u/ptm121ptm

I was writing this up for a buddy and figured I'd share it here, as the snow melts and we transition from winter camping to lighter spring loadouts.

• Site selection. Seek out dry, sun-warmed ground without exposure to wind (including katabatic winds), cold air pooling, or condensation. Avoid sleeping near creeks or in exposed areas. Local temperature variation in the mountains can easily exceed 10*C.
• Timing and quantity of fuel. You don't want to try to sleep after just eating a huge meal, but you also really don't want to wake up shivering and hungry. My preference is to eat a substantial dinner 2-3 hours before bed, and then snack on some almonds and dried fruit before bed. Experiment and figure out what works for you.
• Cover your head! Many people use quilts without adequate head insulation. This can reduce the useful temperature of the quilt by 10*C or more. A hat is not sufficient for cold temps! Wear an insulated hood, perhaps by just wearing a hooded down jacket to bed.
• Ensure your pad is suited for the ground temp, not the air temp. On a 0*C night in the fall, the ground might be quite warm and dry. On a 10*C night in the spring, it might be very cold and wet, and thus conduct heat away from the body much faster. Pick your top insulation for air temp, and your pad for ground temp.
• Curl up. If you don't naturally sleep in some sort of fetal position when it's cold out, learn how. You can develop new sleep habits with practice, and the amount of heat lost from a compact position is much lower than a splayed-out position. This is worth 5-10*C for most people, depending on your quilt size, how you normally sleep, etc.
• Get up early. Temps are often lowest right at dawn. If I wake up at 5am a little chilly, I just get dressed and start hiking. I'll stop for coffee and oatmeal after I warm up and the sun is shining. I got into backpacking from alpine climbing, where 3am starts are common. It's amazing how much less insulation I need to sleep from 7-3 vs. 9-5.
• Practice! The more you sleep outside, the better your body adapts to it, and the better you'll sleep on backpacking trips. I live in the country and so I can just sleep in the woods behind my house, which I do with my kids a couple times per week when temps and bugs are tolerable. City-dwellers don't have this option, but you can drive out of town and camp in a campground or forest very often if you want to. If you only sleep outside a handful of times per year, it'll always feel strange and you won't sleep great.
• Go to sleep warm and dry. I nearly always bring a layer of alpha direct head-to-toe. This is my emergency insulation layer which I don't usually wear during the day, but I always wear at night. It also keeps my sleeping bag clean and free of body oils, so the down stays lofty longer.