fragrant sleeping bags

dylanwinter

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Buckingham
www.keepturningleft.co.uk
I am a fairly instensive user of sleeping bags

spending at least three nights every two weeks on the boat


in my experience they are never the same after they have been washed

I tend to use two cheap ones

they start as an outie and then get used as an innie before finally being downgraded to a dog bed liner

in the summer I air them as much as possible

both when on the boat and when they come home

much harder to do in the winter time

they get an airing when I get home - but it is never as good as leaving them on the line or spread out on the trampoline for the sun and wind to do their best

I wondered if anyone has any tips for keeping them fragrant

or if they have come across brands which are tolerant of frequent machine washing

It will have to be sleeping bags on my boat - it is not big enough for duvets and sheets

Dylan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFIagI8SodI
 
I have used the same sleeping bag for the last 6 years. At least once a year I take it home and my wife puts it through the washing machine and then hangs it on the line for two days. I'm not sure what brand it is or what the filling is but it has been soaked in salt water many times and spends most of the winter ringing wet from rain dripping through a persistent leak above my quarter berth. The zip no longer works as it has degraded through being in salt water for week after week. But amazingly as a throw over blanket it still keeps me warm. I was on the boat the other night on the hard when it got down to -4C. I won't say I was warm and toasty throughout the night but other than my feet which felt constantly cold I felt comfortable.

The sleeping bag is a 3 season mummy bag with a good hood and has some form of artificial down filling. Next time on the boat I will look at its bag which does carry a brand name.

You did give me one good idea. I had never thought about using two sleeping bags in this cold weather.
 
thanks Ed

but....

£255 for a sleeping bag.....


the buffalo ones are so pricey they do not even put the prices up


that money would finance five three day trips to the boat


so I won't be going down that route

at the moment argos is my chosen purveyor of sleeping apparel

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/s...at_33007546|Sleeping+bags|33015247&authToken=

I would rather spend that sort of money on a pair of Dubs

Dylan
 
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Dylan for years I have just used a sheet sleeping bag. It's just a cotton liner made from flannalet type material, brushed cotton. Easy to wash.
 
leaving them on the line or spread out on the trampoline

Never mind the sleeping bags - what's this about a trampoline?

We know you don't sail a cat, so this must be one of those garden trampolines.

We know your children are grown up and moved out.

So who is bouncing up and down on the trampoline?

Is it you?

And,

Can we have a video? :D

Pete
 
As you do, we try to air the bedding as oft as possible to keep it nice to climb into, we had to bring it all home after a cold night aboard a couple of weeks ago.

We currently have 2 sleeping bags with broken zips so I'm thinking about replacing them with 2 of these :

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/vango-nitezone-350-p211040

I'm sure I have had a pro-mo booklet through the door saying thay are £17:50 "for this week only" but they aren't very expensive anyway.

We have two summer weight synthetic filling bags that have been washed sucessfully but they wouldn't be warm enough for use in this weather.
 
plan

Dylan for years I have just used a sheet sleeping bag. It's just a cotton liner made from flannalet type material, brushed cotton. Easy to wash.

so do you put that inside another sleeping bag?

of course curry/beer farts do not recognise the barriers

Dylan

as for the trampoline....

big garden and it will stay there until it breaks

gets used occasionally

but great for drying stuff on

sails, sleeping bags, wet tents etc etc

you can see it on google earth
 
+1 for sheet sleeping bag liners. We wash our sleeping bag once a year, but the liner can be washed ad lib; it's just like washing a sheet. We air the sleeping bag over the boom when we can to get rid of "vaporous emissions" :D, but of course it is protected from perspiration etc. so doesn't get dirty.

A handy tip for those with double sleeping bags, for which sheet sleeping bags are available, but you have to search. A double cotton duvet cover works just as well!
 
We currently have 2 sleeping bags with broken zips so I'm thinking about replacing them with 2 of these :

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/vango-nitezone-350-p211040

I'm sure I have had a pro-mo booklet through the door saying thay are £17:50 "for this week only" but they aren't very expensive anyway.

I think that's the bag I have, nice and warm, had it about a year. I think it was about 40-50 when I bought it (from argos I think) so that is a very good price.
 
I think that's the bag I have, nice and warm, had it about a year. I think it was about 40-50 when I bought it (from argos I think) so that is a very good price.

One of the bags with a broken zip is a NS 350, the other is a NS 250, we got them 10 yrs ago when I bought the Jag 25 so they have done OK, about £35 each from a shop in Bowness. We couldn't get 2 the same with different handed zips so they could be zipped together ;)
 
I sleep routinely in a SnugPak. I think it's just a 2-season. When it gets really chilly I go foetal and draw it over my head. When it's REALLY cold the dog gets in with me. Survived a few -15C and one -16C night like that with hatch wide and no heating on with no ill effects... The bag hasn't been washed in ages. Seems fine to me. And the dog. Thinking about it though, Mrs Bob hasn't invited me over to her bag for a little while!

I have washed it on occasion and it never seems to suffer. I had a "down" bag once. That was never the same after its first wash. Haven't bought a down bag since then.
 
I used duvets even in a Corribee, hang em on the boom for airing... machine wash, easy, prob as inexpensive as cheap sleeping bags too but this is not an attempt to convince anyone....
 
I sleep routinely in a SnugPak. I think it's just a 2-season. When it gets really chilly I go foetal and draw it over my head. When it's REALLY cold the dog gets in with me. Survived a few -15C and one -16C night like that with hatch wide and no heating on with no ill effects... The bag hasn't been washed in ages. Seems fine to me. And the dog. Thinking about it though, Mrs Bob hasn't invited me over to her bag for a little while!

I have washed it on occasion and it never seems to suffer. I had a "down" bag once. That was never the same after its first wash. Haven't bought a down bag since then.


There are several advantages to a double sleeping bag - shared warmth, and I don't need to be invited to my wife's bag :) Also, it seems that wives are more fussy about maintaining such equipment, so the sleeping bag gets aired and the liner washed more often that i'd probably manage on my own.

I thought that down filled equipment was not washable :( Certainly, I'd read the care instructions VERY carefully before trying. They may be dry-cleanable, though.
 
I thought that down filled equipment was not washable :( Certainly, I'd read the care instructions VERY carefully before trying. They may be dry-cleanable, though.

Whether it says it is or not, it isn't in my experience. I seem to recall I was told it would be OK if I then tumble-dried it in a big dryer, with some tennis balls, for a while.

Even if I had done that (which I didn't) I can't imagine it would ever be the same again.

They're so light and pack so small and feel so nice and are so warm - but I'd never buy another one.

It's so easy for a sleeping bag to get an accidental washing after all - sea water - rain water, spillage... too much alcohol water, dog water ;)
 
no separate place

katie L has just the one cabin - so all bedding has to be packed up and stowed each day

not separate sleeping area

and as for a double

jill does not come sailing when it is cold

and we have a giant erect pole that gets in the way of a double

so it has to be sleeping bags

I am not that keen on the mummies

it might be that I already have the right system

maybe just the occasional tumble in the drier with one of those bits of anti-static jobbies

Dylan
 
What is wrong with leaving the Eberspacher on all night? - No need for sleeping bags then. Just make sure the CO detector(s) is(are) working:D
 
big assumption

What is wrong with leaving the Eberspacher on all night? - No need for sleeping bags then. Just make sure the CO detector(s) is(are) working:D

No eberspacher

it is a lot of energy and cost to leave the things running all night

don't like the noise

I am very happy with the low temps at night

and the cabin warms up very fast once the kettle goes on
 
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