A short history of sleeping bags

June 2011

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June 2011

The first recorded use of down-filled bags were in 1892.
From animal skins to blankets, down and synthetic fills, the evolution of the sleeping bag has been thousands of years in the making Sleeping bags are a relatively recent technology. For millennia people relied on the skins of animals to keep warm at night. Jump forward to the 19th century. For the previous millennia we’d […]
Ray Salisbury

About the author

Ray Salisbury

Ray Salisbury is an author and photographer living in Nelson with his wife and cat. He studied design and photography and has been contributing to Wilderness since 1997. His books include Tableland: The history behind Mt Arthur and EPIC: Adventures across Aotearoa. Ray began tramping with a camera more than 50 years ago and has visited over 500 backcountry huts.

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