Double sleeping bag

**rip waverly** · 11-03-2012, 02:00

i'd recommend trying to rig the -10 as a pod, or as your UQ. easy to vent--but bottom insulation tends to be more critical--your 45 degree bag, inside a pod--carried all summer for when it drops to 27F in august.

**Catavarie** · 11-03-2012, 04:41

Originally Posted by rip waverly

i'd recommend trying to rig the -10 as a pod, or as your UQ. easy to vent--but bottom insulation tends to be more critical--your 45 degree bag, inside a pod--carried all summer for when it drops to 27F in august.

+1

Listen to the guy who lives near where you're moving and has been at this hanging thing for a bit longer.

**Floridahanger** · 11-03-2012, 13:30

i'd recommend trying to rig the -10 as a pod, or as your UQ. easy to vent--but bottom insulation tends to be more critical--your 45 degree bag, inside a pod--carried all summer for when it drops to 27F in august.
__________________
+2 and I agree with Catavarie so.....disregard my earlier statement.

**bkautzman89** · 11-03-2012, 13:43

sounds like a plan. i have no issues cutting up the -10 bag. isn't it kind of a pain to make an UQ out of a mummy bag? i thought i saw something around here on how to do it, but someone said it was a pain, due to the tapered shape. i was born and raised in washington, so i know what the weather is like.

**K0m4** · 11-03-2012, 13:49

my sleeping bag consists of two sleeping bags. Together they're rated down to -40 (extreme) if i recall correctly. They're made that way. Still, using both would probably not remove the need to use something underneath, as they are down filled and would compress. All ideas in the thread would be worth trying though, although I just have an uq.

**bkautzman89** · 11-03-2012, 14:54

would it be worth it to make an UQ out of my -10 bag though? or just modify that into a TQ, and just buy and UQ? I'm all for trying out ideas, and doing some modifying to save some money, but I feel that an UQ is something that you should buy, and not make, just because it is so necessary for warmth.

**4 dog knight** · 11-03-2012, 15:26

I don't b'lieve I've ever seen any kind of data on doubling sleeping bags or simply using both layers as say...a TQ? I can't imagine it would double the minimum rating, but it should increase the performance to what I would guess to be about half the additional layer? So in my guesstimation, using a 40 degree bag as a UQ, I would expect it to MAYBE take me down to around...40 degrees, as I find that most bags (especially lower cost bags) are grossly over-rated. Anyone have any experience on using both layers and where they really net out on performance?

Remember that anything below about 98.6 is going to begin to feel cold, depending on what you are wearing, how wet, humid or dry you are, your hammock material, how much the wind is blowing, how you've set your tarp and about a bazillion other variables!
In my first years as a Hammocker I simply slept in my 15 Degree bag and down to 50-55 degrees it was acceptable, with minor bouts with CBS. Adding a windshield reflector helped, but was hard to keep in place. That's why it's GREAT to have all these super folks sharing their experiences!!!

There are a million stories on HF...this has been one of them! Don-tadont-da!

**bkautzman89** · 11-03-2012, 18:29

I've slept fine into the 40s with just my -10 bag, a GTUL, and a Walmart tarp. Granted I was wearing thermals. I would rather be to warm then be cold. My 40 bag has done pretty good in the 40s though. I plan to do a lot of camping when I get back to Washington, so I want to be nice and cozy. Especially on family camping trips, and i'm the only hammocker, and everyone is giving me crap, and saying I'll be cold.

**River Diver** · 11-03-2012, 18:58

Originally Posted by bkautzman89

Not sure if this is the right place for this topic, as it kind of applies to top and bottom insulation. Oh well, here goes.
So I was thinking today, why not put one sleeping bag inside another, to help stay warm, instead of using a quilt or pad. Now I know that compression is an issue with sleeping bags, but would having two together help?
Here's what i'm thinking: I have a thin, small 45 degree mummy bag that would fit perfectly into my huge -10 mummy bag. That should keep me warm from all sides right?
Obviously this is not a light weight solution, as you are bringing two sleeping bags. That is not the question. The question is will this work? And how far down in degrees do you think I could get?

I have slept for many years in a gortex biv sack with a summer bag inside it and a winter bag inside the summer bag. They are synthetic fill bags and still compress but, "I" sleep fine into the high 30's with only a thermarest z-seat inside the bags under my bum. The bags are much heaver than most down options. Not for the faint of heart.

You will still feel the cold coming through from underneath on cold nights.

**bkautzman89** · 11-03-2012, 19:15

The weight i'm not worried about since I don't do a lot of hiking camping.....yet. And all of the bags i've ever owned have been a synthetic down, and I've had no issues with it.