Cool Kickstarter for heated sleeping bag liner

I saw this online somewhere and thought it was pretty cool. I know a lot of us rough it and camp, but if you're like me and live in a really cold and/or montane climate, well, this doesn't sound so much like a luxury anymore.

Heated Sleeping Bag by Ravean



This thing is 12 V and completely rechargeable, and lasts up to 12 hours on a single charge.

It can increase the rating on your sleeping bag by 20 degrees, and even charge your freaking phone!



Anyway, I thought it was kinda neat - the Kickstarter has been enormously popular, and is already funded 5x over, but you can still get yours at a deal -

For $149, you can get the battery and any sized liner - future retail price will be $249

To back the Kickstarter, click here.

Sleeping bags are available in a wide variety of ratings. There are non-electric liners available that can be inserted on cold nights. For far less money than they are asking, any a bag can be improved.
 
Relying on battery power for this, sets up a dangerous situation. If people find themselves trapped out in the wilderness for much longer than expected, with a good quality traditional sleeping bag, it continues to work. If they are caught out with a battery-powered bag, it will stop working once the battery dies. Now they are using a bag which is meant for more mild conditions. I have tried gloves and boot liners with similar gimmicky electrical heaters. Once the power runs out , you freeze. I can't see this thing working as well as a product relying on insulation.
 
 Think of what we would do in a household situation. A choice is given to spend money on good quality insulation or to spend the same amount of money on baseboard heaters. The only sensible choice is to insulate. Our bodies provide heat for free. When using a proper sleeping bag it is possible to get a good sleep in extreme conditions. Mountaineers do it all the time. I have spent many snowy nights sleeping in unheated vans and other vehicles at my job sites. If I had relied on something that required power or something that could fail electrically, I wouldn't be writing this , because I would be frozen somewhere.

 It would be interesting to see if there are any Mountaineers or serious adventurers using this product. For me, that would be very surprising. It seems like something that might be useful for car camping. Even then , for the money spent, a very decent quality bag could be purchased.

This is one of the worst ideas I have seen presented on permies, due to the extremely dangerous situation that it sets up for the novice camper. I'll bet that somewhere in the fine print, when you buy this thing, there will be a warning to always be sure and have enough warm clothing and blankets to keep you alive out there.

 It's always a good idea to have some sort of backup. When I was quite young, I may have thought that this was a great idea. We won't find any 70 year old wilderness campers frozen in these things, after an unexpected blizzard prolongs a camping trip by several days. It seems more like something that young snowmobilers or novice ski campers might be foolish enough to try.

Dale : Yes I quite agree, especially with the novice campers. If you can't provide enough Body Heat to keep you warm over-night then there is something wrong with You ,

or with your sleeping bag .

A novice will expect the same amount of comfort as they had at home on their Jumbo Sleep-tronic and with a heated bag-liner start sweating inside their bag .

This will create a less effective bag at the same time the battery is running low causing our Nimrod to "turn-up the heat'' running the battery down sooner .


This might have some Hypothermic Treatment value For The victim if carried to the scene by The Forest Rangers and other 1st Responders


For the Crafts Big AL

Yes, a good addition to a ski patrol ambulance sort of kit.

The video was light on details concerning charging, but it's 12 volt so quite likely it could be charged by the vehicle. If it is able to be plugged into an automotive battery, this would extend runtime considerably.

I'm not really familiar with the equipment used by rescue crews . I'm guessing that the Coast Guard and others who deal with hypothermia, will have some sort of really tough commercial version of this, for heating up patients who cannot produce enough of their own body heat.

I suppose I was thinking more along the lines of very short term use - as in emergency kits, whether for professionals or in vehicle emergency kits. I know I go camping overnight on the mountain across the road sometimes, and even the best sleeping bags aren't rated for the temperatures that often grace our area in the winter and fall months (the height of hunting season). It's a short distance, but damn is it cold.

I can see what you're saying though, this isn't something to be completely dependent on, just a cool piece of gear for occasional use or an emergency kit. Also, it's available through Kickbooster, which means that anybody that does take an interest in it supports the empire a little by getting theirs through the link above

Yes, I can see it would have value as an emergency measure. That's certainly not what is depicted in the video. It shows young people that are probably far from home and they are camping in cold conditions. If they make sleeping bags that keep people live on Mount Everest, I think there's one rated for everyone's region down here closer to the Center of the Earth.

I think that's just marketing in the video - show beautiful young people in a sleeping bag in extreme conditions to showcase it's efficacy and capture attention. The whole campaign is very much centered around sex appeal, which I think is why it's been so successful.

Hey, I don't judge do whatever works!