Sleeping bag with 45 (F) rating enough for April?

[janiec]

I'm hiking my first Camino from Porto starting on April 10th. I'm trying to find a light, affordable, and warm sleeping bag. Do you think a 45-degree bag will be warm enough? Outdoor temperatures will be around 40 at night according to historical records, but I figure that being indoors should add at least 10 degrees even without heating. I'll also get a liner.

Thanks so much in advance! This site has been so helpful for my planning so far.

 

[C clearly]

That's about a 7C rating, which is what I have used on other routes in March. So, with a liner as well, that should be fine. On the rare cold night, you just wear more clothes.

 

[Lirsy]

If you plan to sleep in albergues, I think that is more than enough. The temperature inside the albergue will never go under 15C/18C. A different issue would be if you plan to sleep outside.

 

[t2andreo]

Short answer, yes, a bag with a 45 / 7 degree rating is fine.

Remember, you are sleeping inside a building. Even if the heat is not on overnight, you should be comfortable.

If more warmth is needed, wear clothing. Keeping your head, hands and feet warm is the secret.

Hope this helps.

 

[JabbaPapa]

If you're certain to be sleeping indoors every night, then yes that should be quite sufficient.

If not, then a 30°F bag would be better -- military-grade being what I systematically advise, despite the usual extra weight (unless you get really lucky with a rare find at army surplus).

Sleeping bags rated any better than that would pretty much always be overkill -- I've slept outdoors in -5 to -10 °C in a military bag certified to 0°, and though you do get cold, the advantage of military kit is that it's good enough for an emergency. I'm doubtful contrariwise of the capability of any except the most extreme sportswear bags to get you through a night's sleep beneath a heavy thunderstorm out in the open.

But bottom line yes, a 45-degree bag will be warm enough if you sleep always indoors (or under protected hard cover), even in those places where the bedding is just a mattress and pillow or even just a place on the floor. YMMV body-heat-wise metabolically of course.

 

[janiec]

Thank you everyone for all the helpful answers!

 

[SoyGalego]

Hi, I believe you'll be alright with that bag. I've just returned from the Ingles and I took with me a Snugpak jungle bag with a warm rating of +7 to +2. I don't mind being cold during the day, which it was with an average temperature over 4 days being 0 degrees in the mornings, but I like to be warm at night. As a back up I took with me a fleece liner, which I used once on my last Albergue stay at Finisterre. They didn't' have any serviceable heating but provided blankets which I didn't use with my sleeping bag and liner combination.

My advise would be don't count on Albergue's providing blankets and if they do you can't vouch on their cleanliness etc. However, I have used them myself if the Albergue's warm enough and just slept in a t-shirt and leggings etc.

Hope this helps and Buen Camino.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Jungle bags tend to pretty good all-rounders, as they are designed with heat, chill, humidity, and drought in mind simultaneously. Most significantly peregrino-wise, they really let your body breathe during the night ...