Sleeping bags vs duvets

[Rakoffscott]

Halloo!

New to camping, but have booked for this summer. Is it ridiculous to take duvets instead of sleeping bags? I'd have to buy 3 sleeping bags, but would only have to buy one extra duvet.

Thanks in advance!

[FairyPenguin]

If i had room in my car I'd take duvets every time!

[Rakoffscott]

thanks FP - I think I'd prefer a duvet to be honest! I know it would be a squeeze but I reckon I can pack them up quite tightly....

[BikeRunSki]

It'll get quite draughty underneath with a duvet I'd have thought.

[usualsuspect333]

Duvet every time. Get one of those vacuum bags and squish it down for the car.

[PurpleHairAndPearls]

I have to take my duvet. I use a double, put half under me and the other half on top like I'm the filling in a duvet sandwich.

This works with sleeping bags as well, but I just fold the duvet and line the back seats with them (being careful re seatbelt access of course) saves so much room and is comfy for the DC in back.

[Singleandproud]

If you are not trekking around and just going from car to tent then a duvet would be ok but make sure you have some insulation from the ground.
Do you have a camp bed? I have one of these and just put a fitted sheet over it and a duvet.

[Rakoffscott]

I did think about draughtiness but in a small bed like a camp bed type thing I think i'd tend to tuck it underneath me too.

Good tips about the back seat / vacuum bags :)

[anythingforaquietnight]

We take duvets. I hate having my feet trapped in a sleeping bag and the tent can get really hot 6/7 in the morning in August in the uk (well, sometimes). And its a lot easier to get out in the night if you need a wee.

We fold them up into about a third of the original width and then roll them, squashing as tight as you can as you go and tie up. They don't take up much more room than a sleeping bag.

[Rakoffscott]

Yet to buy the beds Singleandproud - but was thinking of getting the self-inflating mats (10cm ones)......

[Rakoffscott]

That's what I thought anything - to roll them etc. I don't like having my feet trapped in either.

[PotteringAlong]

I take both! But I get cold at night

[Pedestriana]

We take duvets every time (even though it makes the car very full): one to lie on, and one to cover us over. With extra blankets on top! It's easier to remove layers that way when it gets hot in the early morning (having been freezing cold during the night).

[Callmecordelia]

I use - foil backed picnic blanket under the airbed, fleece double sheet over, then a normal double sheet, then a feather duvet, fleece blanket on top. Works for me. I put DD in a sleeping bag and fleece blanket, on a SIM.

I put the duvet and pillows under the heavy tent, so they get nice and squashed.

[gingeroots]

Another vote for duvets ,if you can afford down ( which I can't ) they pack very small .

Blankets don't slip off duvets they way they do with sleeping bags .

[Rakoffscott]

callmecordelia wow! that's lots of bedding! does that apply to summer nights too?

[Thumbcat]

I used to take duvets but have switched to sleeping bags (big pod shaped ones). They take up less room in the car and are warmer on cold nights (I have fleecey liners for if it's very cold which take up hardly any room)...and it just feels more like camping

[Pedestriana]

I'll be packing this time next week! I have two manky old duvets that I'll be using, plus various other blankets etc. It is a lot, but it means it's easy to add/remove layers. I've got some foil blankets to go in between tent 'floor' and zip-in bedroom floor - at least they fold up small!

[Callmecordelia]

If it is very warm, I might remove the fleece blanket from the bed.

I'll still take it though in case it gets a bit chilly in the evening when I'm sitting outside.

[MrsTrentReznor]

I was camping last weekend, very hot during the day but freezing at about 3 in the morning.
I use a great big sleeping pod but I know people that use duvets. Take extra blankets and keep a hoody close by so you can keep snug.

[Bubblesinthesummer]

We use sleeping bags, but I sometimes unzip mine and put it over me like a duvet.

You'll be fine with a duvet

[HexBramble]

How about camping in France?
Is the vote still for duvets?

[AnonymousBird]

Ok, so I had been thinking sleeping bags for sure, but having read this thread, please tell me why duvets are so much better? I don't think we will have room, I can possibly vacuum pack on the way there, but not on the way home!

Are there some sleeping bags with cotton as opposed to nylon linings for comfort?

Advice on good sleeping bags also welcomed - only for summer camping, four in a tent, so some shared warmth too!

[gingeroots]

I prefer duvets to sleeping bags because

you can add extra warmth by adding a blanket ,ime blankets just slide off sleeping bags

you can pull the duvet right up round your neck ,if I do this with a sleeping bag I feel I'm suffocating

the duvet "drapes" over your body so you don't get gaps between you and the cover

it's easier to turn over under a duvet as opposed to in a sleeping bag

it's easier to get in and out of a duvet

if the suns up in the morning and your tent is heating up it's easier to uncover yourself with a duvet than a sleeping bag

but everyone is different - I'm a real nest builder and I'm on Callmecordelia's spectrum when it comes to covers .

[Pedestriana]

ginger those are all my reasons for duvet vs sleeping bag. The first time I camped I did sleeping bag, and I was pregnant. Wrestling my way out of the bag and then the tent for a 3am pee was not fun.
The next year I took the baby and duvets. Much easier. Well, the duvets were! :)

[Callmecordelia]

Tbf, I stole my system of foil, fleece and duvets straight off a mumsnet camping thread just before our disastrous first attempt, and it was the only bit of that trip that worked well. We were warm at night, even though it pissed it down and was freezing. I've been loathe to give up something that works so well ever since. The key for me is layers. Layers give me options. A sleeping bag - you're stuck with what you've got.