Hiking and Gear For Sleeping - Tent and Sleeping Bag

You are now at your hiking location and really set for a great hike. You have checked the map and put your first step out to start your planned hike or ramble. This is really a wonderful feeling. However there some considerations and some planning activities that need to be planned for.

The problem that does not get much attention is your sleeping gear as part of your hiking and gear

So here are the all important points when buying the right hiking and gear for sleeping.

1. Tent
There are 3 big factors to consider when you purchase a tent for hiking.
You need to consider the weight you are carrying. Consider how big the tent needs to be depending on the size of your group and how much you really want to carry. So really the weight is a "trade off" and needs to be considered very carefully. I will not carry more than a 4 man tent for 4 people when choosing the right hiking and gear. If a fifth person is coming then another tent needs to be brought and carried. That is my rule of thumb.

Consideration needs to follow to see how your tent packs back into your rucksack. Is the tent packing volume the right size for your rucksack? And you know - Will it fit OK for your hiking and gear?

Thirdly, consider how easy is it to set up? After a long day of great, but maybe exhausting, hiking you will want to ensure that the tent was easy to put up without too many complications for choosing your sleeping hiking and gear. You should practise this at home so you are not reading instructions on the hike.

2. Sleeping bag
Sleeping bags are very important as part of your hiking and gear for sleeping on a hike. For hiking I would buy a tapered or mummy type bag and this tends to be thinner at the foot end – for the best. You know this will ensure additional warmth. This is because your actual body does not have to work really hard to keep warm. Also make sure that the sleeping bag has a hood (due to the amount of heat that is generated from your head – approax 80% can be lost).

The other important point about sleeping bags as part of your hiking and gear is how the sleeping bag is stitched. Cheaper sleeping bags are stitched through the actual sleeping bag creating quite big pockets. Manufacturers will then fill these pockets with insulation.

However as the stitching is through the actual sleeping bag there are pockets of cold spots all over the bag. This will make the sleeping bag colder. So you need to avoid these cheap type of sleeping bags. So go for the sleeping bag that has offset stitching. This where the stitching is in the centre of the insulation so that there are no cold spots in the sleeping bag.

So have a really great time hiking. Although ensure you have the right hiking and gear – hiking tent and sleeping bag is a very important part of your hiking and gear.