Thanks @panda and @mountainmustache29 ! It’s very helpful to hear this stuff and I’m glad you both mentioned wind and rain because I…am dumb and literally didn’t think about that. It sounds like for our next trip I will try and plan for the driest possible days with low risk of rain and then just see on the temperature. We’re planning on going in the next 3 weeks or so, so hopefully it won’t be too cold, but I’ll bring layers and extra blankets just in case.
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OH and unsolicited advice that personally has made a huge difference in keeping warm for me
Bathroom TMI
If you have to go to the bathroom, go to the bathroom right away! Your body uses energy to keep the waste warm, which makes the rest of you feel colder. I personally was warmer after going outside to pee in a thunderstorm in the middle of the night and getting drenched than I was while trying to hold it in.
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Big +1. I’ve had 40F trips feel way worse than 14F.
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(Also though never ever put in a progesterone suppository when it’s 14F out because that is an experience you will never, ever forget. Ahem. I hear)
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For me I need different gear and clothing if night temps are below 10c or days below 18c. And then I am good to like -5c day and -8c night? After that I need a different level of gear that I may not own right now. Food and activities change too
C. F
10. 50
18. 64.4
-5. 23.3
-8. 17.6
I adore canadian thanksgiving camping
I also need to adjust for super hot camping, and in some kinds of heat wave it isn’t fun unless you can adapt (no tent or no fly, just swim allllll day)
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Oh! And you lose a lot of heat from below! So line your chair and tent with blankets (under or over your sleeping pad)
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A few tips for sleeping warmer outside that are not gear related:
- Make sure you have had something high in fat before bed (chocolate!) and never go to bed hungry.
- Be warm already before you get into your sleeping bag. Do some jumping jacks or crunches if you have to get that blood flowing
- You can put boiling water in a Nalgene (the heavy ones, not the light ones), wrap it in a shirt and put that directly in your sleeping bag with you
- Make sure your head is covered - sleep in a beanie
- Throw a couple of chemical hot hands in the bottom of your bag
- Sleeping pad R values are additive. So you can put a cheap foam mat under a sleeping pad to keep you warmer from below. (Not sure of your sleeping pad situation.)
- And yeah, the pee thing panda mentioned is definitely true!!
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Cool thanks! I’m already doing a lot of these by accident, lol. I love to sleep super full normally (check), I wear a bonnet to bed always for hair protection and it’s lined with silk (check), and I have lots of pads for my sleep setup (1 yoga mat, 1 tumbling mat, and topped with an inflatable camp bed)! I hadn’t thought of the hot water bottle though and never heard of chemical hot hands so I will check those out! 
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mmm the sleeping bag snickers bar
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Forget this for just outside, this sounds like a good practice in general that I need to adopt immediately 
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Ok camping peoples. I need your recommendations for a cooler! I would prefer a soft one but I’m open to getting a hard one if there is a very good case for it. I was looking at RTIC brand based on a recommendation but they are really expensive! Or, maybe they aren’t? I don’t have a good frame of reference for this. Our cooler only cost like $14 but it leaked a lot on the trip and definitely wouldn’t work in hot weather. Thoughts? Opinions? Treatises? Creeds?
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Ive also had that brand recommended by outdoorsy family as cheaper than Yeti, but close in quality/functionality. Might be overkill for your needs? But if you want to take perishable food on trips without electricity, it needs to be pretty well insulated so you don’t get spoiled food or have all the ice melt and ruin poorly sealed food packages. Wet food is a great way to get food poisoning. You could proooobably make it work with a regular cooler and containers that seal well.
I do most of my camping with extremely fancy people who have all the equipment, so I have no direct recommendations.
The other thing I look at is The Wirecutter, sometimes for their actual rec, but sometimes to read their testing methods. If a cooler kept ice frozen for x hours, and x is all you need, then it doesnt matter if it is The Ultimate Best.
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I had a Yeti which is a higher end cooler brand and I did really love it, but they are SO heavy, so I ended up selling it. They really are amazing when used correctly (pre-cooled overnight with ice before packing) and food stays good for days without an ice refill . If you see yourself doing this a lot, I think it’s a worthy investment. I used to bring ice cream home from the store 2 hours away, with a tiny bag of ice and it would still be frozen when I got home. In the Summer!
When I sold my Yeti I ended up trading it for a Coleman rolling cooler, and I actually really like it, for the price. It was like $45 and it’s extremely light, and I love that it has wheels and a handle so it’s easy to move. It definitely is no Yeti, in terms of keeping things cool for days, but it’s been serviceable as long as I refill the ice every day or so. Maybe not as great of a thing for a longer camping trip with no access to ice?
RTIC seems like a great middle ground, nicer than your standard Coleman, but not as overpriced as Yeti. I doubt there is much difference between them, but YMMV. Probably worth reading some reviews and comparisons
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My experience with RTIC vs YETI is with the stainless steel cups. The RTIC does an equally fantastic job of keeping cold drinks cold, or hot drinks hot. However, it is lower quality because the exterior color part is either faded or chipping off all of my mugs. But for 50% of the cost, I will definitely buy RTIC over YETI. From what I’ve heard the coolers are the same - they both keep things cold for a VERY Long time, the YETI probably slightly longer than the RTIC. I wouldn’t be surprised though if the RTIC had lower quality in other ways though since they are so much cheaper.
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Why do you want it to be a soft cooler?
I own an rtic soft cooler, a yeti hard cooler and a Coleman Xtreme hard cooler on wheels. AMA lol.
I was very happy with my rtic for about 7 years but the zipper just failed, so I’m no longer quite as happy with it. I thought it would last longer. Under normal conditions in summer in New England (~80 degrees out, limited but regular opening, kept in the shade) the 3 coolers keep ice:
Rtic: 1 day and 1 night
Coleman Xtreme: 3 days
Yeti: 5 days
I think for most people the Coleman Xtreme is the best option for price and capability. Hard coolers will always keep ice better and with less leaking than a soft cooler. All of the cheap soft coolers I’ve owned have leaked. My rtic soft never leaked.
General cooler management:
Pre-chill everything that’s going in it, freeze items if possible
Use a lot of ice
Keep in the shade
Minimize opening
Cover with a blanket if possible
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The soft cooler preference is just for easier storage. I live in an apartment! Thanks for the breakdown on brands.
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Oh, ok. Well the rtic is not collapsible, so it will be the same storage size as a comparable hard cooler.
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That’s good to know. I asked and it looks like we can accommodate a hard cooler, since it seems like that’s the way to go for camping trips. I think the Coleman you mentioned will be perfect for us! I’m going to order one today thank you! It’s a more comfortable price than the others.
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I also meant to shout out a thank you to @elle ! I purchased the yoga mat you recommended and I really like it! It’s a lot nicer than my old one. Thanks!!!
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Glad to help! Make sure you get the Xtreme! They’re much better than other Colemans.
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