Monday, 16 Oct 2023
Why is it that I buy new camping gear after the last campout of the season? A couple of weeks ago I got a new tent (Nemo Dagger OSMO 2P). Today a Zenbivy Bed came in the mail.
I got the 25° Bed, not the Light bed or the Core bed. I prefer zippers to clips and wanted a quilt that could open flat. I sleep warm. A 25° bag on top of my R8 rated mattress will keep me warm enough down to freezing. The bed was sized to fit my 25 x 77 x 3.5 inch sleeping mat.
Old Exped Downmat 9
Zenbivy sheet attached
The top quilt unfolded
That is the Zenbivy bottom sheet and quilt on my older Exped Downmat. In addition to the cutout corners of the bottom sheet there is a strap that goes across the bottom of the mat.
Other side of quilt with foot box formed
Ready for sleep, one side unzipped
Both sides zipped
The bottom of the quilt can be zipped up and snapped to form a foot box. There is a drawstring to regulate airflow and heat, from some to none. The quilt zips to the sides of the bottom sheet around yuour torso to keep drafts away.
I tried it out. Turning over in the quilt is easy. Also, the hood captures the pillow to keep it in place. The hood is quilted so you can put your head inside on colder nights.
First try at packing
2nd try, much better
I set the bag up for two reasons: I wanted to check there was nothing wrong and I wanted to see how it would pack in a Mosko Moto Reckless 80 drybag. Knowing the bed was going to be packed in the drybag I didn’t buy a bed specific stuff sack.
First I tried stuffing the Zenbivy bed into the dry sack. Because of the size of my mattress that didn’t work well. It looks like the best packing solution is to put the rolled mattress and pillow into the dry sack first, then stuff the Zenbivy bed around those items to fill any gaps with the bulk of the bed on top.
My next scheduled camping trip isn’t until May. Schedules can be changed.
Backstory
In 1997 I started motorcycle camping again. At that time I bought a bunch of backpacking gear thinking small and light was just the thing for motorcycling. Live and learn. Most of the stuff I bought has been replaced over the years.
The sleeping bag I got was a North Face Blue Kazoo mummy bag. I soon learned that I dislike mummy bags. I like to move my feet around and maybe stick a leg out to regulate heat. With a mummy bag I get hot. Wake up. Get out of bag. Go back to sleep. Get cold. Wake up. Get back in bag. Etc. And the only time my feet are comfortable in a mummy bag is when it is very cold.
I also am a side sleeper. I change sides once in a while. That is hard for me to do in a mummy bag so I wind up waking up most every time I roll over. Between heat regulation and rolling over I’m up often. Not for long. I fall back to sleep quickly. But it is annoying.
With that annoyance in mind I put the mummy bag away and got a rectangular bag. It was comfortable, but only rated for 40°F. A couple of cold spring and fall nights decided I needed to add a 25°F bag to my growing collection. I got a bag that could zip to the 40 degree bag so it could be used as a double bag. 40° side up for summer, 25° side up for early spring and late fall.
Camping sleep problems solved, right? Except the rectangular bags did not pack small. They didn’t even pack medium. A change of bikes and bike storage left me with no room for either. Back to using the mummy bag. Back to often being too hot or too cold. That’s what prompted this purchase.