Another daft idea

[pozorvlak]

Sleeping bags with sleeves, allowing for the following use cases:

1. Cuddling in tents. Because I'm soppy like that.
2. Sitting around in, say, a fscking cold flat in winter.
3. Camping in cold situations, where you want to do your sleeping bag all the way up but don't want to risk being unable to unzip yourself later.

The sleeves should terminate in mittens, for Safety. To support use case 2, the mittens should perhaps be the type where the end can be folded back to reveal the wearer's fingers.

There's prior art: several brands of blankets-with-sleeves are commercially available.

Comments

[susannahf.livejournal.com]

http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/selk-bags/index.html
way more practical than a slanket, although probably too warm to actually be usable in most domestic situations

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

Curses! Though at that stage, you're pretty much into Polar Hero all-in-one duvet suits...

I'm told that in northern Japan, the preferred winter sitting-in-one-place-and-staying-warm solution is a sort of room-covering duvet with integral brazier - I have no idea how they prevent it from catching fire. Etiquette forbids the guest from doing anything at all for themself, a rule my friend was very glad to take advantage of while staying there.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

The duvet/brazier things are called kotatsu, it turns out. Here's a picture of an electric one (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kotatsu-tastefulTN.jpg).

[(Anonymous)]

Have you seen the sleeping bags for babies? They are essentially sleeping bags with arm holes, so the baby can't snuggle under the covers and potentially suffocate but allow easy access for nappy changing - something that could be incorporated into an adult version allowing midnight urination without getting too cold....

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

That's where your Andy Kirkpatrick signature piss bottle (http://www.collectedcurios.com/SA_0343_small.jpg) comes in handy...

[half-of-monty.livejournal.com]

1. Cuddling in tents can be best achieved by zipping your sleeping bags together. This additionally means that you're warmer and have more room!

2. Is your flat colder than ours? Well done. Have a houseblanket and some fingerless gloves.

3. Does your sleeping bag zip not have a tag thingy inside and out, so you can always unzip yourself from the inside? If not, I suggest you fashion one with a bit of wire and string.

Not that I'm against the idea. It would also be nice to have somewhere safe to put a nice cup of tea in a tent.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

1. I think all my sleeping bags (three at the last count) have different-gauge zips, so that wouldn't work. I'll check, though. I'd also heard that double sleeping bags let in draughts and thus are less warm than two individual sleeping bags, but possibly this depends on the vehemence of the cuddling involved.

2. I haven't been inside your current flat, but ours is fscking cold. And damp - humidity above 70% most of the time. The thought of buying a dehumidifier for next winter has been mooted, as has the thought of moving somewhere drier (though finding such a place in Edinburgh may be tricky). Also, having got fat slowly and then got thinnish again fairly quickly, I'm a lot more sensitive to cold than I used to be.

3. Yes, but the upper section is a bit too narrow to move my arms about, and I get paranoid. Lengthening said tag with a bit of string is a good idea, though.

It would also be nice to have somewhere safe to put a nice cup of tea in a tent.

barrel sling around the cup (http://moblog.net/view/97490/knots-again-in-better-light), hang it off the roof. Note that there are two forms of barrel sling - one that's quicker to tie, and one that holds its shape when empty. You probably want the second one.

[half-of-monty.livejournal.com]

I thought they'd standardised the gauge of sleeping bag zips for this very reason. Haven't they? Silly them.

I suppose that double sleeping bags are a lot draughtier than single, but the whole shared body warmth effect is a *lot* warmer so I think you still win.

I am not especially wise in the ways of barrel slings. I suppose I can google for some instructions just as easily as you can, though.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

One of my sleeping bags is (I think) 17 years old, so it may well be pre-standardisation. However, I haven't actually tried: I'll do so this evening.

The Blacks "buy one get one half-price" sale is calling to me...

[michaelp-j (from livejournal.com)]

Blacks also used to sell "sleeping bag expanders" for certain brands of sleeping bag: this is a piece of fabric about 15cm wide with zips on both sides, which enlarges a one-person bag to make it big enough for two people to be cozy in. The giant double sleeping bags (a la Coleman) are indeed rather drafty.

Double bivvy bags are virtually impossible to buy, but fortunately a lot of single ones are generous enough to get two people into.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

A slight refinement to the barrel sling idea: clove-hitch a karabiner to the handle part of the barrel sling (ie, the point from which the whole thing is suspended), and then you can easily clip it up. I'm assuming your tent is like mine and has a handy piece of line near the ceiling from which you can hang stuff.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

Using the Awesome Power of SCIENCE!, I have determined that my sleeping bags do not, in fact, zip together.

[michaelp-j (from livejournal.com)]

If you are a truly clumsy in-tent tea-drinker, you could get a yachtsman's tea mug like this one (http://marinestore.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NT6109). Can't be knocked over easily and has a non-spill top.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

nastyicydeath has something a bit like that, with the added plus that it holds at least a pint of tea. I had serious mug-envy at the weekend.

[dynix.livejournal.com]

thermal mugs fit nicely in walking boots, as a makeshift steadying device:)

[ryani.livejournal.com]

More prior art:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h05ZQ7WHw8Y

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

... so you didn't like the idea, then? ;)

Anyway, that's enabled me to find this comparative review (http://i.gizmodo.com/5190557/ultimate-battle-the-snuggie-vs-slanket-vs-freedom-blanket-vs-blankoat?skyline=true&s=i) - thanks!

[ryani.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't have an opinion one way or the other on the idea; it seems like it's definitely personal preference and I haven't done any personal research :)

I'm just a fan of mocking advertisers.

[ryani.livejournal.com]

See also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWRyj5cHIQA

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

Excellent :-)

By the way, did you know about that guy's troubles with the Church of Scientology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Offer)?

[ryani.livejournal.com]

No, that's crazy. They've got their fingers in everything!

[woodpijn.livejournal.com]

We have a selk bag, as mentioned up-thread, for #2 and #3, and a double sleeping bag for #1. Yay.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

How does the selk bag work out? I must say, the whole having-legs thing makes it look rather more... energetic than my original conception.

[woodpijn.livejournal.com]

It's a bit bulky and unwieldy to run around in or anything. We mainly use it sitting at the computer or lying around on the sofa. The having-legs thing just means if you do happen to need to get something from across the room you can walk rather than slither.