Sleeping bag jargon

[myrtleWilson]

Hello camping lovers,

As will soon become apparent I am not a camper....

We have house guests arriving next week and will have more people than beds/duvets. I thought instead of buying another duvet (and then have the trouble of storing the unwieldy beast - new build houses always have less storage space than you think!) I could buy a sleeping bag that unzips to flat blanket and pop that in a duvet cover.

Upon perusing a local camping store website I was shocked (shocked I tell you ) to find there isn't a category marked as "sleeping bags that unzip to flat blankets"...

Does "full zip" mean unzip to blanket style or does it mean just unzips to your ankles - like you've just cut open a pita bread?

I could buy a double sleeping bag but i was thinking this houseguest scenario is more of a one off and a single bag that is easily roll-up-able would be more use..

Thanks for any advice and you'll be pleased to know that I'm unlikely to be stumbling across a field to ask your advice on pitching a tent...!

You're looking for a rectangular (sometimes called 'square') sleeping bag with, as you describe, a full zip.

However, I think it's a false economy. A sleeping bag won't necessarily fit into a duvet cover, I think you'd need a king size cover at least. A synthetic duvet costs less than a sleeping bag and can be stored rolled up.

ah thank you - perhaps I should revisit my duvet storage approaches - they just seem to expand to absorb all available space and time!

Compression sack

As long as the duvet is synthetic, clean and dry (very important) you can store them in these.

This was just the first result. There are probably even cheaper ones. Look at Decathlon as well.

BTW when you use compression sacks (aka stuff sacks) do not try to fold or roll things neatly into them. Literally grab a corner and stuff the item into the sack, feeding it in as you go. It will pack down best that way. And crease horribly, but that doesn't matter for a quilt.