Duvet

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roberts8
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Duvet

Post by roberts8 »

I only camp in the summer and have a snugpak summer bag. I really do not like mummy bags and am thinking of using a cheap duvet instead. Any thoughts if this is practicable?
PrinterJohn
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Re: Duvet

Post by PrinterJohn »

Similar problem, have a down quilt, but don't see why a cheap duvet would not do the job, but you will need a decent insulating mat as there will be no bag under you. I use a Thermorest Neoair, which is quite expensive, a cheap mat won't work with a quilt so look for a mat with an R value of 3 plus. Cheers John
roberts8
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Re: Duvet

Post by roberts8 »

Thanks, I use a thermarest so insulation is not a problem.
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pjclinch
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Re: Duvet

Post by pjclinch »

As long as you can find space for it I don't see why not. Cycle touring with camping has existed long before the widespread availability of mummy sleeping bags (and posh insulation mats, for that matter).

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foxyrider
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Re: Duvet

Post by foxyrider »

pjclinch wrote:As long as you can find space for it I don't see why not. Cycle touring with camping has existed long before the widespread availability of mummy sleeping bags (and posh insulation mats, for that matter).

Pete.


Which does lead onto the question - historically what did people use before 'modern' sleeping bags came along? (my first down mummy bag was a hand me down from a cousin @ 1970 so let's say pre 1970).
Convention? what's that then?
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Re: Duvet

Post by Vorpal »

foxyrider wrote:Which does lead onto the question - historically what did people use before 'modern' sleeping bags came along? (my first down mummy bag was a hand me down from a cousin @ 1970 so let's say pre 1970).

When I was teen (early 80s), my brother & I used to camp quite a bit, but we didn't have the money for new equipment, so we used stuff acquired from older family members. I had an old army sleeping bag that I used. I think my brother had a sleeping bag that used to be our uncle's We didn't have mats, though I recall that we carried two tarpaulins with the tent. One was a ground cover, but the other went over the tent floor. That was a combination of protecting the floor, and warmth. It seems to me that the indoor one was some kind of waxed cloth; I suspect it was the ground cloth from my dad's tent, that died a death of moths when I was a child.

If we were cold, we just put extra clothes on.
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meic
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Re: Duvet

Post by meic »

foxyrider wrote:
pjclinch wrote:As long as you can find space for it I don't see why not. Cycle touring with camping has existed long before the widespread availability of mummy sleeping bags (and posh insulation mats, for that matter).

Pete.


Which does lead onto the question - historically what did people use before 'modern' sleeping bags came along? (my first down mummy bag was a hand me down from a cousin @ 1970 so let's say pre 1970).


The army 1958 pattern sleeping bag is a "mummy" bag, even if mummy wore size 12 DMS boots to bed.
It was introduced in, no surprise, 1958.
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Gattonero
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Re: Duvet

Post by Gattonero »

roberts8 wrote:Thanks, I use a thermarest so insulation is not a problem.


You can also make your own!
There's many people that would do quilts, they're fairly easy to design and sew.
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robc02
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Re: Duvet

Post by robc02 »

Which does lead onto the question - historically what did people use before 'modern' sleeping bags came along?


According to the Cycling Manual - 24th edition, published in association wit Cycling and Mopeds in 1960:

"...the ground sheet should be separate from the tent; it need not cover the whole floor space. Oilskin is lightest, but rubberised fabric is serviceable and cheap, though heavy. Down (and down substitute) sleeping bags are warmer, lighter and pack smaller than blankets, and for regular camping are worth the extra cost. Sheets of newspaper beneath the sleeping-bag prevent the chill striking up through the floor."

The News Cronicle Cycling and Open Road Manual (1934) says:

"For bedding the order of choice is a down quilt, a kapoc (vegetable down)quilt and blankets (two). The first is warm but dear, the second cheap and nearly as warm but occasionally inclined to be lumpy, and the third both cheap and warm but twice as heavy as either type of quilt. Prices of quilts vary......., and may be had, if preferred, in the form of sleeping bags, with or without zip fastening.
A heavily-built camper should underlay his groundsheet with straw, bracken, heather, pine-tips, sedge grass or even newspaper."


Somewhat off topic, but both these publications are mines of useful advice. For instance, the Cycling Manual 24th Edition tells us, with regard to gearing, that:

"Four gears are usually regarded as the most required in this country, but a six speed arrangement (two chainwheels and a three speed hub or derailleur) may be necessary when touring the Alps, for instance."

Seems like we've gone soft in the intervening decades! :lol:
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Gattonero
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Re: Duvet

Post by Gattonero »

a framebuilder I know, often says "it's not the mountains that have changed, but the man holding the handlebars".
OTOH, it is true that BITD the average speed was much slower, and regarding the camping kit, pneumonia/frostbite may have been more common and won't make it to public knowledge
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best,
since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.
Thus you remember them as they actually are...
mercalia
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Re: Duvet

Post by mercalia »

I bought a DDHammocks quilt intended for using with their hammocks - packs up into a smallish stuffsac, is quite thin costs about £45. Seems to be ok when I used it last summer but final judgment will have to wait until this summer, I doubt good enough if you are one if those who disrobe when camping. Might be useful in a bivvy bag.

http://www.ddhammocks.com/product/dd_hammock_quilt
mercalia
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Re: Duvet

Post by mercalia »

robc02 wrote:
Which does lead onto the question - historically what did people use before 'modern' sleeping bags came along?


According to the Cycling Manual - 24th edition, published in association wit Cycling and Mopeds in 1960:

"...the ground sheet should be separate from the tent; it need not cover the whole floor space. Oilskin is lightest, but rubberised fabric is serviceable and cheap, though heavy. Down (and down substitute) sleeping bags are warmer, lighter and pack smaller than blankets, and for regular camping are worth the extra cost. Sheets of newspaper beneath the sleeping-bag prevent the chill striking up through the floor."

The News Cronicle Cycling and Open Road Manual (1934) says:

"For bedding the order of choice is a down quilt, a kapoc (vegetable down)quilt and blankets (two). The first is warm but dear, the second cheap and nearly as warm but occasionally inclined to be lumpy, and the third both cheap and warm but twice as heavy as either type of quilt. Prices of quilts vary......., and may be had, if preferred, in the form of sleeping bags, with or without zip fastening.
A heavily-built camper should underlay his groundsheet with straw, bracken, heather, pine-tips, sedge grass or even newspaper."


Somewhat off topic, but both these publications are mines of useful advice. For instance, the Cycling Manual 24th Edition tells us, with regard to gearing, that:

"Four gears are usually regarded as the most required in this country, but a six speed arrangement (two chainwheels and a three speed hub or derailleur) may be necessary when touring the Alps, for instance."

Seems like we've gone soft in the intervening decades! :lol:


given that Force Ten cotton ridge tents were once the norm yes either there werent any cycle tourists in those days or they were very very strong to carry all that weight? or just dumb :lol:
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Re: Duvet

Post by Vorpal »

robc02 wrote:The News Cronicle Cycling and Open Road Manual (1934) says:

"A heavily-built camper should underlay his groundsheet with straw, bracken, heather, pine-tips, sedge grass or even newspaper."


That reminded me that my brother and I sometimes used cleavers plant for that purpose. It's called bedstraw in the USA, and used to be used by poor people for stuffing mattresses.
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PrinterJohn
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Re: Duvet

Post by PrinterJohn »

At the moment PHD Designs have quilts in their winter sale. The single quilt is about £90 off. Still not cheap but 425 grams sounds good.
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pjclinch
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Re: Duvet

Post by pjclinch »

Gattonero wrote:a framebuilder I know, often says "it's not the mountains that have changed, but the man holding the handlebars".
OTOH, it is true that BITD the average speed was much slower, and regarding the camping kit, pneumonia/frostbite may have been more common and won't make it to public knowledge


In the UK conditions are rarely enough to kill a camper with a modicum of Clue, particularly from frostbite if you're a cyclist. They can easily be enough to make a camper cold, wet, shivering and bloody miserable, but while that's enough to put people off it's a long way short of killing them.

Camping and outdoor pursuits in general (even if not cycle touring) are far, far more popular now than they were in times past, simply because they're more practical for more people. Part of the practicality is good, cheap, light equipment. that keeps the cold, damp, shivering and bloody miserable aspects at bay.

When I was in the Scouts (from '77) sleeping bags (even if square-cut terylene insulated rather than down mummies) were almost universal, but our kit list did note that two blankets pinned together would be an alternative. Mats were rarities (typically the oldest, most experienced patrol leaders would have one) and everyone else took a blanket to lay on top of.

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