Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2016 8:09:11 GMT -8
Hi everybody I'm new here.
I have one of those thin sleeping pads from WalMart. I seem to remember in the Boy Scout manual that there was a way to dig out a little indentation in the ground under your hips or whatever, and I tried that, but got a wicked morning backache anyway. Can anybody tell me the proper way to dig under your sleeping area?
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Post by dayhiker on Jul 19, 2016 8:26:24 GMT -8
No one digs stuff out anymore, trenches to guide water etc. In emergency one might gather soft stuff to underneath? See Leave No Trace. Get a better sleeping pad is the answer, allot easier not need for a digging tool.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Jul 19, 2016 8:48:42 GMT -8
I have one of those really thin (1/8") GG Thinlight Evazote pads, but I use it almost exclusively to place under my NeoAir inflatable. Some put closed cell pads on top of their inflatables, but I put it on the bottom for both insulation and some measure of protection from things that might puncture the inflatable. YMMV. I've tried it on top, but saw little difference.
Last time I used ONLY a closed cell pad as a mattress was decades ago, when I was much, much younger. I still didn't find it comfortable. I suppose that, should I be in a survival situation, I'd use one over nothing at all - if I had it. Otherwise, I'd collect leaves, branches and other loose debris as a pad. NO DIGGING.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2016 10:09:17 GMT -8
Guess I'm a luddite, but I've always used just a closed cell foam pad under my sleeping bag; never had a Therm-a-rest or Big Agnes self-inflating pad.
When possible, I try to camp on pine duff for a little extra cushion and insulation.
I never dig an indentation in the ground, but do try to remove any rocks, twigs, or pine cones in the area where I pitch my tent.
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almostthere
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putting on my hiking shoes....
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Post by almostthere on Jul 19, 2016 11:11:06 GMT -8
With a stick or a spade. Or your shoe.
Or you can upgrade your pad and stop worrying about that, like nearly everyone else.
Or get a hammock and underquilt, and ditch all pads, altogether. That's the ultimate comfortable.
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schlanky
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Lead singer, driver of the Winnebago
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Post by schlanky on Jul 19, 2016 13:18:56 GMT -8
Some of that soreness when you wake up could also be related to your activities from the day before---hauling a heavy pack over a lot of miles and putting added stress on your back that you don't get every day while hauling firewood or rock climbing or even just a day's worth of sitting down & getting up off the ground etc.
The Wal-Mart closed cell sleep pad definitely isn't helping matters though. Upgrading your sleep pad will be money well spent.
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almostthere
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putting on my hiking shoes....
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Post by almostthere on Jul 19, 2016 15:13:55 GMT -8
I can honestly say that when I managed to find the 3.5 - 4" insulated air mattresses, and the hammock, all that ache and pain totally ceased - I still wake up every few hours to roll over, because that's how it goes with side sleeping. With the hammock even that little bit of tedium vanishes -- sleep all night, no achy, no wake-y.
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mpdm21
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Post by mpdm21 on Jul 28, 2016 14:43:30 GMT -8
I have to agree with almostthere. Except for being woke up by the wife to get her something, once I am in my hammock it over for the night and total comfort. |
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Jul 29, 2016 7:05:25 GMT -8
I'm sure every location is different but when picking my campsite, I look for a place that water will run off correctly, has a slight indentation placed so that my knees will be slightly bent. If I can't find one, I make one by putting a few clothing articles like my rainshell, etc. under my legs. If I am travelling "extreme" ultralight as in, no backup articles - I use duff to build up the area vs. altering the ground. This assumes I am using my bivy. Most of the time in summer, I am swinging from the trees in my hammock.
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Post by tipiwalter on Jul 29, 2016 8:00:00 GMT -8
No one digs stuff out anymore, trenches to guide water etc. In emergency one might gather soft stuff to underneath? See Leave No Trace. Get a better sleeping pad is the answer, allot easier not need for a digging tool. Of course this is true---no thinking backpacker trenches his tent anymore. Or builds camp furniture and leaves it permanently in camp (until I come around and cut it apart). Or leaves a burning campfire as they head home. Seen it many times.  In January 2014 I pulled a 24 day backpacking trip all thru the Unicoi mountains of TN/NC and got hit with a "hurricane butt cold rainstorm" at 5,000 feet on Whiggs Meadow and found this campsite so I set up and rode out the storm. Thing is, someone before me trenched the site and I cursed them . . . until the dang rain filled up the meadow with pools of water and I was happy. But I'd never trench a site myself. Too destructive.  Trenching in action.  Other pet peeves? On my last trip in June I climbed up to Fodderstack Ridge in TN and found this awful site; awful because some idiots came out and built a new firepit 15 feet from the "designated" already established firepit. Awful because they placed the firepit right at the place I always like to put my tent. True idiots. And to top it off they left a roll of toilet paper on a stick.  You don't see this every day so I took it apart and hid the tp out of camp.  Back in May I pulled a Pisgah trip and got on the Lost Cove Creek trail and found this sign of more redneck idiot damage---some miscreant pulled moss off of every nearby dead tree trunk or off the ground and made himself a sleeping bed. I scattered the whole wad and cursed yet another idiot.  Back in September 2014 I pulled a 12 day trip to the North Fork Creek trail and found this wonderful sight---camp furniture. It irked me so I cut it apart and scattered everything.  And here's the kicker: The idiots left their campfire burning but they themselves were already on the interstate heading home. |
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