Sleeping Bag Liner

An inner sleeping-bag liner is a very useful accessory you should add to your sleeping bag.

You can purchase a ready made sleeping bag liner for your sleep sack from most good camping stores, or you can make one yourself. Either way, be sure to select one which is made out of cotton or silk. Cotton and silk are natural materials which allow your skin to "breathe", whereas nylon or polyester do not.

Try for 100% cotton or silk if you can get it, and if you can't then you may have to settle for a polyester/cotton mix. That's usually okay... just.

If you are handy at sewing, or if you have a friend or family member to help you, then you or they can make you a cotton sleeping bag liner quite easily from an old or unwanted bed sheet.

You just get someone to make you a cloth bag about 3 ½ foot wide by 6 feet deep. (So cut a piece of cloth 6 feet deep by 7 feet wide, and fold once before stitching.) They can do it in five or ten minutes, using an ordinary household sewing machine. You can even get a double bed sheet and fold it in half... Sew it together at the side and bottom, leaving the top open so you can climb inside when it's bed-time.

If you're really keen you can even stitch a sleeping bag liner together with just a needle and thread. That's the old-fashioned way. It takes time and may look a bit rough if you're not a good tailor or seamstress... but nobody need see it if it's kept inside your sleeping bag. And it will still work, even if it doesn't look like a professional job.

Your cotton or silk bag liner will absorb some of your sweat at night and will help you sleep more comfortably. On cold nights it will add another layer of trapped warm air to keep you warm. On warm nights it will absorb your sweat when you perspire.

The sleeping bag liner will keep your sleep sack very much cleaner than it would be without a liner. This will help your sleep bag last you for years longer.

So a sleeping bag liner protects your investment in a decent sleeping bag.

Now, don't forget to wash your bag liner at the end of each camping trip. In fact, you should clean and air all your bedding and clothing before it is packed away. You'll be glad you did!

Next Page: Camping Tent Heater.