Enthusiast III
What brand are you using for an insulated blanket inlieu of a sleeping bag in a tent for temperatures getting down to 40 degrees?
Insulated Blanket Inlieu of Sleeping Bag
- Thread starter Mtntrekker
- Start date
Just picked up a 2-person Rumpl blanket for the wife and I. This way we don’t need to pack sleeping backs to sleep on the mattress in our RTT.
Enthusiast III
It's no substitute for a sleeping bag, but I have used a military poncho liner for over 50 years. Not the same one, I have worn several of them out. They are warm, light weight, and pack down to a very small package. I have used them as an improvised sleeping bag as well.
With us having a 4” spring king size mattress, we’d be using sheets and comforter if anything. Sleeping bags really weren’t going to be an option. We have a built in diesel heater in the camper as well and put the wife on the side that has the vent.
Enthusiast III
agent00111
Rank II
Enthusiast I
I keep a down comforter (for a queen size bed) in my RTT most all of the time. I've used that down to the teens just fine. A lot depends on what insulation you will have underneath you: if you have mattress foam in your RTT that helps a lot. On really cold nights I will boil water and put it in a 32oz nalgene bottle (the kind with the top that clamps on, or the screw on will work also). I through that in the RTT under the quilt a hour before I got to bed and that's enough to take the chill off until my body can warm up the blanket. I've brought down top quilts with me as well 'just in case' but I've never needed to supplement the one down blanket: it seems to do the job very well.
If you're using a tent on the ground, be sure to have some form of insulation so the ground isn't sucking the heat away from you. Budget options here are a sheet of Reflectix or windshield shade in a pinch. When my boys were little I did a Mojave trail trip and we slept on an air mattress that did nothing for insinuation to the ground. the ground froze that night and so did we.. I'll never do air mattress again.
Down is not cheap, but it's loft is very efficient for the weight and it compresses down like a champ.
If you don't like the closed nature of a mummy sleeping bag, check out the top quilts that hammock campers use: some of them will unbutton to open up into a blanket. PM me if you need more info on this option.
If you're using a tent on the ground, be sure to have some form of insulation so the ground isn't sucking the heat away from you. Budget options here are a sheet of Reflectix or windshield shade in a pinch. When my boys were little I did a Mojave trail trip and we slept on an air mattress that did nothing for insinuation to the ground. the ground froze that night and so did we.. I'll never do air mattress again.
Down is not cheap, but it's loft is very efficient for the weight and it compresses down like a champ.
If you don't like the closed nature of a mummy sleeping bag, check out the top quilts that hammock campers use: some of them will unbutton to open up into a blanket. PM me if you need more info on this option.
Enthusiast III
I sleep on a cot with an air mattress. Seems to keep the cold at bay.
Thank you for the info on the quilts for hammock users.
We tried various blankets and comforters in the RTT and we were never warm enough. Switched to high quality REI sleeping bags and havent had any issues yet down to 30 degrees with the windows open all the way.
I don't sleep in tents anymore but sleep in my LX or van. In cold weather, I use an oversized Teton 0 degree bag with a flannel lining. Have slept warm in temps down to the high teens. Most of the time, I use an old USA made Marmot semi-rectangual down bag that can be unzipped into a comforter which works great. Add a couple of those Costco Black Diamond down blankets in your rig and you're pretty versatile. Bottom line, I wouldn't buy an insulated blanket, I'd buy a rectangular or semi-rectangular sleeping bag that can unzip into a comforter.
