Hammock Sleeping Bag Mod

[Gleams]

Where to start...

I like to make/mod my own kit where possible and i like it to have multiple uses where possible.

So on to the subject at hand. Sleeping bags in a hammock. While gently swinging in my hammock a few months ago my mind wandered to this subject. I dont like the idea of carrying a normal sleeping bag only to have its usefulness reduced by the compression between my body and the hammock material. I tried a snugpak quilt but didnt get on with it. I like to be wrapped up in a sleeping bag.

My work-in-progress solution.
I bought a snugpak jungle sleeping bag. I opted for one of these as I managed to get one pretty cheap from the bay and i like the idea of the mosquito net and the ability to completely unzip to form a blanket. I also bought an old 58 pat down sleeping bag.

I sewed baffles in the top section of the jungle bag, then made small slits in each one. I then harvested the down from the bottom of the 58 bag (very messy job) and put it into the jungle bag. Once completed i sewed up the baffles and did some general tidying up.

The result is a full lightweight jungle sleeping bag with down insulation on the top half. Hopefully perfect for my hammocking.

And the plan for the 58 bag is to enable a thermarest mat to slip into the section i took the down out of. As this bag already has a waterproof bottom then this will become my spare bivy bag.

I realise the material of the jungle bag might not be perfect for the down but just because its not perfect doesnt mean it wont work. And to be perfectly honest I dont get many chances to get out into the woods so it wont be used much until my kids get a bit older.

 

[potboiler]

I'm intrigued - sounds like a really complicated mod, but you've obviously got the expertise. Guess you'll be finding down on odd places for weeks to come!

 

[Gleams]

It wasnt that complicated. A few minutes sewing the jungle bag. An evening spent picking apart the stitching in the 58 bag. Then 10 mins in the garden transferring down from one to the other. Then a few more minutes sewing it up.

I'll get round to posting some pics eventually.

 

[Swjoergensen]

Sounds interesting, looking forward to some pics

 

[onfire]

Yes ... pics please!

 

[greensurfingbear]

Intrigued....look forward to some pics


Orric

 

[thedawnawakens]

Genius, I may have to try this one day.

 

[redandshane]

Sounds interesting ;but wont the down all just settle to the bottom of the bag or wherever gravity etc takes it? i.e it will be uneven. Someone ?RAB made a bag with just fill in the top of the bag for lightweight hikers I think; probably really expensive
So you have made something which is at least economically viable Hope it works well for you

 

[Gleams]

If you mean the down in the top half of the bag will settle to my sides when i am in the bag, then it might well do that. but i still think it give me some protection from the cold. Hopefully when i toss and turn in the night it will all get re-arranged.

Here are a few pics.

Pic #1: Shows the amount of fill in the bag.



Pic# 2: Shows that the bottom half of the bag has no extra down fill, just the standard synthetic that comes with the bag.



Not great pics i admit but I am more interested in seeing how it performs in my hammock than taking good photos

 

[ozzy1977]

Call me daft if you will but how does it attach to the hammock?

 

[Gleams]

Daft.

It's not an underblanket. It's a sleeping bag for inside the hammock. The point is that the sleeping bag only has insulation on the top half of the bag. Thereby keeping me warm but cutting down on weight.

I also have a diy underblanket I made which does the job of keeping my back warm.

 

[ozzy1977]

Oh that's making sense now.

 

[petrochemicals]

I'm confused

sounds inresting though.

how about stringing a hammock straight through a sleeping bag if possible?

I have thought about the uselessness of the insulation compressed beneath me, and so have lots of others. Top bags come already with insulation just on top, some do come with an opening for padding ie mats.

just to straighten things out, could you tell me what the bags started off at and what they are now (synthetic, down, mix) and what the advantage is.

 

[Gleams]

I started with the following bags:

58 Pattern Down Sleeping Bag. (the one with the waterproof bottom - sometimes called the bouncing bomb i believe)
Snugpak jungle Sleeping Bag.

The snugpak one has an inner filling of TravelSoft (An ultra lightweight high-loft insulation). The bag is rated at: Comfort: 7C and Extreme 2C.

Now:

The snugpak bag has the addition of half of the down from the 58Pat bag.
The simple advantage of this is to keep me warm in my hammock while cutting down on the weight i have to carry. I like to walk to a spot in the woods with everything on my back.

Then i thought what can i do with the left over 58pat bag. Which has down fill on the top half of the bag but not in the bottom half. Then i thought why not slide a thermarest into the bottom section and i half a ready made bed-roll/bivy thing.

resulting in no waste - which i like.