Author Topic: Sleeping bag liner  (Read 1645 times)

Islandplodder

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Sleeping bag liner
« on: 13:11:48, 21/06/20 »
I have been thinking that I might have to go back to camping given the times we live in, but being small and getting on a bit, I really need to keep the weight down. My current sleeping bag, though good in many ways, is heavier than my new tent.
Someone suggested that if you use a liner, it almost made the difference between say a 2 and a 3 season sleeping bag, and would be a lot lighter. Has anyone any experience of this, or is it a marketing ploy for sleeping bag liners?

forgotmyoldpassword

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #1 on: 13:35:20, 21/06/20 »
Doesn't add more than a few degrees but sometimes that is all you need, but the value is more keeping the oils from your skin off the down in the bag - which makes it last longer and require fewer washes.


I don't tend to bring it for winter use but for summer when it's sticky humid conditions a liner and unzipped bag seems worthwhile.  Make sure you get a decent sleeping pad though as nothing makes you colder on a night than losing heat directly to the ground.

SteamyTea

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #2 on: 13:51:27, 21/06/20 »
I have been thinking that I might have to go back to camping given the times we live in, but being small and getting on a bit, I really need to keep the weight down. My current sleeping bag, though good in many ways, is heavier than my new tent.
I have the same issues.
I have a 300gsm bag that is pretty good, but does not compress too well and is weighty.
I also gave a very cheap 200gsm bag that is light and compressed well, so might try taking two of those as the total mass is probably less.


I also dislike 'hoods' on sleeping bags, can't see the point for the type of weather I would camp out in.
And 'mummy' bags are are just horrible.


Also worth knowing that there are two things that affect the thermal performance. The thermal conductivity, which is how fast and at what power the material looses energy.
Then there is the thermal capacity, or how much energy the material stores.
As a general rule you can have one but not the others. There are exceptions, but no-one likes a damp sleeping bag.
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ninthace

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #3 on: 15:23:39, 21/06/20 »
Don't forget the unalloyed pleasure of waking up to find you have turned over a few times in the night and so has the liner but (k)not the sleeping bag.  Then you have to work out how to unwind yourself and the liner before you can emerge to greet the day.  Perhaps these days liners have changed since they were just an old sheet that had had an encounter with a sewing machine?
I seem to recall a time when liners were also de rigeur in youth hostels or is that a figment of old age?
 
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richardh1905

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #4 on: 19:56:18, 21/06/20 »
I used a Buffalo fibre pile bag with a fibre pile liner - this served me well just below the snow line in the Alps, but was a wrestle to get in to and escape from.


I'm thinking of making a 'half liner' from an old jacket or whatever, just to cover my legs and feet, as it is my feet that get cold if I am camping in colder than anticipated conditions. Also - wearing clothes in your bag helps - I have in the past packed a pair of light fibre pile trousers for wearing at night whilst wild camping.
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ninthace

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #5 on: 20:33:43, 21/06/20 »
I used a Buffalo fibre pile bag with a fibre pile liner - this served me well just below the snow line in the Alps, but was a wrestle to get in to and escape from.


I'm thinking of making a 'half liner' from an old jacket or whatever, just to cover my legs and feet, as it is my feet that get cold if I am camping in colder than anticipated conditions. Also - wearing clothes in your bag helps - I have in the past packed a pair of light fibre pile trousers for wearing at night whilst wild camping.
Now you have stirred a memory.  When I was 16, camping in snow in Switzerand, I stuffed my liner with straw from a barn to make a palliasse to provide added insulation.
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gunwharfman

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #6 on: 21:35:54, 21/06/20 »
I'm not keen on liners, I turn over in my sleep and end up looking like a chrysalis!

I've tried two solutions, the first is to wear lightweight leggings, loose socks and to wear one of my warm jackets as sleeping attire, the other solution is that I've cut and sewn a 3' x 4' rectangle from an old down sleeping bag and it just clips to the inner torso area so I'm covered by two layers of warmth.

I am also hoping that my recent purchase of a Brynge 'string vest' might help as well, I can see me wearing that in the night and wearing one of my warm jackets as well.

I also find it useful sometimes to wear my lightweight gloves and my lightweight beanie as well.

Of course, the other factor to consider is, the mattress you sleep on, how good is it at keeping the ground cold from your body?

I have yet to decide though which system I will stick with. Lockdown has scuppered everything I wanted to test and do this year.

SteamyTea

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #7 on: 22:49:28, 21/06/20 »

Of course, the other factor to consider is, the mattress you sleep on, how good is it at keeping the ground cold from your body?
Other way around.
Heat, of itself, cannot go from the colder to the hotter.
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RMR

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #8 on: 04:04:57, 22/06/20 »
I use a Rab Silk liner for the cooler months and find that it does make a difference. Also like the feel of it.

GoneWest

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #9 on: 07:17:30, 22/06/20 »
Other way around.
Heat, of itself, cannot go from the colder to the hotter.
https://youtu.be/VnbiVw_1FNs


True but, by way of analogy, even scientists and engineers talk of electric current flowing from positive to negative when they know that the actual electrons go the other way.

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #10 on: 07:53:59, 22/06/20 »


True but, by way of analogy, even scientists and engineers talk of electric current flowing from positive to negative when they know that the actual electrons go the other way.
True, but the holes travel in the opposite direction.

SteamyTea

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #11 on: 08:57:55, 22/06/20 »
True, but the holes travel in the opposite direction.
I was once shown a great demo of how electrons move between home.
I quickly copied it by hand, no idea where it is now.  Probably in my loft with my other college notes.
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GoneWest

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #12 on: 11:22:18, 22/06/20 »
True, but the holes travel in the opposite direction.
Just like the cold, to complete the analogy and return vaguely in the direction of the topic.  :)

gunwharfman

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #13 on: 14:46:26, 22/06/20 »
What I was trying to suggest is that a mattress like my NeoAir also helps me to keep warm. If I lay directly on a cold floor, even in a sleeping bag I believe I will get cold fairly quickly. An insulating barrier, e.g. newspapers placed between my body and the cold floor will delay how long it will take before I feel cold. If I lie on a camp bed and the sleep-on material is 6" above the ground and the air is cold between the bed and the ground and I am just in my sleeping bag, I believe I will also get cold fairly quickly. However, if lay my mattress (inflated or not) or newspapers on the top on the camp bed material and then lie on it in my sleeping bag, it is my experience that I will not get cold for at least the duration of one 'normal' sleep period.

Am I correct or is my personal experience of being cold and then solving it in the way that I have done due to something else?

richardh1905

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Re: Sleeping bag liner
« Reply #14 on: 16:10:18, 22/06/20 »
What I was trying to suggest is that a mattress like my NeoAir also helps me to keep warm. If I lay directly on a cold floor, even in a sleeping bag I believe I will get cold fairly quickly. An insulating barrier, e.g. newspapers placed between my body and the cold floor will delay how long it will take before I feel cold. If I lie on a camp bed and the sleep-on material is 6" above the ground and the air is cold between the bed and the ground and I am just in my sleeping bag, I believe I will also get cold fairly quickly. However, if lay my mattress (inflated or not) or newspapers on the top on the camp bed material and then lie on it in my sleeping bag, it is my experience that I will not get cold for at least the duration of one 'normal' sleep period.

Am I correct or is my personal experience of being cold and then solving it in the way that I have done due to something else?


I've never just slept on the ground; I have always used a mat of some sort, any mat, even a cheapo closed cell mat, will make a huge difference. Normal practice.
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