View Full Version : Sleeping bag: left or right zip?
saimyoji
11-06-2006, 23:13
Which do you prefer? Why?
saimyoji
11-06-2006, 23:15
Poll is public, and you can vote for more than one choice.
I have one of each, and prefer the left zip.
Unless you are mating bags, who cares?
Left zip/Right handed;
Right Zip/left handed;
Most buy Right zip out of ignorance when only 25 % left handed
Center zip is best
fiddlehead
11-07-2006, 16:56
i have to agree with Frosty here.
Which costs less? That'd be my choice.
Footslogger
11-07-2006, 17:00
One way to go about it is to figure out the position in which you most often sleep ...or at least the position you are typically in when you wake up. Now (with your eyes closed) "intinctively" reach for the location you would WANT the zipper pull to be in.
'Slogger
LIhikers
11-07-2006, 17:02
As a righty ,I find it easier to reach across to the left with my right hand to operate the zipper.
LIhikers
11-07-2006, 17:02
While laying on my back
rswanson
11-07-2006, 17:18
I have a left zip bag and I'm left handed. I've never found it to be a nuisance to use my right hand to unzip the bag. I'm not that uncoordinated!
Other than mating bags one other consideration is compatability with a bivy bag. It's a big inconvenience to have you bag zip and bivy zip on different sides.
RockyTrail
11-07-2006, 17:22
Does left zip mean the zipper is on your left when lying in the bag on your back?
halftime
11-07-2006, 17:25
I own two bags. One has a left and one has a right zipper. My newest bag has right zipper and is one used exclusively now for backpacking. Right zipper was my only choice for this particular bag so I did not choose for the zipper location but because it was a good price and was the right size, weight and rating for me.
I had never given much thought or concern which side the zipper was on until I got this bag. I really like it better than the old one because I sleep on my left side and is easier to adjust the zipper during the night.
The only concern I have is, I am considering a new smaller/lighter tent with a side entry. I want the entry to work easily with getting in a out of the bag.
Big Daddy D
11-07-2006, 17:33
I sure wish I'd known about this option BEFORE I bought my winter bag. It is right-hand zip (assuming I am on my back), but I prefer to sleep on my left side, so I would've liked it better to face the zipper (a lefty). Fortunately, it worked pretty well turned upside down-just looked a tad dorky!!
BDD
Footslogger
11-07-2006, 17:43
Does left zip mean the zipper is on your left when lying in the bag on your back?
=============================
Yes, it does.
'Slogger
Left zip/Right handed;
Right Zip/left handed;
Most buy Right zip out of ignorance when only 25 % left handedIt isn't out of ignorance. It's due to the fact that 75% of us can actually unzip a bag with either hand, regardless of whether we are left handed or right handed.
When you eat an ear of corn, do you start at the right and eat left? Or start at the left an eat to the right? Are you left handed or right handed? I was caught red handed once. I also once dated a blind girl -- you had to hand it to her. Why did the man with one hand cross the road? To get to the second hand shop.
How to tell where a driver is from by their hands:
1. One hand on wheel, one hand on horn: Chicago.
2. One hand on wheel, one finger out window: New York.
3. One hand on wheel, one finger out window, cutting across all lanes of traffic: New Jersey.
4. One hand on wheel, one hand on newspaper, foot solidly on accelerator: Boston.
5. One hand on wheel, one hand on nonfat double decaf cappuccino, cradling cell phone, brick on accelerator, with gun in lap: Los Angeles.
6. Both hands on wheel, eyes shut, both feet on brake, quivering in terror: Ohio, but driving in California.
7. Both hands in air, gesturing, both feet on accelerator, head turned to talk to someone in back seat: Italy.
8. One hand on latte, one knee on wheel, cradling cell phone, foot on brake, mind on radio game: Seattle.
9. One hand on wheel, one hand on hunting rifle, alternating between both feet being on the accelerator and both feet on brake, throwing McDonald's bag out the window: Texas.
10. Two hands gripping wheel, blue hair barely visible above windshield, driving 35 on the Interstate in the left lane with the left blinker on: Florida.
I went with right, But years of sleeping in racks on us navy ships, where some racks sleep better getting out of the rack on the right side and others sleep better getting out on the left, has made me where I could really care less which way a sleeping bag un-zips. Just get use to the one you currently have and move on.
Sandy B
saimyoji
11-07-2006, 22:14
Gee, some people get annoyed easily. I use both, hadn't even thought about right vs. left handed, just dealt with the zipper whichever side it was on. I had a center zip as a kid, but now greatly prefer a side zip, either side, doesn't matter.
Gee, some people get annoyed easily. Sorry, it was meant to be funny. Guess that's why I'm a mechanical engineer and not a comedian....
I am right handed so I prefer left zip.
copythat
11-08-2006, 04:25
i'm with fiddlehead. cheap=good.