In a former life I used to design sleeping bags. They were all specialized for high altitude mountaineering: Denali, the Himalayas, etc. Now that I'm retired from guiding and becoming more interested in other kinds of travel, I'm thinking about designing some different kinds of sleeping bags and wanted input from the Discoweb crowd. You know, focus group kind of stuff.
Lots of people on Discoweb will not hesitate to pay $300 for a drive shaft, $500 for a bumper, $600 for a suspension upgrade, $700 for a roof rack, or $800 for a set of tires. But what about sleeping bags? For those of you that camp, what do you look for in a sleeping bag and how much are you prepared to spend on one? Here are some questions I'd appreciate answers to from the camping crowd. Answer as many as you feel like.
What kind of sleeping bag do you use now? Mummy? Rectangular? Synthetic or down-filled? What temperature rating? How much did you spend on it? Do you like it?
What is the coldest outside temperature in which you normally camp?
If you were going to buy a new sleeping bag, how important are the following factors in making your choice?
(a) Weight. Do you need an ultralight bag that packs down small because you also use it for backpacking? Do you not care about weight because the furthest you carry your bag is 20 feet from your truck to your tent?
(b) Comfort. Do you like a narrow mummy bag? Do you prefer room for moving or storing extra clothing inside? Do you like having a hood or not?
(c) Durability. Do you want to buy a sleeping bag that will actually last you 20 years? Do you want a bag that you can just throw on the ground, might get trampled by your dog, or you can use to pad a tree when winching?
(d) Sharing. Are you interested in buying a sleeping bag that could be zipped to a ground sheet and would fit two people, or one person plus a dog, or two people plus a dog? I know I'm asking for trouble here, but it's a serious question. Some people like the idea of sharing a sleeping bag with a special someone.
(e) Price. How many US dollars would you consider spending on a sleeping bag? Which is partly related to...
(f) Country of origin. Do you care if your sleeping bag is made in China or the United States? Would you be willing to spend more money on a sleeping bag if it was made in the USA?
(g) Color. For some reason this matters to people, even though 90% of the time you're in your sleeping bag your eyes are closed. What color would you want your next sleeping bag to be? Black? Red? Camo? Rainbows and unicorns?
(h) Water resistance. How much do you care if your sleeping bag will stay dry? If you have a leaky tent maybe the sleeping bag is not the issue. If you sleep inside your truck, in a camper, in a log cabin, in a roof-top tent, or in Arizona maybe water resistance is not a big deal. If you sleep in the snow, under a tarp, or in Scotland maybe this is important to you.
(i) Try before you buy. If a company offered you the option of renting a sleeping bag for a trip and then let you apply 100% of the rental fee towards the purchase of the sleeping bag if you wanted to then buy it, would that encourage you to try it out?
(j) Warranty. Is a lifetime manufacturer's warranty on materials and workmanship important to you?
Thanks gang. Feel free to mention any other thoughts you have relating to what you like or don't like about sleeping bags. This is entirely qualitative and not a scientific survey and the results will not be published in any research journals.
Lots of people on Discoweb will not hesitate to pay $300 for a drive shaft, $500 for a bumper, $600 for a suspension upgrade, $700 for a roof rack, or $800 for a set of tires. But what about sleeping bags? For those of you that camp, what do you look for in a sleeping bag and how much are you prepared to spend on one? Here are some questions I'd appreciate answers to from the camping crowd. Answer as many as you feel like.
What kind of sleeping bag do you use now? Mummy? Rectangular? Synthetic or down-filled? What temperature rating? How much did you spend on it? Do you like it?
What is the coldest outside temperature in which you normally camp?
If you were going to buy a new sleeping bag, how important are the following factors in making your choice?
(a) Weight. Do you need an ultralight bag that packs down small because you also use it for backpacking? Do you not care about weight because the furthest you carry your bag is 20 feet from your truck to your tent?
(b) Comfort. Do you like a narrow mummy bag? Do you prefer room for moving or storing extra clothing inside? Do you like having a hood or not?
(c) Durability. Do you want to buy a sleeping bag that will actually last you 20 years? Do you want a bag that you can just throw on the ground, might get trampled by your dog, or you can use to pad a tree when winching?
(d) Sharing. Are you interested in buying a sleeping bag that could be zipped to a ground sheet and would fit two people, or one person plus a dog, or two people plus a dog? I know I'm asking for trouble here, but it's a serious question. Some people like the idea of sharing a sleeping bag with a special someone.
(e) Price. How many US dollars would you consider spending on a sleeping bag? Which is partly related to...
(f) Country of origin. Do you care if your sleeping bag is made in China or the United States? Would you be willing to spend more money on a sleeping bag if it was made in the USA?
(g) Color. For some reason this matters to people, even though 90% of the time you're in your sleeping bag your eyes are closed. What color would you want your next sleeping bag to be? Black? Red? Camo? Rainbows and unicorns?
(h) Water resistance. How much do you care if your sleeping bag will stay dry? If you have a leaky tent maybe the sleeping bag is not the issue. If you sleep inside your truck, in a camper, in a log cabin, in a roof-top tent, or in Arizona maybe water resistance is not a big deal. If you sleep in the snow, under a tarp, or in Scotland maybe this is important to you.
(i) Try before you buy. If a company offered you the option of renting a sleeping bag for a trip and then let you apply 100% of the rental fee towards the purchase of the sleeping bag if you wanted to then buy it, would that encourage you to try it out?
(j) Warranty. Is a lifetime manufacturer's warranty on materials and workmanship important to you?
Thanks gang. Feel free to mention any other thoughts you have relating to what you like or don't like about sleeping bags. This is entirely qualitative and not a scientific survey and the results will not be published in any research journals.