Sleeping Bag Help for Tall Claustrophobe

Check out nunatak usa. They can make a quilt fit to your measurements. Being a quilt you wont be confined inside of it, yet still be plenty warm.

If it says 7' tall, that means if should fit someone up to 7' tall. Like Sean said, a custom quilt might be your best option. Nunatak's are expensive even before customizing, but so is that Ponderosa, and with the quilt, you aren't locked in because the bottom is open, which would probably be good for your claustrophobia.

Maybe a quilt would be in order. It is hoodless, so that eliminates that problem. It would also drape over you, so you may not feel so enclosed. Many quilts are made by their users, so they can be made of any insulation and to any length. It takes some skill to use a quilt, but given your situation, it satisfies your criteria:

1. Long enough. Check, custom made.
2. Not restrictive. Check, drapes instead of surrounds.
3. Compressible. Check, can be made of down or high-quality synthetic.

Contact Tim Marshall, here on the boards. He makes quilts and does custom work for folks. You could also contact Tom Halpin at Nunatak (Nunatakusa.com). He does custom work on top-notch fabrics with top-quality down.

EDIT: smoked by other folks, darn my delay.

When using a quilt, which is a totally new concept for me since I have not heard of this sleeping device until right at this very moment, how do you protect yourself from the coldness of the ground, especially being this tall and prone to restless movement commonly described by tent mates as "near-violent thrashing"?

Brigg, we just use a sleeping pad just like you would with a sleeping bag.

You have a couple of options. Note that you need to use a sleeping pad to prevent the cold ground from making you cold.

First, you can make it very wide so that it will not pull up too much when you roll.

Second, many quilts use under straps that go either around you or around your sleeping pad. This will keep the quilt in place while you roll around. This may be a little too restrictive for you. Many also have snaps at the neck to help seal off drafts.

Third, you could add side flaps (gorjet, a la Ray Jardine) that you could put under your pad. That would hold the pad down.

Check out Ray Jardine's website (the grandfather of modern UL hiking) and his quilt.

I'm 6'6", broad, and barely squeek by with longs. Other than Nunatak, try PHD where you can design your own bag 100% to your liking….

http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/dyosleepingbag/

Good call – I forgot about PHD.

A DWR UL bivy would work for minimal weight, to keep out drafts when you move around.

Tim Marshall may also be able to help you – I've seen lots of his handiwork for others on this site – quality stuff.

The quilt w/UL bivy would be WELL below your weight limit, too. Love my quilt!

I own and use a sleeping bag – a WM MegaLite Long. Honestly, I could use a quilt 90% of the time and save 8 ounces. I never zip the thing up. I only do it when it hits freezing. Otherwise, it's unzipped all the way to the bottom (full zipper). So, aside from the fact that I don't save any weight, and it's technically a sleeping bag, I basically use a quilt.

Sleeping bags don't insulate much when it comes to the ground, that's what the pad is for, so don't worry about that. I lay directly on my pad, and I love being able to toss and turn under my quilt-like unzipped bag. It is much more comfortable for me than zipping up my bag.

For me, the idea of a quilt seemed out there at first, but once I tried it with my sleeping bag, I fell in love. I would love to make my own down quilt some day.

From what it sounds like, you were made for a quilt. You may want to look at tarps too, and experience total spacial freedom. I would, but MN mosquito's would suck my blood and I'd look like a raisin by morning.

I'm with you on the claustrophobia. You can unzip like a quilt most of the time but when it gets cold its nice to zip up.

"Check out nunatak usa. They can make a quilt fit to your measurements. Being a quilt you wont be confined inside of it, yet still be plenty warm."

Agree.

Call Tom at 1-866-NUNATAK (686-2825)

He will build a quilt based on your needs; not sell you an off-the-shelf piece of equipment. They aren't cheap, but it might be the last sleeping gear you ever buy.

I was hesitant about using a quilt, so I bought a used synthethic one here on BPL, to test it out. I liked it, and then ordered a Nunatak. Oh, and it will probably take at least two months to have one made.

Brigg,
Western Mountaineering and Feathered Friends offer a few of their listed bags in an XL, 7-foot size, and FF will make one on a custom basis. Nunatak is probably your best bet. I love my Back Country Blanket, which is six inches longer than list and has an extra six ounces of fill. Tom Halpin at Nunatak will work with any special requests. Well worth the money and the long lead time.
I am mildly clautrophobic and have a tossing/turning problem when I sleep. What's helped the most is a bag with a pad sleeve. I just bought an Arc Ghost from Nunatak for summer and will be experimenting with how well the straps hold my pad in place. But a sleeve is idiot-proof.

First off, thanks for the many suggestions, which have helped me more than I can express here. Seriously.

I'll admit to being a bit leery about the quilt at first, which is to be expected since I had just learned of this strange and foreign outdoorsy object. Since I've done the sleeping bag + pad option, I was also worried how a quilt would work with that, but it seems like the quilts are mature and handle the pad just like a sleeping bag with the absence of the extra weight of the fabric between the bag and the pad.

Since almost everyone seems to agree the quilt is the way to go and my options for normal off-the-shelf, have-everything-I-want bags are almost nil, I'm going to give it a go, especially since it comes with a number of endorsements here and the research I've done pretty much proves this would be a sensible solution even if I weren't just this side of a genetic abnormality with a couple of entertaining neuroses. The quilt will be for three-season use and I'm going to go with a Western Mountaineering for a winter bag.

I had hoped to avoid spending some serious money, but since it was last on my priority list, it's not a big deal. If I added up all the money I've spent trying to find a bag that worked over the past decade, I would have likely been able to buy a custom Feathered Friends, a Western Mountaineering, and a few quilts.

Seriously, you guys are great, and thanks once again for the help.

Brigg,
Sounds like you've already decided, but I'll chime in too. My husband and I have used double-top-quilts for 25 years, spending 30-50 nights per year in the bag. Back, stomach, side, snuggled, spread-out, whatever — it's warm and comfortable.
Twice I hacked a double quilt by removing the zipper from down rectangular bags and sewing my own light nylon bottom to hold the top in place. Each one lasted 6-8 years before I wanted to upgrade.
Then in 2003 I bought a custom double top-bag from Tom at Nunatak. We've slept in it for 200-250 nights, and I don't believe it has lost any loft. I doubt we'll ever buy another bag. Tom's quality and designs are tops. But one warning is that Tom's delivery-date estimates are not necessarily reliable, my bag was 6-8 weeks late. When you talk to him, ask him straight-out how confident he is in his delivery date. Maybe he has improved his forecasting skills since 2003 and my warning is no longer relevant.

It's a very worth-while long-term investment. And if you ever change your mind you can sell it used on this forum. People here recognize and appreciate Tom's quality and you won't have trouble selling.

Good luck, Amy

You could get a HUGE quilt for 3 lbs. I don't think you will want to go that route so instead if you kept it to around 2 lbs you would have a quilt plenty wide, long, and warm if made by Nunatak. With the extra weight you could go for a 80" long Stephenson's Warmlite Down Air Mat and be covered for top and bottom. I just checked and an arc alpinist, A 20 degree quilt is only 22 oz in size long, to add 8 inches in length and width and fill would be less than 10 oz. How bout that.