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Sitapon

Ever think what your going to do with that tatty looking foam padding that used to be comfortable under your sleeping bag?

Is there an area that is about 30 cm square?  Good.  Having cut this to shape this will be your light weight camp sit-upon.

Not quite so sharp with a bit of padding

AIR MATTRESS OR PAD

You will be warmer and more comfortable in camp if you use a foam sleeping mat or pad or an air mattress. The foam pad is not quite as comfortable as an air mattress but will give you better insulation and hence greater warmth.

Air mattresses are bulky, heavy, need to be blown up and may puncture. If ycu use an air mattress, make sure your ground sheet is a little larger than it is so that the mattress will not get damp.

Woolly bag

Snug as a bug in a rug this piece of equipment is. Light weight to.

To keep super warm knit yourself a woolly bag. Use very fat needles - as fat as you can get and thin wool. Cast on about 60 stitches and knit loosely twice your length. Sew up the sides. Your bag should be very lacy - the more holes the better as it is.

Sleeping bags

The basic Sleeping bag

Firstly you will need a sleeping bag. There are basically two types of sleeping bags -ones filled with down or feathers and ones filled with synthetic material.

Down-filled ones are generally lighter, less bulky and warmer but they are mere expensive and harder to dry if they get wet.

Bags come in all sorts of shapes and thicknesses. Bags with a hood and drawstring around the neck will keep you warmer than those without. The warmest shape is called a "mummy" bag.

Choose a bag that has an insulated flap along the zip so that you don't get cold along the zip line and one that can be unzipped from the inside and outside of the bag.

Most sleeping bags come with a cover or stuff bag. Down sleeping bags are simply 'stuffed', feet end first into this bag. Synthetic sleeping bags are generally rolled up and slipped into their cover. If you don't have a cover for your sleeping bag you could make one or make a couple of strong bands of elastic to hold it together.

When planning on what to include in making a bedroll you will need a ground sheet made of any sort of waterproof material. You can buy ground sheets from a camping store, use heavy weight plastic or builder's plastic or an old shower curtain. Your ground sheet will need to be about 2 metres x 1 metre, a little longer and wider than your sleeping bag when it is rolled out.

I found that having the builders plastic really makes crinkles and russling sounds at night.  Also the builders plastic is 'slippery'.  The ground sheets that appear to be made of the matted plastic wear down slowly but you do not slip down wards so many times.  As things should have at least two uses on camp have you considered how the ground sheet itself would be protected from ripping if you had to use it for an emergency shelter?

When you are sleeping, your ground sheet protects your sleeping bag and sleeping mat or air mattress from moisture and protect you from the cold. The warmth of your body draws the dampness up out of the ground and the underneath of the ground sheet will be quite wet in the morning even if the ground appeared dry when you laid the ground sheet down.

During the day your ground sheet will form the waterproof outer layer of your bedroll.

Sneeking in a pillow for camp.

Some people can manage without a pillow at camp, others can not. You can make a pillow by putting your spare clothing inside a pillow case and resting the case on your shoes. This method is hard to sleep on. However you know where your clothes for the next morning are, there's less ferreting about for them, and then you may be in the front of the shower line in am.  Also if emergency arises grab and run.

You can also get blow-up plastic ones which are light and small, or, you might like to just take a pillow with you. If you take a pillow be sure that it is protected from the weather. Put it into a garbage bag sealed with an elastic band until you use it at night.  I found these uncomfortable as when in deep sleep i moved around my head 'thonked' on the ground.  Then someone laughingly told me not to blow them up very much at all.  Since that time, and when I remember to pack this pillow things have gone okay for my poor head and misbegotten ears.

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