I was out camping last weekend where it got down in the mid-30's overnight and I got some seriously cold feet. Everything else was nice and toasty, what do you do about cold feet?

Put your hat on or wear a balacava to retain your body heat while sleeping. Also make sure your entire body is on the sleeping pad.

If your feet were cold during the day then they must have gotten wet from either perspiration or from the outside. Try wearing polypro liners to wick the sweat away along with an insulation layer sock (like merino wool or polar-fleece). Change them often during the day or when activity changes. This system works great for my feet.

The other thing to watch out for is the type of boot you are wearing. Most winter boots have a metal rod molded into the base (right under the arch of your foot) to provide ridgidity. Once this steel rod gets cold it will suck the heat right out of your foot. This is why muk-luks work so well in cold weather. I cut up an old closed cell pad and made sole inserts for my boots - this helps.

Hot water bottle in the foot of the sleeping bag before you go to bed.

Extra pair of thick wool socks for sleeping only, the idea is not to get them wet at all during the day. You do not want them to be tight fitting as that will reduce circulation.

I wore a fleece/thinsulate hat that kept that end warm, but wasn't really prepared for the other end, plain old cotton tube socks. I added a second pair sometime in the middle of the night, it didn't help. One other question - how do you keep your nose warm without burying it in the sleeping bag, which seems like it would just put moisture where you don't want it?

One thing a fly fishing guide taught me some years ago when fishing in freezing water all day was that if you are holding your pee it will make your feet cold (assuming you are in cold weather). He claimed it was a circulation thing. It seems to help.

So Adam and Kurps are telling you to pee in a bottle mid-way thru the night and then place that 98 degree bottle at your feet.

"So Adam and Kurps are telling you to pee in a bottle mid-way thru the night and then place that 98 degree bottle at your feet."

Just don't get thirsty.

I use a MSR Dromedary 4L instead of a hard lexan bottle to put hot water in. I always put on a new pair of socks before bed. Even in summer.

Hey jd try these. You can slip some down in there too.

Cold Feet? For sleeping assuming that you have enough insulation and that you are hydrated, fed, changed cloths and lightly exercised before bed then: powder feet to dry them, unused dry wool socks then booties of down or poly or even fleece wraps with a booty over them works. Keeping the feet dry is essential. Also take a pint nalgene bottle with hot water in it enclosed in a nylon sack or sock and a fruit bar. If you wake up cold take some water and a bite of the bar to kick start your metabolism. The bottle works as a nice heater at the beginning of the night.

Cotton tube socks are evil and no doubt contributed to your cold feet. I recommend trying something like wool or a synthetic fiber. Beyond the socks, all of the other advise given is good. Down booties will likely solve your problem or, if your boots have removable liners, where them. I have also, in a pinch, used chemical hand warmers in the foot of my bag.

We do a lot of winter camping and until recently I had the same problem. If it is something your going to do again I recommend the trans-alaskan 3 boot from cabela's. I never had cold or wet feet since and you can sleep in the liners at night.

What Camp Cook said. Those cotton socks made you colder than if you had nothing at all on. Sleeping bags trap moisture, which is part of the reason you feel SO cold when you crawl out of them. Your cotton socks absorb the moisture, and we all know what happens when cotton gets wet.