Snorers

Many years ago I was in a hut in the SI with four older guys (from memory they were all workmates with NZR on the West Coast) who were in for a spot of fishing. After some brief contemplation of their physiques I figured them for snorers. Well it was one of those larger huts with two separate bunkrooms either end of the building, with the cooking/communal area in the middle. So I thought I'd get smart and choose a bunk in the other room they were not using. Well after about an hour or so it was apparent this strategy was a dismal failure. A veritable orchestra of chainsaws rumbled and rattled through two closed doors and left me wide-eyed, far from sleep. A while later and it was 'sod this', so I packed up, exited the hut and headed several hundred metres upstream, found a nice tree and bedded down. Ahh ... much better. Or was it? What was this I could hear faintly echoing in the breeze over the sound of the stream? Surely not?

Uhuh. I figure that if you can't cope with spending the night in an small enclosed space with a group of random people who are sleeping, then don't. Huts are intended for people, but nobody's being forced to stay in a hut.

theres an unwritten etiqutte in a hut with separate rooms that the snorers take their mattress into the dining area and sleep in there, most snorers still don't, but you can suggest it, repeatedly waking them up to do so... or take a tent. the bigger the hut the more problems... its when you get a group of trampers over retirement age and very overweight trampers in a hut you now you're probably in for a rough night. there was an elderly group in one hut, i think they were all deaf, they got up early and were all talking loudly like no one else was trying to sleep... if theres more than one bunk room of differing sizes i go for the smallest one... luxmore hut's main bunk room takes about 40 people.... and its always full or fairly full in summer... i've never had to sleep in it, but usually the next morning people are complaining about the lack of sleep. other options are, take a tent or have a hard enough tramp that nothing will stop you from having eight hours uninterupted sleep... first nights you're usually not tired enough and small things can keep you awake, on longer trip snoring has less and less effect on your sleep. by the time you go home you won't be able to sleep without the sound of snoring....

bare in mind snorers are less likely to have their sleep interupted. they are less likely to have issues with snoring, but if most of the people in a hut are having their sleep disrupted by the snorer, i think the snorer should make an effort to minimise disruption to others.

It's a touchy subject, as both snorers and non snorers feel they have every right to be in a hut. But for those who know they snore, yet refuse to make arrangements to minimise their disruption to others is plain inconsiderate. Sleep apnoea does damage if left untreated. An uncle refused to acknowledge he snored and for almost 10 years put his wife through hell (and himself). He developed atrial fibrillation and had five cardioversions. Eventually on the insistence of his specialist, he was tested (polysomnography) and had one of the lowest oxygen saturations ever seen by that clinic. His heart muscle had been damaged. If backcountry etiquette doesn't apply to snorers then it should. People need to have a reasonable night's sleep in order to function safely the next day, and the next. That applies to everyone. Not just the poor unfortunate snorer. Noise is part of being in the backcountry we all accept that but when you can do something about it, it's the responsible thing to do something about it. Especially since your health is at stake.

Good answer JETNZ. Basically it comes down to the usual formula around hut etiquette; personal responsibility and mutual respect. I'm fortunate I've never had a snoring problem, but if I did I'd be mortified to be told that I'd kept a hut full of people awake most of the night. If that happened to me I'd be keen to find a way to prevent it happening again. For my own health as much as anything. Equally as I get older I find it harder to get a sound night's sleep. I used to be perfectly happy in rocky, bumpy, sloping bivvies, flapping tents and huts chocka to the rafters. Not anymore; these days I need a decent sleeping bag, nice cushy pad, and a pillow that's just right to stand a chance of waking refreshed in the morning. Yeah I know, I've gotten soft. And for the same reason I always take earplugs. Not just for snorers, but to deal with all the other inevitable 'noises in the night' ... all the way from some person innocently rolling over in their sleep to a storm rocking the hut. The ones I prefer are the little silicon mouldable ones, like a small blob of putty. It can take an hour or so before you stop being aware of them, but with regular use I find them very acceptable.

"I'm fortunate I've never had a snoring problem," I have a Billy connely recording where he says exactly that. He says he visited a specialist for snoring problem then goes on to say he does not have a snoring problem he just snores but his wife has a snoring problem. I know I snore sometimes but also know that being too hot is a trigger. If Im in a hut and seem reluctant to light the fire there is a reason

Lots of people snore briefly at different times during the night in huts. Shared a small hut with a hunting family & Grandad snored like chainsaw all night. Don't have a solution for that, but we were so tired we mostly slept through it anyway.

If its not snoring its farting, thats the worst after a hot day and lots of chocolate - its a recipe for a gas chamber