German Army Sleeping Bag

If you have never seen a German army sleeping bag, it just looks like a spacesuit of sorts. However, aside from its unusual outward design, what should sell is whether it does a good job of providing enough comfort and convenience for the user.

The advantage of having your arms outside of the sleeping bag is easy to see. You are not restricted in movement for one. You could read, reach for a drink, and be fully functional up until the time you fall asleep. If you are sleeping outdoors, you can be ready to defend yourself at the drop of a hat because you do not need to zip down to free your arms.

Other advantages of the German army sleeping bag is the fact that because it is a zipper at the bottom, you can stand up without even getting out of your sleeping bag! If you are a hunter or fisherman, you can actually use your sleeping bag in the early hours of the morning to keep warm, and still be able to target shoot or fish.

Speaking of warmth, if you are going to use it under extremely cold weather conditions, make sure that it has an inner sleeping bag. Otherwise, it is generally capable of handling reasonable cold weather conditions. This modular design makes it one of the better winter camping sleeping bags. In fact, it will not be wise to use this when the weather is hot especially if you tend to get hot easily.

Understanding the logic behind the German army sleeping bag should not be difficult. The arm sleeves are there to help the German soldiers get into attack and defense positions easily. The reason the bottom half can be opened up is because it allows the German soldiers to use the sleeping bag as a parka – thus, a dual purpose.

The price of a German army sleeping bag is not even exorbitant, far from it. You will be able to find one below US$50, maybe much lower if you are persistent and keen on getting the best deal available. Of course, most German army sleeping bags are sold as a surplus item, and this means that supply is not constant or steady. Nevertheless, as a alternative choice for camping and outdoor adventure trips, this German army sleeping bag is really worth looking into.

Mountaineers and other sportsman had been using sleeping bags for quite a while. In fact, one of the earliest mentions of a sleeping bag is in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. The sleeping bag he used to travel across Languedoc, France was so heavy that it had to be carried by his donkey.

Army sleeping bags have been designed with cold weather in mind, as well as the need for them to be as light weight as possible and easy to get out of in cases of an emergency.  The M-1942 Mountain Sleeping Bag was designed with these factors in mind.  Mountain soldiers had to carry their sleeping bags with them, so they needed to be lightweight as well as durable and warm enough to sleep in some severe cold conditions.  The M-1942 was a sleeping bag that had a feather and down mixture fill and was mummy shaped.  It also had a slide fastener that had a quick release device which would allow the bag to open instantly in cases of emergency.  This was an arctic sleeping bag designed for severe weather.

At the beginning of World War II, regular soldiers were still issued blanket rolls.  Starting in 1944, army troops began to be issued a sleeping bag that was made of the same type of wool as their blankets only slightly heavier.  It was mummy shaped and came with a water resistant case.  It was lightweight and fairly warm and suited the needs for the regular infantry soldiers.  The mummy shape actually helped to save on material and was lighter than carrying several wool blankets as well as being warmer.

A new mountain bag, the M-1949 was issued in 1949.  It was a feather filled, mummy shaped sleeping bag that also had a heavy zipper with a quick release and water repellent bag.  This sleeping bag was issued all the way through the Vietnam War.  In the 1970s some improvements were made to the M-1949 and the Intermediate Cold Weather and Extreme Cold Weather sleeping bags were issued.

The current army sleeping bag issue is the Modular Sleeping System which first came out in the early 2000s.  It consists of four components: two mummy sleeping bags, the Intermediate Cold Weather and Patrol, a bivy cover and a compression stuff sack.  By using the components together, it can be used in extremely cold temperatures.  Outdoors men who venture out into cold and harsh conditions might want to consider an army sleeping bag. You can often find them at army surplus stores.