What do I add to a bikepacking kit list for cold nights?
Cold nights add four lines at freezing, and the first step adds one
At the mildest answer, a 15 °C night low, the planner builds a list of 19 requirements. Every colder answer adds to that list and takes nothing away. The sleeping bag gets a lower rating too, but the other lines it switches on are easier to miss.
19 → 23requirements on the list, from a 15 °C night to a -5 °C night
What each colder answer adds
| Night low answer | Night low (°C) | Lines on the list | Lines added over mild | Rating the planner asks for (°C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mild | 15 | 19 | none | 10 |
| Cold but not freezing | 8 | 20 | insulation | 3 |
| Near freezing | 2 | 22 | leg-shell, insulation, extremities | -3 |
| Below freezing | -5 | 23 | food, leg-shell, insulation, extremities | -10 |
The first step of cold is one line
Going from a 15 °C night to an 8 °C night adds insulation and nothing else. The list goes from 19 lines to 20. The rating the planner asks of the sleeping bag drops from 10 °C to 3 °C, so the bag is the larger change and the list barely notices.
Near freezing is where the list grows
At a 2 °C night low the list reaches 22 lines. Leg-shell and extremities arrive together, on top of insulation. The 8 °C answer had only insulation.
Below freezing adds food
At -5 °C the list reaches 23 lines. The one new line is food, which the near-freezing answer does not ask for. Everything the near-freezing answer added is still there, and the asked rating falls from -3 °C to -10 °C.
What this cannot tell you
This holds every other answer at its default, so it shows what cold adds to one ride and not to every ride. A wet forecast, a longer trip or a different sleeping choice would change the baseline of 19 lines. The planner names the lines; it does not say how much of each you need, or which item on the market meets it. Four answers are four points on a scale, so it cannot say where between them a particular night would fall.
Every claim above, and how it is known
- DERIVEDAt the Mild answer (night low 15 °C) the planner builds a list of 19 requirements.
- DERIVEDAt Cold but not freezing (8 °C) the list has 20 requirements; the one added over Mild is insulation, and the asked rating is 3 °C.
- DERIVEDAt Near freezing (2 °C) the list has 22 requirements; leg-shell, insulation and extremities are added over Mild, and the asked rating is -3 °C.
- DERIVEDAt Below freezing (-5 °C) the list has 23 requirements; food, leg-shell, insulation and extremities are added over Mild, and the asked rating is -10 °C.
- DERIVEDAt the Mild answer the asked rating is 10 °C.
Other notes worked the same way
- What does expecting rain add to a bikepacking kit list?
A dry forecast takes dry-bags, a groundsheet and a rain jacket off the list
- I said bikepacking, not touring. Does that change what the planner tells me to carry?
Saying touring instead of bikepacking changes nothing on the list
- Does riding singletrack instead of gravel actually change what I pack?
Singletrack adds a spares line that gravel leaves off
Every figure here came out of the same rules that answer the interview, so it moves when they do. Yours differ wherever your answers differ.