cat]

Isn't there an army trick of washing your feet in cold water drying them and then getting into the bag? Meant to get your feet really warm......sounds like it sucks to me!
Meant to work though D

 

[Shewie]

Isn't there an army trick of washing your feet in cold water drying them and then getting into the bag? Meant to get your feet really warm......sounds like it sucks to me!

Meant to work though D

One of the squaddies on my last Woodsmoke course reckons he`d been taught it in Sweden and now swears by it. I just can`t bring myself to try it myself though.


Rich

 

[Greg]

One of the squaddies on my last Woodsmoke course reckons he`d been taught it in Sweden and now swears by it. I just can`t bring myself to try it myself though.
Rich

I copied a Norwegian squaddie, he was having a snow bath before getting into his fresh clothes, I thought he was barmy but gave it a go anyway, and it does work your body warms up very quickly and it is surprisingly and invigoratingly refreshing!

 

[Philbert]

I heard this when i was in the scouts years ago. I have tried it a couple of times and it does work!