Seen Before Slumbers: Recycled Sleeping Bags
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 08.31.07
What’s with the little flurry of outdoor gear posts, you might wondering. Well, the summer trade shows have now passed, and the detail of upcoming goodies is slowing seeping out into the world wide ether. The goss is that Green is big. And only going to get bigger. Take for example, the rush of recycled content sleeping bags that Alicia MacLeay of Trailspace spied at the Outdoor Retailer show. Big Agnes, of Colorado, will soon have some sleeping bags that are 97% by weight. The missing percentage is the zipper. So the insulation (Climashield HL Green), ripstop shell fabric, plus drawcords and stuffsack are said to all be 100% recycled content. Even the cordlock is 50% corn starch based PLA. Big Agnes are calling the line of bags their Re-Routt collection. Their blurb suggests the lightweight shell material is a recycled nylon. But that appears to be a typo, as most recycled fabrics currently tend to be polyester. (But more on that another day.)
Big Agnes have also developed a new 100% recycled sleeping mat, known as the Diversion, which even includes a recycled aluminium valve. (Reminiscent of of Pacific Outdoors ECO Thermo pad we mentioned a few months ago.) Existing models of pad will get a 50% recycling content upgrade using Primaloft Eco.
Marmot have also ‘greened’ their synthetic sleeping bags, though with recycled polyester shells, as have Sierra Designs. The former’s insulation is called UpCycle, (a term they’d previously reserved for clothing) and is 80% recycled, whereas SD use the 100% Climashield Green fill and employ a lining blend of recycled polyester and Cocona, a textile derived from coconut husk by-product. We’ve noted before Sierra Design’s move to strengthen it’s eco-credentials with their Green Effect program.
Via ::Trail Space
All these recycled sleeping bags are great, and I'm all for it. But I am concerned over flame retardants and water repellents that are used on most sleeping bags. Does anyone know where I can get a sleeping bag free of flame retardants and water repellents, or at least a sleeping bag that uses silicone as the water repellent? Better yet, organic, fair-trade sleeping bags? I was truly disappointed to find an organic tent and sleeping bag both doused in flame retardants and water repellents, and it was made in China to boot. What's a green camper to do?!