Is sleeping on a yoga mat better than on an airbed during winter camping?
This is a follow up on question that my friend asked earlier, but I can't comment on. My friend and I have an ongoing argument about a question :
During cold winter camping (-20C air temperature, ground has more than 20cm of snow thickness, in a regular summer tent that has a thin soft floor) my friend slept on a regular uninsulated airbed and I slept on a yoga mat. We both had similar sleeping bags.
I had a relatively comfortable night of sleep, my friend got very cold.
I believe that his choice of sleeping on a thick airbed filled with cold air was the main reason why he felt more cold than I did, since his mattress is so big that his body could never heat up the air inside. He disagrees and believes the air in the mattress acted as insulator that protected him from the ground cold.
Who is right, and why?
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2 answers
Both of those sleeping situations are not ideal. A yoga mat is very thin and not good for keeping you warm. Some air mattresses are good for warmth but others aren't. The best option is to get an actual camping sleeping pad and use that. You can get them at REI and online and they work very well.
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200 liters of air weighs about 240 grams and heats up about as fast as 240 grams of sleeping bag, or 240 grams of yoga mat, I mean in a short time.
It was reported that the air never heated up much though. Well that was because the air was moving around and dumping heat into the ground, as still air is one of the best insulators.
If a bony person lays on a hard mat, the thermal contact to the mat may be poor, which would be a good thing. Like when a processor cooler is installed incorrectly.
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