Sleeping bags vs duvets on board

I've found that all sleeping bag lose their insulation over time and need to be ditched or doubled up. I never wash mine as this exacerbates the loss of insulation. A hang out on the washing line freshens them up.
The tapered or mummy bags feel very claustrophobic to me, I like a large rectangular bag that I can turn over inside. My current one is from Argos and has lasted well. No good for back packing as it would easily fill a rucksac but great on a boat.
 
Like a few others I don't go to 'bed' whilst underway at night but just lie down in the main cabin. My bunk though has a fitted sheet and duvet and if it gets chilly another cheap duvet is used on top as well. When on other boats I use a down sleeping bag.
 
in winter we use a cotton "sleeping bag" from decathlon, it dont "rustle" like a sleeping bag nor does it feel like your sleeping in a plastic carrier bag, and they're very warm

if its summer then we will bring a duvet aboard.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Agreed about the shape. Also, I don't like shiny finishes - they always feel cold and damp to me. When I bought my boat I found some surprisingly nice rectangular sleeping bags with a soft finish for a tenner each in Tesco, and they are still going strong, ten years later.
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I forgot to mention that I also have a large supply of IKEA fleece throws/blankets (like this), which supplement the sleeping bags in cold weather and replace them in warm weather - during the summer I often sleep under just a single fleece layer.
 
On my own boat, we tend to bring what we find is comfortable. Sheets and duvet. Pillows are important.
Formy Daughter and Boys will bring blankets, Duvet or sleeping bags as they like. Depends what they wish to pack on and off.

I like to bring a sleeping bag, if on another boat. I have both the cheep Walmart variety which are readily replaceable and just go in the wash.
Or my fancy light weight micro fibre sub zero squish in a tiny bag, hiking and kayaking bag. Which is particularly good if traveling,
It goes right in my back pack.

The sub zero, is a bit of an exaggeration. It will keep you from getting hypothermia, which is not quite the same as cozy.

I tried the double, sleeping bag, zipped together, on a camping trip in jasper many decades ago, it lasted half of one night.
The zippers were undone, never to be used again over 30 years later.:):)

Perhaps this is why so many modern Gentleman's yachts, chosen by their spouse, have double aft cabins.
 
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Duvets, unfitted flat sheets and feather pillows.

We sleep in the saloon and put them away in zip up bags, one for each set of bedding, in the forecabin. Similar for guests in forecabin.

If we have a full complement of six, only one proper pillow each, supplemented by scatter cushions.
 
My boat is very small and has no mod cons........I take a double sleeping bag that stops the being constrained feeling, but sometimes its simply not warm enough, so I end up putting a sleeping bag inside the double.....so I'm constrained...but warm. A duvet on a double berth is great as long as you can stop it getting damp. You can stuff a sleeping bag into a bag and take it off to a laundrette quite easily to air it. A duvet is a bit less wieldy in extremis, but for comfort is difficult to match.
 
Poignard said:
Flannel pyjamas are the thing for comfort.
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LOL Many were laughing at a chap wearing flannel 'lounging trousers' whilst in the Observatory bar on board Fred Olsen's Balmoral cruise ship over Christmas. Someone needs to explain to the greater British public that lounge wear and pyjamas are the same thing :)

Mind you, wearing my chosen sleepwear anywhere other than bed will get me arrested. At least I have to put my y-fronts on before dealing with the halyard hitting the mast...
 
We have all three cabins with the beds permanently made up with 3 double sheets on top of mattress protectors, then 6 duvets and 6 pillows, duvet thickness varies with season - in August we'll use fleece blankets inside duvet covers due to the heat.

As a kid we were squished - 3 up into the forecabin of my parents boat in sleeping bags on vinyl, they were damp and sticky and very restrictive ... used to wake up with condensation dripping off the cabin roof onto my face ..... there was no way I was going to suffer that as an adult on my own boat, I'm a big girls blouse now who likes his home comforts.
 
gdallas said:
My boat has two settee berths (and a rarely used quarter berth). The berths are not wide and the cushions are vinyl. I have leecloths and use them.
I’ve been using a sleeping bag that’s due for renewal. But I’m thinking about using a single duvet instead. It’s just about wide enough to go round me, I think, and the thought of a washable cover is attractive... I hate the constricted feeling you get in a bag, and don’t like the struggle in and out.
any thoughts? Anyone else do this? Any ideas on how to stow a duvet hehehe? I have very limited space on board so need to think about that too
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Like you I hate the constriction. But instead of a duvet I use fleece blankets - much more adjustable for ambient temperature. A duvet that works in winter is too think for summer etc
 
Graham_Wright said:
Sleeping bags have cold zips. Not nice if you sleep naked.:(
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Snowflake!

Whatever selection the OP - or I - makes, for the past 3 decades there's been one golden rule..... the sleeping bag/duvet/whatever lives in its own drybag whenever I'm not in it. Period.
 
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