Nearly a Success

Excellant thread Simon. Im glad to read of your difficulties, and to hear how you are resolving them through practice instead of idea.:thumbup:
 
i'm impressed - you stayed out there until 3am without a fire in some pretty low temps. i'm glad you went inside and didn't risk mild frostbite.

codger's suggestion is right on the money - put your shelter against a rock face that serves a fire reflector and you'll be toasty warm the whole night through. just be careful with a bed of dry leaves in that case since you'll be sleeping up next to a fire.

wool surplus gear - jackets, pants, and blankets - are pretty cheap. wool, although heavy and not great for backpacking, is just about the best stuff to keep you warm when you're sitting still. (feather-down is probably better but it has it's own significant drawbacks for the outdoors, mainly an inability to deal well with moisture). i got a swedish wool coat for $8 and a pair of pants for about $25. sometime the wool surplus gear is a bit moldy from sitting around a storage warehouse - but wash it well with lanolin (buy some Eucalan wool wash) and you'll get the mold out and restore the wool's natural water repellancy.

i've tried codger's candle trick inside a tent before - it does work, you just have to be careful. it's amazing how much warmer a little candle will get a small space as long as the wind isn't robbing your heat.
 
If you had piled all those leaves on your shelter is would have acted as insulation. Pile the leaves on about 2 feet thick then green twigs or evergreen branches to hold it down. the less space inside the better. Instead of thinking of it as a shelter think of it as a leaf quilt. A hot rock doesn't have to be the temp of the sun. Just warm enough to put against your skin.
 
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