Pro tip: Your sleeping bag's temperature rating is basically a lie until you learn this

I used to blindly trust the comfort ratings on sleeping bags until a frigid night in the Rockies taught me otherwise. The real skill is understanding how your own metabolism and sleep setup affect that number, not just the bag's specs. After that trip, I started logging conditions, what I wore, and how I slept, which revealed more about warmth than any label. Now I tell people to treat manufacturer ratings as a rough guide at best. If you're not cross-referencing your personal experience, you're setting yourself up for a cold shock.