The History of the Sleeping Bag

The sleeping bag is probably the most recognised piece of camping equipment in existence. Loved and appreciated by many, from family campers in the Lake District to the more adventurous mountain trekkers climbing Mount Everest and not forgetting kids who wouldn’t be without their trusty sleeping bag on a sleepover. So it’s understandable to wonder when the sleeping bag first came about and who had the brilliant idea of producing it.

What is thought to be the first ever sleeping bag was made in 1876 by Welsh entrepreneur Pryce Pryce Jones who also pioneered the mail order business. The sleeping bag was known as the Euklisia rug; an all in one blanket, shawl and rug with a sewn in inflated pillow. The success of this sleeping bag is supported by records which show that 60,000 Euklisia rugs were sold to the Russian army as well as being used in the Australian outback and missionary posts in Congo. Despite these records none of the aforementioned sleeping bags survive today, however the rug has been recreated using the original patent by an antique cloth specialist and donated to Newtown Textile Museum where it is now on display.

Another pioneer in the sleeping bag industry is Francis fox Tuckett. He was an Alpine Mountaineer and in 1861 tested out a prototype for an Alpine sleeping bag and after a few years had perfected his design of the Alpine sleeping bag, consisting of blanket material with a rubber undercoating.

The next significant bag in the history of the sleeping bag belonged to Captain Lawrence Oates. On the return journey of a polar expedition in 1912, Oates knowing that his frostbite was severely hampering the expedition’s pace sacrificed himself so that his companions could survive, when he walked out into a blizzard and didn’t return. His body was never found, only his sleeping bag which was made out of reindeer skin and tapered to the feet similar to the mummy style sleeping bag we are all familiar with today. The reindeer skin would have had similar insulating properties to the down filled sleeping bag nowadays, with the fur on the inside trapping air and providing good insulation.

Ajungilak of Norway was founded in 1855 in Oslo, Norway by Jacob Michael Breien, originally specialising in blankets, pillows and clothing filling. The company developed their first sleeping bag 34 years later in 1889, together with Fridtjof Nansen for the first expedition to the North Pole, which was filled with reindeer fur and kapok. Ajungilak went on to be the first to develop synthetic sleeping bags and became renowned for their expertise in synthetic sleeping bag manufacturing. Ajungilak are now part of the Mammut Sports Group AG.

Up until the middle of World War 2, soldiers were issued with blanket rolls consisting of ground sheets and several woollen blankets and it wasn’t until 1942 that US soldiers were first issued with sleeping bags. These sleeping bags were made from a similar material to the blankets but were mummy shaped and so lighter due to less material being used. The late 1940’s saw the army sleeping bag develop with feathers being used as the fill for insulation. This is when down filling in sleeping bags started to be developed commercially so that sleeping bags were no longer heavy and cumbersome.

Nowadays, the sleeping bag comes in two main designs; the mummy and the rectangle, the rectangle being the original shape and the mummy being developed for military purposes. They also come in two fillings; synthetic filled and down filled. The preferred shape for colder climates is the mummy style sleeping bag, however the rectangular style is still as popular as ever.