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Sleeping bag - comfortable if you want to sleep

- when you want to dream sweetly

There is an incredible amount of sleeping bags on the market! Everything from the thinnest, cheapest to the Rolls-Royce of sleeping bags.
But something in between is probably Swedish enough.

What you should think about when shopping for a sleeping bag is how frozen you are, i.e. what is the recommended temperature on the bag and that it is the right length and width. If it is too short, there is a risk of freezing because the sack is stretched over the feet, and it is also not very comfortable. A bag that is too big takes a long time to heat up and it uses an unnecessary amount of energy. And if it's really cold, it's devastating, at least for my sleep... 😉 And then it should be wide enough too, but I want to be able to turn around like usual, but not too wide...

The recommended temperatures are now also (on most brands) graduated for men and women. Most follow the standard EN 13537 so it is easy to compare different brands and models. Me & Erik are quite different from us. Before we had the same sleeping bags where I lay in full underwear and with a fully buttoned bag with only a small breathing hole and Erik lay on the other side in shorts with a half-open bag.

Search for Sleeping Bags on Amazon

Previously we only used synthetic sacks, but have now switched completely to down sacks. And in the beginning, we also used the same sack all year round, and regulated the temperature with the help of sleeping bag sheets, extra fleece inner sack, etc. I myself never went on overnight trips in the winter, because it was far too cold already in October/November.
Moving away from synthetic bags was partly to get smaller and lighter bags and partly it feels better to be surrounded by natural materials than synthetic ditto. Double sleeping bags or a thick inner bag work just as well, but it easily becomes quite lumpy and lumpy. Definitely smoother, more comfortable and nicer with a warmer sack instead. If you use an extra sack, it's good that one of the sacks is bigger so it can still be enjoyable or if it's enough to just use one as a blanket.

We use always sleeping bag sheets, among other things it makes the bag a few extra degrees, but above all it is much easier to wash the sheet than the sleeping bag and in this way you give the real bag a longer life. To begin with, we used sheets made of synthetic material, but now silk sheets are used.

Most of the time we also sleep in thin woolen underwear. Not so much for warmth, but we think it's more comfortable and you don't have to put on cold underwear in the morning. And if you have to run out into a bush during the night, you don't freeze so dangerously in winter 🙂

Bags we used and use

A pair of simple Caravans were the first bags we bought, they worked perfectly for the holiday week we paddled at the beginning of our outdoor career... Back then we paddled big kayaks with almost infinite space. And they were just big.

Haglöfs Ultra Pro #5 was the next purchase when we changed kayaks and needed bags that took up less space and were a little warmer.

The Haglöfs Ultra Pro #18 was a synthetic winter bag that we purchased mainly for min sake. It went down to -18°C and was really great, but it took up a lot of space in the kayak. Especially as I thought the kayak needed to hold a lot more clothes when it got cold 😉

Various fleece sacks have also been purchased, a mountain fox sack, an Everest and a "no name", but we never really became friends with them. It felt far too clumsy to have them in an otherwise reasonably sized sleeping bag and they take up quite a lot of space too. But for indoor use or as a cozy blanket, they are fine.

Our dear down bags. The ones we bought first were the winter bags, Erik's one Apache, length 200cm and comfort temperature -9°C, min Antelope, length 180cm and -15°C. We had been told that Western mountaineering was a good brand when it came to down and that they have been at it for 20 years just developing their down stuff. We wanted good stuff, which lasts a long time, has a low weight and a small packing volume, so we just had to go for it.
And they really are a highlight! You want to crawl into them right away. And I sleep like a princess! Extra plus that they take up so little space.

The summer bags were purchased at the FairEnough fair in spring 2004. Erik bought one highlite, length 200cm and weight 485 grams with a short zipper and slightly lighter than mine Caribou, length 180cm just over 600g and both have a recommended comfort temp. at +2°C.
Erik's summer bag is squeezed into a small 3-liter duffel bag without any problems, while mine is slightly larger. Great that they take up so little space, weigh so little and are also super comfortable to lie in.

We have now used a bit of mixed stuff from Western Mountaineering for just over ten years and are very satisfied with both the down sleeping bags, the down jackets, the down pants and the down socks.

But can you really use it? down products when paddling, don't they get wet? Is a relatively common question. And then one might wonder: do you sleep in the water? 😉

Of course you can use a down sleeping bag, down jacket and other down products on paddling trips, they are lighter, nicer, last longer, etc...

Buy sleeping bags at out north & The outdoor expert 

Links to some of our down stuff:

Pia (updated 111026)

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