Maximum safe sleep time

[cullam]

I'm sure this has been previously scientifically answered, but I can't find it.

Assuming you go to bed having drank and fed, and have no afflictions going in, what is the longest that you can SAFELY sleep, in an outdoor location? I just died 149 days into a session, sleeping in a fishing hut for 6 hours. I was fully warm and cozy when I went to bed, but I guess I got cold. So. In a situation where you're currently all fine, but a blizzard could hypothetically sneak up on you, what's the magic number, to make sure that even if you wake up freezing and losing condition, you know you WILL wake up? And I'm guessing that that number is different for Stalker and Interloper.
(I'm also assuming you're somewhere where you won't get wet, as I know that could change the equation)

[Leeanda]

Pilgrim settings will wake you up when freezing near a fire , but personally I always sleep in increments or make sure I have the maximum fire time .  

I'm not sure about the other difficulties but I think that that setting is off.

[SpanishMoss]

1 hour ago, cullam said:

I'm sure this has been previously scientifically answered, but I can't find it.

Assuming you go to bed having drank and fed, and have no afflictions going in, what is the longest that you can SAFELY sleep, in an outdoor location? I just died 149 days into a session, sleeping in a fishing hut for 6 hours. I was fully warm and cozy when I went to bed, but I guess I got cold. So. In a situation where you're currently all fine, but a blizzard could hypothetically sneak up on you, what's the magic number, to make sure that even if you wake up freezing and losing condition, you know you WILL wake up? And I'm guessing that that number is different for Stalker and Interloper.
(I'm also assuming you're somewhere where you won't get wet, as I know that could change the equation)

I don't think there is necessarily a "perfect number" it depends on a lot of factors: difficulty, warmth due to clothing, weather condition, location, fire duration, total condition etc. 

Hypothermia causes a massive 40% condition loss per hour. However it's only acquired after having hypothermia risk for 2hrs, which drains at 20% per hour. So the most you could theoretically sleep is only 3hrs if at full condition no matter the temperature, although you wouldn't have a lot of fun when you woke up

[ManicManiac]

@cullam

I think it comes down to calculated risk... or how far do we want to press our luck (to put it another way).
As @SpanishMoss points out, we have to consider the factors and make a judgement on whether it's worth the risk so sleep for slightly longer stretches to gain the benefits of longer rest periods... to napping in very short increments to avoid potential hypothermia risk, as well as guarding against sudden shifts in weather that might otherwise prove fatal (meaning of course the sudden onset of a blizzard).

On the short end... I usually nap for 2 hours at a time.  When temperatures seem like maybe they'll be stable, or I have enough warmth for a decent buffer... then I might nap for 3 or 4 hours at a stretch.

As I said, I think it's all situationally dependent and hinges on how much risk we want to take.

Edited January 12 by ManicManiac

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

I never go to bed outdoors without a completely weather-protected fire.  In the bob house you gave as an example, if I wanted to sleep for eight hours, I would make sure the stove had nine hours of burn time left, I was fully hydrated, and not too hungry.

I've been burned (or frozen, more like) too many times to get more risky than this on interloper.

 

[Serenity]

Don't sleep for long in fishing huts without a fire. That's just a general thing. It always gets colder during the night even when there isn't a blizzard. That's why you can sleep in increments (which is bad for condition recovery however). The first hours might be fine, but then the temperature drops to freezing late at night.

That can also happen in caves with early game clothing. Or in the Mountaineering Hut. Late game clothing is good enough to sleep through.

Edited January 13 by Serenity

[javijungle]

I agree with the rest that it is a particular decision based on many factors. From my modest personal experience I could recommend that in a fishing cabin with a bearskin sleeping bag and properly warm with quality clothing you only have to worry about the night part from dawn to noon, plus blizzards can give you a hard time if the fishing cabin does not have a door.
I slept completely dry and warm at night and woke up with all my clothes frozen and hypothermic.

Edited January 13 by javijungle
translation

[SpanishMoss]

If you wanted to get extra scientific here's is the formula for the maximum possible sleep time when outdoors, no matter that weather and without a fire:

First, we want to have as much condition as possible so we can survive longer. 
The most obvious way to do this is the Well Fed bonus, awarding an extra 5% max condition.

Next, we can drink Herbal Tea, which gives the Improved Rest benefit, restoring 2% condition per hour. (For simplicity sake, we will use stalker settings)

Next, we can also drink Birch Bark Tea, which restores 5% condition over the course of 2 hrs.

These are all the buffs we can give. 
optimally, we will be sleeping in a bear-skin bedroll with the best possible clothes with the warming up effect in a warmer region, but the temp drain with this setup will be inconsistent, so to make it easier we can assume you start freezing as soon as you fall asleep. 
 

Now what stats are against us? 
Hypothermia takes 2hrs to set in, and drains condition at 20% per hour, and 40% per hour after the 2hrs. 
 

Finally let's bring it all together. We have 105% condition, and a bonus of 2% per hour, and 5% in 2hrs or 2.5% per hour. 
Unfortunately, sleep only restores condition if all our needs are met, which they won't be.

If we sleep for 3hrs, we would get +6% for herbal tea, and +5% for birch bark tea for a total condition of 116%. 
Now let's factor in our debuffs.

Sleeping for 3hrs will cause us to lose 40% condition in the first two hours, and 40% in the third hour for a total lost of 80%.

This means we'd be left with 36% condition when we'd wake up. 
unfortunately, we'd need at least 41% condition after 3hrs in order to sleep an extra hour

So in order to retain an extra 3% more condition (No I didn't fail at math, the herbal tea would give us another 2% condition for the 4th hour) we would have to stay above freezing for as long as possible when we start sleeping. 
 

So all in all, 3hrs is the highest practical number to sleep max. 
however the highest theoretical number may reach 4hrs depending on how fast our temp meter drains.
 

But you shouldn't ever sleep more than 1-2hrs if you're unsure if the weather will change

 

-SpanishMoss

[hozz1235]

My short answer:  2 hours

[Semple Fi]

4 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

My short answer:  2 hours

Plus, at 2 hours, you won’t miss an Aurora. 

[MarrowStone]

3 hours if you're "comfortable". 2 hours if you're uncertain. For full rest you need ~12 hrs sleep.

It usually gets colder late at night so I sometimes do a hybrid of two 3hr sessions and then three 2 hr sessions as night advances. 

Blizzards override and 2 hrs max on those. 

Edited February 24 by MarrowStone

[cullam]

My apologies @SpanishMoss, I missed that you had answered my question so perfectly. Yes, that is exactly the scientific answer I was hoping for! Thank you kindly.

[SpanishMoss]

3 hours ago, cullam said:

My apologies @SpanishMoss, I missed that you had answered my question so perfectly. Yes, that is exactly the scientific answer I was hoping for! Thank you kindly.

No problem! 

[UpUpAway95]

If my fire is sheltered, I feel comfortable sleeping for the full duration time shown for the fire (and the fire will usually burn longer than the time shown, allowing me to restoke it for an early morning meal & tea before heading out).  If my fire is not fully sheltered, then I sleep in 2-hour increments at most... better to wake up still tired and cold than to not wake up at all.

Edited March 18 by UpUpAway95