About sleeping bags:

• Philmont Guidebook to Adventure Says:

“Your sleeping bag should be warm (suitable down to 25 degrees), but not bulky or heavy. If your sleeping bag may not be warm enough, long underwear and a stocking cap will increase your comfort on cold nights. When your sleeping bag is packed it should be no more than 20 inches long and 10 inches in diameter and should weigh 5 pound or less. Use a waterproof sack to store your sleeping bag and line the sack with a heavy-duty (4 to 6 mil) plastic bag safely secured to keep your sleeping bag dry even in wet weather.”

• While sleeping outdoors (camping), mountaineering this sleeping bags acts as a protective bag similar to blanket & it can also be zipped & although it acts as a bed.
• As sleeping bags are used at night & most of the places becomes cold at night so the main function of this bag laid is to provide warmth and thermal insulation.
• It also protects against wind chill, precipitation atmosphere too.
• Apart from the above mentioned sleeping bags the next most used sleeping bags are mummy bags (this name comes because of its shape). Now days the major market is occupied by the mummy shape sleeping bags because of its most thermally efficient design.
• A sleeping bag with little or no ‘dead space’ around the user is warmer as there is less air to warm up with heat from the body.

Product characteristics:

• A typical sleeping bag uses around 7 linear metres of fabric and 1.5-4 kg of filling material based on the field conditions.
• Several insulating materials are used for making sleeping bags.
  1. Outer fabric: These are almost exclusively synthetic materials which are windproof and usually have a water-repellent coating.
  2. Inner fabric: Synthetic fabrics (especially Nylon) are used predominantly. Cotton / poly cotton usually costs less than a high-wicking synthetic but traps moisture which can have a chilling effect. These fabrics have a GSM range of 60-300.
  3. Filling: Weight and pack size, for a given amount of warmth, are two of the key considerations when choosing a filling. The fillings are - Down, Kapol or Synthetics.
     1. Down: This filling is made up of highly specialized insulating feathers, normally from ducks or geese.
     2. Kapol: The fibre is light, very buoyant, resilient, highly flammable and resistant to water. It cannot be spun but is used as an alternative to down as filling.
     3. Synthetic: This term encompasses a whole range of sleeping bag fillings made from synthetic fibres. They range from simple hollow fibres to complex fibres which are designed to mimic the structure of down. Ultra-holofil or polyfil is the most commonly used material. Synthetic fillings tend to cost less than down, but they last for a shorter time.
• Difference between Down & Synthetic

Raw materials:

1. Nylon
2. Polyester & cotton blend

Quality Control and standards:

The following tests and equipments are required to determine the quality of the sleeping bags.

1. Tensile Testing machine for measurement of breaking strength.
2. Testing facilities for Ends/ picks per dm.
3. Beesley' Balance for count of yarn.
4. Testing facilities for cone test.
5. Bundesman water Repellency Equipment.
6. pH Meter
7. Soxlet Apparatus.
8. Facility for Shrinkage Test.
9. Color fastness to washing test.
10. Buoyancy Test.
11. Oven with Time & Temperature control.
12. Sample Conditioning Chamber.
13. Color fastness test.

Technology used:
Weaving