Do I really need a sleeping bag? I have a smaller backpack and need to also carry a tent. There is no room for a sleeping bag. It is going to be roughly 60-75 F out.

You need some kind of sleeping bag. I assume that with those night-time temperatures it will be sunny during the day? Use a taped together pair of space blankets with some agricultural fleece spray glued inside to soak up some of the condensation.

Then turn it inside out and dry it out at your lunch stop.

Well I also have a light jacket and long john underwear to keep warm and I will be in a tent under a space blanket. I think I will try it out in my backyard first and see how it goes. :-) thanks for the idea.

Space blankets by themselves do almost nothing to keep you warm. They work by keeping the wind from penetrating your clothing. The amount of radiant body heat they reflect is negligible. The amount of convective heat they trap is offset by the condensation they cause. So if you are in a tent which keeps the wind off anyway, they are only useful as a substrate for some kind of insulating layer.

Insulation between you and the ground is the bigger issue inside a tent. Have you checked out balloon beds?

www.balloonbed.com

That is what the jacket and long johns are for. :-D

A jacket and long johns won't provide sufficient insulation between you and the ground. Believe me. Plus the balloon bed will provide.... comfort!

You're right that the generic Space blankets are nothing more than a vapor barrier, however, the Heatsheets from Adventure Medical do reflect body heat back to you. Before I got my underquilt for my hammock, I used to use them as a underquilt in sub-freezing weather. Toasty warm. But I digress, can't you simply put a topquilt or sleeping bag in a waterproof compression sack and strap it to the outside of your pack? A 3-season quilt/bag can be smaller than a cantaloupe in a compression sack.

Edited by lilricky on 05/01/2011 08:43:01 MDT.

Do you have the right pack if you can't fit even a small bag or quilt into it? I am guilty of pushing the envelop with pack size (mld burn) but I made sure it could fit everything in that I needed to carry. I view a sleeping bag/quilt as an essential safety item, if all else fails I can hunker down and survive. You didn't say where it was you hike but in most areas of the country you can encounter weather events that will push below the temperatures you list. IMHO you are limiting your choices due to one piece of gear. Remove the constraint and you remove the problem.

Someone has been watching too much Man vs. Wild. Me too.

You won't be very comfortable. Nix the tent and get a tarp or a Gatewood Cape.

You can get warm weather bags in the one pound range.

I recommend the Therm-a-Rest Prolite small size for a compact sleeping pad.

The Gossamer Gear Nightlight and Thinlight pads are UL minimalist classics: http://gossamergear.com/sleeping.html

Good advice Dale. I found the Gatewood Cape to be a perfect summer shelter/raingear item.

I've skipped a bag before when I knew there were good bailout options, but it's usually not that comfortable (I also don't mind only sleeping a few hours a night, and am willing to get up and move if I get chilled). The usual reason for me to go without a bag or quilt is when I'm using a poncho tarp and bivy and want to turn a day hike into an overnight. The bivy helps a lot and acts as a light-weight sleeping bag when used in conjunction with my clothes.

Experiment close to home and see what level of comfort you are willing to sacrifice for a little less bulk and weight, and always leave yourself options in case the weather takes a turn for the worse.

I've used a WalMart/Ozark Trails zippered fleece bag instead of a quilt or mummy bag. Try a silk bag liner or the MLD MD-90 bag liner, these should take you down to 6o degrees if you wear your base layer while sleeping.

I have an old one I used to think was useless until I started camping with my 4 year old. Now I give her my sleeping bag and I just sleep in the liner. Packs small and I don't have to carry two bags. I only take her camping when it's reasonably warm out (60-75 would be pretty warm by Michigan standards). I wouldn't buy one though if you don't already have one. There are better things out there.

I've slept - in a small 2-person tent - in my clothes plus a "Reactor" bag liner during sticky Mid-Atlantic summer nights. I like the light weight and tiny size, and I can wash the funk out after each trip. A sleeping pad is essential, though; one of the things they teach in Wilderness First Aid is that you can get hypothermic lying on bare ground, even in warm weather. I use a torso-length pad and put my legs on - or even in - my empty pack.