Ok so this is not a review but I feel it is something worth talking about. After spending a night out in close to freezing temperature’s and with no sleeping bag, bivi bag or tarp or proper equipment a long time ago I learnt my lesson. But on the first true overnight game I played where I had to sleep out I still did not have a bivi bag or a tarp so had to improvise. I already owned a sleeping bag, though not a good one and certainly not designed for this type of thing. So I had not taken it because I knew it would be pointless.
Staying out in the cold without a tent in an ideal world you would have the following.
Not having this equipment should not put you off. You can spend a perfectly warm and comfortable night out without them. There are 2 options, one is to do the Ray Mears thing and spend an hour or so building a shelter and a fire but for the most part this is not going to be appropriate or practical. The other is to keep in mind some of the same principles but with things you can take with you. So what do you need? In basic terms you need, something to keep you warm, something to protect you from the wind and rain and something to insulate you from the ground.
To keep you warm the best thing is dry warm clothing. I can not stress how important being dry is. Ok you may not want to get changed in front of the rest of the airsoft team but I assure you the change of clothing is worth it. And if you wear enough layers you do not need a sleeping bag.
For something to protect you from the wind and the rain a good choice of where you are going to sleep is the first the best option then if you own waterproof / windproof clothing put this on as well. Although you can pick up a 3m x 3m ground sheet for as little as £4 that will act as a tarp perfectly.
For ground insulation you can use branches, your rucksack or anything that is a poor conductor of heat that gets you off the ground.
For my fist night event the temperature dropped to about 2deg C. I wore several extra layers (fleece and wool) on top of my dry cloths with waterproofs on top of this and slept on my rucksack. I was perfectly fine until I was woke up in the night by one of my team who was showing the fist signs of hyperthermia because had got into a non Gortex bivi in wet clothing !
Whilst this option is normally cheaper it does tend to be heavier and increases the bulk of your rucksack and if staying out is going to be something you do each year I would recommend you get the kit.
