By: Blonde One
As you already know, I am a very cold Blonde. Every night that I camp out I get so cold that I think that I must be near hypothermia! I have spent pound after pound on better and better kit in an attempt to keep warm but all to no avail. This weekend, before bed, I was convinced by my fellow campers that I needed to purchase a down jacket (another one) and a down filled mattress. These 2 things totalled over £300 and it was decided that they would definitely do the trick since they were so expensive. I was unconvinced but tempted to give them a go. In reality I was at the point of coming to the conclusion that I would never be warm overnight ever again – even with the newest additions to my kit.
It was with great delight that I woke up on Sunday morning after my night in a tent! There were two things that caused this delight: one, that I had not died of hypothermia and I was alive enough to wake up, and the other, that since I woke up it must have meant that I was asleep: this must have meant that I was not as cold as usual! A miracle!
I did actually have a good night’s sleep. I was not cold and on a few occasions I thought I may have to remove a layer but was too cosy to be bothered to move. It was amazing.
You, I am sure, will want to know what caused this good night’s sleep. It’s very simple: we had a tent party. Now, it’s not your usual party with alcohol, loud music and dancing! We managed to squeeze 4 people into a 2 man tent thus creating a significant amount of body heat. This heat managed to warm me and my sleeping bag up so that by the time I got into it, I was already quite toasty. The party did include party food: olives, brie, crisps and chilli chocolate. We also had flashing lights: the torch flickered as the battery started to run out. That’s where the similarities end though!
All in all, it was a very successful night, and I thoroughly recommend tent parties. I will certainly be hosting one again soon. Watch out for your invitation!
I’m a cold mortal too. Sitting on the sleeping bag before going to bed helps, plus copious quantities of woolly hats and gloves; but the best thing I have found apart from K9 is my elderly YHA goretex jacket, dating right back to the beginning of goretex, over my feet and legs. I’m totally amazed by that jacket, having destructed 4 more recent ones; my old YHA one is still waterproof and still my favourite design; pity I am no longer my favourite design, having put on more than 2 stone since finishing with the daily grind.
I can’t remember the last time I was my favourite design – I think it might have been my wedding day!
Cuckoo update.
BB is back in the UK and heading for Loch Katrine. Chance is already there.
Chris, who turned back from cold UK, is still in France and probably a clutch father by now.
Perhaps that is the answer for cold campers – the south of France!!!
David flew across the Channel and came to Sherborne on the Somerset/Dorset border, turned round because it was cold on 26th April, and returned to somewhere east of Tours, in France !!!!
They are clever old birds those cuckoos!