Name: Layering your summer sleep-system for Winter use on a Snowvernighter
Brand: nosecondseason.com
SKU: nosecondseason-com-3
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Layering your summer sleep-system for Winter use on a Snowvernighter

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If like me you're on a tight budget, and can't afford the luxury of different sets of camping gear for the different seasons, it's worth evaluating if you can layer your gear to make it work for summer and winter.
We are all different.  We all have different tolerances to cold.  Some sleep hot, some sleep cold.  I seem to waver between both.
I wanted to do two things with my summer bikepacking gear, before venturing on a snowy hike and overnight snowy camp:
1) Was to see if I could fit it all in my Exped Lightening 60 liter Backpack, along with my snowshoes and snowfeet
2) Was to see how my summer camping gear fared in the snow
The results of this can be seen in this video
It took three visits to the mountains to achieve my test snow camp.  The first visit was to see how the land lies at Mount Buffalo, there was plenty of snow at Lake Catani on my visit, so I had planned my first snow camp to be there, alas, it wasn't possible in the subsequent weeks as the snow had melted.
My second recce was to JB Plain, where there was plenty of snow, two weeks later there was still plenty of snow, so my third trip was my first snow camp.
The answer to question 1 was yes, it's a bit tight but yes I could get away with using my existing backpack, along with using a bumbag or similar to carry my electronics.  I only had 1 day's food supply, so I need to be a bit more creative when packing!
I survived the night! but I was cold.  I have no accurate data on the temperature outside that night, but in the village of Dinner Plain it was to be -5°C with feels like -10°C.  Being a little higher and more exposed I think these would be the warmest temperatures I would have seen that night.
The cold transferring from the snow through the multiple layers of the groundsheet, tent floor, foam sleeping mat onto my blow-up sleeping mat was much more than I thought it would be.  I was icy cold!  I used my thin rain coat as an extra cover, and used my towel to lay on my blow-up sleeping mat as an extra barrier from the cold.
I had on underwear, a vest top, merino wool T-shirt, a fleece and a hooded down jacket, a synthetic beanie hat and a woolly bobble hat, thick ski socks, two pairs of leg warmers on my feet and ankles, long johns and insulated snowboard pants.  I was inside a cotton sleeping bag liner with my quilt wrapped around me.
Looking at the R-value of my mat, it's not high enough for me in the snow, I think I need something like a minimum of a 6
I don't strap my quilt to my mat, I don't like it like that, I like to wrap it around me, if I had the dough I'd get a lightweight higher rated sleeping bag for snow camping.  I've had a look online and here in Australia they are very expensive, so I've decided I will layer my gear to give the R-value I need.  One thing that is strange is that the season rating for my quilt is 2.5, so I'm unsure how that sits with the comfort/Lower limit rating?
Until I can get out again in the snow, I don't know if my layering solution will work but considering I wasn't so cold that I retreated to my car, any improvement is going to help make a more comfortable night.  Spending just over $200 AUD I hope is going to be worth it.   A higher rated mat and sleeping bag would cost me at least $1000 AUD!
Your sleeping bag or quilt are likely to be listed with up to three ratings conforming to one of the international standards:
It also may be allocated a season rating.
Unfortunately, when I returned to JB Plain to test my new equipment, as listed here, the temperature was considerable warmer.  Therefore any test was invalid.  I was warmer, but not as warm as I thought I'd be.  I used a different tent, the weather was not only warmer but much damper, the snow was very wet, and I used a tarp overhead as it was raining.  You can see a video of my return to JB Plain here

If like me you're on a tight budget, and can't afford the luxury of different sets of camping gear for the different seasons, it's worth evaluating if you can layer your gear to make it work for summer and winter.
We are all different.  We all have different tolerances to cold.  Some sleep hot, some sleep cold.  I seem to waver between both.
I wanted to do two things with my summer bikepacking gear, before venturing on a snowy hike and overnight snowy camp:
1) Was to see if I could fit it all in my Exped Lightening 60 liter Backpack, along with my snowshoes and snowfeet
2) Was to see how my...

Layering your summer sleep-system for Winter use on a Snowvernighter

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