Do you turn over in your sleeping bag?

I’ve been on quite a journey with the same issue. I’ve tried wider sleeping bags, quilts, custom quilts and hybrid systems. One thing that I’ve found to be imperative is a long wide pad. I’m the same height as you!

Having a long wide pad does come with its own set of issues, especially inner tent length and width. My two favourite solutions are these:

:: ZENBIVY – I’ve been absolutely blown away with their 10 degree system. I’ve used it in the summer and winter and been fine down to about -2 centigrade without any issue wearing very little under the system. I can turnover without any issue. It’s a very clever system that includes a sleeve that fits over the pad then that sleeve connects very easily up each side of the quilt. I don’t get drafts and sleep incredibly well. The updated zenbivy light with a slightly larger hood has just given me the cherry on top. Top Notch system! NB – I wouldn’t buy their sleeping pad to go with it. It’s heavy and bulky compared to the competition such as the Nemo Tensor long wide.

:: UGQ Quilt – I bought a custom Bandit XL 950 fill in the black Friday sale and love it. It’s a different feel to the Zenbivy and more susceptible to slight drafts on the odd occasion but it packs down much smaller into my pack due to the 950 fill. It doesn’t move either.

Both of the above work really well for side sleepers because they have straps connecting the quilt or system to the pad stopping it moving and wrapping around you when you spin. The down side of the UGQ is that there’s no hood. Honestly, I’d take the Zenbivy any day of the week. I’m always shocked more people don’t rave about it. Best night’s sleep by far. They also do great deals for Black Friday :)

Side Note: BIG AGNES have their own sleeping bag sleep system with a sleeve that fits over the sleeping pad stopping the sleeping bag from moving around when you turn. I haven’t tried this system and I know it’s a little heavier and more bulky but I do like the design.

I’m 6’2″ : )

I made my own quilt/bivy, sort of like that zenbivy system, except there’s just a bottom piece of fabric that the quilt is sewn to on he edges.  Air mat goes on top.  I sleep directly on the air mat.

I sleep on my side and turn a lot.  The quilt just stays with the air mat.

I’m a 6’5″, side sleeper.  I do my best to turn in the bag, leaving the bag in place.  My reasoning has nothing to do with insulation, but a concern that bringing the bag with me will put the zipper underneath me when I turn to my left, and someday part of the zipper–maybe the little grip paddle–might puncture the air mattress.

I believe in a sleep system in which the bag stays put while you move within it.  I cannot sleep in one position, I cannot sleep on my back.  I role side stomach and switch to the other side, multiple times per night.  My bag is the Big Agness Mystic UL.  It has no back but a sleeve you inflate your matress and insert it, then you move within the bag, the bag does not move.  It is not super light, as the bag has a zipper and is not a quilt.  My bag weighs 2 pounds, my pad is a big agnes’s insulated q core.  I could use other pads, just happens to be what i use.  This works fairly well for me.  Someone mentioned the inn bivy system.  However at this point if I changed I think I am just getting marginal gains.  Unless I could cut my weight from 2 pounds to 1 for the bag I see no point in changing.  I also know this bag works okay for me.  I can also add a liner to drop the temp rating if I need it.

The solution for me is a quilt. Esp with quilt clipped to the pad straps, the quilt stays in place on top of me even as I roll around. To me the difference is summarized by saying that you sleep
in a sleeping bag but under a quilt, like a blanket on a bed.

My sleeping bag rolls with me. The zipper is covered, so I don’t feel it and it doesn’t puncture my sleeping pad. Been doing this for 50+ years. I can’t imagine using a quilt and getting even a tiny gap of air (princess and the pea…), which would wake me up with the cold draft. Even in my bed, the blanket gets wrapped tightly around me, not just lying on top of me. I want a cocoon.

I’m with Karen on this one …only been doing it this way for nearly 70 years.  It does depend on temperature, since if it’s warm enough I don’t need the bag zipped up fully, and all bets are off.

I just keep my head centered in the hood and roll the bag with me.

I made my own quilt.  Since the full width is on top, there really aren’t any gaps on the sides.

As far as pre-made solutions, I think the Katabatic Gear quilts in wide sizes are the ultimate for side sleeping and turning all night. The pad straps and built-in elastic hemming makes it easy to lock them down tight.

I now have a Katabatic Gear Flex 22* quilt and I don’t think there is a chance I will ever go back to sleeping bags ever again, unless the temps are stupidly low.

EE quilts come w/ pad straps:

https://support.enlightenedequipment.com/hc/en-us/articles/218674147-Using-your-EE-pad-straps

personally, i always clip the lower 2 clips together. then if it’s forecast to be really cold i’ll bring the loop straps for the upper clips. sometimes i sleep like a drill bit and these do a good job of keeping things in place.

I did but then switched to quilts so as to “rotate” inside.  I’ll cinch and tuck it the quilt up when cold .. or cold spots can be felt, but it’s easy to let it go when “too warm” spots appear.

Think if I ever bought a 0°F type sleeping bag, it’d have to be a little loose to do the same rotation.  Might help to get a stretch bag.

6’4″ side sleeper who champions the quilt.

I used a Big Agnes bag/pad combo for a year or two, way back when, and it ran very cold. (As long as I’m in the nota bene crowd I’ll say I sleep cold anyhow, so ymmv.) The sleeping bag I think I insulated a steambox with. The pad popped and they gave me a new one. The new pad popped and they gave me a new one. THAT pad popped, burned down, fell over, and sank into the swamp and they gave me a new one. THAT pad is very comfortable and I still use it, even though it’s four inches shorter than I am.

Quilts were a game-changer, but I got a WM bag that I like on colder nights. I hated the Katabatic pad-attachment system. The EE straps seem much more intuitive and solid, as you can run them  under the pad, cross it x-patter over the pad and seriously lock the quilt down to keep drafts out, but simpler to just hook it to itself and leave gravity to keep you on the pad. If its too warm to be in a liner, I put a fleece/wool/whatever liner over the pad and it does wonders for cold spot prevention.

I change position frequently when I sleep, and I sleep cold.

I’ve always found I gain a really noticeable amount of warmth if I snug down all the cords on my sleeping bag as much as possible. I just leave a small opening to breathe through, and I also tighten up the draft collar. Makes so much difference! But this means the bag needs to roll with me, or else my mouth won’t be at the air hole anymore. This is my first time hearing that rolling the bag is a bad thing. Wondering how big a disadvantage that is, compared to sacrificing the ability to snug everything up. I’ve always thought I just couldn’t imagine being as warm in a quilt without a draft collar.

I use a Nemo so-called self inflating pad that comes with chevron strips on the bottom that keep the pad from sliding around on the tent floor.  I start out lying in the bag on my back, and periodically roll onto one or the other side, and the bag rolls with me.  Have misc. clothing in the bag’s stuff sack to make a pillow.  The pad is a shorty, but carry thinsulate sox that keep the feet warm (and go into some dive sox when have to get up and go out in the night).  When it gets real cold, use a puffy top and bottom to wear in the bag, but they are also good outside the bag to stay warm when cooking etc.  They weigh under a pound for both top and bottom and are worth their weight.  There are no problems with things bunching up, and my tent floors are staked taut.  Have had no problems with any things moving around.

My guess would be that some problems are caused by the popularity of pads that are basically air mattresses. The first time I tried one in a store, knew immediately they would not provide a solid platform for side sleeping.  It was also a pain blowing them up, whereas the Nemo mostly inflates itself and only needs a few extra puffs.  But Thermarests do not work anywhere near as well.  And a floor that is not taut, as noted above, only adds to the bunching up.

Other than that, not sure about the reasons for your issues.  I’ve been diagnosed with “restless leg syndrome” (Luv it when doctors throw around the word “syndrome”).  But with a good Montbell spiral down bag the legs are happy also.  I think the quality of one’s gear, or lack thereof, can raise problems.

Some reviewers, including Ryan Jordan, Max Neale, Philip Werner, Anne K. Baker, and a few BPL members, like the hoodless, zipless Feathered Friends Tanager in part because they can twist and roll any way they like, not create drafts, and not fiddle with zippers or straps.

As a frequent toss-and-turn sleeper, I’ve woken up with a regular sleeping bag both twisted with me, and me twisted inside with the hood over my face. Usually warm except on the ground side, as I keep upgrading the R-value on my sleeping pad.

Maybe warm but compressed down lofts up quick enough?

— Rex