New design of sleeping bag

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

Chiseller

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 5, 2011
6,176
3
West Riding
Beauty of the softie jkt is even wet you have warmth, that warmth dries the jkt from inside out. I reckon its a great idea. It's just the softie doesn't have a hood :thumbdown: so a Velcro hood would complete this ? With it being a bag attached to a coat, it would make it bang on for hammock use , enabling change of sleep postion easily. Im looking forward to this. I've worn a softie at -10 with no shirt on and been super snug.
I'm in :thumbup:

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
 

lostplanet

Full Member
Aug 18, 2005
2,124
244
53
Kent
But is a softie jacket warm enough to use as a sleep bag in the - c dead of night and then comfotable enough to use as a jacket through the day? If thats the case why not just wear a normal softie and use half of the sleep bag you already got?

wil you need to have a summer weight softie "jagg" and a winter weight?

Nothing against widus idea, i like innovation and it fascinates me how people come up with genius solutions. Seeing as carinthia have a product already, i cant help feeling this is tryin to reinvent the wheel a bit.

Is it not right that no matter what you have as insulation in a hammock the cold air surrounding your back and **** will suck away the heat of any compressed area of insulation and the underquilt being the only real solution so far?

Im new to hamocking and have yet to try mine. I have made a underquilt out of a poncho liner which i intend use soon. I also have the issue softie and thermal trouser kit i can try to.
 
Last edited:

Teepee

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 15, 2010
4,115
5
Northamptonshire
Interesting, I'm set on making a similar half bag or quilt out of down for mainly hammcoking. More and more, I find myself living in the evenings and mornings, and sleeping in my down jackets when I'm out and its cold enough. Toilet breaks in the night are warmer and I just prefer doing it this way. Carrying the extra bulk of a full bag/quilt now seems a bit redundant when its not uber cold and I don't need ultimate performance.

Horses for courses but I think its got a market, albeit a limited one.
 
Last edited:

widu13

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 9, 2008
2,334
19
Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt
This isn't my idea and I won't pretend it is. There's been a couple of comments on here about wearing the jacket all day. Having owned a softie type jacket (currently the softie RAF blue/Desert clone) and an Alpkit down jacket, I only wear them when I have stopped any activity otherwise they are too warm. Perhaps that's just me? I definitely don't sweat in them; that means I'm wearing the wrong clothes or it's summer!

Mittens and socks are a good idea, but these are already commercially available and more multi use than the single use type affairs that one made from the jacket/bag material would be. A reinforced (removeable?) foot box is being contemplated, so guess who the design could be used by? ;) A hood is a very good idea; but I suspect this would have to be a purchasable accessory, otherwise the price wouldn't be keen.

This won't be a set up for -20c temps and it won't pretend to be; HOWEVER' bear in mind that all of the worlds military sleep systems now boast temps down to absurd levels but that is whilst using the ENTIRE system which invariably includes a softie type suit. With clothing, this system should see off -5c comfortably. A bivi would add maybe +5c?

This concept is about providing reasonable warmth at a reasonable cost with reasonable weight/space savings.

Keep the feedback rolling in please!
 
Last edited:

oldtimer

Full Member
Sep 27, 2005
3,202
1,827
82
Oxfordshire and Pyrenees-Orientales, France
Just to add my two cents worth to what has already been said. It is not a new idea: I too remember then as pied d'elephant- elephants foot. They were popular with alpinists for bivouacs at minimum weight, the idea being that you already had a down jcket, so why carry a full length bag. They didn't make the mainstream then so I for one wouldn't buy shares in a company reviving the idea that didn't catch on first time round.
 

Retired Member southey

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jun 4, 2006
11,098
13
your house!
Would I be able to isolate the sleeves from the main bag, so I could pull my arms in and just have to warm the main else invariably I would get cold leaks from the arm pits, wrists. The lack of hood really puts me off though, an integral hood would make for a much better system IMO. Would it have any kind of internal baffle? What kind of cuffs? I can't stand elasticated cuffs such as on the softy(hence why I gave min to wifely) a Velcro cuff like the buffalo spec6 wide and comfy tape would suit me. I ave always wondered if a pocket to hold your roll mat would work on a bag(so as you can't roll of it. No pockets too, rolling on too a pocket zip would be annoying and with that where would the bottom bag zip onto the jacket, would it be padded out having a lump that ran all the way around In the kidney down to thigh area might get a bit annoying. Then getting up for a pee would mean having to remove the bag to walk, pee, return zip bag on. Maybe being able to undo it and fold it back like the old German sniper bag could be an idea, so you might reserve some of its warmth.

Southey.
 

Johnnyboy1971

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Dec 24, 2010
4,155
26
52
Yorkshire
Just a thought but instead of having it zip onto a jacket, why not make the bag a little longer with elasticated draw cord at the top and integrated braces to stop it falling down. This way it could be worn with any jacket and also in a hammock if required.
 

treefrog

Full Member
Aug 4, 2008
650
35
South Yorkshire
It is not a new idea: I too remember then as pied d'elephant- elephants foot. They were popular with alpinists for bivouacs

Alpkit used to do one but dropped it from their range.

PC020872.jpg
 
Last edited:

widu13

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 9, 2008
2,334
19
Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt
The principle will be ease of access/egress with minimum "faffing" about. The various systems to join the bag have been considered but the prototype will be a zip fastening at the waist.
 

lostplanet

Full Member
Aug 18, 2005
2,124
244
53
Kent
I had a good think about using this item last night and to boil it down these are my concerns so far,

Now I know this is rather negative but we generally plan for the worst and hope for the best.....

Possibility of and what may cause problems, With no alternative sleeping system and compared to existing sleeping bag systems

1. Being soaked through and then having to sleep in the jacket.
2. Damaging the jacket as much to reduce the sleeping comfort and heat retention effectiveness. ie: Main Zip failure.
3. No hood. (I assumed it would have a hood by design)
4. I find sleeping in clothing uncomfortable.
5. Would I want to wear the same jacket(made of man made fibres)I just slept in over a long period of time?
6. With the possiblity of continued washing(more so than a sleeping bag) of the jacket will it lose the loft and therefore heat retention ability?
7. What would be the season rating of the system?

I like this concept but its not a eureka moment for me just yet.

Althought the Military and Bushcrafters find themselves in the outdoors for prolonged periods of time whether by choice or not, some systems seem to be effective and effeicient for both users but then some are not.

If this system is to be aimed at the Military and then ported to bushcraft and wild camping, then really it should be dissected by those already in the situations the system is being designed for. If they come back with all the issues and product being a vast improvement on exisiting systems then I am sure bushcrafters can adapt the system, however I don't know if this works as quickly in reverse.

All I am saying is it might be worth pinging the idea on the ARRSE and similar forums as well because I am interested to see what they think too.
 
Last edited:

Tiley

Life Member
Oct 19, 2006
2,364
375
60
Gloucestershire
I wouldn't to be honest. If I had been in the rain all day, working hard and sweating as you would expect, the last thing I would want is to have to sleep in the jacket I may have been wearing. For the sake of a few grams I would stick with separate bag, bag liner and coat.

Now something I would be interested in would be a sleeping bag that is specifically designed for use in a hammock to defeat the having to carry a underquilt and/or using a sleep/inflatable/reflective heat type mats.

My thoughts exactly. The pied d'elephant was not a great piece of kit so why should this be any better? Also, a jacket that keeps off the chill when you're awake will probably not be so effective when you're asleep - after all, your metabolic rate slows and, as a result, you cool down. So, you would need an extra layer under the jacket to retain that warmth. There also seem to be certain inconveniences when trying to go for a pee in the middle of the night. The prospect of having to perform some weird kind of dance to unzip the legs from the jacket when bleary-eyed and increasingly desperate does not appeal. Couple that with the fact that I quite like to tuck my arms in with the rest of me when beddy-byes comes along.

BUT I do like the idea of a dedicated hammock bag. I would definitely make room for one of those, if anyone had the patience, time and resources to produce it!
 

widu13

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 9, 2008
2,334
19
Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt
Some good points raised here. I fully accept that this system will not be for everyone. Keep it coming.

@Richard; if you have any more info on the issue system I would be very interested. I would normally hear about this through work and haven't. Is it a trial?
 

mousey

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 15, 2010
2,210
254
42
NE Scotland
Recently I've thought about reducing my pack weight. One of those thoughts was a half size sleeping bag coupled with a padded/insulated jacket, [the issue of down vs synthetic insulation I've not really decided on] you do get the bonus of double use for the jacket in day and night - but I never thought of the issue of it being too cold in the night and too hot in the day, etc. The idea seems a good one to me just not sure how practical it maybe.

Why does it need to be zipped at all? I realise your trying to cater for one size fits all thing but if I had a long jacket that came down to thigh height and a bag which came to around belly button height, there would be about 8 inch of overlap [on me] - would this not be enough coupled with an elastic or drawstring cord to close the jacket to the bag? - Bag on the outside, jacket in or the other way round?

I am interested to see where this goes......
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE