Camping offers our smartphone-tethered society not only one of the few opportunities to unplug but also one of the rare settings in which relative
silence can be found. Hence, the persistent
naturalist movement that’s driving even the most cosmopolitan urbanites out of the skyline and under the stars is also propelling a market for the gear that it necessitates, including a fresh crop of
design-minded sleeping bags.
Hammock Compatible Sleeping Bag: Hammock camping products like the
Kammock are providing outdoors enthusiasts with a mode of slumbering in nature that’s arguably easier than wrestling with a tangle of tent poles. The only
problem with the human banana set-up is that the suspension positioning crushes the underside of a sleeping bag, leaving one’s back with little insulation or protection against the elements. The design of
Grand Trunk’s forthcoming hammock compatible sleeping bag solves the conundrum by wrapping the bedding around the hammock. The result is a swinging cocoon in which the cloud-like Thinsulate fill remains evenly distributed, ensuring a comfortable night’s sleep minus any shivering.
The Napsack: Opportunities to break out the puffy coat in urban environs during this unusually mild winter were rare this year, yet it’s a safe bet that temperatures necessitating Michelin man gear haven’t gone the way of the woolly mammoth. So, when the chill next arrives, those who want to stave off stiff joints without seeing a spike in heating bills may want to check out
The Napsack. Essentially a wearable sleeping bag, the new product from camping gear line
Poler is a hooded full-body vest that zips at the shoulders and bottom for instant transformation into an adult swaddling contraption. It’s perhaps the
cleverest interpretation of the Snuggie yet.
The Empowerment Plan: Detroit native Veronika Scott conceived the idea for her nonprofit when a design activism class tasked her with the challenge of creating “design to fill a need” back in 2010. The resulting humanitarian effort,
The Empowerment Plan, is based on an
ingeniously constructed coat that is self-heated, waterproof, and transformable into a sleeping bag. The coats, which are made by a group of homeless women who are paid to learn how to produce them, are made for distribution among those living on the street. The project, which has received support from
Carhartt,
won a 2011 International Design Excellence Award—which could see its intended purpose ultimately expanded for use in rural settings, too.
