Adding down to an Ozark Trail sleeping bag.
Feb 23, 2017 22:40:23 GMT -8
tigger, markskor, and 3 more like this
Post by daveg on Feb 23, 2017 22:40:23 GMT -8
Several years ago there was a lot of talk on the Internet about a bargain down sleeping bag (Ozark Trail Cocoon) for sale at Walmart. Supposedly, it was fairly light weight, had continuous baffles, and was filled with decent duck down (although the distribution of the down was reputed to be erratic).
A couple of years ago I found two of the Ozark Trail Cocoon sleeping bags for sale at a clearance price – $45 each. I could see why they had not been sold – they didn’t have much loft and some of the baffles contained hardly any down. But the shell appeared to be of decent quality and there was a seam on the inside that could easily be opened to allow down to be added to the baffles. So I bought them.
I began keeping my eye out for, and last year I found, a king size down comforter at a thrift store for $10. The manufacturer label was missing so I had no idea what kind of down was inside or what the fill power was. But I figured it was good enough for an Ozark Trail sleeping bag.
I just finished transferring the down from the comforter to the sleeping bags.
The Ozark Trail sleeping bag (on the left in the photo) claimed a 32*F rating. I figured that was a gross exaggeration. According to the manufacturer label, the bag is filled with 8.8 ounces of duck down. The sleeping bag on the right is my daughter’s Brooks Range 30*F bag which is filled with 11.5 ounces of 800+ goose down. It has four inches of loft. The loft of the Ozark Trail bag was about half that.
This side-by-side close up shows the difference in loft.
The down in the comforter.
There were a lot of small down clusters but a fair number of decent sized clusters.
I used a 12 volt vacuum, with the end of the inlet hose blocked by a nylon sock, to suck the down from the comforter into the hose. Then I moved the hose to the vacuum’s outlet and blew the down into the baffle. It was tedious but not too messy.
When I was done, the loft of the Ozark Trail bag was the same as the Brooks Range bag. To get to that point, I had to add 15.7 ounces of down from the comforter. The weight of the Ozark Trail bag when I started was 1 lb 9.4 oz. Total finished weight is 2 lbs 9.1 oz. For comparison, the Brooks Range bag weighs 1 lb. 7 oz.
A couple of years ago I found two of the Ozark Trail Cocoon sleeping bags for sale at a clearance price – $45 each. I could see why they had not been sold – they didn’t have much loft and some of the baffles contained hardly any down. But the shell appeared to be of decent quality and there was a seam on the inside that could easily be opened to allow down to be added to the baffles. So I bought them.
I began keeping my eye out for, and last year I found, a king size down comforter at a thrift store for $10. The manufacturer label was missing so I had no idea what kind of down was inside or what the fill power was. But I figured it was good enough for an Ozark Trail sleeping bag.
I just finished transferring the down from the comforter to the sleeping bags.
The Ozark Trail sleeping bag (on the left in the photo) claimed a 32*F rating. I figured that was a gross exaggeration. According to the manufacturer label, the bag is filled with 8.8 ounces of duck down. The sleeping bag on the right is my daughter’s Brooks Range 30*F bag which is filled with 11.5 ounces of 800+ goose down. It has four inches of loft. The loft of the Ozark Trail bag was about half that.
This side-by-side close up shows the difference in loft.
The down in the comforter.
There were a lot of small down clusters but a fair number of decent sized clusters.
I used a 12 volt vacuum, with the end of the inlet hose blocked by a nylon sock, to suck the down from the comforter into the hose. Then I moved the hose to the vacuum’s outlet and blew the down into the baffle. It was tedious but not too messy.
When I was done, the loft of the Ozark Trail bag was the same as the Brooks Range bag. To get to that point, I had to add 15.7 ounces of down from the comforter. The weight of the Ozark Trail bag when I started was 1 lb 9.4 oz. Total finished weight is 2 lbs 9.1 oz. For comparison, the Brooks Range bag weighs 1 lb. 7 oz.
