Bushwalk Australia

Does anyone have any first hand experience with dual sleeping bags, to save weight and conserve warmth in winter?
I've been doing a bit of researching and the concept seems good.
Maybe I'll have made a decison by next winter...

eg Dual Alpinist by Nanatuk
You can have midline zip or optional dual side zips
http://www.nunatakusa.com/site07/other_ ... pinist.htm
(need down balaclavas)

Feathered Friends Spoonbill
http://www.featheredfriends.com/Picasso ... nbill.html
I can't find what the zip configuration is, but I do like the individual hoods, and custom colours
This won the 2012 Backpacker Editor's Choice Award.

Zpacks
http://www.zpacks.com/quilts/sleepingbag.shtml
Very customisable in regards to size and design
Zipper can be on the bottom or side, or you can have loop closures
Once again you'd need down balaclavas or similar
About half the price of some of the others

You can get tabs that attach thermarest type sleeping mats together so one person doesn't get stuck in the 'ditch', or I guess if you were car camping you could have a dedicated double mat

exped you can also join the sleeping bags together... great bags although i dont join mine, my girlfriend uses a different brand.

I can only draw from our experiences using cheapo Roman synthetic bags car camping.

Pluses: Warm!
Minuses: Strangely claustrophobic even compared to a tight single mummy style bag. If you tend to move around a bit during the night then this is like sleeping with a boulder anchoring your bag. (jeepers, hope the wife doesn't read this!) The sleeping partner restricts movement... Also, there is no way to leave for a toilet break without waking the other person up and in the cold, freezing them with a cold blast of air (and cold feet upon your return)

Summary: Very cuddly and warm, but not the best for restless or light sleepers.

I used a double bag about 30 years ago. Bags then were not so mummy shaped. (Mine came from a company called Point Five in the UK) Now I cant deny it did have its advantages but overall I think it was colder - the internal airspace was quite large and when you rolled over you wafted heat out of the bag. I dont know if the extra heat generated compensated for this but it may depend on the couple.

Overall, excellent idea, if a bit colder.

Chris

Hi Onestepmore,

I use a double bag system, my bags are a Western Mountaineering Summerlite and a BPL 180 synthetic quilt, (sadly no longer available).

In summer I use the quilt, in Spring/Autumn I use the Summerlite and in Winter I use both together and when I am snow camping on the Main Range I also use my Western Mountaineering Flash jacket and pants, with this combination I can handle just about any conditions Australia can throw at me.

Tony

I copied Tony, and was (i mean, still am) quite pleased with it too.

Funny how the bags you mentioned above, make indirect name inferences to how alpine climbers spoon each other for warmth. Generally this stuff is not talked about once they come down from the mountains.

ninjapuppet wrote: Funny how the bags you mentioned above, make indirect name inferences to how alpine climbers spoon each other for warmth. Generally this stuff is not talked about once they come down from the mountains.

a la Brokeback Mountain - err.....Cold Mountain

And in reply to Tony, I was referring to the double width sleeping bags that are made for two people sharing the one larger bag - click on the links I supplied to see what I mean. Your 'bag in a bag' concept seems good - I have different sleeping bag liners I can add, and bivvy covers etc which is sort of along similar lines, but haven't actually ever placed sleeping bags inside each other - good idea though.

What if your partner has a bad bout of gas?

I will be ordering a Spoonbill in Pertex Endurance UL soon so I can let you know how it goes. Feathered Friends also make the Penguin which is another option.

Here is a relevant exert from an email that I received from Feathered Friends:

Regarding the Spoonbill, it's been a very popular seller for us. The bag is designed to be as lightweight as possible, for climbing pairs that can equip themselves with double the warmth for less weight. The Spoonbill has a mummy-style zips, that extends down the side of the bag to the penultimate baffle. We could extend the zips, but this would be a custom order that I would not recommend unless it is very important to you.

If you're less interested in performance and lightweight, I would recommend the Penguin bag, which can be used for one two people in a backcountry bed situation. The Penguin has a L-shaped zip, that extends around the base of the bag.

From my research most of the criticisms of double sleeping bags seems to be addressed with the Spoonbill, namely independent hoods and zips. Feathered Friends say the bag was extensively tested on Denali, so despite lacking a temperature rating I expect this thing will be warm! Oh and just so you are aware, the Spoonbill does not use down on the bottom of the bag.

I am pretty sure this is a photo of the Penguin bag but I could be wrong. Looks pretty good to me!