[pct-l] mummy bags

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Sherry,



You don’t “need” a mummy bag, what you need is whatever will allow you to
sleep comfortably -- possibly down to 30 degrees.  Within any temperature
range a mummy bag is the most efficient insulation for the weight.  In the
30-degree range a sleeping bag should weigh about 1-2 lbs.



I know the claustrophobic feeling when one can’t draw the knees up, but
there are several options:  1) Leave the zipper down and cover yourself with
the open mummy bag; one half of the open zipper down each side of your
insulating pad.  In effect you will have what hikers refer to as a “quilt”
or “robe”, and you will be covered but not confined.  A down-side is you
will have to sleep directly on the sleeping pad.  Some people don’t like the
feel of that, but it doesn’t usually bother me.  2) Think differently about
drawing up your legs.  Instead of trying to do so entirely inside the bag,
draw up your legs by bending the entire sleeping bag at your knees and
waist.  For example, if you were wearing thick snowsuit paints you would
just bend your legs without trying to double them inside the pant legs.  Think
of the bag as a big, loose, one-legged snowsuit.



In the process of trying one of these options, begin sleeping in the bag, on
the floor, at home.  It’s good practice for sleeping on the ground while on
a hike.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Wed, May 5, 2010 at 8:49 AM, Sherry Smith <sherry_s1954 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I tried using a regular sized mummy bag.  I tried pulling my leg up in the
> middle of the night, got stuck and woke up in a panic.  (Claustrophobic).
>  So I purchased an over sized mummy bag through costco.  It weighs 4 lbs and
> is really too big (I have LOTS of room inside the bag), not to mention that
> I can't get the thing to fit inside my backpack where sleeping bags go.  And
> if I am going to hike the Oregon section of the PCT starting sometime mid
> July do I really need a mummy bag?
> Sherry
>
>
>
>
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