Sleeping without a sleeping bag

A cold night without a sleeping bag is uncomfortable but usually survivable if you prepare well. The biggest heat loss is into the ground, so start there.

Get off the ground

Make a thick bed of insulating material: dry leaves, grass, bracken, pine needles or evergreen branches.
Pile it at least 30 cm deep. It will squash down.
Use anything else you have: a backpack, a foam mat, a coat, cardboard, car seat cushions.

Even a few centimetres of insulation underneath you does more than an extra layer on top.

Cover yourself

Wear all your clothes, including a hat. Keep a dry layer for night if possible.
Stuff dry leaves or grass inside your outer layer, around your body and legs.
Wrap in a tarp, blanket, curtains or bin bags. Several bin bags can be pulled over your legs and body like a rough sack.
An emergency foil blanket reflects body heat. Wrap it around you inside your outer layer so it doesn't tear or blow away.

Shrink your space

Sleep in a small shelter, out of the wind. A small space warms up from your body heat.
Curl up on your side with knees drawn up.
If you're with others, lie close together. Sharing warmth is very effective.

Before you lie down

Eat something, ideally with fat or sugar. Digesting food produces heat.
Have a warm drink if you can.
Go to the toilet. Your body wastes energy keeping a full bladder warm.
Do some gentle exercise to warm up, but stop before you sweat.

Warm water bottles and stones

Fill a heat-safe bottle with hot water, close it tightly and wrap it in a sock or cloth. Hold it against your stomach or between your thighs.
Stones warmed near a fire, wrapped well, can do the same. Use dry stones from high ground: stones from rivers can crack or burst when heated.
Check often that nothing is hot enough to burn. Cold skin feels heat less.

If you wake up cold

Do some sit-ups or clench and relax your muscles for a minute or two. Eat a snack. Add more insulation under you before you add more on top.

Constant shivering, confusion or extreme sleepiness are warning signs of hypothermia. Wake others up and get help.

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