View Full Version : Stomach sleepers in a mummy bag?
I generally sleep on my stomach with my arms up under my pillow/head. I'm trying to figure out if I should get a mummy style bag or a rectangluar bag. I am planning on weekend or section hiking/camping out April-September.
Any stomach sleepers out there? What do you do?
Whistler
10-21-2005, 09:23
Mummy bags taper slightly from shoulder to foot for better fit, better warmth, and less weight. Rectangular bags maintain the same width along their entire length: more room, more cold, more weight. Mummy shape all the way.
I think the question you are really asking is hooded v. non-hooded bags. [Right?] I'm a stomach sleeper that regularly uses a hooded bag. What I've gravitated to doing is using the bag 'sideways.' If it's warmer I keep the zipper open and lay on the empty spot. The opening helps me vent or fluff out some air when I need. If it's colder I'll still go to stomach, but have it all zipped up. My MH Phantom 45 has a very nice hood that's very cinchable. If needed, I can take it down to just an air hole. You may have to fiddle a bit and twist the hole so that you're not breathing into the bag, but it's doable, certainly. A good hat or balaclava will protect the gaps.
I will say that I'm pretty sure my next bag will probably be quilt-style, no hood. Something like a model from Nunatak, Rab, GoLite, etc. Less weight, less fiddling. Because you like to keep your arms up under your head, you might do better with a quilt or headless bag, too.
-Mark
HikeLite
10-21-2005, 10:45
I'm a stomach sleeper and sleep on my back in the mummy bag...or try to.
titanium_hiker
10-21-2005, 11:02
I either roll over so that the hood is over my head (sleeping bag rolls with me) or I roll in my bag. I'm a slim fit in my bag (I still have room to move even when fully zipped)- so ymmv.
It all depends on what I'm sleeping on and what I feel like. the hood doesn't have to be sinched up- it's a nice soft place for the head and keeps pillow (if any) under my head. if it's cold, and the hood is sinched, then the whole bag rolls too.
hope this helps.
titanium
Alligator
10-21-2005, 11:05
Yep, agree with Whistler. And maybe a neck gaiter and hat, if a balaclava is too confining.
I really have trouble sleeping on my back, but have learned to do some side sleeping. Also, I too used to sleep with arms under pillow. I found this twisted my neck every once in a while, so I don't do it anymore.
tlbj6142
10-21-2005, 11:10
One thing to consider about sleeping on our stomach is the need for a longer sleeping bag, otherwise you have to deal with the drafts that occur around your shoulders and neck. One solution is to pull the bag over your head, which may require a longer bag. Though even this isn't all that great on cold, cold nights as the "air hole" you need as a stomach sleeper is larger than the simple nose hole you need as a back sleeper.
Don't forget you'll probably need a longer pad as well. On my back, or side, I can use a 32" long pad (I'm 5'10") as the back of my legs barely touch the ground and placing our pack under them is sufficient. My head/neck can be placed off of the pad on a "pillow" of some sort.
However, if I were to sleep on my stomach, I need have quite a bit of weigth on the tops of the tighs (down to my knees) requiring more insulation (and padding) and need to place my arms (which are above my shoulders) on a pad as well. This requires a significantly longer pad. In some cases, a "3/4 length" pad isn't sufficient.
titanium_hiker
10-21-2005, 11:19
yeah- I'm short so my regular length bag works fine in this regard (I like scootching down so my feet are right at the bottom and the bag bunching around me.. )
titanium
I was giving serious thought to the quilt idea as I tend to be a very warm sleeper and generally only sleep with a very light blanket. And in the wintertime I keep the house at about 63 degrees and crack open a window in the bedroom for air. I'm never cold..lol...
I'm short (5'2") so I don't think I will have a problem with the length most regular size pads/bags are.
A rectangle bag that I can unzip and use as a quilt might be my best option.
titanium_hiker
10-21-2005, 11:32
CynJ, I use my mummy bag as a quilt quite a bit...
titanium
Alligator
10-21-2005, 11:32
...
Don't forget you'll probably need a longer pad as well. On my back, or side, I can use a 32" long pad (I'm 5'10") as the back of my legs barely touch the ground and placing our pack under them is sufficient. My head/neck can be placed off of the pad on a "pillow" of some sort.
However, if I were to sleep on my stomach, I need have quite a bit of weigth on the tops of the tighs (down to my knees) requiring more insulation (and padding) and need to place my arms (which are above my shoulders) on a pad as well. This requires a significantly longer pad. In some cases, a "3/4 length" pad isn't sufficient.
This is a very interesting analysis. It explains to me a great deal how people can sleep with short pads, as stomach sleepers are a minority. I'm 6'2" and I still reach a little off the my regular size pad. I think many newbies, however, approach pads from the full size first. Then lighten up.
Footslogger
10-21-2005, 12:27
I think many newbies, however, approach pads from the full size first. Then lighten up.===============================================
I would have to agree. In fact during the years I worked for an outfitter I feel comfortable stating that I never sold a 3/4 or ultralight matress to someone just getting into backpacking/camping.
I'm 5/10 and use a mummy style bag. I tend to alternate between shoulder and stomach sleeping, most often ending up somewhere in the middle. I also tend to pull my legs up at night toward my torso. Therefore with a full matress there would be quite a bit of excess. I used to lay the matress (3/4) so that it covered my head and then I would place something (like a clothes bag) under my feet. Over time I've reversed that approach. I now run the matress down to my feet and use a jacket or clothes bag from the shoulder up.
'Slogger
flyfisher
10-21-2005, 13:01
I am a hammock sleeper, so I seldom sleep on my stomach, but almost always use a bag as a quilt, that is unzipped under me.
I am testing the GoLite Feather mummy bag for BackpackGearTest and really like it so far. In chilly weather (down in the 40s) I have been sleeping on my side with the hood over the side of my head. It keeps my ear nice and toasty. Unless it were really cold, I don't think I would zip it all the way up and roll the bag with me. Instead I will roll in the bag and the hood will be on the top.
Do what feels best at any moment in time.
Rick
Nameless
10-21-2005, 18:16
I'm a short stomach sleeper, and find that when on the ground this summer on the AT I almost alwaysed used my mummy bag as a quilt (except when it got cold) and was extremely comfortable. I've been sleeping in mummy bags longer than I remember, and up here in Alaska its just too cold to really use a quilt (zipping it closed does prevent any drafts and add some insulation between you and the ground, and the ground in Alaska still has permafrost, its not warm) and I have always been comfortable. I usually take my jacket (unless it is real cold and I am wearing it, in that case I used my platypus or something else) and wrap my arms around it inside the hood and use it for a pillow.
I dont think a rectangular sleeping bag would help you at all because it would be more to keep warm, and the footbox that a mummy creates is pretty ideal for keeping your feet warm and your quilt correctly angled over you. A rectangle bag would just be carrying more weight for no gain in comfort. I believe dedicated quilts are made with a footbox simular to one created with a mummy bag.
I use a 3/4 legnth pad without a problem on my stomach. I start the pad at my neck, because my head is insulated by my jacket/pillow and end the pad at my knees because below that is protected by the foot of my bag (and I always sleep with a dedicated pair of dry camp socks, a great way to keep warm and help prevent blisters by drying out your feet)
I have recently converted to hammok use, but have only slept in it in my dorm room (hung between the ends of my beds that I have bunked) and always manage to comfortably sleep in it on my stomach (a true and dedicated stomach sleeper) I find that needs more filler towards the top of my body, so most of it is ontop of my pillow so i dont have any bow on my back (I've had two back surgeries, so it doesnt bend very well)
Pink
Bad Ass Turtle
10-21-2005, 19:42
I'm a COLD stomach sleeper, but I put my arms down to my sides, and sometimes under my hips when I sleep. I always use a mummy bag, and usually have the hood over my head and cranked down to where only my nose is sticking out. The exception to this was in 2001, when it was so freaking hot on the AT!
I'm not sure that a mummy bag would work for you, with hands up by your head . . .
Bad Ass Turtle
briarpatch
10-21-2005, 20:34
Side and stomach sleepers who are considering using a mummy bag with a hood as a quilt should consider whether or not you have a "preferred" way of turning your head when you sleep and choose a left or right zip bag, accordingly. Choose the wrong side for the zipper, and you may end up facing into the hood.
alalskaman
10-25-2005, 01:48
Whether you sleep on your stomach or your side, the thing to do is, use your mummy bag upside down...some Australian cat, Roger Caffin, I think, put me on to that...all the difference in the world. Try it, you will really like it... bill
QHShowoman
10-25-2005, 08:44
Ooh, this is a good topic and one of particular interest to me, since I am a stomach sleeper.
Alaskaman, when you say "use you bag upside-down," do you simply mean point the opening of the hood towards the ground? That seems to make sense to me. I sleep with my right arm tucked under me, so I'd need a right-zip bag, I suppose.
When I bough a lightweight summer bag, I thought, as a stomach sleeper, that I should get a bag that was larger/wider than I needed (I am 5'3" and bough an x-long bag) to give me ample room to turn on my stomach. I wish I hadn't. I think I'd have been far better off with a snug-fitting bag that turned with me, as the bag I have just gets all twisted around me when I toss and turn.
I've seen some mummy style bags now that don't have the enclosed hooded area but do have the form fitted body. I got the BigAgnes catalog in the mail the other day and was drooling. I think I like that combo pad/bag idea.
tlbj6142
10-25-2005, 09:45
Another thing to consider when stomach sleeping is the number of pillows needed. I sleep on my stomach at home. When I sleep on the floor (mostly during the summer 'cause its cooler), I need 3 pillows. One under one of my feet (actually just one of the feet), one under my shoulder/chest and another under my head.
This past weekend I did a simple over-nighter with the kids. I tried sleeping on my stomach but had a difficult time as I only had one pillow (under my head). I was able to put a bag of extra clothes under my foot, but I missed the pillow under my chest.