[pct-l] Re: New Revolutionary Gear Concepts Plus Eliminating the Sleeping Bag

[patch at aidshike.org (Dr. Patch O'Malley IV)]

I can admit, I've been pondering this question as well. A half-bag that 
either zippered or velcroed to a jacket is my going thought. Here're the 
tricks I'm thinking about using:
1. Use two down jackets, one worn over the other, one thicker than the 
other. One coldest nights, both are used. Warm nights, the thin one 
used, and on slightly cold nights, the thick one used. This adds 
versatility (because you can choose the warmth of your system each 
night), safety (because if one jacket gets wet, you may still have the 
other other), and the ability to maybe hike in the thinner jacket.
2. Make them have warm down hoods with draw cords.
3. Have drawcords around the cuffs and shoulders. On the very coldest 
nights, cinch them down and pull them in around your neck, like a draft 
collar on a sleeping bag. Or, you could even stuff them up in the hoods 
to make your head warmer.

This could almost work if coupled with a warm balaclava. I think. I need 
to get a higher paying job before I can do this though...that's the big 
caveat for me.

-patch

Mark Verber wrote:

>One thing to keep in mind is that you need approx 2x the insulation when
>asleep as you do when you are moderately active (e.g. walking around camp).
>If you bring clothing that is warm enough to sleep in, you are likely to
>find that they are going to be on the seriously warm side when you are awake
>and moving around.
>
>The US army made a table of insulation recommended for conditions:
>
>*Effective Temp* *Sleeping* *Light Work* *Heavy Work*   +40F 1.5" 0.8" 0.2"
>+20F 2.0" 1.0" 0.27"  0F 2.5" 1.3" 0.35"  -20F 3.0" 1.6" 0.40"
>
>So clothing which is warm enough to sleep in at 40F would be warm enough for
>~ -10F camp wear.  Serious overkill.  For me, this would mean I would have
>to bring additional (lighter insulating) clothing so I don't roast myself
>before bed.  Rather I would recommend bringing insulating clothing which
>will keep you comfortable as camp wear, and plan to make those cloths part
>of your sleeping system, e.g. go with a lighter bag or quilt than you would
>if you weren't wearing clothing in your bag.
>
>Note: The loft listed is insulation on each side of you, typically sleeping
>bag loft is reported at 2x this number, e.g. bottom loft + top loft.
>
>My experience (yours might differ) is that the listed numbers are slightly
>optimistic to be comfortable sleeping, conservative for light work, and
>mostly on the money for heavy work except in warmest temp (40F) I need even
>less while working hard.
>
>--mark
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