military surplus sleeping bag?

[snatiep]

Hello Everyone!

I'm looking at buying a nice sleeping bag that will last me many years. I have been looking at a used military surplus ECWS modular sleeping bag system like this one:

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ZWB144-1.html

Do any of you have any experience or use one of these?

A local surplus store has them for $79.

Any thoughts on this surplus bag will be greatly appreciated!

Have a Great Day!

[Smokey Mtn. Camper]

No excperience whatsoever with that sleeper but from the pics and info, it looks like a good deal. It says it weighs 10 pounds so I hope you are a car camper. From my experience with Army surplus, if you can find a item in good shape, they seem to last forever. I have a duffle bag that is 50 years old and it has zero tears. I pack that sucker full and it just keeps on "duffeling".

Good luck and if it were me, based on the info from the link you supplied, I will jump all over it.

[tplife]

I wouldn't bother, the temp rating far exceeds conditions even at high altitudes, that means uncomfortable sleeping in other ranges or extra gear you will never use. The price is so high for quality of gear, for this price point you can buy Marmot 20-degree goose down high-end bags new-in-the-box off Ebay. This bag also seems to be synthetic-fill, another downside in my opinion. I think you can do a lot better for fill material, weight, storaged dimensions, and lack of lifetime warranty.

[snatiep]

From my experience with Army surplus, if you can find a item in good shape, they seem to last forever.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I also have a few surplus backpacks, rucksacks, and duffel bags that will not wear out. I like military surplus items......tried and true.

I live in Minnesota and do most of my camping in late summer well into late fall. So the temperature here while camping can dip down into the upper 20's at night.

I checked ebay for the Marmot 20' sleeping bag and all I found were bags that cost around $150. I can get the surplus set for $79!

I just like military surplus items.

Thanks for the comments! I greatly appreciate them!

[Bigdog57]

No experience with them here - my Navy ship was heated......

But I also love Surplus gear. The guys on my roadtrip laughed at my using GI canteens and a canteen cup for my breakfast - but I had mine made and drank/eaten before they got their own higher dollar civvie stuff going.
My BO pack is a Medium Alice pack. I have a bunch of various civvie rucksacks - I always go back to Alice! Love her..... :D
The night temps in Ga this last weekend were upper 60's - I used a GI wool blankie.

If I had been born a couple hundred years earlier, I'd have been a Cavalry trooper!

[tplife]

That's exactly what I was thinking. I also have a few surplus backpacks, rucksacks, and duffel bags that will not wear out. I like military surplus items......tried and true.

I live in Minnesota and do most of my camping in late summer well into late fall. So the temperature here while camping can dip down into the upper 20's at night.

I checked ebay for the Marmot 20' sleeping bag and all I found were bags that cost around $150. I can get the surplus set for $79!

I just like military surplus items.

Thanks for the comments! I greatly appreciate them!

You have to use the "saved search" feature for "auctions". It takes more than five minutes to get a deal! My daughter's Marmot bag was purchased there, like the tents it was 60% off retail. I use USGI gear like canteens and hatchet covers and AR15 firearms that I really do use and like. Unfortunately a lot of the other camping-use surplus gear is 10 years out of date or more technically, a casualty of government contracting and the snail-like speed of the process. I've had goose down USGI sleeping bags before and although they were good for a few of seasons, the quality of the fill (there were feathers mixed in) and the outer coverings didn't hold up. I do still have my Marmot Osprey -10 degree goose down bags though, and they look and work as new...1987 models used continuously. You seem to be shopping carefully and that's almost always a winner at the campsite!

[Christn2000]

I will use some things from Army Surplus stores, sleeping bags not among them. 10# is too heavy and bulky, and I only warm weather camp anyway.

[Bigdog57]

GI Surplus sleeping gear, like the uniforms, tents and MREs, are designed to keep the trooper alive, not necessarily comfy.

[Dan'lBoone]

I slept in one of those for more than 4 years. I used it in the coldest of winters in VA, to include shoveling 3' of snow away to find a place to rest. I do recall our issue gear being rated to lower than 30*. I dont know if that site made a typo or not. If I remember correctly the Black bag its self was rated to 30*. The green liner lowered it even more, and when you added the gortex bag it helped even more plus water proofed it.
In the snow, with those three items used, I stayed comfortable for 4-5 hours. Thats about all the sleep we'd get anyway. Just so you know, we didnt sleep in tents either, just the bag.

[renodesertfox]

Great point DB(that's short for Dan'lBoone; not DB Cooper-that was a distant cousin)! Those GI artic tested sleeping bags are worth their weight! In deep winter, when we camp that is exactly what we use, if the temps are fore-casted to be that low! And if the temps fall and we planned a campout, we go anyway! That kind of camping separates the men from the boys! I spent 19 months at Ft. Wainwright in Alaska as an army photographer attached to the 4/9th Infantry(Manchu) Brigade, then transferred to Ft. Greeley, AK for another 15 months to the Arctic Testing Center, back in the late 1970s! (That's where my back injury occurred-resulting in spinal fusion last year)...just in case anyone forgot! Warm weather campers need to stick to warm weather experiences! Just like pounding trail, shouldn't talk 'bout it if ya never done it!

Gotta admit...my winter bags are rated to -30 from Army Surplus(actually Canadian Army Surplus) and they aren't filled with fill or feathers or paper-sacks, at $105 each so for $79 I'd be all over it!