British Army Jungle Sleeping bag in the Cairngorms?

[Midnitehound]

The Cairngorms with a Jungle Bag, have you made a will?

I'd say take as good a bag as you can afford and carry comfortably, keep it dry and carry a good bivi bag.

If the weather gets nasty or you get injured they may save your life. If in pain and/or tired your body temp. will drop further.

You could of course rap the Jungle bag about your head and have the best of both worlds!!

 

[Jjfsmth]

R

​

Daft question, but it's always best to ask...
are you are using a compression sack for the BA Arctic bag ?

Yeah I'm using the compression sack the bag comes in and passing a luggage strap through the straps on the sack to secure it. I thought it was quite ingenious but it seems I could well be an idiot. Was going to figure it out with trial and error.
The compression sack is good and tough but I can't get the bag down to a manageable size to fit it into a rucksack. Especially the german mountain rucksack I've got now.

 

[cbr6fs]

i see, thanks. what's to stop me maybe putting it in a drybag before it goes around my waist? what is the best option then for transporting the arctic bag? i couldnt even fit it into my massive crusader pack. it'd be good to know if anyone else uses one how they pack it.

I'll definitely be packing accordingly. I'm pretty hardy but also pretty sensible when it comes to personal safety.

Your call, you are going to sweat like a hippo in a aerobics class though.

I know we have members here that have kit strapped to the outside of their pack, personally i find nothing worse than constantly snagging kit.
If you're on a decent wide footpath then it's fine, if you're hiking through woods or bush wacking off trail though it starts to get hard on the kit that's snagging.

Other thing is, how are you going to cinch up the waist strap of your rucksack with the sleeping bag there?
Your hips should be taking at least 90% of your rucksack weight, they can only to that if you have the waist belt correctly adjusted.
If your rucksack is under 7kg and/or you are only walking a few km you might be ok, but anything further or heavier it's going to be a lot of pressure on your shoulders and spine.


I can't stress strongly enough how bad the weather can turn in the Cairngorms.
Are you 100% certain you can have a comfortable night at say -5c?

That's without fires or slapped together shelters, can your kit that you are carrying keep you warm through a -5c night?

If not then i would head somewhere else, as 1 mistake like wet clothing, wet sleeping kit, not being able to get a fire going and maintain ALL night, illness, fatigue, dehydration are likely to punish you to the point of it being life threatening.

Of course if you are lucky, it could be 15c and bright sunshine, problem is around that area you really don't know and the weather can change in 1 hour.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Thanks Dogoak!
Yeah I have a Bivi and the BA 3/4 length inflatable mat, but I just realised that the german folding mat fits neatly into the german mountain rucksack I have so will probably get that as it's cheap. BTW i'm not an army nut, I just had lots of my gear nicked out of my car a few months back and am replacing it with cheap army surplus.
I'll be sleeping with a tarp over me so I think it's probably worth lugging the arctic bag around.

Be aware that the German folding sleep matt isn't exactly the warmest sleep matt out there. I have several of them as they work really well to sit on, but if used on their own they just aren't warm enough in anything but the middle of summer. If you want cheap, then the NATO 5 season CCF matt can be found for a tenner.

J

 

[sunndog]

If its a choice between jungle bag or arctic, then take the arctic. Even before it becomes an actual health risk, sleeping too cold is a bloody misery

and if that means it has to go on the outside of your bag then needs must. I would strap it to the front of the bag where its as out of the way as possible
Not sure i understand how you intend to carry it, but it sounds like its gonna be slapping against yer bottom with every step....dunno about you but that would drive me crazy in about 5 minutes
Mind you that is a bit of a fetish of mine. I cant even bear to look at someone with stuff swinging about on their packs, its like nails down a blackboard for me

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Oh, if you are going to put the bag on the outside, consider getting a dry bag from alpkit. They are cheap, lightweight and work. I've been transporting my winter bag in one on the top of my pack all winter.

J

 

[MikeLA]

Be aware that the German folding sleep matt isn't exactly the warmest sleep matt out there. I have several of them as they work really well to sit on, but if used on their own they just aren't warm enough in anything but the middle of summer. If you want cheap, then the NATO 5 season CCF matt can be found for a tenner.

J

Or the most comfortable, just thrown one out

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Or the most comfortable, just thrown one out

I wouldn't go so far as to bin one, they still have their uses. I find mine very useful as a sit matt when folded up.

J

 

[bambodoggy]

Sorry dude, when you said wrap the arctic bag round your waist....I thought you meant with it out of its stuff sack and wrapped round and round you like a over sized scarf! . I think that's why a few of us were a little unsure about your experience levels lol

Oh it'll be fine strapped onto you in its stuff sack, might be annoying as it slaps your butt with each stride...or might be fun, or maybe pop it ontop of your sack and bungee it in place. Also worth getting it in a dry bag as others have said as those stuff sacks aren't waterproof.

 

[sunndog]

Sorry dude, when you said wrap the arctic bag round your waist....I thought you meant with it out of its stuff sack and wrapped round and round you like a over sized scarf! . I think that's why a few of us were a little unsure about your experience levels lol

I had to have a couple of read through's just to be sure

 

[bushferret]

HI I got a German quilted all in one suit apparently they are used under a tank commanders boiler suit in cold weather it cost a tenner and does the trick.

 

[nic a char]

"Even before it becomes an actual health risk, sleeping too cold is a bloody misery" = CORRECT!!!

 

[Jjfsmth]

Hahahahaha no it's in it's stuff sack. I can see why you thought I was a bit of a plonker!
Thanks for te advice about the mat too. I like te idea that it add rigidity and comfort to your pack but if it's crap in cold weather it might be pointless to get

 

[Jjfsmth]

Ok. I'll try to explain my method a bit more accurately. I bought this luggage strap which is basically like a seatbelt with clip attached. I have passed that through the straps of the compression sack and then brought them around my waist where they clip together as if it was the waist straps of my rucksack. The german mountain rucksack has no waist straps. The sleeping bag sits horizontally just above my **** an it doesn't move much at all. Certainly not slapping. I might well attach it to my bag as well for extra stability. It looks just like I'm wearing a modified mountain rucksack with a waist strap which means it's possibly going to be more comfortable.
I'll just have to be careful about it snagging and I'll have to put the drybag over the sleeping bag inside the stuff sack as I need the straps for attaching but that should be ok.

 

[decorum]

>>> which means it's possibly going to be more comfortable.
<<<<>>>> but that should be ok.

Don't rely on 'if's and 'should be's. You need to know, within reasonable grounds, that what you carry and how you carry it will see you right.

Pack the kit you're going to carry as you intend to carry it, then go for a long* walk ...

And then, back at home, tweak and adjust your packing, plans, and ideas if and as necessary.



* At least five miles, with a good pace.

 

[Jjfsmth]

Yeah I've got an overnighter planned very soon where I'll have a chance to tweak it.

 

[Old Bones]

I suspect your going to end up binning the idea, rather than tweak it.

Basically, you've created the world largest 'bum bag/fanny pack'. There is a good reason you have never seen such a thing in your local camping store - its a horrible idea. Your attaching a big bag (which in the case of the artic bag, weighs 2Kg, at the very least) to a bit of webbing, and putting that around your waist. Your going to knacker your back, be extremely uncomfortable after a short walk, and use lots more energy than you need.

The reason your doing this is because your using a surplus mountain pack, which gives you about 35 litres of storage. Thats bascially a day pack. You could do with a bag that size in summer, with your Jungle bag. In spring in the Cairngorms, thats not doable, unless you join the ultralight hiking types, but that means spending about 10 times what you paid for your arctic bag on a very high spec sleeping bag.

Ok - so your taking the arctic bag - good! Your mat is a bit basic, and that could do with an upgrade, but the biggest problem is that your trying to get a quart into a pintpot, and then coming up with a bad solution to carry extra kit. Buy a bigger rucksack. You dont have to spend a fortune, and you dont need something as big as your last one, but a 55-65 litre rucksack would make the world of difference. Go Outdoors dont have any real bargains at the moment (they had a LA bag for £68 a while back), but you could get a a Vango for less than £45, which probably would do for a while.

If you do want to go surplus, look at the Stings from Endicotts http://www.endicotts.co.uk/componen...ck-dutch-l-a-sting-d-p-m-2464-detail?Itemid=0 , awesome build quality, and 55 litres without extra pouches. Grade 1 from £40. Or a German Army 65L rucksack - very basic waist belt, but from £24 (or even less on ebay) http://www.goarmy.co.uk/army-bags/army-rucksack/germany-army-rucksack-65l-flecktarn-prod
- and you can use the folding mat you've already bought. You might even find something decent on Ebay - I spotted an old school Karrimor 65L sack for £30. And dont forget the sales on this site - someone might have something for the right price.

Make you life easy - get a bigger bag, which means everything can be carried inside it. More efficent, more comfortable and just much easier.

 

[Jjfsmth]

You're right I guess. I suppose I was trying to be cheap and tbh i like my german rucksack a bit too much, and i'm looking for any excuse to use it. thanks