Craig I have used a base camp thee wrest in Norway at -56 and I was fine with a Military grade Snugpak sleeping system with a military Gortex bivi bag, if you look at this site it will show you the range......top tip always look for recommendations from the likes of Royal Marines, Para's and a few of the better light infantry regiments not the blanket stackers and REMF's (Rear ECHLON Mother Fu*#er's) or the vehicle born lot......the RM, Para's etc only use light weight and good stuff that works....... You put a bag inside a bivibag automatically gives it another layer so adds a season to it.....therefore thin inner liner 3/4 season bag with a bivi bag and your toasty, don't forget the woolly hat, you loose a lot of heat from your head while you sleep so you disappear into the bag, your breath then causes condensation which makes you cold......

Tried and tested.........

Top of the range Thermorest are good and insulate you much better than a conventional airbed that tends to transfer cold air from the ground to your doss bag!   Trouble is you need to invest around £100!   I did and it works and mine is approx 50mm thick only, when inflated, and me with my 15.5 stone cannot touch the ground when I'm lying on it, also it packs down to nothing !   They inflate with around 30 breaths and keep up by putting 10 more breaths in every other night!   I used it for one month in Spain/Portugal in July, every night.                                                                                                                                                                                   

If someone made a decent airbed it would help, mine always deflate alittle at night and usually only last a few rallys                                                                                                                                                                             

Cheers Ian will check them out...   cheers johnny,,,,I've just bought a bivi bag,,,,nice tip about hat !!!! and my last 2 camps ive had 2 airbeds and both got skipped !!!!! looking at the basecamp because its a bit deeper than mine...   Hope ive got all info i need after this wkend so i can get things ordered....                                                                                                                                                                             

Alpkit are sold out of dozer at moment,,,got a wide boy in stock but not as comfy,,,,well thought out though,,,2.5 cm at heel,,,5cm at head,,,approx 4cm in middle,,,,and £20 cheaper,,,,,,but comfort comes first for my not so young cold bones..........                                                                                                                                                                             

i have no probs. sleeping but am pised of with air beds going down on me so maybe time to try a thermarest                                                                                                                                                                              

Ha ha plenty of years left in you yet Craig....... But yup my days of kipping on a cheap roll mats are long gone.....                                                                                                                                                                             

I can wholly endorse the Thermarest NeoAir.   I used one all the last camping season and they are much more resilient than they look, are warm and pack down extremely small. Only problem is the price but if you do lots of camping, bite the bullet and invest!   http://cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/mattresses/fast-...ir/product                                                                                                                                                                                   

Hi Rattay,,,ive looked at them on ebay several times but disregarded them because they did not look up to the job compared to normal Thermarest,,,pleased someone has vouched for them !!! (still not made my mind up though )                                                                                                                                                                             

I used mine for a few weekend camps in the UK and also for a full month in Spain and Portugal on some pretty rough ground.   They look as though they will get punctured easily but mine has not and its been on top of loose sharp stones and some thorny undergrowth.   It's surprisingly tough for how it appears.                                                                                                                                                                             

A normal air bed is hollow in the middle so the air is cold, a Termarest has i think an expanding foam inside which keeps you warmer.   At the Autum camp i used an air bed with the termarest on top just to keep off the ground which was fine.   Went to the ice hotel 200 miles inside the arctic circle -24 outside and -5 inside, their arctic sleeping bags are brill, no air bed at all just a block of ice under you and did'nt feel any cold (in fact too hot), they are rated to -60. see if you can find what they use then i want one as well. (you could try Emailing them to ask)                                                                                                                                                                             

do you think they will insulate from the cold as good as others,,,bit hot in spain etc                                                                                                                                                                             

Think the sleeping bags at ice hotel will be mega £ssss though....                                                                                                                                                                             

  I know it's off topic but (Timeout started it lol) do they have to rebuild the ice hotel daily? I mean does it melt, so that by the end of your stay the bedroom has disappeared or summat? Just wondered where one ends up if that happens lol.     Craig, let us know which bodybag you decide on and if it does what it says on the can.                                                                                                                                                                             

There is no expanding foam inside the NeoAir, I think the insulation is from the material its made from.   The colour is naff! Silver on the underside that I assume reflects the cold ground temp keeping it from radiating through, and yellow on the top surface.   It is definitely warmer than an ordinary air bed although I haven't tried it under about 10 degrees C.                                                                                                                                                                             

Sandi,,,,when i'm ready for a bodybag i'll not be bothered what it is ,,,                                                                                                                                                                             

I like the concept of the neoair but will wait till its been recommended in minus temperatures first,,,but should be great for 2-3 season camping...                                                                                                                                                                             

Dont know what they are like but the poundstretcher shops are doing a 12 volt plug in electric blanket for £19.99,,,,not that i would get one though.....                                                                                                                                                                             

  PML ya nana I didn't mean one of those body bags. Oh I'm a nit.   PML @ electric blanket, for camping? Well I hope you find a field with a socket or you're doomed, or maybe I should say I hope you DON'T find a socket, not if it's raining, you'd be needing a body bag then.                                                                                                                                                                             

Now I have an idea,.......spare bike battery....attach 12 volt blanket......sorted, wonder what the draw is on the battery I reckon it would be quite heavy, but you can by a solar top upmcharger for your parked up bikes over winter, doubt the solar charger would be able to keep up with the demand either