Using a bivouac sack (also known as a bivy sack) with your sleeping bag will increase your comfort while sleeping. Since you will lose much heat to the ground, it is very important to use a sleeping pad, perhaps even two. This will insulate you from the ground and keep you warm.

If you have a mummy sleeping bag make sure you close it up so your eyes, mouth, and nose are exposed. Breathing into your sleeping bag, will wet it and decrease its ability to keep you warm. If you have another style of sleeping bag, sleep with a hat on. (more…)

Machine Wash
You don’t want to wash your sleeping bag in a home washing machine. Instead take it to a laundramat where you can wash it in a front loading machine. A top loading machine can damage your bag. Your choice for detergent depends on your bag’s insulation material. For synthetic bags, a mild detergent or cleaner specially designed for synthetics is your best bet. Use specially formulated down soap or mild soap for a down bag. Srubbing the outside of the bag especially the head and foot area before washing is a good idea. Water temperature for washing should be warm, with a cold rinse.

Hand Wash
You can also hand wash your sleeping bag in your bathtub using warm water and mild detergent for synthetics and down cleaner for your down bag. Scrub the head and foot of the bag but be gently. You will not be able to remove every stain on the bag. After scrubbing is done, drain the water and press soapy water out of the bag with your hands. Keep the bag on the tub floor and don’t wring it. Refill the tub with cold water at least three or four more times to be sure all the detergent is rinsed. Leftover soap will cause the fill to mat.

Drying
Gently roll the sleeping bag to squeeze as much water as you can. Place the bag into a plastic clothesbasket carefully. Don’t lift from one end of the bag. Tumble dry in large commercial dryer on medium low heat. You may also put in some terry cloth towels to decrease drying time and minimize static electricity. A couple of tennis balls will fluff the fill. UV sun rays will damage nylon so you don’t want to hang your bag to dry in the sun.

WD-40 applied on your sleeping bag or tent’s zippers will allow it to close much easier. A pencil (#2 works best) rubbed along the zipper teeth will also work in a pinch. Beeswax is another option.

One of the first consideration should be how you are going to using the sleeping bag. If the purpose is for car camping, then comfort should be looked at closely. However if you will be doing a lot of backpacking, you will want to consider size and weight.

The temperature rating of your bag will depend on the locations and seasons you plan to camp.Traditional bags are rated at 40 degrees F while three season bags should keep you comfortable at 20 degrees F. Cold weather bags are rated at 0 degrees F and lastly winter sleeping bags are rated anywhere from -15 to -30 degrees F. A ground pad or air mattress should be considered for comfort as well as extra insulation against the cold ground. (more…)

Down is the perfect natural insulator as it gives almost twice the warmth/weight performance as synthetic filling. Down will also retain its loft at least twice as long as synthetic wadding. As a result down is more expensive than synthetics but over time is cheaper once resilence is factored in. The big drawback is that down takes a long time to dry when wet. (more…)