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It's probably worth pointing out that a lot of people reading this question may be thinking along the (commonly quoted) line that about 80% of body heat is lost through the head - which is much more of a myth than people realise (See here for details.) From what I remember, it was an experiment done with people fully kitted out apart from the fact that they ...

Heat loss can occur from anywhere on the body through a number of processes: Conduction e.g. when sitting on the ground. Convection e.g. due to wind chill. Radiation i.e. heat loss direct to the environment from exposed skin. Evaporation i.e. heat loss through perspiration. Other factors: Metabolism generates heat; conversely, without enough sustenance ...

From experience I can tell you that lying on rock is the most effective way to become cold over night. Bare Earth Has at least some air gaps in the soil, which insulate (not too much). If there is any soil, the vegetation and roots provide some insulation. Does not reach as cold a temperature as rock, 24" below the surface is a consistent 40-50 degrees ...

My original answer to this question sparked a surprisingly intense debate, so I'm rewriting it to clarify a few points and offer a more holistic answer. Let me start by saying that every square inch of skin on the human body is capable of allowing heat to escape. That is to say, if you wear a jacket with no pants, your legs will lose more heat than your ...

Fill power doesn't measure crush resistance. It measures the inverse of density, in units of cubic centimeters per gram or cubic inches per ounce. Insulation doesn't depend on fill power. Insulation simply depends on thickness. However, a higher fill power allows you to achieve a greater thickness while carrying a given weight on your back. Fill power is ...

The primary rating that should be on the bag is the pounds of insulation. It is a somewhat imperfect measure, but a summer bag might well be 2 or 2.5 pounds. A three-season might be 4, but that would not likely be enough for actual outdoor winter camping - but OK for a semi-heated cabin space. An older full-winter bag might be six pounds or more, with ...

The primary advantage of higher fill power down is that it is warmer per ounce (or gram, if that's your thing) than down of a lower fill power. If you had two nearly identical sleeping bags: same shell material, same weight of down, but one had 850 fill power down and the other had 700, the 850 fill power would be about 3˚F warmer. More insight into this ...

Lots of ways to reduce heat loss: Wear a hat scarf and gloves as these keep the most important parts of your body warm. Wear warm knickers (even if you're a guy). You can get fleecy knickers but not fleecy pants. Also, you can huddle, like penguins as it reduces your surface area and conserves bodyheat.