this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2024
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The extreme rating keeps you alive, barely.
Any decent sleeping bag will also have another rating, often called "comfort". This rating should be low enough to cover the lowest temperature you're going to use it for, but only if you're male and the bag's size fits you well.
Women (on average) and people who are smaller will need an even lower temperature rating.
Also, the rating assumes you're using a very well-insulated sleeping mat underneath, the bag is new, and completely dry.
So factor in some safety margin.
A bag with an extreme rating of 20 will definitely not be warm enough to sleep well at a temperature of 32.
I guess I'll have put something over or inside it for cold nights.
You can absolutely be comfortable with extra blankets stuffed inside the bag. I have done exactly this using a bag with the exact same ratings. It was juuuuust below freezing all weekend, my bag was rated for 20 degrees, and I was cozy with a few extra fleece blankets cocooned inside the bag. Maybe bring a wool blanket or two if you’re expecting it to be wet at all, because wool will retain heat even when wet.
Also, change your damned socks before bed. Lots of newbie campers make the mistake of going “I don’t wanna take my socks off and get my feet cold right before bed. I’ll change my socks when I wake up!” In reality, if you go to bed with socks that have an entire day’s worth of sweat and skin oils soaked up, your feet will stay cold all night. Change into a fresh pair before bed, so they actually insulate your feet instead.