I carry a US military poncho. When used as a poncho it can insulate one and protect from rain. It is almost square and has grommets so it can be used as a tarp, It has snaps on the side to from into a windproof "sleeping bag" and like the Hoochie, you can snap them together to form larger structures. I'll have to see if the poncho liner, designed to tie into a poncho, will fit in a Nalgene. Since it is not down, crushing should not affect it's thermal properties. Brian Blankinship *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Survival Blankets: They don't last -- need to be replaced every so often. For hypothermia situations, not the best. All it can do is reflect back what heat is being lost by the victim. Bivy Bags -- have some insulation as well as reflectance properties, so something of an improvement. Not inexpensive and I'm not sure the additional protection is worth the additional cost. Fine print on the bag suggests you can only use them 8-10 times. I keep mine in my car as part of a winter contingency kit should I become stranded. With the wettable insulation not sure it's the best choice on the water. Better as backup during transport/evacuation. Garbage Bags -- Big, Black, heavy duty ones. Very flexible choice. Cheap. Easy to stow. Multi-uses. Cut holes for arms & head, good windbreaker. It's black -- tends to collect heat during the day. If you don't have the armholes then even better heat conservation. I teach some outdoor courses and always advocate having one in the daypack or 1st aid kit. Basic (self) rescue courses taught around here also advocate 1 or 2 bags as part of your basic kit. I like also JKA's suggestion of really big appliance bags but must caution about a first aider's truism. Put a hypothermia victim and a warm body within one enclosure and you quickly get Two hypothermia victims. Joe Pylka jpylka_at_earthlink.net What's a hoochie? --New concept for me... though I usually carry a tent fly with me. > I also carry an army surplus hoochie (fly but with heaps of loops, > riveted holes etc) which you can pick up very cheap. They take a heap of > abuse and you can clip them together to make one large tarp. Just > fantastic things. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Joseph Pylka wrote: > Survival Blankets: They don't last -- need to be replaced every so >often. For hypothermia situations, not the best. All it can do is reflect >back what heat is being lost by the victim. > Bivy Bags -- have some insulation as well as reflectance properties, so >something of an improvement. Not inexpensive and I'm not sure the >additional protection is worth the additional cost. Fine print on the bag >suggests you can only use them 8-10 times. I keep mine in my car as part >of a winter contingency kit should I become stranded. With the wettable >insulation not sure it's the best choice on the water. Better as backup >during transport/evacuation. > > Synthetic sleeping bags in the 30-45 degree range can be purchased for a reasonable price and squish down pretty darn small. I recently bought a North Face 35 degree Polarguard Delta bag from Campmor.com and it squishes down to about the size of a grapefruit. Pop it in a plastic bag and it would be windproof and reasonably dry inside. I dont think there is a good cheap answer here. Emphasis on cheap. Jim et al *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 9 Feb 2005 at 11:48, Jim Farrelly wrote: > bought a North Face 35 degree Polarguard Delta bag from Campmor.com > and it squishes down to about the size of a grapefruit. Pop it in a > plastic bag and it would be windproof and reasonably dry inside. I A friend of mine has a summer-weight down bag that can fit into a one- liter Nalgene bottle. That's a pretty dry and tough storage system. I'd still want a waterproof windbreak to cover the sleeping bag in an emergency (don't know the Polarguard Delta, but his down bag won't be too windproof and definitely not waterproof). There is a big orange body bag out there that's popular with some. It even has instructions on it. This combination of heavy plastic bag and light sleeping bag would be quite good. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
on 10/2/05 04:20, Joseph Pylka at jpylka_at_earthlink.net wrote: ... must caution about a first aider's truism. Put a > hypothermia victim and a warm body within one enclosure and you quickly get > Two hypothermia victims.... So true. The value of a large bag is it gets the party under shelter when there may be nothing else available. Dealing with hypothermia is a whole new ballgame. JKA -- John Kirk-Anderson Banks Peninsula NEW ZEALAND *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
How big them grapefruits where you guys live? I have a TNF 35 degree Polarguard bag and it might resemble a Large pinapple, sure, but not a grapefruit. Ofcourse I'll think of the name of the bag when I hit send. For my 2 cents on the thread I use a coated silver bivy bag that weighs little and is grapefruit sized and I carry a ration of fleece top and bottoms, hats and gloves. I would count on pfd's and spraydecks, wind shadows, etc, to insulate from the ground and block wind. Maybe even try to find some sun. When on a day trip away from base camp? Whole new can o' worms. I think I would pack the tent and bag back into boat in bear country, as bears treat them like toys. I would count on the trips eq list to supply the hypothermia protection to avoid redundancy. Rob G *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> How big them grapefruits where you guys live? I have a TNF 35 degree Polarguard bag and it might resemble a Large pinapple, sure, but not a grapefruit. Ofcourse I'll think of the name of the bag when I hit send. > > For my 2 cents on the thread I use a coated silver bivy bag that weighs little and is grapefruit sized and I carry a ration of fleece top and bottoms, hats and gloves. I would count on pfd's and spraydecks, wind shadows, etc, to insulate from the ground and block wind. Maybe even try to find some sun. > > When on a day trip away from base camp? Whole new can o' worms. I think I would pack the tent and bag back into boat in bear country, as bears treat them like toys. I would count on the trips eq list to supply the hypothermia protection to avoid redundancy. Polarguard Delta is (I suppose) more hollow than previous version of Polarguard - by 20% may be. With synthetic fibers this usually means - more fragile, faster breaking and losing its thermal properties than with less hollow fibers. May be Equinox can be compressed to a size of, say, not very large pinapple; but this is not what I would do with a bag that I want to use for years. Somebody here suggested such an idea a while ago - get some cheap synthetic bag and compress it to death - this make sense to me. Equinox costs about $100. On the cheaper side is Kelty Stratus (35F, $60), but it probably can't be compressed as much as Equinox (and will be damaged less if compressed often and regularly). Another thing that I'm curious about, is - what for? If I have my kayak with me - than I have tent, tarp, sleeping bag (if wet, than down bag won't help much - so I keep it always in a drybag)... If kayak sunk, and I somehow made it to the shore - then I have only those limited items that I keep in PFD and in other pockets (one of them is large yellow garbage bag). I can't imagine any sleeping bag in my pocket. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> I carry a US military poncho. When used as a poncho it can insulate one and protect from rain. It is almost square and has grommets so it can be used as a tarp, It has snaps on the side to from into a windproof "sleeping bag" and like the Hoochie, you can snap them together to form larger structures. > This is a common practice South of the Border. Groups will often snap together their ponchos into a large, elaborate structure. In Mexico this is known as a Poncho Villa. Sorry about that... couldn't resist. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> I'll have to see if the poncho liner, designed to tie into a poncho, will fit in a Nalgene. May be it would even fit into smaller Aspirin bottle - keeping poncho dry is extremely important :-)... *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:40 PDT