Everything people ask us about wool sleeping bags, answered by the folks who sew them in Burnsville, North Carolina. Below are the questions we hear most about the Rewilder and the Aurora Borealis: how a wool sleeping bag compares with down and synthetic fill, what our temperature ratings really mean, how to wash and store wool, what “warm when damp” feels like on a wet night, and how organic cotton canvas, beeswax and merino hold up over years of hard use. If your question isn’t here, ask us directly — a real person answers.
For weight and volume during dry weather, wool is about the same as synthetic and heavier than down. During damp weather, wool wins out. We believe there is more to sleeping outdoors than weight, volume and temperature rating. The other factors are:
– Humidity Factor (same as Wind Chill Factor only this applies to humidity)
– Breathability (ability to ventilate and not feel stuffy and clammy)
– Sleep Quality (ability to go through all four sleep stages easily.)
– Comfort (perceived softness and warmth)
– Versatility (Works through a wide range of temperature and weather extremes)
– Health and vitality (you wake up feeling great with a ton of energy)
– Ecological impact (renewable resource that doesn’t pollute or exploit animals).
When considering these factors, wool wins in all counts. What wool lacks in weight and volume advantages (compared to down) it makes up in all the other areas.
Crawl into the bag. When back sleeping do this by pulling the knees up. When side sleeping just scoot down into the bag and pull the top down over your head so you are completely covered by your Felt or Bag. Your breath will warm the bag eventually to 10 degrees warmer than you were before. It does this because you are conserving the heat you would normally loose from your breathing. Your body doesn’t need to constantly warm the air because the air is already warm. It is not an instant effect. It may take 30 minutes or more to achieve this temperature.
Advantages (in cold weather where this applies):
1—Besides keeping you warmer, your body does not need to heat the air you are breathing in (as much). This preserves cellular energy so your body can use that energy to keep you warmer.
2—You are getting more efficiency out of the weight you are carrying, using every available resource to make it extend it’s maximum range.
3—You will sleep deeper because when you breath back in the CO2 from your breath it a–Reduces serotonin , b–Increases melatonin, c–Reduces stress response and inflammation and d–Gives your metabolism an extra boost. This can have an effect of deep delta sleep and the accompanying feelings of euphoria. Also breathing the moist air from your breath has another relaxing effect which further hydrates your body.
4–This works as well to protect yourself from mosquitoes and pesky insects.
No. It would in a down bag or synthetic fill bag but not in a wool bag. The reason is that wool naturally wicks moisture away from the heat source of your body. So the moisture created there will constantly flow and migrate out of the bag and this keeps the wool dry next to your skin. Wool is designed to do this to keep the sheep at the right temperature and it works even when not on the sheep.
For backpacking an every day closed cell foam pad seems to work the best. For other camping you can use our Wool Sleeping Felt.
We use cotton because it provides the necessary wind protection and does not hamper the ventilation or breathability. All our bags are coated with our proprietary beeswax formula which creates a water-repellant fabric. Our sleeping bag has everything you need to stay warm and dry without zipping yourself inside a closed tent. This way you can enjoy nights under the open sky even in in fog and dew and sleep under a tarp in rainy weather so you can experience nature in a more direct way.
The Lucky Sheep® Wool Sleeping Bags are built to last many years with proper care. Wool batting actually gets stronger with age due to microfilaments creating stronger bonds. Wool is hypo-allergenic and repels dust mites, fleas, mold and this further helps the longevity. To extend the life of the bag it is advised to always wear a base layer of merino wool which will keep the body oils and dirt from touching the bag. We like this brand Danish Woolen Delight. Or use a merino sleep sack which is machine washable which we offer on our website.
It is the moisture your body releases that you cannot perceive. It is not sweat. We release a pint or more per night and wool allows this to release but synthetic fabric does not.
Synthetic fabrics were promoted as the new best thing as corporations competed in the textile industry starting in the 1930s. A big propaganda campaign pushed natural fibers including wool out of the market until they almost completely died out. A resurgence in health and organic clothing and bedding has brought wool and natural fibers back on the map.
The Quilt Design is a weight saving sleeping bag that has no insulation on the underneath part where your body would flatten it thus making it not useful. You can use it either zipped during cold weather or unzipped during warm weather to adjust your temperature to a comfortable level. You can also use the bag indoors on your bed because it unzips completely flat and symmetrical.
Because wool batting has more insulating ability than a woven blanket. A blanket is not nearly as warm, and weighs a lot more.
Yes the quilt design works well in a hammock..