I consider myself pretty new even to summer camping! I was in Boy Scouts, but we car camped. It's such a different world when I have to carry everything. At least bear canisters aren't required in the winter. What the REI presenter said is winter tents make sense in high winds or places you might get a lot of snow on you as the poles are much stronger. If there were high winds forecast, I'd probably re-plan my trip to not camp. I have an REI coupon for 23% off an REI branded item. Their warmest bag is rated to 10 F as a lower limit. I'm thinking about getting that. I have a sleeping bag liner I've never used that should add more warmth, too. My summer bag is rated like 40 degrees, and I'm comfortable in that down to 40, but I think I'd be cold in anything much lower.