View Full Version : claustrafobia
squeezebox
02-05-2014, 22:34
I bought a winter bag a month or so ago . I'm 5'8" and bought the long for the extra 2" of shoulder girth. I also bought a bag liner. When the bag was delivered I climbed to check the fit , I was surprised how I got pretty freaked out about the small size. I felt trapped. This has never happened to me before, and I have been in mummy bags before. I'm thinking losing weight so i don't take up so much of the room in the bag. I'm close to 220. Maybe have someone in the bed with me to calm me down while I'm in a bag. Right now i can't sleep in a mummy bag.
Maybe sleep with it over me, and slowly zipp it up , Please don't laugh at me , this a serious issue for me right now
Get a blanket. You are not required to carry a zip up sleeping bag. Plenty of other options.
Get a blanket. You are not required to carry a zip up sleeping bag. Plenty of other options.
agree, quilts will work, bring anything you want, just know how much weight it is and agree to carry it!
I use a Montbell Super stretch, Really helps not feeling confined as a normal bag..
snail2010
02-06-2014, 11:43
I use a Montbell Super stretch, Really helps not feeling confined as a normal bag..
Totally agree! Tons of room for my chunky self lol!
GreatDane
02-06-2014, 11:57
Squeezebox, I know exactly how you feel. I get terrible claustrophobia attacks, sometimes in my bag, sometimes in my tent, sometimes even if the neckline of my base layer or t-shirt is too tight. If you don't want to carry a blanket or quilt or get a stretchy bag, your idea of working up to zipping the bag shut is a good one, and it's worked for me. Just don't be too surprised if you still have to unzip a little (or a lot!) while camping. If it's really cold, I like to have a hooded jacket available to put on if I have to unzip my bag. And I agree, when I've lost weight, the claustrophobia isn't as bad as when I'm heavier, since everything is looser.
Slo-go'en
02-06-2014, 12:50
Considering the way the zipper on my bag sticks, if I ever had to get out of it in a hurry, I'd be in trouble.
Tipi Walter
02-06-2014, 13:06
Exactly one reason why I carry an overkill Western Mountaineering -15F bag. Even thru the recent Polar Vortex and weeks after I only zipped up my mummy bag once cuz I don't like claustrophobia. And yet having the zip up option is necessary when conditions really go south. An overkill bag will solve your tightness issues and you still have, as I said, the fall back survival option to "mummify" when things get bad.
Beyond this, people who are claust. should never even think about a bag liner or god forbid a bivy bag. Here's the scenario---It's -5F in a blizzard and you're in a tarp with blowing spindrift. You put a liner inside your bag and put the bag inside your bivy sack and then zip up the bag and then the bivy. You start getting hot. At 3am you wake up in a panic and can't breath and find the sleeping bag zipper is behind your neck and the liner is bunched up and the bivy sack zipper is on top of your right shoulder. Have fun.
I'm getting the sweats just thinking about struggling to get out of that bivy. I tried watching that Ryan Reynolds movie about being buried alive. I couldn't get through 5 mins without rushing outside for air. Never returned.
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squeezebox
02-06-2014, 14:06
Thanks a lot !!
slbirdnerd
02-06-2014, 14:13
I'm okay in my bag, but my liner (which I like the idea of) gets me all tangled the heck up and freaks me out. That happens and I can't get out of it fast enough.
squeezebox
02-06-2014, 14:16
I guess it's like challenge your fears, but keep the back door open in case you really need to bail out.
4eyedbuzzard
02-06-2014, 14:26
I bought a winter bag a month or so ago . I'm 5'8" and bought the long for the extra 2" of shoulder girth. I also bought a bag liner. When the bag was delivered I climbed to check the fit , I was surprised how I got pretty freaked out about the small size. I felt trapped. This has never happened to me before, and I have been in mummy bags before. I'm thinking losing weight so i don't take up so much of the room in the bag. I'm close to 220. Maybe have someone in the bed with me to calm me down while I'm in a bag. Right now i can't sleep in a mummy bag.
Maybe sleep with it over me, and slowly zipp it up , Please don't laugh at me , this a serious issue for me right nowCan you return it and buy a bag with a larger girth? I have a similar problem - I can't move my arms enough in a "normal" sized mummy bag to operate the zippers from inside which freaks me out, and went with a wider WM bag (Caribou). Best gear purchase ever.
ChinMusic
02-06-2014, 14:28
Use your bag AS a quilt. Just don't zip it up. I only zipped up my bag one time on my thru and I had a 3/4 start.
Exactly one reason why I carry an overkill Western Mountaineering -15F bag. Even thru the recent Polar Vortex and weeks after I only zipped up my mummy bag once cuz I don't like claustrophobia. And yet having the zip up option is necessary when conditions really go south. An overkill bag will solve your tightness issues and you still have, as I said, the fall back survival option to "mummify" when things get bad.
Beyond this, people who are claust. should never even think about a bag liner or god forbid a bivy bag. Here's the scenario---It's -5F in a blizzard and you're in a tarp with blowing spindrift. You put a liner inside your bag and put the bag inside your bivy sack and then zip up the bag and then the bivy. You start getting hot. At 3am you wake up in a panic and can't breath and find the sleeping bag zipper is behind your neck and the liner is bunched up and the bivy sack zipper is on top of your right shoulder. Have fun.
as usual tipi, you really hit it on this one - bivies can be freaky, for me it is waking up in the morning with a serious urge for #2 and trying to calmly deal with stuck/ frozen zippers