New Kids Sleeping Bag

[Aaron Sorensen]

I dabbled with making a kids sleeping bag.
Went for a 5" loft bag for 25*.

I was looking for a 30% overstuff on a 2" baffle (top and bottom).
It came out a little too overstuffed yet will be remarkably warm for its temp rating.
The hood was also made to fold out semi-flat for warmer weather.
Came out with a nice 20 ounce bag and a little over 5 1/2" of loft (even a little more in the foot).

Fabric was a 1 ounce fabric and 800 fill.
I am looking for it to be good for someone up to 55" as that is the average height for an 11 year old.
The bag does tapper yet there is a little more room in the foot area for wiggle room.
The dimensions on length and width are off a 63" girth bag so I am hoping it works out.
In the next two years from 11-13 kids grow eight plus inches, so it would be good up to that growth spurt.
The bag is next to a TNF 15* long bag and is even a little thicker than the TNF so it should "actually" be good to 15*.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.

[And E]

That is some amazing work! Also, didn't know the average height of 11 year olds was only an inch shorter than me, a 26 year old :(

Woops, nevermind.. I'm 66".. Hahahaha.

[Aaron Sorensen]

Thanks.
I'll be brining it to the Bay Area GGG 5.0 looking for someone as close to 55" to test it.

[Casey Bowden]

Why did you make the bag Aaron? Do you have children?

[Aaron Sorensen]

I may go into production but for now the few I make will be going to my brothers kids or sold after everything is worked out.

[Eugene Smith]

Sweet bags Aaron.

I am interested in a bag exactly like that for my kiddos.

[Aaron Sorensen]

The next (other) one will be a sewn through 40* bag with no hood, but will still have a full length zipper.

[Amy Lauterbach]

I saw Aaron's bag at the Coe GGG last week. It looked great. I have no kids in my backpacking life, but if I did I'd certainly consider buying his bag :)

[Aaron Sorensen]

Thanks Amy

I still have some kinks to work out for this to be production ready.
For now I am just ordering all the gear and equipment.

I am also going to make my entire first batch bags before I start selling them which will be around 40-50.
Then I'll need to sell most of them before I'll be able to order. So for now it's slow.
If I had 10k to spare, I would be in full production and selling in about 3 months.
For now, it will take at least 6 months.

I will sell the first few once I'm ready to start productions to people that will give me the opportunity to test them and give some feed back before getting into warp production.

For anyone interested in getting one of the first off the lot, let me know.

[Aaron Sorensen]

Here the info I've gotten back so far.

I will need to go 1 1/2" wider (due to just being to narrow in the top half) and 1 inch longer (due to shrinkage of the down).

The info for a 29* night was that he got cold late in the night, but he also did not know the bag had a hood that could be cinched.
I believe the hood would make up for 4 degrees easy enough.
So with the few tiny little mods, I'm full steam ahead.

[Aaron Sorensen]

I am currently working on a 2nd mock up of my bag.
I have made so many changes. Not really changes of the look, but more the steps in the making process.

I was thinking about giving them to my brother's kids as a gift, but I already made them sleeping bags (just a little bigger than their current size) at age 6 and 7.
My brother just never takes them out camping (his lose).

So I will more than likely be selling the prototypes to anyone wishing to purchase one.

The one I am currently working on is being made using Schoeller Nanosphere.
I was thinking about going the Nanosphere route, but I found a fabric that I actually like better. It's softer, lighter, (almost) as water resistant, and breathes better.
The fabric is very similar to M90 but a tiny bit lighter and has a much softer fell. It is also a very high T strength and is so strong that I have no worries about it not being a ripstop. I tested the fabric after testing a few ripstop fabrics on their ability to "stop" a rip after it starts and the higher T strength makes it even a little harder to rip (in any way shape or form) over the ripstops.

Even with the new fabric being that good someone who lives in wet conditions may want to go for the Nanosphere prototype.

Once I receive the bulk product, I will be making 4 bags, 2 of each color and temp rating for demoing. Then it will be a few months before sales actually start. I want to pump out at least 50-100 bags and have the process down packed before I start selling them.

Let me know if you are interested in purchasing the 2 prototypes and I will PM you the info and price. They will both be the 25* bags (see specs in the posts above).
I will have a 40* prototype bag available shortly after.

[Aaron Sorensen]

I've been busy working on small details and have 90% of everything figured out.

Next up is getting the fabric ordered.
Then I'll be ordering the hardware and getting the website up.

I have a really easy time drawing something up and can imagine how it will look 3 dimensionally.
On the other hand, it is so hard to have to see something as 3-D and draw it 2-D.
Then you turn it into a circular piece turning upside down and it changes everything all over again.

It my not seem too difficult, but there is a reason people don't just make there own sleeping bags.
The quilt is an amazing invention.

I also want to make these bags so that you will not be able to tell it from a professional one.
This means the steps taken have to be simple and non-complex.
I also need to make it with as few steps as possible. Again less complex (less steps) allows for a better looking bag with less things to go wrong.

This bag however is turning out to be beautiful.
I can't wait to make my next mock up.

[Author]

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